Tornado (Little Big Town album)

Tornado
Studio album by Little Big Town
Released	September 11, 2012 (2012-09-11)
Genre	Country
Length	38:09
Label	Capitol Nashville
Producer	Jay Joyce
Little Big Town chronology
The Reason Why (2010) Tornado (2012) Pain Killer (2014)
Singles from Tornado
"Pontoon" Released: April 30, 2012 "Tornado" Released: October 1, 2012 "Your Side of the Bed" Released: April 8, 2013 "Sober" Released: September 30, 2013

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Slant Magazine	[3]

Tornado is the fifth studio album by American country music group Little Big Town. It was released on September 11, 2012 via Capitol Nashville.^[4][5] "Pontoon," which was released in April 2012 as the album's lead-off single, has since become their first number one song on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and Little Big Town's fastest-rising single to date.^[6][7] The album's second single, "Tornado," was released on October 1, 2012. It became their first album since 2005's The Road to Here to produce two top 10 singles and to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Commercial performance

"Tornado" debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 113,000 copies in its first week.^[8] The album stayed atop the Billboard Country Albums charts for its first 5 weeks, making it their longest running number one album. As of December 2013, the album has sold 1,025,000 copies in the United States.^[9] It is the band's first album since The Road to Here to receive a certification from the RIAA. It is also their first album of their career to have two certified singles from the RIAA.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Pavement Ends"	Jason Saenz, Brent Cobb	Westbrook	2:31
2.	"Pontoon"	Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird	Fairchild	3:35
3.	"Sober"	Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna	Schlapman	3:15
4.	"Front Porch Thing"	Chris Stapleton, Adam Hood	Sweet	3:26
5.	"Your Side of the Bed"	McKenna, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet	Fairchild, Westbrook	3:41
6.	"Leavin' in Your Eyes"	Brett Warren, Brad Warren, Jay Joyce, Westbrook, Fairchild, Schlapman	Westbrook	3:13
7.	"Tornado"	Hemby, Delta Maid	Fairchild	3:43
8.	"On Fire Tonight"	Laird, Sweet, Westbrook, Fairchild, Schlapman	Westbrook	3:12
9.	"Can't Go Back"	Hemby, Kate York, Rosi Golan	Schlapman	3:43
10.	"Self Made"	Hemby, Jedd Hughes, Westbrook, Fairchild	Fairchild, Westbrook	4:08
11.	"Night Owl"	Hemby, Westbrook, Fairchild, Schlapman, Sweet	Fairchild, Schlapman, Sweet, Westbrook	3:45

Personnel

Little Big Town

• Karen Fairchild – vocals
• Kimberly Schlapman – vocals
• Phillip Sweet – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Jimi Westbrook – vocals

Musicians

• Johnny Duke – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, Dobro, lap steel guitar
• Jedd Hughes – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, mandolin
• Jay Joyce – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Hammond B-3 organ, programming, synthesizer
• Luke Laird – electric guitar
• Seth Rausch – drums
• Giles Reaves – synthesizer, keyboards, percussion, Wurlitzer electric piano, Hammond B-3 organ
• John Thomasson – bass guitar, Moog Taurus bass pedals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2012) Peak position Canadian Albums Chart[10] 16 US Billboard 200[10] 2 US Billboard Top Country Albums[10] 1 Year-end charts Chart (2012) Position US Billboard 200[11] 78 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[12] 19 Chart (2013) Position US Billboard 200[13] 29 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[14] 7 Chart (2014) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[15] 55 Decade-end charts Chart (2010–2019) Position US Billboard 200[16] 128

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17]	Gold	40,000^^
United States (RIAA)[18]	2× Platinum	1,025,000[9]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Tornado Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
2. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Tornado Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
3. Keefe, Jonathan (2012-09-04). "Little Big Town: Tornado". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
4. Whitaker, Sterling (July 18, 2012). "Little Big Town Releasing New Album 'Tornado' on September 11". Taste of Country. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
5. "Little Big Town, 'Tornado' Release Date, Cover Art Revealed". The Boot. July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
6. Bjorke, Matt (July 18, 2012). "Little Big Town "Tornado" Tracklist and Cover Art". Roughstock. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
7. Wyland, Sarah (July 19, 2012). "Little Big Town to Release Tornado on September 11". Great American Country. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
8. "Dave Matthews Band Scores Record Sixth Straight No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
9. Bjorke, Matt (4 December 2013). "Country Album Chart News: The Week of December 4, 2013: Featuring Scotty McCreery, Garth Brooks, Carrie Underwood, Cassadee Pope, Duck Dynasty's Robertson Family". Roughstock. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
10. "Chart listing for Tornado". Billboard. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
11. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
12. "Top Country Albums: 2012 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
13. "Billboard 200 Albums: Year-End top-selling albums across all genres". Billboard.
14. "Top Country Albums: 2013 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
15. "Top Country Albums: 2014 Year-End Charts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
16. "Decade-End Charts: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
17. "Canadian album certifications – Little Big Town – Tornado". Music Canada.
18. "American album certifications – Little Big Town – Tornado". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved April 28, 2023.