5th Gear (album)
# 5th Gear (album)

Professional ratings :

| Review scores ||
| - | - |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com | |
| Allmusic | |
| BBC Music | (average) |
| Country Weekly | (favorable) |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| The Phoenix | |
| Plugged In | (unfavorable) |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant | |

5th Gear is the sixth studio album by American country music singer Brad Paisley. It was released June 19, 2007, by Arista Nashville and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, with first week sales of about 197,000 copies. On April 9, 2008, 5th Gear was certified platinum by the RIAA.

The album's first four singles — "Ticks", "Online", "Letter to Me", and "I'm Still a Guy" — all reached Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. In June 2008, a re-recording of "Waitin' on a Woman", a song which Paisley originally recorded for his 2005 album Time Well Wasted, was added as a bonus track to this album. This re-edited version was released in June 2008 as the album's fifth single. For the chart week of September 20, 2008, the song has become his twelfth number-one single and his eighth straight number-one hit. When pre-ordered through iTunes, another bonus track, "You Love Me So Good", was included.

In 2009, NPR picked the album as one of "The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings." "Oh Love" received a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals nomination.

Blaine Larsen later released a rendition of "It Did" in 2009.

## Track listing

"Mr. Policeman" incorporates the chorus of "In the Jailhouse Now" at its end, with new lyrics to fit the rest of the song.

## Personnel

* Brad Paisley – lead vocals (1-12, 14, 15, 16), electric guitar (1-12, 14, 16), acoustic guitar (1-6, 8-12, 15), voice (17)
* Gordon Mote – acoustic piano (1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14), clavinet (2), keyboards (5), music box (5)
* Tim Lauer – keyboards (3, 10, 16)
* Jim "Moose" Brown – Hammond B3 organ (3), Wurlitzer organ (4), acoustic piano (10, 15)
* Gary Hooker – electric guitar (1, 5, 6, 11), baritone guitar (2), 12 string guitar (2)
* Randle Currie – steel guitar (1-9, 11, 12, 14, 16)
* Ron Block – banjo (2, 4)
* Kendal Marcy – banjo (8, 16)
* Bryan Sutton – mandolin (4, 6), banjo (6), acoustic guitar (7, 14)
* Mike Johnson – dobro (6, 10, 15)
* Kevin "Swine" Grantt – electric bass (1-12, 14, 16), upright bass (2, 15)
* Kenny Lewis – additional bass guitar (16)
* Ben Sesar – drums (1-12, 14, 15, 16)
* Eric Darken – percussion (1-12, 14, 15, 16)
* Justin Williamson – fiddle (1, 3-6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14), mandolin (2)
* Aubrey Haynie – fiddle (7, 10, 14), mandolin (10, 15)
* Tom Baldrica – tuba (3)
* Wes Hightower – backing vocals (1-12, 14, 15)
* Vicki Hampton – backing vocals (3)
* Carrie Underwood – backing vocals (3), lead vocals (10)
* Little Jimmy Dickens – voice (17, 18)

Brentwood High School Band on "Online"

* Chris Brooks, Jay Dawson and Kristin Wilkinson – arrangements
* Kristin Wilkinson – coordinator
* Randy Box – conductor
* Chris Brooks – drums
* Jay Dawson – mellophone
* Sam Levine – saxophone
* Roy Agee – trombone
* Mike Haynes – trumpet
* Joe Murphy – tuba

The Kung Pao Buckaroos (Track 13)

* Little Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson, George Jones and Dolly Parton

The New Kung Pao Buckaroos on "Bigger Fish to Fry"

* Little Jimmy Dickens, Bill Anderson and Vince Gill

## Production

* Frank Rogers – producer
* Chris DuBois – executive producer
* Jim Catino – A&R
* Richard Barrow – recording, overdub recording
* Brian David Willis – recording, overdub recording, digital editing
* Neal Cappellino – overdub recording
* Jason Lehning – overdub recording
* Steve Marcantonio – overdub recording
* Matt Coles – overdub recording assistant
* Seth Morton – overdub recording assistant
* Mark Petaccia – overdub recording assistant
* Steve Short – overdub recording assistant, recording assistant
* Brady Barnett – digital editing
* Tyler Moles – digital editing
* Justin Niebank – mixing
* Drew Bollman – mix assistant
* Hank Williams – mastering
* MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee) – mastering location
* Astrid May – art direction
* Katherine Stratton – design
* Brad Paisley – cover design, packaging design
* David McClister – photography

## Chart performance

### Singles

| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Year | Single | US Country | US | US Pop | CAN |
| 2007 | "Ticks" | 1 | 40 | 48 | 33 |
| 2007 | "Online" | 1 | 39 | 89 | 50 |
| 2007 | "Letter to Me" | 1 | 40 | 81 | 51 |
| 2008 | "I'm Still a Guy" | 1 | 33 | 66 | 54 |
| 2008 | "Waitin' on a Woman" | 1 | 44 | — | 59 |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart ||||||

## Certifications

| Region | Certification |
| - | - |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum |
