My Best Days is the debut studio album from American Idol season eight finalist Danny Gokey. The album was released on March 2, 2010, by RCA Records Nashville. The track "It's Only" was originally scheduled to be the first single, but it was withdrawn and replaced with "My Best Days Are Ahead of Me." Both it and the album's second single, "I Will Not Say Goodbye," have made Top 40 on Hot Country Songs.
Contents
Critical reception
Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave a positive review, saying that its sound recalled country pop and contemporary Christian music, but also saying that it, "sure feels like Danny Gokey has gotten himself a strong set of songs that find him in strong voice." Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album two stars out of five, calling it "pristine adult contemporary pop, all soft and glittering." Brian Mansfield of USA Today gave it a positive review saying, "All in all, My Best Days continues in the vein of the three earlier albums from the four top finishers of Season 8, in that it plays exceptionally well to the strengths of the performers and the expectations their existing fans have for them."
Jessica Phillips of Country Weekly magazine gave three-and-a-half stars out of five, with her review saying, "it is refreshing to find a new artist with a solid message and genuineness to match." Deborah Evans Price of Billboard praised Gokey's vocal performance and said "Working with producer Mark Bright, Gokey crafted a contemporary country album that showcases his soulful vocals."
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 for the chart week of March 9, 2010, selling 65,000 copies in its first week. My Best Days is the best debut for a male country solo artist since Billy Ray Cyrus' Some Gave All album debuted with 90,000 copies in June 1992. My Best Days sold 19,000 digital albums its first week, giving it the highest first week digital album sales ever for a new Country artist. As of December 29, 2010, the album has sold 201,000 copies in the U.S.
Personnel
Compiled from liner notes.
Danny Gokey – vocals
Charles Judge – keyboards, synthesizers, strings
Gordon Mote – acoustic piano, keyboards, synthesizers
Tom Bukovac – electric guitars
Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitars, mandolin
Mike Johnson – steel guitar
Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass
Chris McHugh – drums
Eric Darken – percussion
Aubrey Haynie – fiddle
Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle
Lisa Cochran – backing vocals
Production
Lisa Ramsey-Perkins – A&R
Mark Bright – producer
Derek Bason – recording, mixing
Todd Tidwell – additional recording
Chris Ashburn – technical assistant
Tristan Brock-Jones – technical assistant
Nathan Dickinson – editing
Hank Williams – mastering at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee)
Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordinator
Kirsten Wines – production assistant
Scott McDaniel – creative director
Tracy Baskette-Fleaner – art direction
Andrew Southam – photography
Judy Forde-Blair – creative production, liner notes
Tammie Harris Cleek – imaging production
David K. – stylist
Holly Chapman – grooming
Mission Management and RLM – management