Concerts
Country and Folk
Garth Brooks New Album Previews Online Ahead of Official Release
November 10, 2014
by Alyssa
New Music
In the midst of all the excitement surrounding Garth Brooks’ return to the stage earlier this summer, news of a forthcoming album was put on the back burner. But now with his new release, Man Against Machine, due out Nov. 11, Brooks is currently streaming a commentary of all tracks off the new record with audio clips via SoundCloud and GhostTunes.
Man Against Machine is Brooks' first full-length album of original material since 2001, when he released the five-time Platinum-certified Scarecrow. In fact, the new album will have a lot to live up to, seeing as how every album except his 1989 debut has reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. Furthermore, all of his releases in the U.S. have sold at least five million copies.
The first single off the new album, “People Loving People,” debuted in September and made it up to No. 19 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, while on Nov. 7, Brooks performed a second track, “Mom,” during a particularly moving appearance on Good Morning America.
Judging by the success of the ongoing Garth Brooks tour, his album shouldn’t have any difficulty living up to the standards set by previous releases. On his current venture, Brooks has twice broken his personal record for the number of tickets sold in a single city, according to Billboard. The first was in Chicago, where he played 13 shows over seven days and sold 183,535 tickets. Two months later in Minneapolis, Brooks sold more than 188,000 tickets to a total of just 11 concerts that will wrap up this weekend (Nov. 13-15).
It remains to be seen if the Garth Brooks tour will break the GRAMMY-winning singer’s record for a third time. He currently has shows lined up for Greensboro, N.C. (Nov. 19-23), St. Louis (Dec. 4-7), North Little Rock, Ark. (Dec. 11-13), and Tulsa, Okla. (Jan. 15-17).
Brooks is reportedly aiming to beat the success of the world’s highest-grossing tour: U2’s 360° Tour. The Irish rock band’s 2009-11 trek drew more than 7.2 million fans globally and grossed over $730 million from more than 100 concerts in more than 25 countries. Brooks will certainly have his work cut out for him in the coming years if he does plan to break U2’s touring record, but if the current venture’s many sold-out shows are any indication, he shouldn’t have too hard a time accomplishing the feat.
