In the most ‘normal’ of circumstances, an album’s run on the charts can be interesting.  Add in successful singles and re-releases and you have something that’s even more interesting.  For Craig Morgan, his first album for BNA Records, That’s Why has had two issue dates prior to this new, Cracker Barrel-exclusive That’s Why (Collector’s Edition).  Originally released in October 2008, The album featured 10 tracks including “Love Remembers” and follow-up Top 30 hit “God Must Really Love Me.”  It was re-issued about six months later when the third single from the album, “Bonfire” and current single “This Ain’t Nothin’” were added (replacing “Summer Sundown” and “Every Red Light.”  For the third Collector’s Edition of the album, Craig Morgan cut two more new songs, “You” and “Evil Knievel” and added “Summer Sundown” back into the mix.  Why “Every Red Light” wasn’t tacked on as well, I don’t know but at least “Summer Sundown returns to the mix.”  

Craig Morgan lost his first record deal with Atlantic Nashville when the label closed as the result of a merger.  Broken Bow Records signed him up, and up to that time, the label had found absolutely no success at radio with their artists. However, all of that changed when Craig released "Almost Home" to radio.  While Broken Bow worked with Craig for three albums and multiple big hits (including the top song of 2006 in “That’s What I Love About Sunday”), Craig had reached a point in his contract where he could opt out and search for greener pastures.  He found a new label home with Sony Nashville's BNA Records label. 

Lead single "Love Remembers" starts the album off and while I originally thought that it wasn't the best of single choices, the song grew on me and it now is one of the best singles of Craig’s career.  The instruments are noticeable and the production is clean while Morgan sings a relatable lyric about the way memories are tied to events in our life, like being in love for the first time.  “Bonfire” my be full of summertime clichés but clichés are always grounded in reality and truth, which is one reason this song became a Top 5 hit last fall.  It works great for a summertime, have a goodtime party, much like “Redneck Yacht Club” did in 2006.

Current radio single “This Ain’t Nothin’” drives home my theory that Craig Morgan may love to sing and release his rockin’ party tunes but he absolutely slays ballads.  His vocal wrings out every bit of emotion out of the lyric of the ballads and really drives home the power of them.  Mix in solid production and it’s no wonder why “This Ain’t Nothin’” has become a hit in a season (summer 2010) that is dominated by uptempo tunes like “Bonfire.” 

"Looking Back With You" is a sweetly romantic love ballad that sounds like it's ripped right from Morgan's own life.  It's the kind of song I can see people dancing to at weddings as it talks about enjoying a long, fruitful life with your spouse.  Craig's own daughter even sings a line in the song (about her driving, much to his amazement).   "Sticks" is another song in a long, long line of cliché-ridden country songs that seem to be on every male country singer's albums (Craig already has "Redneck Yacht Club" and "I'm Country").  Still, Morgan's strong vocal and the jovial production save the song. "God Must Really Love Me" is a song that finds Morgan a bit befuddled at why God is able to forgive him despite all of his failures and faults.

The title track, "That's Why," with it's pretty melody is a song that speaks to and about the everyday folks.  It's not a song about tiki bars or beaches but rather about the everyday life we all go through.  The mid-tempo melody guides the song as Morgan sings about why he does what he does, even if he may not like doing it all that much.  “Oridinary Angels” not only speaks about real people but it speaks about the great things that ‘ordinary’ people do, even for people they don’t know.  Again, Craig’s strong balladeer skills shine – despite melodramatic production – and that is enough to make this song shine and it could eventually be another single, if “Sticks” or “That’s Why” aren’t released instead. 

The Jeffrey Steele, Tom Hambridge and Craig Wiseman cut “You” is one of the Collector’s Edition tracks and it really feels like the kind of tune that radio would eat up, with rhythmic lyrics and a tasty wall-of-sound melody backing up Craig Morgan’s vocal.  “Summer Sundown” is a nostalgic look back at life was simple and ‘still ahead.’  Evel Knievel is a Monty Criswell/Rodney Clawson co-write that rocks and (country rolls) with some interesting instrumentals.  It fits in well with the rest of the songs on the album.  And that's what's at the heart of this album and all of Craig Morgan's albums to date; music for Joe Six-pack.  Craig Morgan may be a recording star but he can relate to being a salt-of-the-earth worker and he records albums that appeal to those kinds of people (just like Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores).   This record is relatable to a majority of the everyday hard working people of America and that’s what ultimately makes That’s Why work.

You can purchase your own copy of this album at Cracker Barrel stores or pick up a copy by clicking here.