He continued, "While Gwyneth acquits herself nicely on two out of three songs, the biggest surprises on the album are her co-stars Garrett Hedlund and Leighton Meester." He praised Hedlund's performance on "Chances Are" by saying "the best song on this album belongs to him." He noted his voice recalls Charlie Robison with a slice of Kris Kristofferson which suits country music quite well. He also explained, "Meester certainly comes off sounding closely along the lines of the folksy singer/songwriters like Colbie Caillat and Sara Bareilles and the obvious comparison, Taylor Swift. Country Weekly gave the release three stars saying "While the album holds together better than many soundtracks, it’s divided between country songs and pop-country songs. Some are super, some so-so; some are sung by actors (Garrett Hedlund being the most convincing of the bunch) and some are delivered by serious country singers." The Boston Phoenix was negative about the soundtrack, "This steaming pile of songs is emblematic of the state of mainstream country music – all artifice, no heart, calculated anthems written to formula and meant, like the film itself, to do no more than capitalize on the genre's current success and rob its undiscriminating fans." He found Paltrow's performances "pointless". He also disliked the tracks by Sara Evans, Lee Ann Womack, Trace Adkins, and Tim McGraw because of their lack of character. He pointed out the drinking songs – Hank Williams Jr.'s "Thirsty" and Ronnie Dunn's "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" – are the only ones "offering humor and humanity". Track listing Production Original motion-picture soundtrack According to The Boot: Byron Gallimore – tracks 1, 7, 12 James Stroud – track 2 Tony Brown – track 3 Frank Liddell and Luke Wooten – track 4 Frank Liddell and Chuck Ainlay – track 5 Ronnie Dunn – track 6 Michael Knox – track 8 Jay Joyce – track 9 Kenny Beard – track 10 Nathan Chapman – track 11 Byron Gallimore, Tim McGraw, A. Martin – track 13 Chart performance Album Country Strong (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Country Strong (More Music from the Motion Picture) Singles Other charted songs ADid not enter the Hot 100 but charted on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles. Certifications References External links Official website 2010 soundtrack albums Drama film soundtracks RCA Records soundtracks Country music soundtracks