the cover charted at number 72 on Hot Country Songs in 2000 due to unsolicited radio airplay. Herndon considered the album more "sexy" than his previous efforts, citing both this cover and the title track as examples. Dan MacIntosh of Country Standard Time considered Herndon "too darn polite" for such material, also criticizing the album for "by-the-numbers" arrangements. A more favorable review came from AllMusic, whose Maria Konicki Dinoia wrote, "With a new production team in tow, Herndon has played a bigger part in selecting the album's songs...and it's clear he sings from the heart, as he always has." Deborah Evans Price of Billboard found both "Steam" and "No Mercy" "equally sensuous" in a review of the latter. 20012004: Departure from Epic Records In late 2001, Epic released the song "Heather's Wall", which was intended to be the lead single from Herndon's fifth album for the label. At the time, Herndon was considering exiting the music business to star in a Broadway theatre production of Urban Cowboy, but decided against it. Paul Worley, the producer with whom he was working at the time, recommended "Heather's Wall" to him when the two were selecting songs. Herndon originally rejected the song as "too heavy", but decided to record it after the September 11 attacks inspired him to record music again. Although the song was well-received by fans, it was unsuccessful on the singles charts and his fifth Epic album was not released. Epic then released a greatest hits package titled This Is Ty Herndon: Greatest Hits before dropping him from the label. Herndon released a Christmas album, A Not So Silent Night, in 2002 through his fan club and official website. A year later, the Christmas album was repackaged with additional content and released on the independent label Riviera/Liquid8 Records. Otherwise, he took a hiatus from recording at this point due to a number of personal issues that included weight gain, divorce, and drug and alcohol addiction. 20042010: Right About Now and Journey On He returned to touring and singing in 2004 when songwriter Darrell Brown invited him to perform at the Nashville nightclub Bluebird Café. This led to him signing with Titan Pyramid Records in 2006 and releasing the album Right About Now in early 2007. Brown and Herndon co-produced the album with songwriter Dennis Matkosky and session musician Jonathan Yudkin. Backing vocalists included Marcus Hummon, Joanna Cotten, Emily West, and