Life at Best is the third studio album by American country music group Eli Young Band. It was released on August 16, 2011 via Republic Nashville. The album includes the number one singles "Crazy Girl" and "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" as well as "Say Goodnight", which peaked at number 22 on the Country Airplay Chart. According to HITS Daily Double, the album sold 348,000 copies as of February 2014. A "15 Years Deluxe" reissue was released on May 15, 2026.
Reception Critical Giving it four stars out of five, Steve Morley of Country Weekly said that the album "rings with roots-rock guitars and meaty, often melancholy themes". A less favorable review came from Andrew Leahey of AllMusic, who thought that it was a "step backwards" because he did not consider its songs as memorable as those on Jet Black & Jealous.
Track listing
Personnel Adapted from the Life at Best liner notes.
Eli Young Band Mike Eli – guitar, lead vocals Jon Jones – bass guitar, background vocals Chris Thompson – drums, percussion James Young – lead guitar, harmonica, background vocals
Production Eric Tonkin – assistant engineer Nick Kallstrom – assistant engineer Mark Dobson – digital editing Mike Wrucke – mixing Richard Dodd – mastering
Additional musicians Eric Darken – percussion Fred Eltringham – percussion Kree Harrison – background vocals Natalie Hemby – background vocals Greg Leisz – steel guitar Tony Obrohta – guitar Russ Pahl – steel guitar Oran Thornton – guitar Michael Webb – Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards Mike Wrucke – guitar, steel guitar, harmonica, mandolin, background vocals
Chart performance
Weekly charts Chart (2011–12) Peakposition
Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)55 Chart (2012) Position US Top Country Albums (Billboard)33
Singles Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications(sales threshold) US Country US Country Airplay US CAN 2011 "Crazy Girl" 1 — 30 66 CAN: Gold US: 5× Platinum 2012 "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" 1 — 29 56 US: 3× Platinum "Say Goodnight" 31 22 110 — "—" denotes releases that did not chart
Certifications
References