Rolling Stone (p.127) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "He does melancholy well....The highlight is 'Let's Get Drunk and Fight.'"
Entertainment Weekly (p.66) - "[The] soulful ballads like 'My Whiskey Years'...best showcase his rich baritone..." -- Grade: A-
Personnel: Mac McAnally, Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar); J.T. Corenflos (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (dobro); Byran Sutton (mandocello); Aubrey Haynie (fiddle); Jim Hoke (horns); Gordon Mote (Fender Rhodes piano); Craig Young, David Hungate (bass guitar); Brent Rowan (6-string bass); Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Universal Records South Family Singers, Wes Hightower, Perry Coleman, Morgane Hayes (background vocals).
Additional personnel: Lee Ann Womack (background vocals).
Following the mainstream success of Joe Nichols's hit "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" from his previous album JOE NICHOLS III, the Nashville singer could easily have become a successful purveyor of similar pop-oriented novelty hits. Encouragingly, REAL THINGS instead makes a left turn into traditional country, filled with acoustic ballads such as "Another Side of You" and "All Good Things." Even the rowdy "Let's Get Drunk and Fight" sounds more like Alan Jackson than Big and Rich. Other highlights include a lovely cover of Blaze Foley's "If I Could Only Fly" sung with Lee Ann Womack.