AllMusic Review

★★★
Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Lady Antebellum swept up the 2011 Grammys, winning five of their six nominated categories, cementing their status as cross-platform mainstream superstars. Certainly, Own the Night -- the 2011 sequel to their 2010 breakthrough Need You Now -- bears the sound of a band quite content with its position in the middle of the road. Any lingering elements of country, whether twang or 2-steps, have been banished and supplanted with a smooth soft rock designed to seep into the background wherever it's played. These songs of love won and lost tend to be so dreamy they verge on the sleepy, lacking any of the hushed urgency of “Need You Now” while retaining every ounce of its manicured prettiness. So, Own the Night is mood music but the aim isn’t amorous; it’s nothing more than a spot of relaxation, which doesn’t quite amount to compelling listening no matter how immaculate the execution.