The Dreamer (Blake Shelton album)

"The Baby" was the first single from the album. This song spent three weeks at Number One on the Billboard country charts in early 2003, becoming Shelton's second Number One hit. Unlike with his debut album, the second and third singles from The Dreamer did not peak as highly: "Heavy Liftin'" peaked at number 32, and "Playboys of the Southwestern World" at number 24.

"Georgia in a Jug" was previously recorded by Johnny Paycheck on his 1978 album Take This Job and Shove It, and his version was a number 20 country hit that year. "In My Heaven" was previously recorded by Mark Wills on his 2001 album Loving Every Minute.

Shelton's one solo writing credit on the album is for the title track, which is about Shelton's relationship with his then-fiance Kaynette Gern. "My Neck of the Woods" was co-written by Shelton and was inspired by the music of Hank Williams Jr.[2] The lyrics to the song are about the area in Tennessee where Shelton was living at the time.[3] Shelton said about "My Neck of the Woods", "This is a song I begged and begged to have on my first album, but I just couldn't convince the record company. Now I'm glad it didn't make the first album, because I think it fits better on this one."[2]

Robert L. Doerschuk of Allmusic rated the album three stars out of five, saying, "Rough, rawboned energy drives Blake Shelton's sophomore release[…]the problem lies more with the material, which represents the doldrum state of songwriting in music city."[1] Ray Waddell of Billboard thought that the album's variety of material made it "broader than its predecessor", contrasting the "muscular" "Heavy Liftin'" to the "impressive passion" on "The Baby", although he criticized the production of "Asphalt Cowboy".[4]

As listed in liner notes.[5]

• "The Dreamer - Blake Shelton - Cut By Cut" on About.com