Based on a True Story... is the eighth studio album by American country music artist Blake Shelton.

[4][5] Based on a True Story... became the ninth best-selling album of 2013 in the US, earning Shelton a Platinum certification by the RIAA on September 30, 2013.

[11] The album's second single and opening track, "Boys 'Round Here", features Shelton's then wife, Miranda Lambert, as part of her musical group Pistol Annies.

Additional vocals on the track are by RaeLynn, who had been a contestant on The Voice, Scott Hendricks, who produced Based on a True Story, and the writers of "Boys 'Round Here", Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Craig Wiseman.

[19] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic felt that Based on a True Story... represented a shift towards more mainstream sounds compared to the music recorded by Shelton earlier in his career, writing, "few other country albums of 2012-2013 are as unabashedly of the moment as this.

While he found Shelton's "big, swinging bravado" convincing throughout the album and conceded that "the very sense that more is more is essential to the appeal", he concluded that "there's just a little bit too much of the schtick; individually the cuts work fine but they overwhelm not only the gentler moments...but cancel each other out over the long run.

"[20] He praised the album's ballads, saying that those are where "Blake excels and the avowed smart aleck is found with his heart on his denim sleeve.

"[22] In her review of the album for Entertainment Weekly, Melissa Maerz wrote that Shelton excels on the songs that "find him acting as Nashville’s cultural ambassador to Hollywood.

Describing Shelton as "the reigning king of pop country", Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe noted that Based on a True Story... contains "good-time, paint-by-numbers singalongs...novelty chucklers...earnest ballads...and any other popular country trope" that can be "deployed for maximum radio play.

"[27] She considered the album's title a misnomer, expressing that Based on a True Story... "doesn’t offer enough personal touches to distinguish it from a lot of other tales coming out of Nashville", and wrote, "Much of it is perfectly acceptable.

"[23] Roughstock's Matt Bjorke praised Based on a True Story... as "a strong, current record with a couple of moments that demand repeated attention.

"[25] Shriver noted that the album's modern sound is "now common in mainstream country" but felt that Shelton "sells his version more convincingly" than many of his contemporaries "via exceptional, steering-wheel-slapping, sing-along-inducing, bedroom-inviting material — and that punchy-not-pretty baritone voice.

In his review for Taste of Country, Billy Dukes wrote that the album's "best moments...sizzle, and not in that ironic "bow-chicka-wow-wow" sort of way that's occasionally implied with this singer's sense of humor.

"[24] Although he acknowledged that the album's "range of subject matter is limited", he felt that Shelton enlivens many of the songs with "a dynamic mix of vocal styles and deliveries.

Hudak wrote of the former song, "Blake finally finds the country kiss-off he’s been searching for since, well, “Kiss My Country Ass” with the bawdy...21st-century equivalent of Johnny Paycheck’s “Take This Job and Shove It.”[20] Chuck Dauphin of Billboard wrote that the song demonstrates "Shelton at his irreverent finest" and suggested that it should have been released as a single.

[20] Dauphin wrote that the song "allows Shelton to slide into the storytelling vein that he so often excels at, and the result might be his most moving cut since "The Baby.

"[13] In contrast, Maerz was critical of the song, writing, "it feels a little strange to hear [Shelton] sounding so straightfaced about his love of shooting" and joking, "Well, if those watermelon candles don’t work on his lady, at least he can seduce his gun.

[9] Bjorke noted that Auto-Tune is used "to help prove a lyrical point (as a sort of plot device)", but recognized that the choice would lead classic country fans to "scoff" at the song.

[13] "Ten Times Crazier" was praised by Hudak, who called it "a singalong deserving of its status as the name of Blake’s upcoming tour.

"[20] The song was criticized by Wood however, who felt that it demanded a more passionate vocal performance, describing Shelton's delivery as too "laid-back" for the lyrics.