Editing Randy Travis (section)

===1996{{ndash}}1997: ''Full Circle''===
[[File:Mar-Knopfler-Pensa-Blue.jpg|thumb|right|Mark Knopfler wrote Travis's 1996 single "Are We in Trouble Now".|alt=Mark Knopfler playing an electric guitar]]
Travis's final album for Warner was ''[[Full Circle (Randy Travis album)|Full Circle]]'' in 1996.<ref name="allmusic"/> Travis told ''Billboard'' prior to its release that he and Lehning spent over a year selecting songs for the album because they wanted to be sure they were fully satisfied with its content.<ref name="full circle">{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAkEAAAAMBAJ | title=Randy Travis comes 'Full Circle' | author=Deborah Evans Price | magazine=Billboard | pages=27, 29 | date=July 6, 1996}}</ref> Its lead single was "[[Are We in Trouble Now]]", a song written by [[Mark Knopfler]]. Both this song and follow-up "[[Would I]]" failed to reach the top 20 on the country charts, while neither "Price to Pay" nor a cover of [[Roger Miller]]'s "[[King of the Road (song)|King of the Road]]" (which also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie ''[[Traveller (1997 film)|Traveller]]''<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/traveller-mw0000097748 | title=''Traveller'' soundtrack | publisher=AllMusic | accessdate=January 19, 2024}}</ref>) made top 40.{{sfn|Whitburn|2017|pages=365, 366}} ''[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]]'' writer Gordon Ely noted the failure of the album's lead single and questioned whether the album and Travis in general could still be successful in the long term, due to an influx of younger artists in the intervening years.<ref name="gordon">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/832992289/ | title=So has Randy Travis fallen victim to ol' boy syndrome? | work=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] | date=September 15, 1996 | accessdate=January 19, 2024 | author=Gordon Ely | page=J8}}</ref> Ely considered the album "strong as ever", with a focus on Lehning's production and Travis's voice, as well as the lyrics of "Price to Pay".<ref name="gordon"/> [[Country Standard Time]] writer Don Yates found the influence of [[honky-tonk]] in certain songs and praised the lyrics and vocal delivery of "Are We in Trouble Now", but criticized "Would I" as "gimmicky" and closing track "Ants on a Log" as "trite".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.countrystandardtime.com/d/cdreview.asp?xid=2282 | title=''Full Circle'' review | publisher=[[Country Standard Time]] |author=Don Yates | accessdate=January 19, 2024 }}</ref> AllMusic writer Thom Owens said of ''Full Circle'', "his mid-'90s albums suffered from a tendency to sound a bit too similar to each other. ''Full Circle'' solves that problem by simultaneously reaching back into his hardcore honky-tonk roots and moving toward more contemporary material".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/full-circle-mw0000189297 | title=''Full Circle'' | publisher=AllMusic | accessdate=January 19, 2024 | author=Thom Owens}}</ref>

In mid-1997, Travis announced that he had departed from Warner Bros. due to disagreements over the promotion of ''Full Circle'', as well as concerns that the country music industry was beginning to move toward back [[country pop]] influences.<ref name="travels"/> Additionally, Hatcher thought that Warner executives were not allowing her, Travis, and Lehning to have as much liberty on selecting singles as they had on previous albums.{{sfn|Travis|Abraham|2019|page=142}} At the time of his departure from Warner, Travis was offered contracts by the Nashville divisions of both [[Asylum Records]] and the then-new [[DreamWorks Records]].<ref name="travels">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/627715857/ | title=Randy Travis travels 'Full Circle' with new album | work=[[The Sacramento Bee]] | date=August 10, 1997 | accessdate=January 19, 2024 | author=Mel Shields | page=25}}</ref> Lehning had just become president of Asylum Records's Nashville division at the time, but Travis chose not to follow him to that label as he did not think Lehning's position was long-term.{{sfn|Travis|Abraham|2019|page=143}}