Our Earthly Pleasures
| Our Earthly Pleasures | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Maxïmo Park | ||||
| Released |
2 April 2007 (UK) 8 May 2007 (US) | |||
| Recorded | August–December 2006 | |||
| Genre |
Alternative rock Indie rock Post-punk revival | |||
| Length | 41:47 | |||
| Label | Warp | |||
| Producer | Gil Norton | |||
| Maxïmo Park chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Our Earthly Pleasures | ||||
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Our Earthly Pleasures is the second album by Newcastle-based alternative rock band Maxïmo Park. It was released on 2 April 2007 in the UK (and 8 May 2007 in the US), being preceded by the single "Our Velocity", released two weeks previously, on 19 March 2007.
Album information
Album details, including track listing, were released on the NME's website on 22 January 2007.[1] as well as the band's official web site.[2] The album was leaked in various places across the internet in March 2007.
Vocalist Paul Smith states that the title of the album stems from the idea that we are bonded by our experiences, and that several tracks were written to embody specific human emotions. The title of the album appears in the lyrics of "Russian Literature".
"There it is again that lock of hair that won't sit still
Our earthly pleasures distract us against our will."[3]
The band did an album launch party at the Baltic Flour Mill, the contemporary art gallery in Gateshead on 28 March 2007. Another album launch gig took place at HMV Newcastle at midnight on 2 April, to release the album, hometown fans were the first to get a hold of Our Earthly Pleasures. A third launch party took place in London, at the 100 Club on Oxford Street, on the evening of 2 April.
The tracks "Our Velocity", "Books from Boxes", "Girls Who Play Guitars" and "Karaoke Plays" have been released as singles. Tickets to the April/May Our Earthly Pleasures Tour went on sale on 2 February 2007. Tickets sold out within one hour to the majority of the venues.
The two US bonus tracks were mislabeled on iTunes Music Store, with track 13 being labeled "Distance Makes" when it was actually the song "Pride Before A Fall", "Distance Makes" was included as the other bonus track. A special edition was also released exclusively in Australia, containing the bonus track "Robert Altman" (Track 13 - 2:24)
The song "The Unshockable" features in FIFA 08 playlist and a Johnny Test commercial on Cartoon Network. The song, "Our Velocity" is featured on the soundtrack for 2007 Xbox 360 game, Project Gotham Racing 4.
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 67/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [5] |
| Drowned in Sound | (7/10) [6] |
| NME | (6/10) [7] |
| Pitchfork Media | (6.3/10) [8] |
| Rolling Stone | [9] |
| The Guardian | [10] |
Released in April 2007, the album was successful, entering the charts at number two behind Kings of Leon's album Because of the Times. The album reached number two on the UK album charts. Sales for the record was a success going double platinum, meaning it sold over two million records world wide. Overall critics generally gave positive reviews for the album, the average number of stars given was just over 3.5 out of 5.
Rolling Stone (p. 62) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The U.K. indie band's second album has beefed-up sound and increasingly brilliant, not-at-all-pretentious gems like 'Girls Who Play Guitars'."
Spin (p. 86) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Maximo Park bring plenty of recognizable spark and smarts to their second album....The record barely pauses for breath."
BBC - 3 stars out of 5 -- "It’s certainly an album that evokes visions of delirious summertime hedonism: its momentum designed for haphazard jumping about in crowds, one sweaty fist in the air whilst the other grapples with a plastic cup of warm lager. Bring it on." [11]
Track listing
All lyrics written by Paul Smith; all music composed by Duncan Lloyd, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Girls Who Play Guitars" | 3:12 |
| 2. | "Our Velocity" | 3:20 |
| 3. | "Books from Boxes" | 3:28 |
| 4. | "Russian Literature" (Lukas Wooller) | 3:07 |
| 5. | "Karaoke Plays" | 4:08 |
| 6. | "Your Urge" (Wooller) | 3:57 |
| 7. | "The Unshockable" (Lloyd, Wooller) | 3:16 |
| 8. | "By the Monument" (Smith) | 2:59 |
| 9. | "Nosebleed" | 3:25 |
| 10. | "A Fortnight's Time" | 3:01 |
| 11. | "Sandblasted and Set Free" | 3:58 |
| 12. | "Parisian Skies" (Archis Tiku, Lloyd) | 3:56 |
| US Bonus Tracks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 13. | "Pride Before a Fall" | 3:14 |
| 14. | "Distance Makes" (Tiku) | 2:12 |
| Australian Bonus Tracks | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 13. | "Robert Altman" | 2:23 |
Personnel
- Maxïmo Park
- Tom English – drums
- Duncan Lloyd – guitars
- Paul Smith – vocals
- Archis Tiku – bass guitar
- Lukas Wooller – keyboards
- Additional musicians
- Nell Catchpole – violin on "Sandblasted and Set Free"
- Laura Reid – cello on "Sandblasted and Set Free"
References
- ↑ "Maximo Park Unveil New Album Details". NME. 22 January 2007.
- ↑ "New Single & Album!". Maxïmo Park. 22 January 2007.
- ↑ Maximo Park Russian Literature lyrics on Yahoo! Music
- ↑ "Our Earthly Pleasures by Maxïmo Park". Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ↑ Our Earthly Pleasures at AllMusic
- ↑ "Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". drownedinsound.com. 2 April 2007. Retrieved 2012-04-08.
- ↑ "NME Album Reviews - Maximo Park". Nme.Com. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ↑
- ↑ "Rolling Stone Music | Album Reviews". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ↑ Dave Simpson (22 March 2007). "CD: Maxïmo Park, Our Earthly Pleasures | Music | The Guardian". London: Music.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
- ↑ "Music - Review of Maximo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures". BBC. Retrieved 2012-03-04.