The Back Room
The Back Room | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Editors | ||||
Released | 25 July 2005 | |||
Recorded | 2004—2005 | |||
Genre | Indie rock, post-punk revival | |||
Length | 43:48 | |||
Label | Kitchenware | |||
Producer | Jim Abbiss, Gavin Monaghan (track 8) | |||
Editors chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Back Room | ||||
The Back Room is the debut studio album by British post-punk revival band Editors, released on 25 July 2005. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 13 in July 2005, before peaking at number 2 in January 2006. It was produced by Jim Abbiss, and was released by Kitchenware in the United Kingdom, PIAS Recordings in Europe, and Fader Label in the United States.
The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize.
Overview
A limited special two-disc edition of The Back Room was released in the United Kingdom, the second disc (called Cuttings) comprising unused tracks from the album recording sessions and B-sides. In the Netherlands and Germany, the album was re-released in a limited, Festival Edition CD/DVD set including a 50-minute concert recorded at Paradiso in Amsterdam, on 30 January 2006.
Editors received substantial critical acclaim for their release of The Back Room. NME gave it a rating of 8/10 saying "Never before have doom and gloom sounded so surprisingly uplifting and hopeful" and that Editors "have created a debut that will endure." Drowned in Sound gave The Back Room a rating of 9/10, citing, "this is a record many people will be able to live inside for a very long time." The album also received a 2006 Mercury Prize nomination.
The song "Munich" was featured on the Xbox 360 game Saints Row,[1] as well as on the multi-platform game FIFA Street 2.[2]
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 76/100[3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
Entertainment Weekly | B−[5] |
The Guardian | [6] |
The Irish Times | [7] |
Mojo | [8] |
NME | 8/10[9] |
Pitchfork Media | 6.0/10[10] |
Q | [11] |
Rolling Stone | [12] |
The Village Voice | C+[13] |
The Back Room received generally positive reviews with a Metacritic score of 76 based on 23 reviews.[3] E! Online has written that "The Back Room is a fine album that proves you can look backward while paving the way forward", giving an album score 91 of 100. Drowned in Sound has written that it's "how Interpol would sound like if they dealt with universal themes and reflection rather than singing about fellatio fantasies with Stella, or their length of loves". AllMusic Guide said that "Alternative rock hasn't seen anything like this since the release of Turn on the Bright Lights." NME wrote that "this is a debut that will endure", and The Guardian wrote "The longer you listen, the better they become." However, Pitchfork Media has written that "Editors sound like an earnest rock band who grew up loving the same bands as the current batch of revivalists, but beyond the workmanlike interpretations of their heroes, it's hard to swallow."
Track listing
All tracks by Lay, Leetch, Smith, Urbanowicz.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Lights" | 2:31 |
2. | "Munich" | 3:46 |
3. | "Blood" | 3:29 |
4. | "Fall" | 5:06 |
5. | "All Sparks" | 3:33 |
6. | "Camera" | 5:02 |
7. | "Fingers in the Factories" | 4:14 |
8. | "Bullets" | 3:09 |
9. | "Someone Says" | 3:13 |
10. | "Open Your Arms" | 6:00 |
11. | "Distance" | 3:38 |
iTunes exclusive track | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
12. | "French Disko" | 2:25 |
Cuttings (UK bonus disc) | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
1. | "Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home" | 4:38 |
2. | "You Are Fading" | 4:30 |
3. | "Crawl Down the Wall" | 3:34 |
4. | "Colours" | 3:51 |
5. | "Release" | 5:44 |
6. | "Forest Fire" | 3:00 |
Festival Edition bonus DVD (Netherlands and Germany) | ||
---|---|---|
No. | Title | Length |
1. | "Lights" | |
2. | "Blood" | |
3. | "All Sparks" | |
4. | "Fall" | |
5. | "Bullets" | |
6. | "Find Yourself a Safe Place" | |
7. | "Camera" | |
8. | "You Are Fading" | |
9. | "Munich" | |
10. | "Open Your Arms" | |
11. | "Fingers in the Factories" |
- Videos of the concert at the Paradiso, Amsterdam – January 30, 2006
Credits
- Editors – art direction, design
- Jim Abbiss – producer, engineer
- Garret Lee – producer, engineer
- Gavin Monaghan – producer, engineer
- Loz Brazil – engineer
- Ewan Davis – engineer
- Andy Taylor – engineer, digital editing
- Cenzo Townshend – mixing
- Amy E. Bartell – photography
Chart performance
Album chart | Peak position |
Sales | Certification |
---|---|---|---|
UK | 2 | 555,588[14] | Platinum |
Belgium | 53 | 15,000+ | Gold |
France | 107 | — | — |
Ireland | 23 | 7,500+ | Gold |
Netherlands | 30 | — | — |
United States Top Heatseekers | 14 | — | — |
United States Independent Albums | 21 | — | — |
World | — | 1,000,000+[15] | — |
References
- ↑ "IGN: Saints Row Delivers A Sonic Blitz". ign.com. IGN. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- ↑ "IGN: FIFA Street 2 Sonic Explosion". ign.com. IGN. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
- 1 2 "Reviews for The Back Room by Editors". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Back Room – Editors". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ↑ Fiore, Raymond (24 March 2006). "Editors: The Black Room". Entertainment Weekly: 70.
- ↑ Clarke, Betty (22 July 2005). "Editors, The Back Room". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
- ↑ "Rock/Pop". The Irish Times. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
- ↑ "Editors: The Back Room". Mojo (141): 94. August 2005.
- ↑ Jam, James (27 July 2005). "Editors : The Back Room". NME. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
- ↑ Crock, Jason (4 August 2005). "Editors: The Back Room". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ↑ "Editors: The Back Room". Q (229): 135. August 2005.
- ↑ Hoard, Christian (9 March 2006). "Editors: The Back Room". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 April 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
- ↑ Christgau, Robert (4 April 2006). "Consumer Guide: Radical Comfort". The Village Voice. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
- ↑ Jones, Alan (9 October 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Rudimental's second LP debuts at No.1 on 22,718 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 October 2015. (subscription required (help)).
- ↑ Jon Perks (2008-02-18). "Editors are back in town". Birminghampost.net. Retrieved 2012-06-11.