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Ocean Eyes (album)

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Untitled

Ocean Eyes is the second full-length album by synthpop act Owl City. It was made available for download on July 14, 2009, on iTunes, and on September 1, 2009 it was released in stores with a photograph of the Burj Al Arab as its album artwork. A vinyl edition and a two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album were also released. The Deluxe Edition was released on January 26, 2010,[1] and features three new tracks and a remix of "Hello Seattle". The album features guest vocals by Relient K vocalist, Matt Thiessen, on the songs "Fireflies", "Cave In", "The Bird and the Worm" and "Tidal Wave".

Overview

On July 14, 2009, the song "Fireflies" was chosen as the Single of the Week by the iTunes music store. This led to a huge success as the song was downloaded over 650,000 times and helped the album reach #2 on the US store. This success also led to the record company pushing back the release date of the physical copy of the album from July 28, 2009 to September 1, 2009.[2] Adam Young, a.k.a. Owl City told The Sun that "Cave In" was especially dear to his heart as "that song captures in just a few words, all my hopes and dreams."[3] The album sold approximately 18,000 copies digitally in its debut week. The album has sold around 609,000 copies and reached the top ten in the US peaking at #8. The same week its lead single "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, Ocean Eyes climbed to number one on iTunes after the album price was lowered for a limited period of time.

The album has slightly modified versions of songs from previous albums, namely "Hello Seattle" from Of June and "On The Wing" and "The Saltwater Room" from Maybe I'm Dreaming.

Reception

Ocean Eyes has received mixed reviews from critics, based on a Metacritic score of 53/100. The album gained some positive reviews, including Entertainment Weekly which gave it a B+ and said that it was filled with catchy choruses and that the highlight was "Dental Care". Jesus Freak Hideout also was favorable; the review highlighted the album's style of music, saying that it had "dreamy lyrics and open soundscapes." However, Rolling Stone claimed Ocean Eyes to be disappointing, only awarding it 2/5 stars. They especially criticized the slower songs, saying that tracks like "On the Wing" were "just mush". Allmusic gave the album an average rating of 2.5/5.

Track listing

All writing credits go to Adam Young, except where noted.

Standard Edition

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cave In" 4:02
2."The Bird and the Worm"Young, Matthew Thiessen3:27
3."Hello Seattle" 2:47
4."Umbrella Beach" 3:50
5."The Saltwater Room" 4:02
6."Dental Care" 3:11
7."Meteor Shower" 2:14
8."On the Wing" 5:01
9."Fireflies" 3:48
10."The Tip of the Iceberg" 3:23
11."Vanilla Twilight" 3:52
12."Tidal Wave"Young, Thiessen3:10
iTunes Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Hello Seattle" (Remix)5:53
14."If My Heart Was a House"4:06

Deluxe Edition

Disc 2 (Non-Australian version)
No.TitleLength
1."Hot Air Balloon"3:35
2."Butterfly Wings"2:54
3."Rugs from Me to You"1:27
4."Sunburn"3:47
5."Hello Seattle" (Remix)5:53
6."If My Heart Was a House"4:06
7."Strawberry Avalanche"3:18
iTunes Bonus track[4]
No.TitleLength
8."Fireflies" (Adam Young Remix)3:12

Singles

Official singles

  • "Fireflies" was released as the album's first single on July 14, 2009 in the US and on January 8, 2010 in the UK.[5][6] It climbed the Billboard Hot 100 slowly until reaching #7 and leaping to #1 the following week. "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Chart for two non-consecutive weeks, as well as topping the iTunes Top 100 Chart for several weeks. "Fireflies" was originally released as a free US iTunes digital download the week the album had its digital release in the US, which could have contributed to the single's massive success.[7] "Fireflies" also reached No.1 on the Official UK Singles Chart on January 24th 2010.
  • "Vanilla Twilight" was released as the album's second US single on January 26, 2010 to radio, the same day that the deluxe edition of Ocean Eyes hit stores.[8] During the same week that "Fireflies" topped the Hot 100, "Vanilla Twilight" debuted at #95. It has since re-entered and re-peaked on the Hot 100 at #72 on the week ending January 9, 2010.
  • "Umbrella Beach" was released as the album's second UK single on May 17, 2010. "Umbrella Beach" was originally released promotionally on November 19, 2009, preceding the release of the official first single "Fireflies." An exclusive remix created by Kenny Hayes is included on the single release.[9] There is also a music video available for it, similar to "Fireflies" and "Vanilla Twilight".


Digital singles

  • "Strawberry Avalanche" and "Hot Air Balloon" were released as digital-only promotional singles in June 2009, leading up to the release of the album, though they did not appear on the album. "Sunburn" was released as a digital-only promotional single for the soundtrack of 90210 in October 2009, and it was also released free to people who bought "Ocean Eyes" during a span of several weeks of December 2009. All three songs, "Strawberry Avalanche", "Hot Air Balloon", and "Sunburn", appeared on the deluxe version of Ocean Eyes, which was released on January 26, 2010.[10]

Contributors

Owl City
  • Adam Young – vocals, keyboards, guitars, drums, producer, engineer
Additional musicians and production
  • Breanne Duren – additional vocals on tracks 5 & 8
  • Matthew Thiessen – additional vocals on tracks on 1, 2, 9, 12 & 14, production on tracks 2, 9, 12
  • Melisa Morgan – additional vocals on tracks 7 & 10
  • Jolie Lindholm – additional vocals on track 7
  • Phil Peterson – cello on track 1, 4, 8, 9 & 10
  • Steve Bursky – producer, management
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Christopher Kornmann – art direction
  • Imran Khan – artwork
  • John Goodmanson – audio mixer

Chart performance

Chart (2009-2010) Peak
position[11]
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[12] 14
Canadian Albums Chart 18
Denmark Albums Chart 36
Dutch Albums Chart 42
Irish Albums Chart 16
Japanese Albums Chart 17
German Albums Chart 7
New Zealand Albums Chart 5
South African Albums Chart[13] 7
Swedish Albums Chart[14] 39
Swiss Albums Chart 93
UK Albums Chart 7
U.S. Billboard 200 8
U.S. Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums 1

References

  1. ^ http://tommy2.net/content/?p=11515
  2. ^ Menze, Jill (August 4, 2009). "Electro-Pop Act Owl City Takes Off With 'Fireflies'". Billboard. Retrieved October 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Cave In Songfacts
  4. ^ http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=201526773&blogId=525829960
  5. ^ http://hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1530
  6. ^ http://www.owlcitymusic.com/music_d.aspx?pid=12179
  7. ^ http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2010/adamyoung-april10.html
  8. ^ url=http://www.owlcitymusic.com/music.aspx
  9. ^ http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm
  10. ^ http://www.aolradioblog.com/2010/04/16/owl-city-hello-seattle/
  11. ^ http://acharts.us/album/47116
  12. ^ Australian album peak position ARIAcharts.com.au Retrieved on January 10, 2010.
  13. ^ "South African Albums Chart - 27/03/2010". SA Albums Chart History Site. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  14. ^ Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan
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