It's Blitz!

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It's Blitz!
Studio album by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Released March 9, 2009
Recorded 2008 at Sonic Ranch, Tornillo, TX; Long View Farm Studios, North Brookfield, MA; Stay Gold Studio, Brooklyn, NY; The Boat, Los Angeles, CA; Seedy Underbelly, Valley Village, CA
Genre Dream pop, indie rock
Length 41:49
Label Interscope
Producer Nick Launay, Dave Sitek
Professional reviews
Yeah Yeah Yeahs chronology
Is Is
(2007)		 It's Blitz!
(2009)
Singles from It's Blitz!
  1. "Zero"
    Released: February 24, 2009
  2. "Heads Will Roll[1]"
    Released: June 29, 2009

It's Blitz! is the third full-length studio album by New York band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It was originally set for release on April 13, 2009, however after being leaked to the internet on February 22,[2] the release date was pushed forward to March 9 for the digital version and March 31 for the physical version.[3] The rest of the world release date was on April 6, 2009. The first single "Zero" was released on February 24, 2009. The album was produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Arcade Fire, Talking Heads, PiL), along with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek.[4]

Contents

[edit] Recording

According to Nick Launay, one of the two producers, the recording of the album was unusual for being largely written and created in the studio at a time when record labels have cut back considerably on production budgets. The few songs the band did take along to the first sessions were later altered significantly.[5] Launay described a typical session as follows:

"Brian [Chase] would play lots of different drumbeats and we'd record it, chop it up and then make a groove loop out of it. Nick (Zinner) would then just jam to it, and we'd come up with an interesting rhythm part. Karen [O] would listen to that and come up with a vocal melody and then suddenly everything would fall into place."[5]

The album sessions took place over several months in 2008, during which time there were numerous breaks "to get inspired".[5]

[edit] Critical reaction

The album has been extremely well received by critics, having a weighted average rating of 82/100 (Universal acclaim), according to Metacritic, based on 36 reviews.[6] NME wrote that "It's Blitz!'s heartfelt love letter to the transcendent possibilities of the dancefloor is an unexpectedly emphatic reassertion of why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the most exciting bands of this decade", while Spin said that it is "the alternative pop album of the decade—one that imbues The Killers' Hot Fuss and MGMT's Oracular Spectacular with a remarkable emotional depth and finesse".[7] Meanwhile, in a track-by-track preview of the album, The Fly said that It's Blitz! is "an amazing return for Yeah Yeah Yeahs... an instant classic", later giving the album a rating of 4.5 out of 5.[8][9] The BBC called the album "a triumphant return for New York's finest".[10] Clash commented that the trio had achieved growth without distancing themselves from what made their name: "The album proves that they can provide epic music with personal themes, that YYYs can expand without losing what made us fall for them in the first place".[11] Despite the general overwhelming positive reaction to the album, some reviews were mixed. Tiny Mix Tapes commented, "From most bands, half of a great record would be an incredible accomplishment, but we’ve heard so much better from them" and awarded the album 2.5/5.[12] Nick Butler of Sputnikmusic, while praising the album with an overall score of 3.5/5, summarised the album will "probably date badly and, despite clearly being better than Fever to Tell, it probably won't be remembered by as many people, or as fondly by those people".[13]

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Brian Chase, Karen Orzolek and Nick Zinner

# Title Length
1. "Zero"   4:25
2. "Heads Will Roll"   3:41
3. "Soft Shock"   3:53
4. "Skeletons"   5:02
5. "Dull Life"   4:08
6. "Shame and Fortune"   3:31
7. "Runaway"   5:13
8. "Dragon Queen"   4:02
9. "Hysteric"   3:50
10. "Little Shadow"   3:57
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
# Title Length
11. "Soft Shock (Acoustic)"   3:25
12. "Skeletons (Acoustic)"   3:29
13. "Hysteric (Acoustic)"   3:51
14. "Little Shadow (Acoustic)"   2:53
iTunes bonus tracks
# Title Length
11. "Faces" (iTunes exclusive) 3:33
12. "Clap Song" (iTunes pre-order exclusive) 3:26

[edit] Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position		 Sales
Australian Albums Chart[14] 8
UK Albums Chart[15] 9 78,000+
Irish Albums Chart [16] 10
U.S. Billboard 200 [17] 22 175,000+
New Zealand Albums Chart [18] 22
Canadian Hot 100 [19] 18
Belgian (Flanders)[20] 23
Danish Albums Chart[21] 40
Norwegian Albums Chart[22] 12
Austrian Albums Chart[23] 61
German Albums Chart [24] 71
Swiss Albums Chart [25] 85
French Albums Chart[26] 160

[edit] References

  1. ^ Graff, Gary (May 19, 2009). "Yeah Yeah Yeahs Leave Heads Rolling On The Road". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/yeah-yeah-yeahs-leave-heads-rolling-on-the-1003974435.story. Retrieved 2009-05-20. 
  2. ^ "Dit it leak". diditleak.co.uk. http://diditleak.co.uk/?paged=2. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
  3. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs to release album early due to leak", NME, 2009-03-03. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
  4. ^ Goodman, William. "Exclusive: Yeah Yeah Yeahs Talk New Album", Spin, 2009-02-12. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
  5. ^ a b c "Interview With Nick Launay", HitQuarters, 16 November 2009. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  6. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/yeahyeahyeahs/itsblitz. Retrieved 2009-11-19. 
  7. ^ Aaron, Charles (March 18, 2009). "'It's Blitz!' review". Spin. http://www.spin.com/reviews/yeah-yeah-yeahs-its-blitz-interscope. Retrieved 2009-06-06. 
  8. ^ Doherty, Niall. "First Listen: Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'It's Blitz!'", The Fly, 2009-02-19. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
  9. ^ Doherty, Niall. 'It's Blitz!' review, The Fly, 2009-03-23. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
  10. ^ Jones, Chris. "A triumphant return for New York's finest.", BBC, 2009-03-09. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
  11. ^ Murray, Robin. "Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!, Album three from the NYC trio...", Clash, 2009-03-13. Retrieved on 2009-04-15.
  12. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!". Tiny Mix Tapes. http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs,8622. Retrieved 2009-07-15. 
  13. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz!". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?reviewid=29880. Retrieved 2009-03-16. 
  14. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album)". ARIA. http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_album.asp?chart=1G50. Retrieved 2009-04-13. 
  15. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album)". BPI. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/albums.shtml. Retrieved 2009-04-12. 
  16. ^ "IRMA Charts". IRMA. http://www.irma.ie/aucharts.asp. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
  17. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album)". BB200. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+200&pageNumber=Top+11-50&g=Albums. Retrieved 2009-04-18. 
  18. ^ "RIANZ Charts". RIANZ. http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp. Retrieved 2009-04-13. 
  19. ^ "Canadian Charts". Canoe Jam!. http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html. Retrieved 2009-04-09. 
  20. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album)". ULTRATOP. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Yeah+Yeah+Yeahs&titel=It%27s+Blitz%21&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  21. ^ "Denmark Albums Top 40". αCharts. http://acharts.us/denmark_albums_top_40. Retrieved 2009-05-01. 
  22. ^ "VG-lista Topp 40". Stilsikker. 
  23. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album)". 0E3. http://charts.orf.at/oe3/longplay/2009/woche15/main. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
  24. ^ "German". RIANZ. http://www.musicload.de/officialcharts. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
  25. ^ "Swiss". Swiss. http://swisscharts.com/weekchart.asp?cat=a. Retrieved 2009-04-19. 
  26. ^ "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (album)". IFPI. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Yeah+Yeah+Yeahs&titel=It%27s+Blitz%21&cat=a. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 
v • d • e
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Karen O · Nick Zinner · Brian Chase
Studio albums
Fever to Tell · Show Your Bones · It's Blitz!
EPs
Singles
"Date with the Night" · "Pin" · "Maps" · "Y Control" · "Gold Lion" · "Turn Into" · "Cheated Hearts" · "Down Boy" · "Zero" · "Heads Will Roll"
Compilations
Videos
Related articles
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