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Total Life Forever

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Total Life Forever is the second studio album by British indie rock band Foals, released on 10 May 2010 through Transgressive Records.[5] It was produced by Luke Smith,[1] and was recorded at Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg.[3] Upon its release, the album charted in numerous countries worldwide, including number eight in the UK Albums Chart. In July Total Life Forever was shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize.[6]

Promotion and release

Two guitarists are performing a song live on a stage, in front of a mic mounted on a microphone stand.
Foals supporting Blur in Hyde Park, London, 2 July 2009

In January 2009, the band released three semi-instrumental segments of tracks through the band's MySpace profile, giving an insight into the band's recording process.[7] A short three date tour of the United Kingdom took place in April 2009.[8]

During July 2009, the band played an intimate show for Rockfeedback, as a warm up for future festival shows and a chance to debut songs from their second album.[9] On 2 July, the band supported Blur during their reunion show in Hyde Park, London, playing an untitled new song which frontman Yannis Philippakis stated was unfinished.[10] Later the same month, the band appeared at the 2009 T in the Park festival, performing new songs "Total Life Forever" and "Dirty Waves". Both songs had been previously aired during the band's appearance at The Breeders-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May 2009.[11] In September 2009, the band performed at London's Heaven as part of Transgressive Records' fifth anniversary, performing new songs "Spanish Sahara", "Death Surf" and one other untitled track.[12]

The album's title was revealed on 24 February 2010.[13] Zane Lowe premiered the promotional track "Spanish Sahara" on BBC Radio 1, naming the track his "Hottest Record in the World" for 1 March 2010.[14] From 8pm the same day, a remix of the track was made available to download from Foals' official website.[15] The accompanying video was added to Foals' YouTube page on 2 March 2010.[16] A limited number vinyl of "Spanish Sahara" was released on 17 April 2010, to mark the 2010 Record Store Day.[17] In support of the album, the band announced a fourteen date tour of Europe throughout April–May 2010, including dates in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and the United Kingdom.[18][19] These will be the band's first live performances of the year.[20]

Following "Spanish Sahara"'s limited release, the album's first official single was announced as "This Orient", released on 3 May 2010.[21][22] The track reached number 97 on the UK Singles Chart.[23] Second single "Miami" was then released on 4 July 2010.[24] It reached #127 on the same chart.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[25]
Clash(8/10)[26]
Drowned in Sound(7/10)[27]
The Fly[28]
The Guardian[29]
The Independent[30]
NME(8/10)[31]
Pitchfork Media(7.6/10)[32]
Rock Sound(8/10)[33]
Q Magazine[34]

Total Life Forever received considerable critical acclaim; many commented how the band's music has matured from their debut album. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 80%, indicating "Generally favourable reviews".

The writers and editors of the free UK magazine "The Fly" voted for Total Life Forever as the best album of 2010. A readers poll also voted for it as album of the year.

The Q Magazine's reviewer, though, expressed some doubts. Calling it "the schizophrenic second album", Rupert Howe opined that "while this album carries more instrumental and emotional heft than it's predecessor, something remains off-balance".

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Drowned in Sound UK Albums of the Year 2010 33[35]
Mojo UK Top 50 Albums of 2010 2010 25[36]
NME UK Top 75 Albums of 2010 2010 6[37]
Q UK Top 50 Albums Of 2010 2010 16[38]

Track listing

Standard edition[39]
No.TitleLength
1."Blue Blood"5:17
2."Miami"3:42
3."Total Life Forever"3:18
4."Black Gold"6:26
5."Spanish Sahara"6:28
6."This Orient"4:06
7."Fugue"0:49
8."After Glow"6:09
9."Alabaster"4:00
10."2 Trees"5:11
11."What Remains"4:37
Deluxe edition CD 2[40]
No.TitleLength
1."Bloo Blood"1:00
2."Bloo Blood 2"0:46
3."TLF"0:40
4."TLF 2"1:00
5."TLF 3"1:31
6."TLF 4"1:02
7."TLF 5"1:26
8."Black Gold //"2:53
9."Black Gold 2"8:30
10."Spanish Sahara (Sonar)"1:20
11."----"0:36
12."Alabastr"1:31
13."Two Trees"0:50
14."Two Trees 2"1:37
15."Remains"1:13

Chart performance

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[41] 83
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[42] 72
French Albums Chart[43] 38
German Albums Chart[44] 48
Greek Albums Chart[45] 21
Irish Albums Chart[46] 25
Swiss Albums Chart[47] 62
UK Albums Chart[48] 8
US Heatseekers Albums[49] 35

References

  1. ^ a b c "Foals announce new album title and tracklisting". NME. 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2010-02-24. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Foals Return". The Fly. 2009-09-30. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ a b Sclafani, Tony. "Foals: Total Life Forever". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ Benson, Nikki (2010-06-23). "Album Review: Foals – "Total Life Forever"". Seattle Showgal. Retrieved 2010-08-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ Simpson, Oli (2010-02-23). "Foals 'announce second album details'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-02-24.
  6. ^ "Mercury Prize 2010 Nominations Announced". NME. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Foals give away new album downloads". NME. 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Foals to preview new album at UK live dates". NME. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Foals playing warm up show before Blur gig". PRS for Music. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  10. ^ "Blur reveal 'Parklife' inspiration at Hyde Park gig". NME. 2009-07-02. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Foals joined by Friendly Fires star at T In The Park". NME. 2009-07-11. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Foals play new songs at London Transgressive show". NME. 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ Gregory, Jason (2010-02-24). "Foals Reveal Second Album Title And Release Date". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  14. ^ "Zane Lowe, 01/03/2010". BBC Radio 1. 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  15. ^ Murray, Robin (2010-03-01). "Foals Add Intimate UK Tour Dates". Clash. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "wearefoals's Channel". YouTube. 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  17. ^ "The A-Z of Record Store Day 2010". FACT. 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-06-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Murray, Robin (2010-02-24). "Foals Confirm Second Album Plans". Clash. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Gregory, Jason (2010-03-01). "Foals Announce May UK And Ireland Tour". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  20. ^ Michaels, Sean (2010-02-24). "Foals confirm second album title and release date". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Foals announce new single and UK and Ireland tour – ticket details". NME. 2010-03-01. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Foals Unleash New Video". MTV. 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  23. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending 15 May 2010". ChartsPlus (455). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 1. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  24. ^ "Watch Foals' transgender-featuring 'Miami' video". NME. 2010-05-25. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Heaney, Gregory. "Review: Total Life Forever". Allmusic. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  26. ^ "Clash Magazine review".
  27. ^ "Drowned in Sound review".
  28. ^ "The Fly review".
  29. ^ Costa, Maddy (2010-05-06). "The Guardian review". London.
  30. ^ Gill, Andy (2010-05-07). "The Independent review". London.
  31. ^ "NME review".
  32. ^ "Pitchfork review".
  33. ^ http://www.rocksound.tv/reviews/article/foals-total-life-forever
  34. ^ Rupert Howe. - Q Magazine, June 2010. New Albums review. Schizophrenic second album from ambitious indie-damce outfit. p. 130
  35. ^ http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4141664
  36. ^ http://spotirama.blogspot.com/2010/12/mojos-best-50-albums-of-2010.html
  37. ^ http://stereogum.com/588592/nme-top-75-albums-of-2010/top-stories/lead-story/
  38. ^ http://stereogum.com/102821/qs_50_best_albums_of_2009/list/
  39. ^ Doherty, Niall (2010-03-09). "Foals 'Total Life Forever' // First Listen". The Fly. Retrieved 2010-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ "Total Life Forever (Deluxe 2CD Edition)". Foals official website. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  41. ^ "Belgian (Flanders) album positions" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); Unknown parameter |http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret= ignored (help)
  42. ^ "Belgian (Wallonia) album positions" (in French). Ultratop 50. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); Unknown parameter |http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret= ignored (help)
  43. ^ "French album positions" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  44. ^ "German album positions" (in German). musicline.de. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  45. ^ "Greek album positions". greekcharts.com. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  46. ^ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 13 May 2010". Chart-Track. 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
  47. ^ "Swiss album positions" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  48. ^ "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending 16 May 2010". ChartsPlus (456). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd: 5. 2010-05-16. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  49. ^ "Total Life Forever - Foals". Billboard. Retrieved 2010-06-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Total_Life_Forever&oldid=406567056"