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Euphoric Heartbreak

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic58/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
BBC Music(positive)[4]
Clash(9/10)[5]
The Daily Telegraph[6]
Drowned in Sound(7/10)[7]
The Evening Standard[8]
The Guardian[9]
NME(9/10)[10]
Pitchfork Media(4.1/10)[11]
The Scotsman[12]

Euphoric Heartbreak (stylized as EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\) is the second studio album by Scottish rock group Glasvegas, which was released on 4 April 2011 by Columbia Records. It reached No.10 in the UK and No.1 in Sweden. The album was written, demoed and tracked by James Allan in a luxury beach house in Santa Monica, California before full production and final recording took place in London and Glasgow. The album was produced by Flood[13] and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer. The song "The World is Yours" features on EA Sports' FIFA 12. The album sold fifty thousand units, considerably fewer than their debut album. The muted commercial response supports the belief that indie rock music is enduring a "slow and painful death."[14]

Pre-release

After recording was finished Glasvegas opened 2011 with an 8 date tour of Scotland which took the band to places in Scotland that are normally missed out by touring bands. The tour took in Kirkwall, Wick, Forres, Oban, Dunoon, Troon, Hawick and Dunfermline. The band announced these intimate dates to ensure that Scotland would be the first to hear the new music. The tour received positive critical reviews with Simon Price of The Independent on Sunday quoting that "Glasvegas are still – and we desperately need this right now – a band to believe in".[15] The band also announced a showcase tour planned around smaller venues in March 2011 with several dates selling out within hours of going on sale followed by an Academy size tour planned for April/May 2011 to promote the new album.

Columbia Records were extremely pleased with the quality of songs delivered by the band and the fact it was a marked departure from the debut album. The marketing campaign kicked off alongside the tour in January 2011 with a free track giveaway and the track chosen was the second track on the album "The World Is Yours".[16] However the band wanted something more substantial than just a free giveaway and the label eventually agreed to creating an "Album Trailer Movie"[17] as well.

Release and reception

Glasvegas's second album Euphoric Heartbreak was released on 4 April 2011 reaching No.10 in the UK and No.1 in Sweden. The album polarised opinion, some reviews criticised the band for being too bold and that the album was too big a departure from their debut whilst others praised this move forward and the high quality songwriting the album contained. Initial reviews of the album were generally positive with the Daily Record declaring it "the album of the year!"[18] NME gave the album 9/10, and wrote that; "Turning pain into joy is the stuff that dreams are made of for an album as thrillingly ambitious as it is enigmatic".[19] Clash magazine praised the band for delivering a more accomplished sound by reassuringly admitting "pioneers they remain".[20] The BBC declared the album "a triumph" despite all the upheavel with the band in 2010.[21]

However, the album garnered negative opinions such as Pitchfork, who felt the album was "too bombastic and that it simply numbs you with 50 minutes of novocaine for the soul."[22] While PopMatters gave the album 5/10 and said that the "album smears together into one gigantic well-produced stadium anthem, shining like the night sky while remaining just as inert".[23] The Guardian awarded the album 3/5 but felt "they were still waiting on an undeniable triumph from Glasvegas".[24] Furthermore, The Independent gave the album 2/5, saying it was "insubstantial" and that "as with bad acting, it's not persuasive enough to make one care."[25]

On 16 September 2011 it was announced that the band's song "The World Is Yours" (the second listed track) from Euphoric Heartbreak would be featured on the soundtrack to the FIFA 12 video game.[26]

A free download of "The World Is Yours" was made available on Glasvegas' official website on 16 January 2011. It was also revealed that the opening track "Pain Pain, Never Again" is a spoken word piece, and likewise the final track "Change" features James Allan's mother performing a small spoken word piece. According to James Allan, the forward and backward slashes contained in the album title represent "the ascent, the crest of a wave, and then the crash."[13] I Feel Wrong (Homosexuality Pt:1) and Stronger Than Dirt (Homosexuality Pt:2) were also key tracks on the album.

Singles

The band released their first official single from the album, "Euphoria, Take My Hand" on 28 March 2011.

Artwork

The USA release of the album features a photo of Allan's mother on the cover instead of Marilyn Monroe.

Track listing

All tracks are written by James Allan

No.TitleLength
1."Pain Pain, Never Again"2:59
2."The World Is Yours"4:53
3."You"4:29
4."Shine Like Stars"3:36
5."Whatever Hurts You Through the Night"4:38
6."Stronger Than Dirt (Homosexuality Pt. 2)"3:46
7."Dream Dream Dreaming"5:17
8."I Feel Wrong (Homosexuality Pt. 1)"5:08
9."Euphoria, Take My Hand"4:33
10."Lots Sometimes"7:11
11."Change"3:13
Bonus tracks
iTunes edition
No.TitleLength
12."Euphoria, Take My Hand (Santa Monica Demo)"5:51

Chart performance

Country Peak
position 		Certification Sales
Sweden 1
United Kingdom 10
Norway 26
Ireland 41
Switzerland 41
Finland 48
Belgium 98
Spain 100

References

  1. ^ "Glasvegas Singer Missing". Clash. Retrieved 5 April 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Metacritic - Euphoric Heartbreak". metacritic. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  3. ^ Allmusic review
  4. ^ BBC Music review
  5. ^ Clash review
  6. ^ The Daily Telegraph review
  7. ^ Drowned in Sound review
  8. ^ The Evening Standard
  9. ^ The Guardian review
  10. ^ NME review
  11. ^ Pitchfork review
  12. ^ The Scotsman review
  13. ^ a b "Glasvegas Ready With Second Album". Music Snobbery. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  14. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (16 January 2012). "Indie rock's slow and painful death". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Glasvegas, Concert Hall, Troon". The Independent. 16 January 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  16. ^ "The World Is Yours Free Giveaway". Universal Music Publishing. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  17. ^ "Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\ Album Trailer". James Allan/UMPG. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  18. ^ McMonagle, Mickey (20 February 2011). "Track by Track Guide". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  19. ^ MacKay, Emily (1 April 2011). "NME Review: Euphoric /// Heartbreak \\\". NME. London. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  20. ^ C, T (4 April 2011). "Glasvegas Review: EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\". Clash Music. London. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  21. ^ Denney, Alex (25 March 2011). "Glasvegas EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ Review". BBC Music. London. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  22. ^ Cohen, Ian (11 April 2011). "Glasvegas EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ Review". Pitchfork. United States. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
  23. ^ Langhoff, Josh (14 April 2011). "Glasvegas EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ Review". PopMatters. United States. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  24. ^ Hann, Michael (30 March 2011). "Glasvegas EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ Review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  25. ^ Gill, Andy (31 March 2013). "Glasvegas EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ Review". The Independent. London. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  26. ^ "FIFA 12 – FULL SOUNDTRACK REVEALED". EA Sports. London & Los Angeles. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
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