Stay Gold (Butch Walker album)
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 80/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | B+[1] |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
Stay Gold is the eighth full-length studio album from American musician Butch Walker, released on August 26, 2016 through DangerBird records in the United States[4] and Lojinx in Europe.[5] The album was announced in June of that year with the lead single “East Coast Girl”.[6]
Following his previous release, Afraid of Ghosts, an emotional album recorded after the loss of his father, Stay Gold presents a much more upbeat and optimistic outlook, with Walker saying "I spilled it all out on [Afraid of Ghosts] and it was a heavy subject. Where do you go from there? [...] It triggered a lot of bittersweet nostalgia. So I started writing about all that, and it sounded like the template should be more of a celebration, as far as the music goes."[7]
Background and production
Walker cites the 1983 film The Outsiders as a major thematic influence for the record, echoing his own small town childhood, with the title referencing the line spoken by Johnny Cade to Ponyboy Curtis, "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold."[7]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stay Gold" | Butch Walker | 3:57 |
| 2. | "East Coast Girl" | Walker | 4:18 |
| 3. | "Wilder in the Heart" | Walker | 3:49 |
| 4. | "Ludlow Expectations" | Walker | 4:47 |
| 5. | "Descending" | Walker, Ashley Monroe | 4:16 |
| 6. | "Irish Exit" | Walker | 3:58 |
| 7. | "Mexican Coke" | Walker | 4:10 |
| 8. | "Can We Just Not Talk About Last Night?" | Walker | 4:28 |
| 9. | "Spark: Lost" | Walker | 4:30 |
| 10. | "Record Store" | Walker | 4:56 |
References
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (2016-08-26). "Butch Walker's classic-rock-leaning Stay Gold is nostalgic about roads not taken". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
- ^ "Stay Gold - Butch Walker | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
- ^ Stay Gold by Butch Walker, retrieved 2016-09-28
- ^ Dangerbird. "Stay Gold". Dangerbird Records. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
- ^ "Butch Walker Stay Gold". Lojinx. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
- ^ Dangerbird. "Butch Walker To Release New Album Stay Gold on August 26". Dangerbird Records. Retrieved 2016-09-27.
- ^ a b Hudak, Joseph (August 26, 2016). "Butch Walker: Why I'll Never Make a 'Radiohead Album'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-09-27.