Razorlight (album)

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Razorlight
File:RazorlightSelftitled.jpg
Studio album by Razorlight
Released 17 July 2006
Recorded British Grove Studios, Chiswick, West London
Genre Indie rock, post-punk revival
Length 34:57
Label Mercury, Vertigo
Producer Razorlight, Chris Thomas
Razorlight chronology
Up All Night
(2004)Up All Night2004		 Razorlight
(2006)		 Slipway Fires
(2008)Slipway Fires2008
Singles from Razorlight
  1. "In the Morning"
    Released: 3 July 2006
  2. "America"
    Released: 2 October 2006
  3. "Before I Fall to Pieces"
    Released: 18 December 2006
  4. "I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got"
    Released: 19 March 2007
  5. "Hold On"
    Released: 9 July 2007

Razorlight is the self-titled second album by English indie rock band Razorlight. The album was released on 17 July 2006 in the United Kingdom and debuted at number 1 in the UK Albums Chart a week later (see 2006 in British music).

The band achieved their first and only number one hit from this album, with "America" peaking at the top of the UK Singles Chart in October 2006. The song also peaked at number 6 in Ireland, number 9 in the Netherlands, number 10 in New Zealand, number 17 in Austria, number 21 in Belgium, number 22 in France, number 29 in Switzerland and number 38 in Germany. "Before I Fall to Pieces" was a UK Top 20 hit too, as was "In the Morning". "Hold On" was a minor hit.

The album has a more mature sound than their debut, and received a mixed reception. Although it scored 8/10 in NME, it was nominated for the 'Worst Album' title at the 2007 NME Awards – award winner 'Rudebox by Robbie Williams also scored 8/10.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 60/100[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3.5/5 stars[3]
The A.V. Club B[4]
ARTISTdirect 3.5/5 stars[5]
Drowned in Sound 5/10[6]
MusicOMH 2/5 stars[7]
NME 8/10[8]
Pitchfork Media 2.8/10[9]
PopMatters 3/10[10]
Rolling Stone 2/5 stars[11]
Stylus Magazine F[12]

Razorlight received generally mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 18 reviews.[2]

Paul Stokes of NME gave high praise to the album's production and lyrics for being larger than life and containing sincere romantic tales that come after various parties, concluding that "It's [also] a record that sees Razorlight comfortably leap the "difficult second album" trap. Now that calls for a party."[8] MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic praised the band's collaboration with producer Chris Thomas of being able to craft different genres into a unique sound with sharp musicianship that helps set them apart from their contemporaries, saying that "They make honest indie rock for those looking for a solid, good song. There's no frills, no fancy production, just the purity of these songs."[3] Doug Kamin of ARTISTdirect found the album's tight and polished sheen oft-putting and its latter tracks lacking replay value but praised the first four tracks for their strong production and energetic tone, concluding that "this is ultimately going to age very well for Razorlight as they become arena rock gods in the years to come."[5]

Dan Wale of Drowned in Sound felt disappointed with the album, saying that some decent tracks can't deviate listeners away from the band's attempt at maturity that comes across more sophomoric in its new sound, saying that "This is not a great album - that needs to be said while the dust is still settling. Though it’s not bad, we have to disperse such a thick smokescreen before we can even start to ascertain its worth - any reward has already been bled out in the disparity between expectation and reality."[6] John Murphy of MusicOMH said that despite Björn Ågren's guitar work saving Johnny Borrell's subpar tales of romance and rock star glory, the album reveals poor musicianship and retreads from their debut album, saying that "It’s not so much that much of Razorlight is bad exactly, it’s just very ordinary. In deciding to ditch their more spiky side and go all out for commercial glory, the band have lost sight of what made them special in the first place."[7] Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone admired the band's basic three instrument formula to deliver catchy pop rock tracks but felt that "the overall feel still falls somewhere between sterile and silly."[11] Liz Colville of Stylus Magazine panned the album for recycling the same formula and influences found in the band's debut album and delivering it under a studio polish that feels more self-satisfied than true artistic growth, saying that, "The solipsism and trite accounts of benders from the first album are still there, but the music has gone exceedingly soft."[12]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Johnny Borrell, unless otherwise noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "In the Morning"   3:42
2. "Who Needs Love?"   3:32
3. "Hold On"   3:26
4. "America" (Borrell, Andy Burrows) 4:10
5. "Before I Fall to Pieces" (Borrell, Burrows) 3:22
6. "I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got" (Borrell, Björn Ågren) 3:26
7. "Pop Song 2006"   2:41
8. "Kirby's House"   2:51
9. "Back to the Start"   3:12
10. "Los Angeles Waltz"   4:39
11. "Keep the Right Profile" (iTunes Store bonus track) 3:28

Singles

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[13] 29
French Albums (SNEP)[14] 34
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[15] 39
Irish Albums (IRMA)[16] 2
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] 33
UK Albums (OCC)[18] 1
US Billboard 200[19] 180

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] 5× Platinum 1,500,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Credits

  • Produced by Chris Thomas except "America" produced by Razorlight
  • Engineered by Jamie Johnson except "America" engineered by Sean Miller
  • Assisted by Richard Cooper
  • Recorded at British Grove Studios, London
  • Additional engineering by Chris Thomas
  • Mixed by Jeremy Wheatley
  • Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Ltd.
  • Management by Roger Morton
  • Cover photography by Max Vadukul
  • Other photography by Jill Furmanovsky

Release details

Country Date Label Format Catalog
Japan 2006-07-12 Universal International CD UICR-1048
United Kingdom 2006-07-17 Mercury, Vertigo Records LP 6 02517 01090 1
CD 6 02517 01284 4
CD / DVD 6 02517 01290 5
United States 2006-08-22 Universal Motown, Vertigo Records CD B0007215-02 / 6 02517 03360 3
CD / DVD B0007430-10 / 6 02517 03795 3

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Razorlight – Razorlight". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  14. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Razorlight – Razorlight". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  15. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 29, 2006". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  17. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Razorlight – Razorlight". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "Razorlight | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  19. ↑ "Razorlight – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Razorlight. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Razorlight in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
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