All Things Bright and Beautiful (album)

All Things Bright and Beautiful is the third studio album by the American electronica project Owl City. It was released on June 14, 2011, by Universal Republic Records.[6] Despite receiving mixed critical reviews, it became a commercial success, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 200.

All Things Bright and Beautiful
Studio album by
Owl City
ReleasedJune 14, 2011
StudioSky Harbor Studios, Owatonna, Minnesota
GenreSynth-pop, indietronica
Length41:22
LabelUniversal Republic
ProducerAdam Young
Owl City chronology
Ocean Eyes
(2009)		 All Things Bright and Beautiful
(2011)		 Shooting Star
(2012)
Singles from All Things Bright and Beautiful
  1. "Alligator Sky"
    Released: April 12, 2011[1]
  2. "Galaxies"
    Released: April 19, 2011[2]
  3. "Deer in the Headlights"
    Released: May 23, 2011[3]
  4. "Lonely Lullaby"
    Released: July 19, 2011[4]
  5. "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust"
    Released: October 10, 2011[5]

The album's title is based on the hymn of the same name.[7]

Writing and development

The album sees for the most part Adam Young staying true to his synth-pop roots; however, he also dabbles in indie rock, folk, European trance on "Galaxies" and rap on "Alligator Sky". Guest musicians on the album include Shawn Chrystopher, Matthew Thiessen, Lights, Breanne Düren and Adam Young's mother, Joan Young.

The album was originally planned to have a worldwide release date of May 24, 2011.[8] It was then changed to May 17.[9] On April 6, however, Young posted on his official site that the release date had been bumped to June 14, 2011.[10] He stated that the reason for this was, "In an attempt to better connect the dots and ensure that every cloud in the sky is stitched together with its own special silver lining", and "with school finally out for the summer, it'll be a perfect time to sit back and watch the fireworks." Along with this post were previews of four tracks from the new album, each being 1:30 long. The previews posted were of "Alligator Sky" (featuring Shawn Chrystopher), "Deer in the Headlights", "Galaxies" and "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust".

On the introductory track to "Galaxies", entitled "January 28, 1986" (the date of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster), Ronald Reagan's State of the Union speech is sampled.

Singles

The first official single released from the album was "Alligator Sky", which features Californian rapper Shawn Chrystopher, was released on March 22, 2011. There are currently four versions of the track. The first version features Shawn Chrystopher, the second features different lyrics and Chrystopher's vocals are omitted, a third version featuring Atlanta rapper B.o.B leaked online,[11] and finally a fourth version featuring vocals from Big Boi of Atlanta hip hop duo Outkast also leaked onto the internet.[12]

An exclusive single, "Lonely Lullaby", was released to all members of Owl City Galaxy, a club that you automatically became a part of when you pre-ordered the album. The song mentions an "Annmarie" many times, a reference to Adam Young's ex-girlfriend, Annmarie Monson. This song, however, is not actually part of the album. The app was discontinued in mid-2013.

On April 19, 2011, "Galaxies" was released as the second single from the album, and was made available for purchase and download on iTunes. It is the band's highest charting single on Billboard Christian Song Chart, peaking at No. 39,[13] and surpassing Fireflies, which peaked at No. 44 (2010).[14] It has since then re-entered the chart at No. 48 in the week of September 24, 2011.[13]

The third single to be released was "Deer in the Headlights",[3] released on May 24, 2011 (but as an iTunes exclusive, was made available for download the previous day). The single was announced in a different way than what is considered traditional. Starting May 16, 2011, every day of that week part of the song would be added to the sneak peek.[15] It was originally just called "New Song", and fans had to guess the new song. The first part of the song to be released were the drums, followed by the addition of bass, guitar, synthesizer, and vocals over the next four days. On the final day, the title for the song was announced. Electropop artist Lights made an appearance in the music video.[16]

"Lonely Lullaby" was released as a single on July 19, 2011, making it officially available to people outside of Owl City Galaxy. The song has been a surprising success, being one of the higher charting singles.

Young confirmed that "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust" would be the next single from the album, although it was uncertain if it would be released in the UK only.[17]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]
Consequence of SoundD[19]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[20]
The Guardian[21]
IGN8/10[22]
Jesus Freak Hideout[23]
NewsdayA−[24]
Rolling Stone[25]
Spin5/10[26]
USA Today[27]

All Things Bright and Beautiful has received mixed reviews, gaining a 49/100 score from Metacritic,[28] an 8/10 score from IGN[29] and a score of 5/10 from Spin.[30]

Commercial performance

In the US, the album debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart selling 48,000 copies.[31] In Germany, the album only reached No. 69 for one week before falling off the chart, charting lower than Ocean Eyes, which charted for 9 weeks and peaked at No. 7.[32] In the United Kingdom, the album reached No. 30 in the midweek chart on June 23, only to fall off before the official chart later in the week.[33] In Canada, Ocean Eyes peaked at No. 7, and stayed in the top 75 for 14 weeks.[34] To date, the album has sold around 120,000 copies in the US.[35]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Adam Young, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Real World" 3:34
2."Deer in the Headlights" 3:00
3."Angels" 3:40
4."Dreams Don't Turn to Dust" 3:44
5."Honey and the Bee" (featuring Breanne Düren) 3:44
6."Kamikaze" 3:27
7."January 28, 1986" (Intro to "Galaxies") 0:37
8."Galaxies" 4:03
9."Hospital Flowers" 3:39
10."Alligator Sky" (featuring Shawn Chrystopher)Adam Young, Shawn Chrystopher3:05
11."The Yacht Club" (featuring Lights) 4:32
12."Plant Life"Adam Young, Matthew Thiessen4:10
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."How I Became the Sea"4:25
14."Alligator Sky" (No Rap version)3:15
Owl City Galaxy bonus track
No.TitleLength
1."Lonely Lullaby"4:28
German iTunes and Japanese edition bonus tracks[36]
No.TitleLength
13."How I Became the Sea"4:25
14."Shy Violet"3:49
15."To the Sky"3:40
Taiwan edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Alligator Sky" (No Rap version)4:28

Personnel

Owl City

  • Adam Young – vocals, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitars, bass, drums, programming, percussion, glockenspiel, marimba, accordion, producer, engineer, art direction, audio mixer

Additional musicians and production

  • Breanne Düren – additional vocals on track 5
  • Shawn Chrystopher – additional vocals on track 10
  • Lights – additional vocals on track 11
  • Joan Young – backing vocals on track 9
  • Matthew Thiessen – backing vocals on track 12
  • Laura Musten – violin on tracks 4, 6, 10 & 13
  • Hannah Schroeder – cello on tracks 6, 7, 10 & 13
  • Daniel Jorgensen – vibraphone on tracks 4 & 7
  • Steve Bursky – producer, management & hand claps on track 5
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • StudioAKT – art direction
  • Jack Joseph Puig – audio mixer
  • Joe Corey – audio mixer assistant

Charts
gollark: I imagine it was cave-caught, so I'll just refresh around xx:00 and xx:05.
gollark: _doesn't_
gollark: I got it down to between xx:00 and xx:06.
gollark: I mean, I'd prefer it *not* die. It's a siyat.
gollark: Wait, you need to get it *that* accurately? Timing my experiment is going to be !!FUN!!.

References
  1. "Alligator Sky – Single by Owl City – Download Alligator Sky – Single on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Archived from the original on January 30, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  2. "Galaxies – Single by Owl City – Download Galaxies – Single on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  3. "Deer In The Headlights: Owl City: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  4. "iTunes – Music – Lonely Lullaby – Single by Owl City". Itunes.apple.com. July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  5. "We talk to Owl City's Adam Young about dreams, crabs and Taylor Swift". Sugarscape. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  6. "iTunes – Music – All Things Bright and Beautiful (Bonus Track Version) by Owl City". Itunes.apple.com. June 10, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  7. "Song Facts' interview with Adam Young of Owl City". songfacts.com. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  8. "Indie Vision Music". Indie Vision Music. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  9. "AltPress". AltPress. February 28, 2011. Archived from the original on May 3, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  10. "OWL CITY Official Site". Owlcitymusic.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  11. MzHipHop3 (April 29, 2011). "Owl City Feat. B.o.B. – Alligator Sky (New 2011)!!". YouTube. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  12. Exclusive: Big Boi enhances Owl City's new single 'Alligator Sky' | MediaFandom.com
  13. "Owl City Music News & Info". Billboard. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
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  26. Walters, Brian (May 27, 2011). "Owl City, 'All Things Bright and Beautiful' (Universal Republic)". Spin. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
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