Tourist (Athlete album)

Tourist was the second album by English rock band Athlete, released in January 2005. For this album, Athlete demonstrate a more mature musical style, creating a more stripped-down, sombre and reflective album than their first album Vehicles & Animals.

Tourist
Studio album by Athlete
Released	31 January 2005
Recorded	Autumn 2003–Winter 2004/05
Genre	Indie rock
Length	46:15
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Victor Van Vugt, John Cornfield, Athlete
Athlete chronology
Vehicles & Animals (2003) Tourist (2005) Beyond the Neighbourhood (2007)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	46/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
NME	6/10
Allmusic	[2]
Entertainment.ie	[3]
Pitchfork Media	(3.6/10) [4]
PopMatters	(3/10) [5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
Yahoo! Music	Favorable[7]

The first single from the album, "Wires", became the biggest hit so far for the band when it entered the UK Singles Chart at number 4. The album also fared well in the charts, reaching the top of the UK Albums Chart the week it was released, selling 89,000 copies. Despite this success, Tourist had a mixed critical reception, with some suggesting that Athlete had failed to sustain the unique style of their previous album, while others saw the new album as a logical progression from their old sound. Despite the mainstream breakthrough the band achieved with this album, their fanbase was reduced to a mere cult when follow-up Beyond the Neighbourhood became their smallest-seller.

At the end of 2005, Tourist became the 32nd best-selling album of the year in the UK, and "Wires" was the 89th best-selling single.

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

In 2010, "Chances" was featured in the Doctor Who Series 5 episode, "Vincent and the Doctor".

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Chances"	4:50
2.	"Half Light"	3:41
3.	"Tourist"	3:57
4.	"Trading Air"	4:27
5.	"Wires"	4:20
6.	"If I Found Out"	5:02
7.	"Yesterday Threw Everything at Me"	3:45
8.	"Street Map"	4:38
9.	"Modern Mafia"	2:45
10.	"Twenty Four Hours"	5:01
11.	"I Love"	3:49
12.	"Lay Your Head" (Bonus track on the Japanese edition.)	4:55

Bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wires" (video)
2.	"Tourist" (Behind the Scenes Documentary)
3.	"Wires" (live video – Shepherds Bush 2004)
4.	"Tourist" (live video – Shepherds Bush 2004)
5.	"New Project" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)
6.	"Vehicles and Animals" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)
7.	"You Got the Style" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)
8.	"Shake Those Windows" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)

Singles

UK Singles Chart[8]
Title	Released	Peak Position
"Wires"	17 January 2005	4
"Half Light"	25 April 2005	16
"Tourist"	15 August 2005	43
"Twenty Four Hours" "Stand in the Sun"	14 November 2005	42

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom	31 January 2005	Parlophone	LP	5607401 / 7243 5 60740 1 9
			CD	5607402 / 7243 5 60740 2 6
			CD / DVD	5637040 / 7243 5 63704 0 1
Australia	21 February 2005	Capitol Records	CD	5638612
Japan	23 February 2005	Toshiba-EMI	CD	TOCP 66347 / 4988006826823
	6 July 2005		CD	TOCP 66405
United States	12 April 2005	Astralwerks	CD / DVD	ASW 60954 /
	10 May 2005		CD	ASW 73951 / 7243 8 73951 2 1

References

1. http://www.metacritic.com/music/tourist
2. Loftus, Johnny. "Athlete: Tourist [CD & DVD] at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
3. Lynch, Andrew (24 January 2005). "Athlete - Tourist". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
4. Moerder, Adam (3 February 2005). "Athlete: Tourist". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
5. Begrand, Adrien (19 April 2005). "Athlete: Tourist". PopMatters. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
6. Hoard, Christian (5 May 2005). "Athlete: Tourist". Rolling Stone. Straight Arrow. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007.
7. O'Connor, Rob (8 September 2005). "Tourist". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 22 December 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
8. "Athlete". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2011.