- Slave Ambient
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Slave Ambient 
Studio album by The War on Drugs Released August 16, 2011 Recorded 2008–2011[1] Genre Rock Length 42:53 Label Secretly Canadian Producer Jeff Zeigler, Adam Granduciel The War on Drugs chronology Future Weather
(2010)Slave Ambient
(2011)Slave Ambient is the second studio album by the American indie rock band The War on Drugs, released on August 16, 2011, by Secretly Canadian. Recording sessions for the album took place at Granduciel's home studio in Philly, Jeff Ziegler's Uniform Recording and Echo Mountain in Asheville, NC, during 2008–2011.[2]
Contents
Track listing
Track listing was confirmed by Amazon.com[3] and Allmusic.[2]
No. Title Music Length 1. "Best Night" Adam Granduciel 5:30 2. "Brothers" David Hartley 4:28 3. "I Was There" Granduciel 3:49 4. "Your Love Is Calling My Name" Granduciel 6:01 5. "The Animator" Granduciel 2:16 6. "Come to the City" Hartley 4:31 7. "Come for It" Granduciel 0:27 8. "It's Your Destiny" 4:49 9. "City Reprise #12" Granduciel 3:05 10. "Baby Missiles" Granduciel 3:33 11. "Original Slave" Granduciel 3:11 12. "Black Water Falls" Granduciel 5:10 Total length:42:53 Reception
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating The A.V. Club (A-)[4] Allmusic 
[2]BBC Music (favorable)[5] Boston Globe (favorable)[6] The Guardian [7]Pitchfork Media (8.3/10)[8] Slant Magazine [9]Spin (7/10)[10] Upon release, Slave Ambient received general acclaim from music critics.[11] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average of 81, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[11]
Stuart Berman of Pitchfork Media gave the album a positive review, writing "The really amazing thing about the album is how anthemic and affirming it feels despite the near total absence of proper sing-along choruses." The album also received a "Best New Music" designation from the site.[8] The A.V. Club's Steven Hyden also gave the album a positive review, writing "With Adam Granduciel’s Dylan-esque drawl and a small orchestra of shimmering, vaguely noodly guitars as the group’s sonic trademarks, The War On Drugs is an unabashed trad-rock outfit. But Slave Ambient doesn’t recall the past so much as a bright, unexpected future, where bands like this inexplicably are still dreaming in new, refreshingly outsized ways."[4] BBC's Lou Thomas called the songs on the album "memorable," concluding his review with "Slave Ambient as a whole may be more confused than your average reality show star at a Mensa meeting, but it’s full of decent songs with a lot of heart."[5]
In a more mixed review, Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole wrote "Too often, ambient passages like 'The Animator' and 'City Reprise' sound too obviously like interludes intended to fill space between real songs, rather than finished compositions in their own right." However, Cole concluded his review with: "...War on Drugs is a well-studied rock crew with an honest experimental streak, unfazed by the fact that relatively few of their potential fans will count Nebraska and Daydream Nation among their favorite records. But with a little more time to perfect their style, the War on Drugs would be well-positioned to win converts for both camps, and also their own."[9] In another mixed review, Now's Richard Trapunski wrote: "It’s easy to get lost in the pleasant, euphoric drone, but at 47 minutes the album is more of a marathon than a sprint."[12] Spin gave the album a score of 7/10, writing, "Main man Adam Granduciel gets plenty of Dylan comparisons, but Slave Ambient feels like a more back-alley Byrds filtered through a gauzier Spacemen 3 lens."[10]
Personnel
The following people contributed to Slave Ambient:[13]
The War on Drugs
- Robbie Bennett - Arp Omni, Guitar (Acoustic), Piano
- Adam Granduciel - Composer, Engineer, Photography, Producer
- Dave Hartley - Bass, Drums, Electric Autoharp, Engineer, Fender Stratocaster, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Nashville)
- Steven Urgo - Drums
Additional personnel
- John Ashley - Engineer
- John Congleton - Engineer
- Paul Gold - Mastering
- Michael Johnson - Drums, Engineer, Eventide, Modular Moog, Treatments
- Brian McTear - Mixing
- Daniel Murphy - Design
- Kim Roney - Piano
- Jeff Ryan - Drums
- Chad Stockslager - Bass (Upright)
- Jesse Trbovich - Saxophone
- Kurt Vile - Guitar (Electric)
- Mike Zanghi - Drums, Percussion
- Jeff Zeigler - Drum Programming, Engineer, Producer
Charts
Chart (2011) Peak
positionUS Top Heatseekers 4[14] US Independent Albums 27[14] References
- ^ The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient :: Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian, Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ a b c Slave Ambient - The War on Drugs Allmusic, Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ Amazon.com: Slave Ambient: The War On Drugs: Music Amazon.com Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ a b Hyden, Steven The War On Drugs: Slave Ambient | Music | Music Review. The A.V. Club, August 16, 2011, Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ a b Thomes, Lou Review of The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient BBC Music, August 12, 2011, Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ Brusie, David ’80s influences with contemporary beat on the War on Drugs’ ‘Slave Ambient’ Boston Globe, August 16, 2011, Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ Empire, Kitty. The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient – review. The Guardian. 14 August 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ a b Berman, Stuart. The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient. Pitchfork Media. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ a b Cole, Matthew. The War on Drugs: Slave Ambient. Slant Magazine. 14 August 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ a b Modell, Josh. Mates of State, 'Slave Ambient'. Spin.
- ^ a b Slave Ambient Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More Metacritic, Retrieved on August 28, 2011
- ^ Trapunski, Richard. The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient. Now. August 11–18, 2011. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ Slave Ambient - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ a b Slave Ambient - Charts & Awards. Allmusic. Retrieved 5 September 2011
External links
- Secretly Canadian's page on Slave Ambient
- Progress Report: The War On Drugs. Stereogum interview on the recording of Slave Ambient.
Categories:- Secretly Canadian albums
- 2011 albums
- Rock albums
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