Noble Beast
Noble Beast | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by Andrew Bird | ||||
Released | January 20, 2009 | |||
Genre | Baroque pop | |||
Length | 54:17 | |||
Label | Fat Possum (US) Bella Union (UK) | |||
Andrew Bird chronology | ||||
|
Noble Beast is the fifth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, and his eighth overall. It was released on January 20, 2009.[1] Two songs from this album were previewed on his webpage; "Oh No" and "Carrion Suite", while the entire album was made available by NPR[2] as a streaming feed. Noble Beast was made available as a standard CD release, a special limited-edition deluxe two-CD package and a double-LP package.
The track "Tenuousness" appears in the closing credits for the 2011 movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 79/100[3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The A.V. Club | (B+)[5] |
Drowned in Sound | (9/10)[6] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
LA Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Paste | (6.7/10)[9] |
Tiny Mix Tapes | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork Media | (7.5/10)[11] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Skinny | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin | (7/10)[14] |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The album received a Metacritic score of 79 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.[3]
The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 12, and No. 3 on the Top Rock Albums Albums chart,[16] selling 26,000 copies in the first week.[17] The album has sold 150,000 copies in the United States as of December 2011[update].[18]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Andrew Bird, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Oh No" | 4:20 | |
2. | "Masterswarm" | 6:35 | |
3. | "Fitz and the Dizzyspells" | 3:36 | |
4. | "Effigy" | 5:06 | |
5. | "Tenuousness" | 3:51 | |
6. | "Nomenclature" | 2:54 | |
7. | "Ouo" | 0:20 | |
8. | "Not a Robot, but a Ghost" | Bird, Martin Dosh | 5:37 |
9. | "Unfolding Fans" | Bird, Jeremy Ylvisaker | 0:57 |
10. | "Anonanimal" | 4:47 | |
11. | "Natural Disaster" | 4:18 | |
12. | "The Privateers" | 3:24 | |
13. | "Souverian" | 7:18 | |
14. | "On Ho" | 1:08 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
15. | "Section 8 City" (iTunes only bonus track) | 7:41 |
16. | "10-you-us" (iTunes pre-order only bonus track) | |
17. | "Take Courage" (eMusic only bonus track) | 6:51 |
Other appearances
- "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" samples from the song "First Impossible," which appears on Dosh's album Wolves and Wishes.
- "The Privateers" uses the same lyrics as "The Confession," a song appearing on Oh! The Grandeur by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire.
- A different version of "Section 8 City" appears on Fingerlings 4.
Useless Creatures (Deluxe edition bonus disc)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c7/Noblebeast_deluxe_cover.jpg/220px-Noblebeast_deluxe_cover.jpg)
The limited edition of Noble Beast shipped with a companion disc of instrumental songs, entitled Useless Creatures.[19] This collection was made available on Bird's website in early January, before the album's release. Noble Beast / Useless Creatures was deleted after a single run, both in the US and the UK, exclusively.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Master Sigh" | 2:17 |
2. | "You Woke Me Up!" | 7:24 |
3. | "Nyatiti" | 4:01 |
4. | "The Barn Tapes" | 10:12 |
5. | "Carrion Suite" | 9:39 |
6. | "Spinney" | 0:45 |
7. | "Dissent" | 3:54 |
8. | "Hot Math" | 7:18 |
9. | "Sigh Master" | 5:32 |
Personnel
- Andrew Bird – violin, vocals, whistling, guitar
- Martin Dosh – percussion, looping, keys
- Jeremy Ylvislaker – guitar, bass, organ, shortwave
- Kelly Hogan – background vocals
- Mike Lewis – clarinet
- Todd Sickafoose – double bass
- Ben Martin – cardboard box drums
- Tony Crow – juno
Charts
Chart (2009) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] | 77 |
French Albums (SNEP)[21] | 62 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] | 64 |
US Billboard 200[23] | 12 |
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[24] | 2 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25] | 1 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26] | 3 |
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[27] | 2 |
References
- ^ Paul Thompson, "Andrew Bird to Unleash Noble Beast on New Album" Archived October 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, pitchforkmedia.com, October 3, 2008.
- ^ "Exclusive First Listen: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'". NPR.
- ^ a b "Noble Beast by Andrew Bird". Metacritic.
- ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1468944/review
- ^ "Andrew Bird: Noble Beast". AV Club. 27 January 2009.
- ^ Skinner, James (2009-02-02). "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
- ^ Costa, Maddy (30 January 2009). "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
- ^ Brown, August (January 20, 2009). "Album review: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Andrew Bird: Noble Beast". Past Magazine.
- ^ "Music Review: Andrew Bird – Noble Beast".
- ^ Tangari, Joe (January 22, 2009). "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Pitchfork.
- ^ Hermes, Will (January 20, 2009). "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009.
- ^ Watson, Gillian. "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". The Skinny.
- ^ Suarez, Jessica (27 December 2008). "Andrew Bird, 'Noble Beast' (Fat Possum)". SPIN.
- ^ McKay, Alastair. "Album Review: Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Uncut. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010.
- ^ "Top Rock Albums". Billboard. February 7, 2009.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (March 14, 2012). "Bruce Springsteen Squeaks By Adele, Earns Tenth No. 1 Album". Billboard.
- ^ "ANDREW BIRD to release 'Break It Yourself' in March 2012". Bella Union. December 8, 2011.
- ^ "Andrew Bird new album release moved up". NME. 26 November 2008.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Andrew Bird – Noble Beast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Andrew Bird – Noble Beast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Andrew Bird Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
- ^ "Andrew Bird Chart History (Digital Albums)".[dead link] Billboard.
- ^ "Andrew Bird Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "Andrew Bird Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "Andrew Bird Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
- v
- t
- e
- Music of Hair (1996)
- Weather Systems (2003)
- Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)
- Armchair Apocrypha (2007)
- Noble Beast (2009)
- Break It Yourself (2012)
- Hands of Glory (2012)
- Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of… (2014)
- Echolocations: Canyon (2015)
- Are You Serious (2016)
- Echolocations: River (2017)
- My Finest Work Yet (2019)
- Hark! (2020)
- Inside Problems (2022)
- Outside Problems (2023)
- Sunday Morning Put-On (2024)
- Thrills (1998)
- Oh! The Grandeur (1999)
- The Swimming Hour (2001)
- Fingerlings (2002)
- Fingerlings 2 (2004)
- Fingerlings 3 (2006)
- Fingerlings 4 (2010)
- The Ballad of the Red Shoes (2002)
- Soldier On (2007)
- Fitz and the Dizzy Spells (2009)
- I Want to See Pulaski at Night (2013)
- These 13 (2021)