Total Life Forever

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Total Life Forever
A number of people are swimming under water.
Studio album by Foals
Released 10 May 2010 (2010-05-10)[1]
Recorded September 2009[2]
Svenska Grammofon Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden[3]
Genre Indie rock, post-rock[4]
Length 50:21
Label Transgressive, Sub Pop
Producer Luke Smith[1]
Foals chronology
Antidotes
(2008)Antidotes2008		 Total Life Forever
(2010)		 Holy Fire
(2013)String Module Error: Match not found2013
Singles from Total Life Forever
  1. "Spanish Sahara"
    Released: 17 April 2010
  2. "This Orient"
    Released: 3 May 2010
  3. "Miami"
    Released: 4 July 2010
  4. "Blue Blood"
    Released: 8 November 2010

Total Life Forever is the second studio album by British indie rock band Foals, released on 10 May 2010 through Transgressive Records.[5] Prior to the album's release, the band described it as sounding "like the dream of an eagle dying".[6] It was produced by Luke Smith,[1] and was recorded at Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg.[3] Upon its release, the album charted in numerous countries worldwide, including number eight in the UK Albums Chart.

Promotion and release

File:Foals Hyde Park.jpg
Foals supporting Blur in Hyde Park, London, 2 July 2009

In January 2009, the band released three semi-instrumental segments of tracks through the band's MySpace profile, giving an insight into the band's recording process.[7] A short three date tour of the United Kingdom took place in April 2009.[8]

During July 2009, the band played an intimate show for Rockfeedback, as a warm up for future festival shows and a chance to debut songs from their second album.[9] On 2 July, the band supported Blur during their reunion show in Hyde Park, London, playing an untitled new song which frontman Yannis Philippakis stated was unfinished.[10] Later the same month, the band appeared at the 2009 T in the Park festival, performing new songs "Total Life Forever" and "Dirty Waves". Both songs had been previously aired during the band's appearance at The Breeders-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May 2009.[11] In September 2009, the band performed at London's Heaven as part of Transgressive Records' fifth anniversary, performing new songs "Spanish Sahara", "Death Surf" and one other untitled track.[12]

The album's title was revealed on 24 February 2010.[13] Zane Lowe premiered the promotional track "Spanish Sahara" on BBC Radio 1, naming the track his "Hottest Record in the World" for 1 March 2010.[14] From 8pm the same day, a remix of the track was made available to download from Foals' official website.[15] The accompanying video was added to Foals' YouTube page on 2 March 2010.[16] A limited number vinyl of "Spanish Sahara" was released on 17 April 2010, to mark the 2010 Record Store Day.[17] In support of the album, the band announced a fourteen date tour of Europe throughout April–May 2010, including dates in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and the United Kingdom.[18][19] These were the band's first live performances of the year.[20]

Following "Spanish Sahara"'s limited release, the album's first official single was announced as "This Orient", released on 3 May 2010.[21][22] The track reached number 97 on the UK Singles Chart.[23] Second single "Miami" was then released on 4 July 2010.[24] It reached No. 127 on the same chart. Third single "Blue Blood" was released on 8 November 2010.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 78/100
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[25]
Clash (8/10)[26]
Drowned in Sound (7/10)[27]
The Fly 5/5 stars[28]
The Guardian 4/5 stars[29]
The Independent 3/5 stars[30]
NME (8/10)[31]
Pitchfork Media (7.6/10)[32]
Rock Sound (8/10)[33]
Q Magazine[34] 4/5 stars

Total Life Forever was very well received; many commented how the band's music has matured from their debut album. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[35]

The Q Magazine's reviewer, though, expressed some doubts. Calling it "the schizophrenic second album", Rupert Howe opined that "while this album carries more instrumental and emotional heft than its predecessor, something remains off-balance".[34]

Besides being shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize,[36] Total Life Forever brought the band several nominations for the 2011 NME awards, including best album, best track ("Spanish Sahara") and best album artwork.[37]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Drowned in Sound UK Albums of the Year 2010 33[38]
Mojo UK Top 50 Albums of 2010 2010 25[39]
NME UK Top 75 Albums of 2010 2010 6[40]
Q UK Top 50 Albums of 2010 2010 16[41]

The writers and editors of the free UK magazine "The Fly" voted for Total Life Forever as the best album of 2010. A readers poll also voted for it as album of the year.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Foals. 

No. Title Length
1. "Blue Blood"   5:17
2. "Miami"   3:42
3. "Total Life Forever"   3:18
4. "Black Gold"   6:26
5. "Spanish Sahara"   6:46
6. "This Orient"   4:06
7. "Fugue"   0:49
8. "After Glow"   6:09
9. "Alabaster"   4:00
10. "2 Trees"   5:11
11. "What Remains"   4:37
Total length:
 50:21

Chart performance

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[43] 83
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[44] 72
French Albums Chart[45] 38
German Albums Chart[46] 48
Greek Albums Chart[47] 21
Irish Albums Chart[48] 25
Swiss Albums Chart[49] 62
UK Albums Chart[50] 8
US Heatseekers Albums[51] 35

Personnel

Foals
  • Yannis Philippakis – vocals, guitar, drums
  • Jack Bevan – drums
  • Jimmy Smith – guitar
  • Walter Gervers – bass, backing vocals
  • Edwin Congreave – keyboard, backing vocals
Additional musicians
  • Caroline Wickberg – additional vocals on "Black Gold" and "This Orient"
Technical personnel
  • Foals – art direction
  • Big Active – artwork
  • Foals – artwork
  • Tinhead – artwork
  • Ferg Peterkin – engineering, programming
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Steve Gullick – photography
  • Dave Ma – photography
  • Luke Smith – producer
  • Mike Crossey – producer, recording assistant on "Blue Blood"
  • Daniel Rejmer – engineering on "Spanish Sahara"
  • Catherine Marks – engineering, mixing on "Spanish Sahara"
  • Alan Moulder – mixing on "Spanish Sahara"

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Rupert Howe. - Q Magazine, June 2010. New Albums review. Schizophrenic second album from ambitious indie-damce outfit. p. 130
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  50. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  51. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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