Such Great Heights

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Such Great Heights [EP]
Such Great Heights [EP] cover
EP by The Postal Service
Released January 21, 2003
Recorded 2001-2003
Genre Indie Rock
Length 15:11
Label Sub Pop
Producer(s) Jimmy Tamborello
Professional reviews
The Postal Service chronology
Such Great Heights
(2003)
Give Up
(2003)


Such Great Heights was released January 21, 2003 by The Postal Service under the Sub Pop Records label. The EP included the previously released title track "Such Great Heights", one new track "There's Never Enough Time" and two cover tracks by The Shins and Iron & Wine of "We Will Become Silhouettes" and "Such Great Heights," respectively.

The tracks were recorded in Spring 2002, and were written by Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello, and includes backing vocals in the studio recording by Jen Wood, whose other collaborations include work for The Black Heart Procession and Joan of Arc. It was the first CD released by The Postal Service, and a preview of Give Up, which was released a month later.

The title song "Such Great Heights" has exhibited unusual staying power. It has consistently been one of the weekly top 5 most frequently played tracks on social music site Last.fm since the website begun, holding the top spot for the majority of 2005. The song's reign in the top 10 ended in March 2007, when after the release of Arcade Fire album, Neon Bible, the song did not make it as the top 10 was predominantly songs from Neon Bible. The song was featured on an 2004 episode of Veronica Mars. It has also been used in several television commercials, for organizations such as Ask.com, Kaiser Permanente, Target, UPS and M&M's and was also featured in the trailer of the movie Garden State. An instrumental version of the song is currently featured as part of UPS's "Whiteboard" ad campaign, which was launched 6 January 2007, almost four years after the song was officially released.[1]

The cover artwork was designed by Kozyndan.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Such Great Heights" – 4:27
  2. "There's Never Enough Time" – 3:33
  3. "We Will Become Silhouettes" (Cover by The Shins) – 3:01
  4. "Such Great Heights" (Cover by Iron & Wine) – 4:10

[edit] Music video

See also: The Postal Service music video controversy

During the bridge of "Such Great Heights" the video zooms from a Skyworks Solutions chip in a satellite and down to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The block where the Delta Center sits is modified to look like a computer chip, creating a recursive visual effect. In early 2006, an Apple Computer ad that closely matched the music video of "Such Great Heights" sparked some controversy.

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Skyworks Solutions is a real company and the video is filmed inside one of their fabrication plants. Recently when the video premiered on iTunes, the name and logo were blurred out during some scenes. [2]
  • Ben Folds covered "Such Great Heights" on Australian radio station Triple J using a piano, forks, tin foil, and glass. He also played the song live during his Fall 2006 tour, including once in his MySpace webcast on October 24, 2006.
  • Jenny Lewis did a cover of the song and can be found in the live album (2004)
  • Iron & Wine's cover of "Such Great Heights" was in Zach Braff's 2004 film Garden State and on its soundtrack, for which Braff won a Grammy.
  • Teddy Geiger did a cover of the song "Such Great Heights" exclusively in a live performance for Boston radio station KISS 108.
  • Matt Nathanson has often covered part of "Such Great Heights" as an outro to his song "Bent"[3].

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://pressroom.ups.com/mediakits/landing/0,2307,69,00.html Retrieved 6 January 2007.
  2. ^ http://www.skyworksinc.com/fab_video_400_325.asp
  3. ^ http://www.prettytheworld.com/index.php?m=live&c=setinfo&idd=864