| Brothers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by The Black Keys | ||||
| Released | May 18, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | 2009 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama, The Bunker On Apple in Portland, Oregon, Easy Eye Sound System and Soil of the South Studios in San Diego, California | |||
| Genre | Garage rock, blues rock | |||
| Length | 55:29 | |||
| Label | Nonesuch | |||
| Producer | Danger Mouse Mark Neill The Black Keys |
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| The Black Keys chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Brothers | ||||
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Brothers is the sixth studio album by American blues-rock duo The Black Keys. The album was announced on March 2, 2010 by Pitchfork Media[1] and became the band's third release from Nonesuch Records on May 18, 2010. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 with approximately 73,000 copies sold in the first week released, making the band's second-highest charting album to date.[2] Brothers has sold 847,000 copies.[3] In January 2011, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA for shipping over 500,000 copies.[4] The album won 3 Grammy Awards, including honors for Best Alternative Music Album[5]
Contents |
In 2009, the band was experiencing conflict after vocalist Dan Auerbach released his solo album Keep It Hid. Auerbach explained that at that point it was hard to communicate to his bandmate, drummer Patrick Carney because of Carney's relationship with his wife. They went months without talking to each other. In the meantime, Carney worked on his own collaboration, Drummer and released the album Feel Good Together. In July 2009, Carney broke it off with his wife over the telephone while she was in Europe. After a few months passed, Carney and Auerbach talked and realized how important the band was to each other. Soon afterward, they reconvened in Alabama to work on Brothers, recording at the Muscle Shoals Odyssey Studio. There, they recorded 16 songs in 10 days.[6] The album was entirely produced by the band with the help of co-producer Mark Neill, except for the single "Tighten Up", which was produced by Danger Mouse. The album name pays tribute to Auerbach's and Carney's years of friendship. Auerbach explained, "We love each other, we get on each other's nerves, we piss each other off. But like brothers, we know it's all OK."[7]
The first single off the album is "Tighten Up". The song is The Black Keys' most successful single yet, being the first charting song and reaching number one on the Alternative Songs and Rock Songs charts.[8] Mark C. Horn of Buzzbin Magazine describes the song, "The song intros with the distinct whistling from Ennio Morricone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly composition, backed up by Carney's monster thump drumming and Auerbach's soulful vocal offerings. Famed producer Danger Mouse, who produced Attack and Release, produced the song, which was recorded at Brooklyn's Bunker Studios."[9]
The official music video was released on May 18, 2010.[10] It shows Auerbach and his fictional son walking to the park. Auerbach sits next to Carney on a bench while their fictional sons play with toy trucks. Auerbach's son looks up on the playground to see a little girl, after which he starts to lip sync to the song. He climbs up on the playground and goes in to kiss her but then he opens his eyes to realize Carney's son has lured her away. After he attempts to kiss her, Auerbach's son begins to fight with Carney's son. After Auerbach and Carney attempt to break the fight up in vain, they see the mother of the girl and begin to fight like their sons. They hit each other using mostly Carney's drum set and after the woman sees them fighting, she walks away. Their sons come to them looking at them disappointingly.[11]
An official video has been released for the song "Howlin' for You".[12] The video is directed by Chris Marrs Piliero and is a parody movie trailer.
The album was designed by Michael Carney, the brother of drummer Patrick Carney. In 2011, Michael won the Grammy Award for Best Album Package.[13] The packaging is designed to resemble a vinyl record jacket, with the old Nonesuch logo on the front cover in the lower left, and the words "STEREO SOUND" in the upper right. The album was released as a 12-inch double LP. The album is littered with messages that identify everything, such as the front saying, "This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers". When first opened, the label on the disc is almost entirely black. However, the label is heat-sensitive and turns white when played in a disc player for a long enough time. The label can also be revealed by touching the disc. On finding the heat-sensitive ink Carney told the Los Angeles Times, "Before we started the design, I talked to the people [at the label] and said I'd heard of this ink. Literally, every ink supplier was contacted. People are really open to making new packaging."[13]
Included in the album sleeve is a poster with the lyrics on the back.
The font used, Cooper Black, has been used by other bands, including The Doors on L.A. Woman, In It for the Money by Supergrass, and the cover of Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100[14] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [15] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[16] |
| The Guardian | [17] |
| Houston Chronicle | [18] |
| NME | 8/10[19] |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.7/10[20] |
| Q | [21] |
| Rolling Stone | [22] |
| The Sunday Times | [23] |
| Uncut | [24] |
The album has garnered critical acclaim. According to review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has an average critic review score of 82/100.[14] Rolling Stone magazine placed the album at #2 on the Best Albums of 2010[25] and "Everlasting Light" at #11 on the Best Singles of 2010.[26] The album was also featured on Spin's Top 40 Albums of 2010[27] and Paste magazine's 50 Best Albums of 2010.[28] Time magazine ranked it number seven on its list of 2010's Top 10 Albums.[29]
The album was nominated for five 2011 Grammy Awards[30] the biggest win being Best Alternative Music Album. The single “Tighten Up” won the award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and was nominated for Best Rock Song. “Black Mud” was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.[5] The fifth nomination was for Grammy Award for Best Recording Package,[5] which they also won.
Liam Gallagher, formerly of the rock band Oasis and currently in Beady Eye, stated on Radio 1 that this was one of his favorite albums of 2010.[31]
Two songs from the album, "Howlin for You" and "Tighten Up" were performed on Saturday Night Live January 8, 2011.[32]
They released a music video for "Howlin for You" with actresses Tricia Helfer and Diora Baird.
All songs written and composed by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, except "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Jerry Butler.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Everlasting Light" | 3:24 |
| 2. | "Next Girl" | 3:18 |
| 3. | "Tighten Up" | 3:31 |
| 4. | "Howlin' for You" | 3:12 |
| 5. | "She's Long Gone" | 3:06 |
| 6. | "Black Mud" | 2:10 |
| 7. | "The Only One" | 5:00 |
| 8. | "Too Afraid to Love You" | 3:25 |
| 9. | "Ten Cent Pistol" | 4:29 |
| 10. | "Sinister Kid" | 3:45 |
| 11. | "The Go Getter" | 3:37 |
| 12. | "I'm Not the One" | 3:49 |
| 13. | "Unknown Brother" | 4:00 |
| 14. | "Never Gonna Give You Up" | 3:39 |
| 15. | "These Days" | 5:12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Ohio" (7" vinyl or free download for members of the band's website) | 4:29 |
| 17. | "Howlin' for You (feat. Prins Thomas Diskomiks)" (Available on iTunes) | 7:27 |
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