Ocean Eyes

Ocean Eyes
Studio album by Owl City
Released July 14, 2009
Recorded 2008
Genre Pop, Indietronica, New wave
Synth-pop, Alternative
Length 42:52
Label Universal Republic
Producer Adam Young
Owl City chronology
Maybe I'm Dreaming
(2008)		 Ocean Eyes
(2009)		 All Things Bright and Beautiful
(2011)
Singles from Ocean Eyes
  1. "Fireflies"
    Released: July 14, 2009
  2. "Vanilla Twilight"
    Released: January 26, 2010
  3. "Umbrella Beach"
    Released: May 17, 2010

Ocean Eyes is the second full-length album by electropop act Owl City. It was made available for download on July 14, 2009, on iTunes, and on September 1, 2009 it was released in stores with a photograph of the Burj Al Arab as its album artwork. A vinyl edition and a two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album was also released. The Deluxe Edition was released on January 26, 2010,[1] and features three new tracks and a remix of "Hello Seattle". The album features guest vocals by Relient K vocalist, Matt Thiessen, on the songs "Fireflies", "Cave In", "The Bird and the Worm" and "Tidal Wave".

Contents

Background

On July 14, 2009, the song "Fireflies" was chosen as the Single of the Week by the iTunes music store. This led to a huge success as the song was downloaded over 650,000 times and helped the album reach No. 2 on the US store. This success also led to the record company pushing back the release date of the physical copy of the album from July 28, 2009 to September 1, 2009.[2] Adam Young, the founder of Owl City told The Sun that "Cave In" was especially dear to his heart as "that song captures in just a few words, all my hopes and dreams."[3] The album sold approximately 18,000 copies digitally in its debut week. The album reached the top ten in the US peaking at No. 8. The same week its lead single "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, Ocean Eyes climbed to No. 1 on iTunes after the album price was lowered for a limited period of time.

The album has slightly different versions of songs from previous albums, namely "Hello Seattle" from Of June and "On the Wing" and "The Saltwater Room" from Maybe I'm Dreaming.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [4]
Drowned in Sound [5]
Entertainment Weekly (B+)
Evening Standard [6]
The Guardian (mixed) [7]
Independent (unfavorable) [8]
NME
PopMatters [9]
Rolling Stone [10]
Jesus Freak Hideout [11]

Ocean Eyes has received mixed reviews from critics, based on an aggregate [12] Metacritic score of 53/100, indicating "Mixed or average reviews". The album gained some positive reviews, including Entertainment Weekly which gave it a B+ and said that it was filled with memorable choruses and that the highlight song was "Dental Care". Jesus Freak Hideout also was favorable towards the album; the review highlighted the album's musical style, saying that it had "dreamy lyrics and open soundscapes."

However, on the other hand, Rolling Stone claimed Ocean Eyes as "disappointing", only awarding it 2/5 stars. The magazine especially criticized the slower songs, saying that forgettable tracks like "On the Wing" were "just mush". Allmusic also gave the album an a total of 2.5/5, stating "Ocean Eyes ultimately winds up too sugary for its own good, though, having focused on dessert without giving its listeners any sort of meaty, substantive entrée. A handful of ballads add some sense of variety to the album's pace, but Owl City is largely a vehicle for the one song Adam Young knows how to make."

Singles

"Fireflies" was released as the album's first single on July 14, 2009 in the US and on January 8, 2010 in the UK.[13][14] It climbed the Billboard Hot 100 slowly until reaching No. 7 and leaping to No. 1 the following week. "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Chart for two non-consecutive weeks, as well as topping the iTunes Top 100 Chart for several weeks. "Fireflies" was originally released as a free US iTunes digital download the week the album had its digital release in the US, which could have contributed to the single's massive success. Even now that Fireflies is three years old, it continues to make the top 10 most downloaded songs in many contries.[15] "Fireflies" also reached No.1 on the Official UK Singles Chart on January 24, 2010.

"Vanilla Twilight" was released as the album's second US single on January 26, 2010 to radio, the same day that the deluxe edition of Ocean Eyes hit stores.[16] During the same week that "Fireflies" topped the Hot 100, "Vanilla Twilight" debuted at No. 95. It has since re-entered and re-peaked on the Hot 100 at No. 72 on the week ending January 9, 2010.

"Umbrella Beach" was released as the album's second UK single on May 17, 2010. "Umbrella Beach" was originally released promotionally on November 19, 2009, preceding the release of the official first single "Fireflies." An exclusive remix created by Kenny Hayes is included on the single release.[17] There is also a music video available for it. Unlike "Fireflies" and "Vanilla Twilight", Young does not appear in the video, aside from a few photos.

Digital singles

"Strawberry Avalanche" and "Hot Air Balloon" were released as digital-only promotional singles in June 2009, leading up to the release of the album, though they did not appear on the album.

"Sunburn" was released as a digital-only promotional single for the soundtrack of 90210 in October 2009, and it was also released free to people who bought "Ocean Eyes" during a span of several weeks of December 2009.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Adam Young, except where noted. 

Standard edition
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Cave In"     4:02
2. "The Bird and the Worm"   Adam Young, Matthew Thiessen 3:27
3. "Hello Seattle"     2:47
4. "Umbrella Beach"     3:50
5. "The Saltwater Room" (featuring Breanne Düren)   4:02
6. "Dental Care"     3:11
7. "Meteor Shower"   Adam Young, Cody Maga 2:14
8. "On the Wing"     5:01
9. "Fireflies" (featuring Matthew Thiessen of Relient K)   3:48
10. "The Tip of the Iceberg"     3:23
11. "Vanilla Twilight"     3:52
12. "Tidal Wave" (featuring Matthew Thiessen) Adam Young, Matthew Thiessen 3:10

All songs written and composed by Adam Young. 

All songs written and composed by Adam Young. 

Personnel

Owl City
Additional musicians and production

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2009–10) Peak
position[18]
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[19] 14
Canadian Albums Chart 18
Denmark Albums Chart 36
Dutch Albums Chart 42
French Albums Chart 88
Irish Albums Chart 16
Japanese Albums Chart 17
German Albums Chart 7
New Zealand Albums Chart 5
South African Albums Chart[20] 7
Swedish Albums Chart[21] 39
Swiss Albums Chart 93
UK Albums Chart 7
U.S. Billboard 200 8
U.S. Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2010) Position
US Billboard 200 32[22]

Certifications

References

  1. ^ http://tommy2.net/content/?p=11515 Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite
  2. ^ Menze, Jill (August 4, 2009). "Electro-Pop Act Owl City Takes Off With 'Fireflies'". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/news/electro-pop-act-owl-city-takes-off-with-1003999922.story#/news/electro-pop-act-owl-city-takes-off-with-1003999922.story. Retrieved October 8, 2009. 
  3. ^ Cave In Songfacts Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite
  4. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1616554
  5. ^ link Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite
  6. ^ "link". Thisislondon.co.uk. 2010-02-12. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/article-23805477-cds-of-the-week.do. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  7. ^ Hugh Montgomery. "link". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/14/owl-city-ocean-eyes-review. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  8. ^ link
  9. ^ Basiliere, Aaron. "link". Popmatters.com. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/110378-owl-city-ocean-eyes/. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  10. ^ "link". Rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/29287881/review/29495100?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  11. ^ Jesus Freak Hideout Review Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite
  12. ^ "Ocean Eyes". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/ocean-eyes. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  13. ^ http://hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1530 Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ "Owls, Fireflies, and Jesus | Music". Christianity Today. 2010-04-20. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2010/adamyoung-april10.html. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  16. ^ url=http://www.owlcitymusic.com/music.aspx
  17. ^ http://www.radio1.gr/music/forthcoming_uk_singles.htm Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite
  18. ^ "Owl City - Ocean Eyes - Music Charts". Acharts.us. http://acharts.us/album/47116. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  19. ^ Australian album peak position Archived 10 August 2011 at WebCite ARIAcharts.com.au Retrieved on January 10, 2010.
  20. ^ "South African Albums Chart - 27/03/2010". SA Albums Chart History Site. Archived from the original on August 10 2011. http://www.webcitation.org/1312942514286309. Retrieved 2010-03-27. 
  21. ^ "Swedish Singles Chart ''Sverigetopplistan''". Sverigetopplistan.se. http://www.sverigetopplistan.se/. Retrieved 2012-01-03. 
  22. ^ "Best of 2010 - Billboard Top 200". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/charts-year-end/top-billboard-200?year=2010. Retrieved 2010-12-31. 
Owl City
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
"Fireflies" · "Vanilla Twilight" · "Umbrella Beach" · "Alligator Sky" · "Galaxies" · "Deer in the Headlights" · "Lonely Lullaby" · "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust"
Other songs
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