| Paper Tigers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Caesars | ||||
| Released | April 26, 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2003-2004 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 47:33 | |||
| Label | Toshiba-EMI (Japan) VJCP 68748 Virgin CDVIR219 (UK) Astralwerks ASW 60828 (US) |
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| Producer | Joakim Åhlund, Michael H. Brauer | |||
| Caesars chronology | ||||
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Paper Tigers is the fourth album by the Swedish band Caesars, released on April 26, 2005. The album was released on Virgin in the United Kingdom, Astralwerks in the United States and Toshiba-EMI in Japan.[1] The album contains the re-release of the song "Jerk It Out."
Contents |
Recording for Paper Tigers first began in the winter of 2003 at Silence Studio. The sessions then moved to Joakim Åhlund's Decibel Studio, in Stockholm. The album was mixed in New York by Michael Brauer.[2]
All songs written and composed by Joakim Åhlund unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Spirit" | Joakim Åhlund, Nino Keller | 4:51 |
| 2. | "It's Not the Fall That Hurts" | 2:49 | |
| 3. | "Out There" | César Vidal | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Jerk It Out" | 3:17 | |
| 5. | "May the Rain" | 3:08 | |
| 6. | "My Heart Is Breaking Down" | Max Group | 2:35 |
| 7. | "Paper Tigers" | 3:58 | |
| 8. | "Your Time Is Near" | 4:49 | |
| 9. | "Throwaway" | Joakim Åhlund, César Vidal | 2:49 |
| 10. | "Winter Song" | 3:05 | |
| 11. | "We Got to Leave" | 3:23 | |
| 12. | "Soul Chaser" | 4:13 | |
| 13. | "Good and Gone" | 3:02 | |
| 14. | "(I'm Gonna) Kick You Out (bonus track on certain editions)" | 2:50 |
The following people contributed to Paper Tiger:[3]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Entertainment Weekly | (A) link |
| The Guardian | link |
| Pitchfork Media | (4.9/10) link |
| PopMatters | (5/10) link |
| Rolling Stone | link |
Paper Tigers has received mixed to positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a 63 out of 100, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."[4]
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A grade, writing that the album was "one meaty, vigorous track after another of modern-Mersey-beat pop..." Browne concluded his review with: "All retro rock should sound this good."[5] In another positive review, The Guardian's Dave Simpson wrote that Paper Tigers "is a treasure waiting to be found by the rest of us," and called the album "simultaneously ecstatic and melancholy."[6]
On the other hand, Allmusic's Heather Phares criticized the album, writing that beyond "Jerk It Out," "It's Not the Fall That Hurts" and "Soulchaser," there were not many other memorable songs on the album.[7] Stephen Haag of Popmatters also criticized the album's lack of memorable tracks, writing "If folks are purchasing Paper Tigers expecting a dozen more tunes like 'Jerk It Out'... they’ll soon find that Caesars is guilty of bait-and-switch."[8] In another mixed review, Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media described the album as "...one or two decent singles surrounded by a bunch of mediocre-or-worse filler."[9]
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Heatseekers | 44[11] |
| Year | Song | Peak positions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] |
US Alt [11] |
US Adult Top 40 [11] |
European Hot 100 [11] |
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| 2005 | "We Got to Leave" | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 2005 | "Jerk It Out" | 8 | 40 | 38 | 20 | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||
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