Tourist (Athlete album)

Tourist
Studio album by Athlete
Released 31 January 2005
Recorded Autumn 2003–Winter 2004/05
Genre Indie rock
Length 46:15
Label Parlophone
Producer Victor Van Vugt, John Cornfield, Athlete
Athlete chronology
Vehicles & Animals
(2003)		 Tourist
(2005)		 Beyond the Neighbourhood
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AbsolutePunk (69%) [1]
Allmusic [2]
Entertainment.ie [3]
Pitchfork Media (3.6/10) [4]
PopMatters (3/10) [5]
Rolling Stone (neutral) [6]

Tourist was the second album by English rock band Athlete, released in January 2005 (see 2005 in British music). For this album, Athlete demonstrate a more mature musical style, creating a more stripped-down, sombre and reflective album than their first album Vehicles & Animals.

The first single from the album, "Wires", became the biggest hit so far for the band when it entered the UK Singles Chart at #4. The album also fared well in the charts, reaching the top of the UK Albums Chart the week it was released, selling 89,000 copies. Despite this success, Tourist had a mixed critical reception, with some suggesting that Athlete had failed to sustain the unique style of their previous album, while others saw the new album as a logical progression from their old sound. Despite the mainstream breakthrough the band achieved with this album, their fanbase was reduced to a mere cult when follow-up Beyond the Neighbourhood became their smallest-seller.

At the end of 2005, Tourist became the 32nd best-selling album of the year in the UK, and "Wires" was the 89th best-selling single.

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

In 2010, "Chances" was featured in the Doctor Who Series 5 episode, Vincent and the Doctor.

Contents

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Chances"   4:50
2. "Half Light"   3:41
3. "Tourist"   3:57
4. "Trading Air"   4:27
5. "Wires"   4:20
6. "If I Found Out"   5:02
7. "Yesterday Threw Everything at Me"   3:45
8. "Street Map"   4:38
9. "Modern Mafia"   2:45
10. "Twenty Four Hours"   5:01
11. "I Love"   3:49
12. "Lay Your Head" (Bonus track on the Japanese edition.) 4:55
Bonus DVD
No. Title Length
1. "Wires" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)  
2. "Tourist" (Behind the Scenes Documentary)  
3. "Wires" (live video – Shepherds Bush 2004)  
4. "Tourist" (live video – Shepherds Bush 2004)  
5. "New Project" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)  
6. "Vehicles and Animals" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)  
7. "You Got the Style" (live audio – Shepherds Bush 2004)  
8. "Shake Those Windows"    

Singles

UK Singles Chart[7]
Title Released Peak
Position
"Wires" 17 January 2005 4
"Half Light" 25 April 2005 16
"Tourist" 15 August 2005 43
"Twenty Four Hours"
"Stand in the Sun"		 14 November 2005 42

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom 31 January 2005 Parlophone LP 5607401 / 7243 5 60740 1 9
CD 5607402 / 7243 5 60740 2 6
CD / DVD 5637040 / 7243 5 63704 0 1
Australia 21 February 2005 Capitol Records CD 5638612
Japan 23 February 2005 Toshiba-EMI CD TOCP 66347 / 4988006826823
6 July 2005 CD TOCP 66405
United States 12 April 2005 Astralwerks CD / DVD ASW 60954 /
10 May 2005 CD ASW 73951 / 7243 8 73951 2 1
Preceded by
Push the Button by The Chemical Brothers		 UK number one album
13 February 2005 – 19 February 2005		 Succeeded by
Hopes and Fears by Keane

References

  1. ^ Solomon, Blake (28 April 2007). "Athlete - Tourist". AbsolutePunk. http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=233322. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
  2. ^ Loftus, Johnny. "Athlete: Tourist [CD & DVD] at Allmusic. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  3. ^ Lynch, Andrew (24 January 2005). "Athlete - Tourist". Entertainment.ie. http://entertainment.ie/album-review/album/3683.htm. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
  4. ^ Moerder, Adam (3 February 2005). "Athlete: Tourist". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/reviews/albums/445-tourist/. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
  5. ^ Begrand, Adrien (19 April 2005). "Athlete: Tourist". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/a/athlete-tourist.shtml. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
  6. ^ Hoard, Christian (5 May 2005). "Athlete: Tourist". Rolling Stone (Straight Arrow). ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071017005047/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/7243157/tourist. 
  7. ^ "Athlete". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=472. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
Athlete
Joel Pott · Carey Willetts · Stephen Roberts · Tim Wanstall
Studio albums
Compilations
The Singles 01:10
Singles
EPs
Related