Odditorium or Warlords of Mars

"Warlords of Mars" redirects here. For the book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, see The Warlord of Mars.
Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
Studio album by The Dandy Warhols
Released September 13, 2005
Recorded April, 2004 – January, 2005 at The Odditorium, Portland, Oregon
Genre Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia
Length 62:09
Label Capitol
Producer Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Gregg Williams
The Dandy Warhols chronology

The Black Album/Come On Feel the Dandy Warhols
(2004)		 Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
(2005)		 ...Earth to the Dandy Warhols...
(2008)
Singles from Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
  1. "Smoke It"
    Released: August 29, 2005
  2. "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey"
    Released: October 29, 2005

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released on September 13, 2005, through Capitol Records. The album features a return to the psychedelic, guitar-based rock sound of ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down, following their foray into synthpop with 2003's Welcome to the Monkey House.

Background

The album's title is a reference to the novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Warlord of Mars.[1] Odditorium or Warlords of Mars was recorded at the band's Portland, Oregon pad The Odditorium between April, 2004 to January, 2005.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, except where noted. 

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Colder Than the Coldest Winter Was Cold"    1:02
2. "Love Is the New Feel Awful"    9:36
3. "Easy"    7:32
4. "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey"  Taylor-Taylor, Miles Zuniga 4:29
5. "The New Country"  Taylor-Taylor, Peter Holmström 2:10
6. "Holding Me Up"    7:15
7. "Did You Make a Song with Otis"    0:55
8. "Everyone Is Totally Insane"    3:41
9. "Smoke It"  Taylor-Taylor, Zuniga 4:06
10. "Down Like Disco"    4:54
11. "There Is Only This Time"  Taylor-Taylor, Holmström 4:40
12. "A Loan Tonight"  Taylor-Taylor, Holmström, Zia McCabe, Brent DeBoer 11:49

Release

Two singles were released from the album: "Smoke It", on August 29, 2005 and "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey", on October 29.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 57/100[3]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [4]
Robert Christgau [5]
Drowned in Sound 8/10[6]
The Guardian [7]
NME 6/10[8]
Pitchfork 1.2/10[9]
PopMatters 5/10[10]
Q favorable[11]
Rolling Stone [3]

Critics were divided on their opinion of the album. The Guardian wrote, "The Dandy Warhols seem to knock out great music as easily as getting out of bed. Their fifth album further expands their palette of effortless cool", calling it "their best yet."[7] Drowned in Sound called it "an album full of creative magic and songwriting gems."[6] musicOMH called it "a cracking return to form for a band that has been away far too long."[12]

AllMusic, on the other hand, called it "half inspired, half-embarrassing and completely self-indulgent."[4] Pitchfork gave the album an exceptionally low 1.2/10 rating, writing "only the truly earless would mistake this assortment of bloated in-jokes and interminable, sub-song drones for some kind of masterpiece."[9] Alternative Press wrote, "Basically, Odditorium sounds like a giant "fuck you" to [their] record label."[13]

Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor called the album "definitely the strongest we've ever made".[14]

Personnel

The Dandy Warhols
Additional personnel
  • Lockett Allbritton – vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Achilleas Anastasopolis – trumpet
  • Eric Early – banjo
  • John Fell – additional vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Sean Gothman – "number nine" on "Smoke It"
  • Travis Hendricks – trombone, additional vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Herb Kirshrot – accordion
  • Bill Kurtis – narration on "Colder Than the Coldest Winter Was Cold"
  • Michele Loew – additional vocals on "Holding Me Up"
  • Caleb Spiegel – additional vocals on "Holding Me Up"
  • Gregg Williams – additional percussion, additional vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Steven Birch – sleeve design, layout
  • Tchad Blake – mixing
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Clark Stiles – editing, additional production
  • Gregg Williams – production, recording, editing
  • Scott Young – album front cover artwork

References

  1. ↑ "MI.net: Dandy Warhols Interview". marsinvestigations.net. October 11, 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ Gothman, Sean (October 28, 2005). "'Money' Single Available for UK Download". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Critic Reviews for Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". Metacritic. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Phares, Heather. "Odditorium or Warlords of Mars – The Dandy Warhols : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: The Dandy Warhols". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Adams, Sean (September 14, 2005). "The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Simpson, Dave (September 9, 2005). "CD: The Dandy Warhols, Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  8. ↑ Beaumont, Mark (September 19, 2005). "NME Album Reviews – The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". nme.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hogan, Marc (September 15, 2005). "The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  10. ↑ McAndrew, Maura (September 9, 2005). "The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". PopMatters. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ Q: 115. October 2005. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ Kean, Danuta. "The Dandy Warhols - Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". musicOMH. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  13. ↑ Alternative Press: 218. November 2005. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ Chan, Alvin (August 2008). "The Dandy Warhols | musicOMH". musicOMH. Retrieved August 3, 2012.

External links