The Age of the Understatement

The Age of the Understatement
Studio album by The Last Shadow Puppets
Released	15 April 2008 (2008-04-15)
Recorded	August 2007[1]
Studio	Black Box Studios, France RAK Studios, London (track 4) British Grove Studios, London (Orchestra)
Genre	Art rock baroque pop indie rock
Length	35:10
Label	Domino
Producer	James Ford
The Last Shadow Puppets chronology
The Age of the Understatement (2008) Everything You've Come to Expect (2016)Everything You've Come to Expect2016
Singles from The Age of the Understatement
"The Age of the Understatement" Released: 14 April 2008 "Standing Next to Me" Released: 7 July 2008 "My Mistakes Were Made for You" Released: 20 October 2008

The Age of the Understatement is the debut album by The Last Shadow Puppets, featuring Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Miles Kane of The Rascals and James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco. It was released on 21 April 2008 in the UK, following the release of their eponymous single in the previous week.^[2] It entered the UK Album Chart at No. 1 on 27 April 2008. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Music Prize.^[3]

Background and recording

The album was recorded in Black Box Studios, France, and RAK Studios in London, England. The duo claimed the album was influenced by the music of Scott Walker, Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire de Melody Nelson, The Electric Prunes' Mass in F Minor, and Ennio Morricone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack.^[4]

Album art

The album art consists of a photo of a model named Gill photographed by Sam Haskins in 1962.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Mojo	[10]
NME	8/10[11]
Pitchfork Media	7.7/10[12]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Spin	[15]
Uncut	[16]

The Age of the Understatement received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 25 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[6]

Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media gave the album a favorable review, stating, "The biggest difference between The Last Shadow Puppets and Turner's main gig is in the lyrics. Though less immediately noticeable than the majestic production, the change in the scale of Turner's songwriting is ultimately more profound." Hogan continues, calling the album "Turner's most impressive album-length statement yet, one that strives, musically and lyrically, for the epic grandeur of an era before GarageBand or MySpace, and avoids lapsing into pretentiousness by dint of its own headlong enthusiasm."^[12]

Commercial performance

The album entered the UK album chart at No. 1 on its release,^[17] selling 51,186 copies in the first week. It has sold around 300,000 copies in the UK as of April 2016.^[18] In the US, it debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 111,^[19] and No. 9 on Independent Albums.^[20] iIt has sold 51,000 copies in the US as of March 2016.^[21]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Alex Turner and Miles Kane^[22].

Different versions of the album list the last two tracks in a different manner. Catalog number WIGCD208 lists track No. 11 and No. 12 as "The Meeting Place" and "Time Has Come Again" respectively while catalog number WIGCD208S lists them as "Meeting Place" and "The Time Has Come Again".

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Release history

References