What We Saw from the Cheap Seats

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
Studio album by Regina Spektor
Released	May 29, 2012 (2012-05-29)
Recorded	Summer 2011 in Los Angeles
Genre	Anti-folk baroque pop indie rock
Length	37:18
Label	Sire Records
Producer	Mike Elizondo, Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor chronology
Live in London (2010)Live in London2010 What We Saw from the Cheap Seats (2012) Remember Us to Life (2016)Remember Us to Life2016
Singles from What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
"All the Rowboats" Released: February 27, 2012 "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" Released: March 26, 2012 "How" Released: October 16, 2012

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats is the sixth studio album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. On November 21, 2011, Spektor posted on her Facebook page that the album had been recorded with Mike Elizondo in Los Angeles during the summer of 2011. It was released on May 29, 2012.^[1] The album is a collection of new material along with the very first studio recordings of several of Spektor's older live songs.

At the time of the album's release, "Jessica" was the only entirely new song. "How" and "The Party" had been debuted only weeks before during Spektor's headlining tour, "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" had been released in an alternate version on a previous album, Songs, and all others had been performed in past performances.

Singles and promotion

The album's first single, "All the Rowboats", was released for streaming on February 27, 2012, and for digital download the following day.^[2] It was featured on a prime spot on the CW's Ringer on March 13, 2012, making her the "Artist Spotlight" of the week.^[3]

The album's second single, "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" is a new version of "Ne Me Quitte Pas", a song originally from Spektor's 2002 album Songs. Both of these singles have accompanying music videos.

On October 16, 2012, "How" was released as the third single.

The album was promoted through two tours. The first was a southern US tour on which Spektor opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for eight shows in April and May 2012. The second was an international show that opened with three sold-out shows in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Only Son, a band led by her husband Jack Dishel, was the opening act for all three shows. The tour, which extended to several European countries (including Russia, to which Spektor has never traveled since emigrating from it as a child), ran through the summer of 2012.

Appearances to promote the album include the Late Show with David Letterman, Good Morning America, The Colbert Report, a New York Times interview, a Vh1 performance, and special "Live on YouTube" engagement.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	(A-)[6]
Consequence of Sound	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	(B)[8]
NME	(8/10)[9]
Ology	(A−)[10]
Pitchfork Media	(6.3/10)[11]
Paste Magazine	(6/10)[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Slant Magazine	[14]
Sputnikmusic	[15]

Similarly to Spektor's previous studio albums, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats received generally favorable reviews upon its release. On the Metacritic review-aggregating site it accrued a 75 score out of 100 over 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Several critics praised its unique quirk, with Rolling Stone reviewer, who gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, claiming that the album "may be her best," and made Spektor "her generation's Joni Mitchell."^[16] A staff reviewer for Sputnikmusic gave the album the maximum 5 out of 5 stars, writing that it is Spektor's "best effort yet," and that "an artist who could already seemingly do no wrong went and became even more perfect."^[17] American Songwriter writes that "Cheap Seats as a whole...points toward ever unfolding new directions for an artist whose sense of whimsy never excludes the possibility of real-world despair."^[18]

Commercial performance

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats has thus far debuted on at least nine national album charts. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 3, with sales of 42,000, a slight decrease from the opening of her previous album.^[19] The album has sold 174,000 copies in the United States as of September 2016.^[20]

Track listing

All songs written by Spektor except where noted.

Deluxe edition bonus tracks

Personnel

All credits for tracks one through eleven are listed in the album's booklet.

• Regina Spektor: vocals, piano (1-10), keyboards (2-10), marimba (3), co-producer, songwriter
• Mike Elizondo: producer, bass (1, 3, 5, 7-10), upright bass (2, 4, 6), electric guitar (1, 6, 7), acoustic guitars (11), programming (3, 5, 7)
• Aaron Sterling: drums (1, 3-7, 9), percussion (1, 5, 7), marimba (3)
• Jay Bellerose: drums (2, 7, 10), percussion (2, 10), bongos (10)
• Danny T. Levin: trumpet (3)
• David Moyer: baritone and tenor saxophone (3)
• Jack Dishel: vocals (3, 5)
• John Daversa: trumpet (10)

Additional personnel

• Art Direction, Design – Stephen Walker (6)
• Co-producer – Regina Spektor
• Engineer – Adam Hawkins
• Engineer [Assistant] – Brent Arrowood
• Management – Ron Shapiro
• Management [Business] – Errol Wander
• Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
• Photography By – Shervin Lainez
• Producer – Mike Elizondo
• Written-By – Regina Spektor ^[21]

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

• François Villon's Prayer, Track 13, in Russian and English
• Old Jacket (Stariy Pidjak), Track 14, translated into English