English Oceans

English Oceans is the 10th studio album by American Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers, released on March 4, 2014, by ATO Records. It was produced by long-time collaborator David Barbe and recorded during two weeks in the late spring of 2013. Wes Freed again provided the album's artwork and cover. English Oceans marks the first time the Drive-By Truckers returned to the studio in four years and is one of three records the band has released with two songwriters.

English Oceans
Studio album by
Drive-By Truckers
ReleasedMarch 4, 2014 (2014-03-04)
GenreSouthern rock
Length60:27
LabelATO
ProducerDavid Barbe
Drive-By Truckers chronology
Go-Go Boots
(2011)		 English Oceans
(2014)		 It's Great To Be Alive!
(2015)
Singles from English Oceans
  1. "Pauline Hawkins"
    Released: 2014

The cover art for this album is from a painting by Wes Freed based on a photograph of Abby, Sylvie, and Grace Weissman. The girls' father, Barr Weissman, made the 2009 documentary about the Truckers and the family has remained close with the band. The original painting hangs in the family's living room.

Music and lyrics

While previous Drive-By Truckers records are largely dominated by guitarist Patterson Hood's songs, fellow guitarist Mike Cooley split songwriting duties with Hood for English Oceans.[1] It also marks the first time Cooley took singing duties on a song written by Hood.

According to Chris Conaton of PopMatters, their songs are character studies set to Southern rock music like on the band's previous albums,[2] while The Guardian journalist Dave Simpson wrote that English Oceans is "full of their familiar southern rock: soul and brass occasionally adorn storytelling songs which attempt to right wrongs and champion the worker against The Man."[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10[4]
Metacritic79/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)A[7]
The Guardian[3]
The Independent[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
Mojo[10]
Pitchfork6.7/10[11]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Spin6/10[14]

English Oceans received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album holds an average score of 79, based on 25 reviews.[5] In a review for NPR, Robert Christgau called it Drive-By Truckers' first exceptional album since Brighter Than Creation's Dark (2008) because of how Cooley's songwriting is superior to that of Hood, particularly with songs such as "Shit Shots Count".[15] Pitchfork critic Ian Cohen was also impressed by Cooley's performance, but felt that the album is too often impeded by Hood's more reserved songwriting.[11]

At the end of the year, Christgau named English Oceans the fifth-best album of 2014 in his list for The Barnes & Noble Review.[16]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 16 on Billboard 200.[17] and No. 4 on Top Rock Albums for chart dated March 22, 2014,[18] selling 18,000 copies in the first week. The album has sold 51,000 copies in the United States as of September 2015.[19]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Shit Shots Count"Mike Cooley4:10
2."When He's Gone"Patterson Hood3:41
3."Primer Coat"Mike Cooley4:25
4."Pauline Hawkins"Patterson Hood6:39
5."Made Up English Oceans"Mike Cooley3:27
6."The Part of Him"Patterson Hood4:29
7."Hearing Jimmy Loud"Mike Cooley4:45
8."Til He's Dead or Rises"Patterson Hood4:25
9."Hanging On"Patterson Hood4:01
10."Natural Light"Mike Cooley5:16
11."When Walter Went Crazy"Patterson Hood3:48
12."First Air of Autumn"Mike Cooley3:31
13."Grand Canyon"Patterson Hood7:50

Personnel
  • Patterson Hood - lead and backing vocals, rhythm electric and acoustic guitars, Kay/Baxendale mandocello
  • Mike Cooley - lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm electric and acoustic guitars, banjo
  • Brad Morgan - drums, percussion
  • Matt Patton - bass, backing vocals
  • Jay Gonzalez - Hammond B-3, piano, Wurlitzer, lead and rhythm electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 75
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[21] 93
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 22
UK Albums (OCC)[23] 34
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[24] 3
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[25] 1
US Billboard 200[26] 16
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[27] 2
US Top Current Albums (Billboard)[28] 16
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[29] 4

References
  1. Bernstein, Jonathan (December 3, 2013). "Drive-By Truckers Return to Simplicity on English Oceans". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  2. Conaton, Chris (March 3, 2014). "Drive-By Truckers: English Oceans". Popmatters. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  3. Simpson, Dave (February 27, 2014). "Drive-By Truckers: English Oceans review – 'masters of southern rock'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  4. "English Oceans by Drive-By Truckers reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  5. "Reviews for English Oceans by Drive-By Truckers". Metacritic. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  6. Deming, Mark. "English Oceans – Drive-By Truckers". AllMusic. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  7. Christgau, Robert (December 12, 2014). "Robert Christgau: Expert Witness". Cuepoint. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  8. Gill, Andy (March 1, 2014). "Album reviews: Pharrell Williams, Paloma Faith, Elbow, Drive-by Truckers, Robert Ellis, Nick Waterhouse". The Independent. London. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  9. Brown, August (March 3, 2014). "Album review: Drive-By Truckers' 'English Oceans' a fresh take". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  10. "Drive-By Truckers: English Oceans". Mojo. London (245): 91. April 2014.
  11. Cohen, Ian (March 5, 2014). "Drive-By Truckers: English Oceans". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  12. "Drive-By Truckers: English Oceans". Q. London (333): 106. April 2014.
  13. Gross, Joe (March 4, 2014). "English Oceans". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  14. Soto, Alfred (March 4, 2014). "The Drive-By Truckers' 'English Oceans' Gets Stuck Between a Groove and a Rut". Spin. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  15. Christgau, Robert (March 6, 2014). "Album Review: 'English Oceans,' By Drive-By Truckers". NPR. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  16. Christgau, Robert (March 10, 2015). "Excuses, Excuses: The 2014 Dean's List". The Barnes & Noble Review. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  17. "Billboard 200". Billboard. March 22, 2014.
  18. "Top Rock Albums". Billboard. March 22, 2014.
  19. "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on September 17, 2015.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Drive-By Truckers – English Oceans" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  21. "Dutchcharts.nl – Drive-By Truckers – English Oceans" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  23. "Drive By Truckers | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  24. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  25. "15-03-2014 Top 40 Rock & Metal Albums Archive | Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  26. "Drive-By Truckers Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  27. "Drive-By Truckers Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  28. "Top Current Albums: Mar 22, 2014". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  29. "Drive-By Truckers Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
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