Fleet Foxes (album)

Fleet Foxes is the eponymous debut studio album by American folk band Fleet Foxes, released on June 3, 2008 by Bella Union. The album debuted at number eleven on the US & UK Albums Chart, where it eventually peaked at number one. The album has garnered wide praise from critics, many of whom named it one of the best albums of the 2000's and one of the greatest debut albums of all time.[4][5]

This article is about the album. For the article about the band's also self-titled debut EP, see The Fleet Foxes.
Fleet Foxes
Studio album by
Fleet Foxes
ReleasedJune 3, 2008
Recorded2007
StudioAvast! Recording and London Bridge, Seattle
Genre
Length39:15
Label
ProducerPhil Ek
Fleet Foxes chronology
Sun Giant
(2008)		 Fleet Foxes
(2008)		 Helplessness Blues
(2011)
Singles from Fleet Foxes
  1. "White Winter Hymnal"
    Released: July 21, 2008
  2. "He Doesn't Know Why"
    Released: 2008
  3. "Your Protector"
    Released: 2009

Recording

Producer and Pecknold family friend Phil Ek had earlier helped Fleet Foxes record their first demo and used his influence to assist in shopping it to record labels. Ek described the demo as "a very different sound but [...] still very good."[6] According to the producer it was when Robin began writing differently that he thought it was time to do something "for real".[6]

The resulting album was recorded with Ek over the course of a year. As Sub Pop and Bella Union had yet to get involved with the band at this point, the recording was funded by the group themselves.[6]

Cover art

The cover art is a detail of the 1559 painting Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Vocalist/guitarist Robin Pecknold notes that:

When you first see that painting it's very bucolic, but when you look closer there's all this really strange stuff going on, like dudes defecating coins into the river and people on fire, people carving a live sheep, this weird dude who looks like a tree root sitting around with a dog. There's all this really weird stuff going on. I liked that the first impression is that it's just pretty, but then you realize that the scene is this weird chaos. I like that you can't really take it for what it is, that your first impression of it is wrong.[7]

Pecknold explained to Mojo how the painting ended up on the front cover:

We were trying to figure out what we wanted to do, and my brother had been working out some stuff, when I saw that Bruegel painting in a book my girlfriend had. I liked that it had a really intriguing meaning, like there's a story to each little scene. Which I just felt fitting for that record- dense but unified, not a collage or anything. And I liked its Where's Waldo? quality, that it was something you could look at for a long time on a vinyl sleeve and find new little things. It was very easy to get the museum in Berlin that has it to say yes. They were super excited a band wanted to use it and put it in their newsletter. When you open it up on the inside there's a paisley pattern traced from the back of a book that Skye (Skjelset, lead guitar)'s mum got me. We wanted two very different feelings.[8]

The cover claimed the Best Art Vinyl Award 2008, an annual award, organized by Artvinyl.com, a company that manufactures display frames for record albums.[9]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic87/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The A.V. ClubB+[12]
Entertainment WeeklyA[13]
The Guardian[14]
Mojo[15]
NME7/10[16]
Pitchfork9.0/10[17]
Q[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
Spin[20]

Fleet Foxes was acclaimed by critics, receiving very positive reviews from media outlets including Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Uncut, Pitchfork, Mojo, and Entertainment Weekly.[10] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 87 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10] The Guardian described it to be "a landmark in American music, an instant classic".[14] Similar praise was put upon the album by AllMusic, which stated that "Fleet Foxes is such a satisfying, self-assured debut".[11]

Uncut magazine awarded the album their inaugural Uncut Award in 2008 for "the most rewarding album of the past 12 months".[5] Q magazine voted it the second best album of 2008 while it topped The Times "100 best records of 2008" list.[4] and captured the #3 slot on WERS Boston's Top 50 of 2008 list. The album was also reviewed on the 'In A Word' section of the weekly podcast EGGCAST, where it was described as 'cosy' and 'organic'. Mojo gave the debut the seldom-awarded "Instant Classic" label.[15] Until Joanna Newsom's Have One On Me in the April 2010 issue, it was the last album to receive this honor. Geddy Lee of Rush included this album among his favourites in a list from an interview with The Quietus.[21] The album was ranked #36 on Rolling Stone's 2013 list of the 40 Greatest Stoner Albums, and 88th on The Guardian's 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century list, based on a 2019 poll of music writers.[22][23]

The album had sold over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom by the end of 2008, making it the first gold certificate record released by label Bella Union.[24] As of November 2013, it has sold over 500,000 copies in the United States.[25]

Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Amazon.com US Best Music of 2008 (Editors' Pick)[26] 2008 3
Drowned in Sound UK 50 Best Albums of the Year[27] 2008 45
Q UK 50 Best Albums of the Year[28] 2008 2
Rolling Stone US 50 Best Albums of the Year[29] 2008 11
Spin US 40 Best Albums of the Year[30] 2008 5
The Times UK 100 Best Albums of the Year[4] 2008 1
Pitchfork US 50 Best Albums of the Year[31] 2008 1
Billboard.com US 10 Best Albums of the Year (Critics’ Choice) 2008 1
Paste US Top 50 Albums of 2008 2008 6
WERS Boston US Top 50 Albums of 2008 2008 3
Under the Radar US Best of 2008 2008 1
No Ripcord UK Top 50 Albums of 2008 2008 1
Mojo UK Top 50 Albums of 2008 2008 1
Dagbladet Norway Top International Albums of 2008 2008 9
The Know Australia Top 10 Albums of 2008 2008 5
Rolling Stone US 100 Best Albums of the Decade[32] 2009 47
Rhapsody US 100 Best Albums of the Decade[33] 2009 56
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die US 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[34] 2009 N/A

Track listing

All songs written by Robin Pecknold.

Disc one
No.TitleLength
1."Sun It Rises"3:14
2."White Winter Hymnal"2:27
3."Ragged Wood"5:07
4."Tiger Mountain Peasant Song"3:28
5."Quiet Houses"3:32
6."He Doesn't Know Why"3:20
7."Heard Them Stirring"3:02
8."Your Protector"4:09
9."Meadowlarks"3:11
10."Blue Ridge Mountains"4:25
11."Oliver James"3:23

Disc two (2008 Limited Edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Sun Giant"2:06
2."Drops in the River"4:11
3."English House"4:48
4."Mykonos" (alternate version)3:39
5."Isles"3:06

Disc two (2009 Japanese Limited Edition)
No.TitleLength
1."Sun Giant"2:14
2."Drops in the River"4:12
3."English House"4:40
4."Mykonos"4:35
5."Innocent Son"3:06
6."False Knight on the Road"3:45

Personnel

Fleet Foxes

  • Robin Pecknold – band member, songwriter, arranger, design (uncredited: lead vocals, guitar)
  • Skyler Skjelset – band member, arranger (uncredited: lead guitar)
  • Nicholas Peterson – band member, arranger (uncredited: drums, percussion, vocals)
  • Casey Wescott – band member, arranger (uncredited: keyboards, vocals)
  • Craig Curran – band member, arranger (uncredited: bass, vocals)

Additional instrumental personnel

  • Gwen Owen – flute on "Your Protector"

Production personnel

  • Phil Ek – producer, engineer, mixer
  • Ed Brooks – mastering
  • Sasha Barr – design
  • Dusty Summers – design

The liner notes do not state which instruments the band members play. Former drummer J. Tillman joined the group after recordings had been completed, but before the album was released.

Charts
Chart (2008–2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 90
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[36] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[37] 88
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[38] 36
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[39] 39
French Albums (SNEP)[40] 78
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[41] 51
Irish Albums (IRMA)[42] 23
Italian Albums (FIMI)[43] 51
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[44] 14
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[45] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[46] 3
US Billboard 200[47] 36
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[48] 2

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[49] Gold 15,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[50] Platinum 534,385[51]
United States (RIAA)[52] Gold 500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Jack Bray (September 22, 2020). "Fleet Foxes are resplendent and honeyed on surprise autumn equinox album Shore". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  2. David Peisner (May 31, 2017). "How the Fleet Foxes Frontman Got Out to Get Back In". The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2020. Fleet Foxes’ first two albums of meticulous, expansive folk-rock have sold more than two million copies worldwide
  3. "Fleet Foxes: "In this moment, pre-election, there can be some optimism in the air"". NME. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  4. The 100 best records of 2008. The Times (2008-12-07). Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  5. "Uncut Award 2008". Uncut. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  6. "Interview With Phil Ek", HitQuarters, 25 May 2009.
  7. Milway, Tom (2008-06-09). "DiScover: Fleet Foxes". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  8. White Winter Hymnal Songfacts
  9. Fleet Foxes win album artwork prize. NME (2009-01-05). Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  10. "Reviews for Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes". Metacritic. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  11. Phares, Heather. "Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". AllMusic. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  12. O'Neal, Sean (June 9, 2008). "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  13. Cook, LaRue (June 6, 2008). "Fleet Foxes". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  14. Simpson, Dave (May 30, 2008). "Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes". The Guardian. Retrieved July 22, 2008.
  15. "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". Mojo (176): 98. July 2008.
  16. Murison, Krissi (June 5, 2008). "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". NME. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  17. Deusner, Stephen M. (June 6, 2008). "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  18. "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". Q (264): 101. July 2008.
  19. Hermes, Will (June 12, 2008). "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  20. Petrusich, Amanda (June 2008). "Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes". Spin. 24 (6): 108. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  21. "In The Mood: The Favourite Albums Of Rush's Geddy Lee". The Quietus. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  23. "The 100 best albums of the 21st century". The Guardian. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  24. Fleet Foxes Go Gold In United Kingdom. Billboard. Retrieved on 2009-01-29.
  25. RIAA (2013-11-18). . RIAA. Retrieved on 2013-11-21.
  26. Amazon Music: Best of 2008. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  27. Drowned in Sound's 50 albums of 2008. Drowned in Sound. Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  28. Q Jan 09, pg.87
  29. The 50 Best Albums of 2008. Rolling Stone (2008-12-25). Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  30. The 40 Best Albums of 2008 Archived February 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Spin Magazine (2008-12-11). Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  31. The 50 Best Albums of 2008 Archived 2008-12-21 at the Wayback Machine. Pitchfork (2008-12-19). Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
  32. 100 Best Albums of the Decade . Rolling Stone' (2009-12-09) Retrieved on 2009-12-17.
  33. 100 Best Albums of the Decade Archived August 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Rhapsody blog (2009-12-04) Retrieved on 2010-8-31.
  34. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (2014). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-2074-6.
  35. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  36. "Ultratop.be – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  37. "Ultratop.be – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  38. "Danishcharts.dk – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  39. "Dutchcharts.nl – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  40. "Lescharts.com – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  41. "Offiziellecharts.de – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  42. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Fleet Foxes". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  43. "Italiancharts.com – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  44. "Norwegiancharts.com – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  45. "Swedishcharts.com – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  46. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  47. "Fleet Foxes Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  48. "Fleet Foxes Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  49. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2011". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  50. "British album certifications – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Fleet Foxes in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  51. "Official Charts Analysis: Royal Blood score second chart-topper". Music Week. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  52. "American album certifications – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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