Vehicles & Animals
Vehicles & Animals is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Athlete. It was released on 7 April 2003.
Vehicles & Animals | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 7 April 2003 | |||
Recorded | Late 2001–early 2003 | |||
Genre | Indie rock, post-Britpop | |||
Length | 45:38 | |||
Label | Parlophone | |||
Producer | Victor Van Vugt, Athlete, Bird & Bush | |||
Athlete chronology | ||||
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Singles from Vehicles & Animals | ||||
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This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 63/100[1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Q | |
No Ripcord | 6/10[3] |
Pitchfork | (6.4/10) [4] |
PopMatters | 6/10 [5] |
Critical reaction to Vehicles & Animals was generally positive. Review aggregator Metacritic, which assigns a normalised score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, awarded the album a rating of 63 based on 17 reviews, suggesting "generally favorable reviews".[1] Time Out called the album a "gloriously understated and wonderfully consistent debut".[6] Playlouder gave the record four out of five, hailing the tracks as "impeccably polished radio-friendly gems"[7] – The Times similarly labelled the album a "British pop gem". Ben Gilbert of Dotmusic gave the album seven out of ten, describing the album as a "promising debut".[8]
Accolades
In 2003 the album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, an annual award honouring the year's best albums from the UK and Ireland – the prize was ultimately won by Boy in Da Corner by Dizzee Rascal. In December, British music magazine Q named Vehicles & Animals as the 32nd best album released that year, calling it "the year's best wobbly indie-rock album".[9] In April 2005, the album was awarded platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry for having sold over 300,000 units in the UK.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Athlete.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "El Salvador" | 3:25 |
2. | "Westside" | 4:00 |
3. | "One Million" | 4:17 |
4. | "Shake Those Windows" | 5:04 |
5. | "Beautiful" | 3:47 |
6. | "New Project" | 3:37 |
7. | "You Got the Style" | 3:28 |
8. | "Vehicles & Animals" | 3:52 |
9. | "Out of Nowhere" | 3:11 |
10. | "Dungeness" | 4:17 |
11. | "You Know" | 4:11 |
12. | "Le Casio" | 2:29 |
Total length: | 45:38 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
13. | "A Few Differences" (B-side to the "You Got the Style" single) | 1:58 |
14. | "You Got the Style" (Promo video) | 3:32 |
Singles
UK Singles Chart[11] | ||
---|---|---|
Title | Released | Peak position |
"You Got the Style" | 10 June 2002 | 37 |
"Beautiful" | 4 November 2002 | 41 |
"El Salvador" | 24 March 2003 | 31 |
"Westside" | 23 June 2003 | 42 |
"You Got the Style" (re-released) | 22 September 2003 | 42 |
Personnel
The following people are credited on the album:
Production
- Victor Van Vugt – producer, mixing
- Pete Collis – engineering (tracks 2, 10)
- Matt Frost – additional programming (track 9)
- Adam 'A Skillz' Mills – additional programming (track 9)
- Bird & Bush – initial production (track 10)
Artwork
- Blue Source – art direction
- Kam Tang – illustration
- Ali Peck – photography
Charts
Release history
The album was released in various countries:
Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 7 April 2003 | Parlophone | LP | 582 2911 |
CD | 582 2912 | |||
CD digipak | 584 2112 | |||
United States | 18 May 2004 | Astralwerks | CD | ASW 82291 |
Australia | 14 March 2005 | Capitol Records | CD | 582 3412 |
References
- "Vehicles & Animals – Athlete". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- Raggett, Ned. "Athlete: Vehicles & Animals > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- Bollig, Ben (8 April 2003). "Album Review - Athlete - "Vehicles & Animals"". No Ripcord. Archived from the original on 15 February 2005. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- Loftus, Johnny (10 June 2004). "Athlete: Vehicles & Animals". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- "Athlete: Vehicles & Animals". Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- "Athlete jumps into the chart at No. 21". Evening Chronicle. Newcastle upon Tyne: Trinity Mirror. 25 August 2003. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- Williams, Simon (4 April 2003). "Vehicles and Animals". Playlouder. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- Gilbert, Ben (10 April 2003). "Athlete – "Vehicles and Animals"". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on 15 January 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- Rees, Paul, ed. (January 2004). "The Fifty Best Albums of the Year". Q. London: EMAP (210): 76. ISSN 0955-4955. OCLC 754455553.
- "Athlete: Vehicles & Animals [US Bonus Tracks] at AllMusic. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- "Athlete". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
- "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
- "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
External links
- Vehicles & Animals at Discogs
- Vehicles & Animals at Last.fm
- Vehicles & Animals at Metacritic
- Vehicles & Animals at MusicBrainz (list of releases)