All Things Bright and Beautiful | ||||
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Studio album by Owl City | ||||
Released | June 14, 2011 | |||
Studio | Sky Harbor Studios, Owatonna, Minnesota | |||
Genre | Synth-pop, indietronica, pop rock | |||
Length | 41:22 | |||
Label | Universal Republic | |||
Producer | Adam Young | |||
Owl City chronology | ||||
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Singles from All Things Bright and Beautiful | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Christian Music Zine | |
Consequence of Sound | |
Entertainment Weekly | B− |
The Guardian | |
IGN | 8/10 |
Jesus Freak Hideout | |
Newsday | A− |
Rolling Stone | |
Spin | 5/10 |
USA Today |
All Things Bright and Beautiful is the third studio album by the American electronica project Owl City, released on June 14, 2011. Despite receiving mixed critical reviews, it became a commercial success, reaching the No. 6 slot on the Billboard 200 album chart.
The album's name is based on the hymn of the same name.
The album sees for the most part Adam Young staying true to his synthpop roots; however, he also dabbles in indie rock, folk, European trance in "Galaxies" and on "Alligator Sky", rap. Guest musicians on the album include Shawn Chrystopher, Matthew Thiessen, Lights, Breanne Düren and Adam Young's mother, Joan Young.
The album was originally planned to have a worldwide release date of May 24, 2011. It was then changed to May 17. On April 6, however, Young posted on his official site that the release date had been bumped to June 14, 2011. He stated that the reason for this was, "In an attempt to better connect the dots and ensure that every cloud in the sky is stitched together with its own special silver lining", and "with school finally out for the summer, it'll be a perfect time to sit back and watch the fireworks." Along with this post were previews of four tracks from the new album, each being 1:30 long. The previews posted were of "Alligator Sky" (featuring Shawn Chrystopher), "Deer in the Headlights", "Galaxies" and "Dreams Don't Turn to Dust".
On the introductory track to "Galaxies", entitled "January 28, 1986" (the date of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster), Ronald Reagan's State of the Union speech is sampled.
The first official single released from the album was "Alligator Sky", which features Californian rapper Shawn Chrystopher, was released on March 22, 2011. There are currently four versions of the track. The first version features Shawn Chrystopher, the second features different lyrics and Chrystopher's vocals are omitted, a third version featuring Atlanta rapper B.o.B leaked online, and finally a fourth version featuring vocals from Big Boi of Atlanta hip hop duo Outkast also leaked onto the internet.