Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird
| Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird | ||||
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| Studio album by The Sleepy Jackson | ||||
| Released | 1 July 2006 (Australia) 24 July 2006 (UK) 25 July 2006 (US) |
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| Recorded | 2006 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 42:53 | |||
| Label |
EMI Virgin Records Astralwerks Records |
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| Producer | Scott Horscroft, Luke Steele | |||
| The Sleepy Jackson chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    |
| The Independent | |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10 |
| PopMatters | 8/10 |
| Q | |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Stylus Magazine | B |
Personality – One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird is the second album by Australian band The Sleepy Jackson, released in July 2006. The album was recorded at Big Jesus Burger Studios in Sydney, and was produced by Scott Horscroft and Luke Steele. Guests on the album include The Presets, Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil) and Davey Lane (You Am I), among others.
In an interview for PerthMusic, drummer Malcolm Clark explains the album's title:
"Well the Personality bit has to do with all the people that were involved in making this record and the different aspects that they brought along. The Spider/Bird bit has to do with some religious symbolism. It shows the two different sides – God/Devil, Good/Evil, and leaves it up to each person to make up their own mind. Some people might see the Spider as evil and the Bird as good, other people might see the complete opposite."
It was released in the United Kingdom to very positive reviews from a number of publications, including NME, Mojo, Uncut, Q and The Guardian. Other reviews, such as The Independent, have been more critical, stating: "Steele's work here has been lazily and mistakenly compared to that of Spector and Wilson, but there's no succulent centre of comparable song craft hiding inside these over-egged, tune-dodging arrangements, merely the fantasy that ambition is the gateway to genius."
In Craig Mathieson's book, Playlisted, he argues that Steele is overrated and that the album was "overblown for the sake of being overblown".
The album debuted at number 10 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and number 69 on the Swedish Albums Chart. The album was also nominated for a J Award by Australian radio station Triple J. Three singles were released from the album: "God Lead Your Soul" in May 2006, "Devil Was in My Yard" in September 2006 (in Australia only), and "I Understand What You Want but I Just Don't Agree" in October 2006 (UK only).
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