Infinite Arms

Infinite Arms
Studio album by Band of Horses
Released May 18, 2010 (2010-05-18)
Genre Indie rock
Length 45:17
Label Brown Records/
Fat Possum/Columbia
Producer Band of Horses, Phil Ek
Band of Horses chronology
Cease to Begin
(2007)Cease to Begin2007		 Infinite Arms
(2010)		 Mirage Rock
(2012)Mirage Rock2012
Singles from Infinite Arms
  1. "Compliments"
    Released: April 1, 2010
  2. "Laredo"
    Released: April 13, 2010
  3. "Factory"
    Released: April 20, 2010
  4. "Dilly"
    Released: February 14, 2011

Infinite Arms is the third album of indie rock band Band of Horses, released on May 18, 2010, on Brown Records, Fat Possum Records and Columbia.[1] Most of the album was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina with some overdubbing done in Los Angeles.[2] The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Alternative Album category.[3]

History

Keyboard player Ryan Monroe

Shortly after the release of Cease to Begin, keyboard player Ryan Monroe was made a permanent band member. The line-up was further expanded by the addition of Tyler Ramsey (guitar) and Bill Reynolds (bass). The new six piece band toured extensively between the releases of Cease to Begin and Infinite Arms, although Rob Hampton left the band prior to the recording of Infinite Arms.

Infinite Arms was made without assistance or funding from a record label, the band having left Sub Pop. Ben Bridwell explained why he eventually decided to have Brown Records, his own label, involved, "Because I did fund the record myself and (we) produced it ourselves, we just really wanted to make sure that we can have our hands in the pie."[2] Several of the tracks were written by Ben Bridwell whilst staying in a cabin in Minnesota near the Canada–US border.[4]

Bridwell explained why he had said that this was the "first" Band of Horses album, "It's the first time the line-up hasn't been this revolving door. With this record it's a real band that I'm part of. No one's going anywhere, everyone's contributing to the songwriting process..."[5]

The track "Blue Beard" features drums by Bridwell, the first time he has played drums on a record since he was in Carissa's Wierd, Bridwell explained, "I didn’t even mean to be playing drums on that song. We all took a stab at it. The song wasn’t developing right. I was the last one to go for it and it ended up being the one."[6] "Evening Kitchen" was written by guitarist Tyler Ramsey and features him sharing lead vocals with Bridwell, while "Older" is written and sung by keyboard player Ryan Monroe. The first single taken from the album is "Compliments" and its official music video was presented on the band's website in April 2010.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Factory"Ben Bridwell4:35
2."Compliments"Bridwell3:28
3."Laredo"Bridwell3:12
4."Blue Beard"Band of Horses3:22
5."On My Way Back Home"Bridwell3:31
6."Infinite Arms"Bridwell4:08
7."Dilly"Bridwell, Tyler Ramsey3:31
8."Evening Kitchen"Ramsey3:57
9."Older"Ryan Monroe3:28
10."For Annabelle"Bridwell, Ramsey3:06
11."NW Apt."Bridwell3:01
12."Neighbor"Bridwell5:58

Reception and chart performance

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Clash[9]
Entertainment Weekly(A-)[10]
One Thirty BPM(74%)[11]
Pitchfork Media(5.3/10)[12]
Q[13]
Rolling Stone[14]
Slant Magazine[15]
Spin[16]
Sputnikmusic[17]
Uncut[18]
DBF Music[19]
Chart Peak
Australian Albums Chart19[20]
Belgian Flanders Albums Chart29[20]
Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart83[20]
Canadian Albums Chart7[21]
Danish Albums Chart4[20]
Dutch Albums Chart64[20]
Finnish Albums Chart26[20]
French Albums Chart91[20]
German Albums Chart88[20]
Greek Albums Chart4[20]
Irish Albums Chart21[22]
New Zealand Albums Chart16[20]
Norwegian Albums Chart2[20]
Swedish Albums Chart5[20]
Swiss Albums Chart29[20]
UK Albums Chart21[23]
US Billboard 2007[24]

Infinite Arms proved a major international success for Band of Horses. It performed well in charts in Europe, Australasia and North America, reaching the top 10 in the US, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Norway and Sweden.

It sold 73,000 units in first three weeks in United States. [25]

Reviews of the album have been generally favourable, it has an overall rating of 69 out of 100 from 31 reviews, on the Metacritic website.[7] Q magazine gave Infinite Arms a 4/5 rating and described it as "The next Great Americana Album." They noted the influence of Neil Young and drew parallels with "The Great American Novel" in literature. Q concluded by saying that, "For all the restlessness of the creative process...this is a strangely domestic affair."[26]

Personnel

  • Benjamin Bridwell - vocals, guitars, drums, sounds, memotron
  • Creighton Barret - drums, thunderdrum, percussion
  • Ryan Monroe - keyboards, vocals, percussion, guitar
  • Bill Reynolds - bass, tambourine, guitar, percussion, sounds
  • Tyler Ramsey - guitar, vocals, percussion, keyboards, piano, theremin
Guest musicians
  • Jay Widenhouse - trumpet on "Factory"
  • Dylan Huber - trumpet #2 on "Factory"
  • Dave Wilkens - trombone on "Factory"
  • Clint Fore - tuba on "Factory"
  • Lauren Brown - strings on "Factory"
Production
  • Band of Horses - production
  • Phil Ek - additional production
  • Dave Sardy - mixing

References

  1. ↑ Band of Horses Reveal Label(s), Cover Art for New Album Infinite Arms Pitchfork Media - March 8, 2010
  2. 1 2 Simon Harper, Band of Horses interview Clash - May 19, 2010
  3. ↑ "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list" Los Angeles Times
  4. ↑ Band of Horses Interview Q Magazine - June 2010 (page 129) - taken from Band of Horses website - April 30, 2010
  5. ↑ Bud Scoppa, Infinite Arms review Uncut Magazine - June 2010 (page 98) - taken from Band of Horses website - May 13, 2010
  6. ↑ Otis R. Taylor Jr. "Will major record label release spoil Columbia's Band of Horses? The State - May 16, 2010
  7. 1 2 "Infinite Arms - Band of Horses" Metacritic
  8. ↑ "Allmusic review".
  9. ↑ "Clash review".
  10. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly review". May 12, 2010.
  11. ↑ "One Thirty BPM review".
  12. ↑ "Pitchfork review".
  13. ↑ "Q Magazine review".
  14. ↑ "Rolling Stone Magazine review".
  15. ↑ "Slant Magazine review".
  16. ↑ "Spin review".
  17. ↑ "Sputnikmusic Review".
  18. ↑ "Uncut review".
  19. ↑ DBF Music Review
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Infinite Arms Ultratop entry - Ultratop
  21. ↑ "June 5, 2010 - Canadian Albums" Billboard
  22. ↑ Irish Album Chart Week Ending May 20, 2010 chart-track.co.uk
  23. ↑ "Band Of Horses"(Link redirected to OCC website) chartstats.com
  24. ↑ Infinite Arms >Charts & Awards - Allmusic
  25. ↑ "Collect them all". Billboard. 3 April 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  26. ↑ Segal, Victoria "Introducing: Band of Horses" Q Magazine - June 2010 (p. 129)
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