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Noble Beast

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Noble Beast
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 20, 2009 (2009-01-20)
GenreBaroque pop
Length54:17
LabelsFat Possum (US)
Bella Union (UK)
Andrew Bird chronology
Soldier On EP
(2007)
Noble Beast
(2009)
Fingerlings 4
(2010)
Singles from Noble Beast
  1. "Oh No"
    Released: 2009
  2. "Fitz and the Dizzyspells"
    Released: 2009

Noble Beast is the fifth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, and his eighth overall. It was released on January 20, 2009.[1] Two songs from this album were previewed on his webpage; "Oh No" and "Carrion Suite", while the entire album was made available by NPR[2] as a streaming feed. Noble Beast was made available as a standard CD release, a special limited-edition deluxe two-CD package and a double-LP package.

The track "Tenuousness" appears in the closing credits for the 2011 movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic79/100[3]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[4]
The A.V. Club(B+)[5]
Drowned in Sound(9/10)[6]
The GuardianStarStarStarStarStar[7]
LA TimesStarStarStar[8]
Paste(6.7/10)[9]
Tiny Mix TapesStarStarStarHalf star[10]
Pitchfork(7.5/10)[11]
Rolling StoneStarStarStarHalf star[12]
The SkinnyStarStarStarStar[13]
Spin(7/10)[14]
UncutStarStarStarStar[15]

The album received a Metacritic score of 79 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.[3]

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 12, and No. 3 on the Top Rock Albums Albums chart,[16] selling 26,000 copies in the first week.[17] The album has sold 150,000 copies in the United States as of December 2011.[18]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Andrew Bird, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Oh No" 4:20
2."Masterswarm" 6:35
3."Fitz and the Dizzyspells" 3:36
4."Effigy" 5:06
5."Tenuousness" 3:51
6."Nomenclature" 2:54
7."Ouo" 0:20
8."Not a Robot, but a Ghost"Bird, Martin Dosh5:37
9."Unfolding Fans"Bird, Jeremy Ylvisaker0:57
10."Anonanimal" 4:47
11."Natural Disaster" 4:18
12."The Privateers" 3:24
13."Souverian" 7:18
14."On Ho" 1:08
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
15."Section 8 City" (iTunes only bonus track)7:41
16."10-you-us" (iTunes pre-order only bonus track) 
17."Take Courage" (eMusic only bonus track)6:51

Other appearances

[edit]

Useless Creatures (Deluxe edition bonus disc)

[edit]
Deluxe Edition album art, used for the Noble Beast/Useless Creatures 2-CD set

The limited edition of Noble Beast shipped with a companion disc of instrumental songs, entitled Useless Creatures.[19] This collection was made available on Bird's website in early January, before the album's release.

No.TitleLength
1."Master Sigh"2:17
2."You Woke Me Up!"7:24
3."Nyatiti"4:01
4."The Barn Tapes"10:12
5."Carrion Suite"9:39
6."Spinney"0:45
7."Dissent"3:54
8."Hot Math"7:18
9."Sigh Master"5:32

Personnel

[edit]
  • Andrew Bird – violin, vocals, whistling, guitar
  • Martin Dosh – percussion, looping, keys
  • Jeremy Ylvislaker – guitar, bass, organ, shortwave
  • Kelly Hogan – background vocals
  • Mike Lewis – clarinet
  • Todd Sickafoose – double bass
  • Ben Martin – cardboard box drums
  • Tony Crow – juno

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2009) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20]77
French Albums (SNEP)[21]62
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22]64
US Billboard 200[23]12
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[24]2
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[25]1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[26]3
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[27]2

References

[edit]
  1. Paul Thompson, "Andrew Bird to Unleash Noble Beast on New Album" Archived October 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, pitchforkmedia.com, October 3, 2008.
  2. "Exclusive First Listen: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'". NPR.
  3. 1 2 "Noble Beast by Andrew Bird". Metacritic.
  4. "Noble Beast - Andrew Bird | Album". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
  5. "Andrew Bird: Noble Beast". AV Club. January 27, 2009.
  6. Skinner, James (February 2, 2009). "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  7. Costa, Maddy (January 30, 2009). "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  8. Brown, August (January 20, 2009). "Album review: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'". Los Angeles Times.
  9. "Andrew Bird: Noble Beast". Past Magazine.
  10. "Music Review: Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Tinymixtapes.com.
  11. Tangari, Joe (January 22, 2009). "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Pitchfork.
  12. Hermes, Will (January 20, 2009). "Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 23, 2009.
  13. Watson, Gillian. "Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". The Skinny.
  14. Suarez, Jessica (December 27, 2008). "Andrew Bird, 'Noble Beast' (Fat Possum)". SPIN.
  15. McKay, Alastair. "Album Review: Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Uncut. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010.
  16. "Top Rock Albums". Billboard. February 7, 2009.
  17. Caulfield, Keith (March 14, 2012). "Bruce Springsteen Squeaks By Adele, Earns Tenth No. 1 Album". Billboard.
  18. "ANDREW BIRD to release 'Break It Yourself' in March 2012". Bella Union. December 8, 2011.
  19. "Andrew Bird new album release moved up". NME. November 26, 2008.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Andrew Bird – Noble Beast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  21. "Lescharts.com – Andrew Bird – Noble Beast". Hung Medien.
  22. "Dutchcharts.nl – Andrew Bird – Noble Beast" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  23. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  24. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original. [dead link]
  25. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  26. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  27. "Andrew Bird Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.