A Sailor's Guide to Earth | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 15, 2016 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 38:54 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Sturgill Simpson | |||
Sturgill Simpson chronology | ||||
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Singles from A Sailor's Guide to Earth | ||||
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A Sailor's Guide to Earth is the third studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson. It was announced on March 3, 2016, with the release of the single "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)". The album was released on April 15, 2016, [1] and won Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards; it was also nominated for Album of the Year. [2]
Prior to the album's announcement, Simpson stated in an interview with GQ that "what's next is already finished... Quite honestly, I need about six months at home with my family." [3] On March 3, 2016, Simpson released "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" on YouTube and his website; the next day he released the nine-song track list of A Sailor's Guide to Earth. [4] A week later, he published the music video for "Brace for Impact", which was directed by Matt Mahurin and contains the Grim Reaper, a hot rod coffin and sailboats. [5] On March 24, 2016, Simpson released his cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" along with its music video, also directed by Matt Mahurin. Simpson said, "I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt [Cobain]." [6] Streaming of the album became available on April 7, 2016, on NPR's official website. [7]
The song "Oh Sarah" was previously recorded by Simpson's former band Sunday Valley and appeared on their only full-length album, To the Wind and On To Heaven, in 2011.
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 8.3/10 [8] |
Metacritic | 86/100 [9] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
The Daily Telegraph | [11] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [12] |
The Guardian | [13] |
The Independent | [14] |
Mojo | [15] |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10 [16] |
Rolling Stone | [17] |
Spin | 7/10 [18] |
Uncut | 9/10 [19] |
A Sailor's Guide to Earth received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 19 reviews. [9]
The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 52,000 copies (55,000 units when tracks and streams are included) in its first week. [20] The album sold a further 13,400 copies in the second week. [21] The album has sold 217,900 copies in the US as of October 2017. [22]
Following his Grammy win, Simpson saw a 346% increase in streaming on Spotify. [23]
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
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Paste | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 19 | |
Rough Trade | Albums of the Year | 2016 | 91 | |
Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 26 |
All tracks are written by Sturgill Simpson except "In Bloom", which is written by Kurt Cobain.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)" | 4:53 |
2. | "Breakers Roar" | 3:33 |
3. | "Keep It Between the Lines" | 4:01 |
4. | "Sea Stories" | 3:17 |
5. | "In Bloom" (Nirvana cover) | 4:01 |
6. | "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" | 5:49 |
7. | "All Around You" | 3:36 |
8. | "Oh Sarah" | 4:15 |
9. | "Call to Arms" | 5:30 |
Total length: | 38:54 |
Musicians
Technical
Artwork
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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John Sturgill Simpson is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor. As of February 2022, he has released seven albums as a solo artist. His first two albums, High Top Mountain and Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, were independently released in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The latter was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Americana Album, listed 18th on Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2014," and named among "NPR's 50 Favorite Albums of 2014." His third album, A Sailor's Guide to Earth, was released in April 2016 on Atlantic Records and was Simpson's first major-label release, later earning him Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards while also being nominated for Album of the Year. Simpson's fourth album, Sound & Fury, was released on September 27, 2019, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards. He released two albums in 2020 - Cuttin' Grass, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 - which feature bluegrass interpretations of songs from across his catalog, and marked his return to independent music. His seventh studio album, The Ballad of Dood and Juanita, was released in August 2021. Simpson's style has been met with critical favor and frequent comparisons to outlaw country.
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{{Infobox musical artist | name = Cody Jinks | image = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Meredith Cody Jinks | birth_date = August 18, 1980
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