Benjamin Booker | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 9 August 2014 | |||
Recorded | The Bomb Shelter, Nashville, December 2013 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 44:20 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Andrija Tokic | |||
Benjamin Booker chronology | ||||
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Singles from Benjamin Booker | ||||
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Benjamin Booker is the debut studio album by American musician Benjamin Booker. It was released on 9 August 2014 by ATO Records and Rough Trade Records. [1]
The album was recorded in December 2013 in engineer/producer Andrija Tokic's all-analog Bomb Shelter in East Nashville, Andrija Tokic who has produced recordings for Hurray for the Riff Raff and Alabama Shakes. The Bomb shelter was recommend to Booker as a place to record his album by Alynda Lee Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff and by Sam Doores of The Deslondes. [2] Booker chose The Bomb Shelter as the place to record his album, as he wanted to record the album in analog like he stated in an interview: "
I wanted to do the record analog, not digital. So we went to The Bomb Shelter, a studio that is totally analog and where other bands from our label, Alabama Shakes and Hurray For The Riff Raff, recorded their album. I knew the guy there was good… and analog was important to me. If you want to put out an album on vinyl, you might as well do it right." [3]
Booker arrived for the recording of the album with his only band mate, Max Norton, from Tampa, FL. The recording of the album was done using a RCA overhead on Norton’s kit, a Neumann U 87 on kick, and a Shure 57 on snare. Booker’s vocal chain usually included a Neumann U 67 with an Altec tube preamp and a UA 175 compressor, recording was often done with other instruments such as Sennheiser 441, in rotation to the main instruments used. the main guitars used for recording were 60s hollow-body Super Lynx Deluxe Vox, and an ’80s Ibanez Matsumoku Roadster. After recording started Tokic started bring in bass players and keyboardists to "flesh out recordings". [4] The album was mixed on Tokic's MCI JH600 console.
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 81/100 [5] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
American Songwriter | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Clash | 7/10 [8] |
DIY | 8/10 [9] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
musicOMH | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 8/10 [12] |
The Observer | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Uncut | 7/10 [15] |
Upon its release Benjamin Booker's self-titled album Benjamin Booker received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 81, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". [5]
All tracks are written by Benjamin Booker.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Violent Shiver" | 2:46 |
2. | "Always Waiting" | 2:19 |
3. | "Chippewa" | 3:14 |
4. | "Slow Coming" | 4:31 |
5. | "Wicked Waters" | 3:27 |
6. | "Have You Seen My Son?" | 5:07 |
7. | "Spoon Out My Eyeballs" | 3:03 |
8. | "Happy Homes" | 4:34 |
9. | "I Thought I Heard You Screaming" | 3:04 |
10. | "Old Hearts" | 2:50 |
11. | "Kids Never Grow Older" | 5:35 |
12. | "By the Evening" | 3:50 |
Credits adapted from AllMusic. [16]
Chart (2014) | Peak position |
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Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) [17] | 187 |
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) [18] | 59 |
Dutch Albums Chart [19] | 80 |
US Billboard 200 [20] | 46 |
US Alternative Albums [21] | 10 |
US Rock Albums [22] | 15 |
Tastemaker Albums [23] | 10 |
Independent Albums [24] | 7 |
Top Album Sales [25] | 46 |