| Classics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 2, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Indie pop, jazz | |||
| Length | 38:46 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | M. Ward | |||
| She & Him chronology | ||||
| ||||
Classics is the fifth studio album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Columbia Records on December 2, 2014. The album features 13 covers of classic songs, recorded live and accompanied by a 20-piece orchestra. [1] Classics was released for a First Listen on NPR on November 23, 2014. [2]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 67/100 [3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The A.V. Club | C+ [4] |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Alternative Press |  [6] |
| American Songwriter | [7] |
| Drowned in Sound |   [8] |
| Exclaim! | [9] |
| NME | [10] |
| Paste | 7.0/10 [11] |
| Pitchfork | 6.6/10 [12] |
| PopMatters | [13] |
| Rolling Stone | [14] |
| Slant Magazine | [15] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a "weighted average" rating out of 100 to selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a Metascore of 67, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [3]
Two publications, Alternative Press and Slant Magazine , awarded the album three and a half stars. Robert Ham for the former refers to "Deschanel is a delight, at times coy and romantic, and in other moments, moody and pensive", [6] which Jeremy Winograd for the latter calls "Deschanel and Ward's versions are surprisingly engaging." [15] In doling out a seven out of ten reviews on behalf of Paste and Drowned in Sound , Hilary Saunders for the former tells "Classics presents these songs faithfully and inoffensively, and She & Him cover them with the best of intentions", [11] and Marc Burrows for the latter finds "it's a hard heart that dismisses a solid record of wonderful songs done well." [8] Rating the album a 6.6 out of ten at Pitchfork , Hazel Cills tells "If Classics proves anything, it’s that these songs stick around for a reason." [12] In rating the music four stars for AllMusic, Timothy Monger replies "Classics is meant to be pure entertainment and even though most of these songs have been sung before by a variety of other artists, in the hands of She & Him, it comes off less like a novelty and instead sits very comfortably in their growing catalog of fine releases." [5]
Two publications conferred three star ratings upon the album, which were Rolling Stone and American Songwriter , for the former publication Jonathan Bernstein believes "The surprisingly loungy results are unusually daring for these two", [14] which for the latter Hal Horowitz ascertains "Ultimately despite, or perhaps because of, its minor ambitions, Classics succeeds on its own terms." [7] Annie Zaleski writing for The A.V. Club rated the album a C+, suggests "Yet for all of its impeccable arrangements, Classics almost feels too perfect, an album so stylized that it inadvertently suppresses the emotion inherent in these songs... Losing something in translation is the potential downside of interpreting beloved standards, and while She & Him are lovingly faithful performers, Classics ends up as just pleasant background music." [4] In correspondingly granting the music here a six out of ten for Exclaim! and PopMatters , Alison Lang for the former says "As a result (maybe inevitably) any vestigial threads of quirkiness have fallen away; while Classics is a pleasant enough album, it will forever mark the moment when She & Him went full Starbucks... This is an album that's holiday-ready: safe, inoffensive, pretty grandma music", [9] while for the latter Charles Pitter writes "All in all, Classics is charming enough to merit a release, and it would be unfair to claim that by putting out a covers album, She & Him are treading water. The album is classy and appealing, and although it’s not particularly challenging, it’s still a lot more than just background music... In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with dissonance and discord, Classics is a soothing remedy for agitated minds." [13] Andy Welsh, reviewing for NME and awarding to the album a five out of ten, explains "But a whole album of Deschanel's wholesome, entertaining-the-troops voice and M Ward's tasteful instrumentation is cloying." [10]
Source: [16]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stars Fell on Alabama" | Mitchell Parish, Frank Perkins | 2:22 |
| 2. | "Oh No, Not My Baby" | Gerry Goffin, Carole King | 3:21 |
| 3. | "It's Not for Me to Say" | Robert Allen, Al Stillman | 3:15 |
| 4. | "Stay Awhile" | Mike Hawker, Ivor Raymonde | 2:38 |
| 5. | "This Girl's in Love with You" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 3:19 |
| 6. | "Time After Time" | Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne | 3:22 |
| 7. | "She" | Charles Aznavour, Herbert Kretzmer | 3:24 |
| 8. | "Teach Me Tonight" | Sammy Cahn, Gene de Paul | 2:29 |
| 9. | "It's Always You" | Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Unchained Melody" | Alex North, Hy Zaret | 3:51 |
| 11. | "I'll Never Be Free" | Bennie Benjamin, George David Weiss | 3:23 |
| 12. | "Would You Like to Take a Walk?" | Mort Dixon, Billy Rose, Harry Warren | 2:05 |
| 13. | "We'll Meet Again" | Hugh Charles, Ross Parker | 2:32 |
| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [17] | 77 |
| US Billboard 200 [18] | 41 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [19] | 4 |
| US Folk Albums (Billboard) [20] | 1 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [21] | 7 |
| US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [22] | 4 |
Credits for Classics from AllMusic. [23]
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, model, musician, and singer-songwriter. She made her film debut in Mumford (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous (2000). Deschanel is known for her deadpan roles in comedy films such as The Good Girl (2002), The New Guy (2002), Elf (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), Yes Man (2008), 500 Days of Summer (2009) and Our Idiot Brother (2011). She has also ventured into dramatic film territory with Manic (2001), All the Real Girls (2003), Winter Passing (2005), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), The Happening (2008) and The Driftless Area (2015). From 2011 to 2018, she starred as Jessica Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl, for which she received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.
Matthew Stephen Ward is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 1999, primarily through independent label Merge Records. In addition to his solo work, he is a member of indie pop duo She & Him and folk-rock supergroup Monsters of Folk, and also participates in recording, producing, and playing with multiple other artists.
"Gonna Get Along Without Ya Now" is a popular song written by Milton Kellem, and published in 1951. Originally written in English, it has been done in several styles and tempos.
She & Him is an American musical duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008.
Volume One is the first album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actress Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.
Hold Time is the sixth proper studio album from M. Ward, released on February 17, 2009. Hold Time is the follow-up to his 2006 album Post-War and its companion EP To Go Home in 2007.
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"In the Sun" is a song by American duo She & Him, written by Zooey Deschanel for their second album, Volume Two. The song was released as the first single from the album on February 23, 2010, a full month ahead of the album. It was published on-line by Pitchfork on January 22, 2010. The duo performed the song on the Late Show with David Letterman on April 2, 2010 in promotion of their new album.
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American musical duo She & Him have released six studio albums, an extended play (EP), 11 singles and 10 music videos. The indie pop band was formed in 2006 in Portland, Oregon, and consists of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward.
A Very She & Him Christmas is the first Christmas album and the third studio album by the folk/indie rock band She & Him, consisting of actress and musician Zooey Deschanel and musician M. Ward. The album was released on October 24, 2011, and features several covers of classic holiday songs. The twelve-track album is distributed by Merge Records and proceeds from every album sold are being donated to 826 National, a nonprofit network of writing and tutoring centers.
A Wasteland Companion is the seventh studio album from M. Ward, released in Australia and New Zealand on April 6, 2012; in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2012; and in the United States on April 10, 2012. A Wasteland Companion is the follow-up to his 2009 album Hold Time.
Volume 3 is the fourth studio album by She & Him, a collaboration between M. Ward and actor Zooey Deschanel. It was released by Merge Records on May 7, 2013 (US) and on May 13, 2013 by Double Six Records (UK). On the album, there are eleven songs written by Deschanel and three cover songs.
More Rain is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter M. Ward. The album was released on March 4, 2016 on Merge Records and Bella Union. More Rain is Ward's first solo album since 2012's A Wasteland Companion, having released Volume Three and Classics with Zooey Deschanel as She & Him in the interim as well as recording and producing other artists.
Christmas Party is the second Christmas album and the sixth studio album by the folk/indie rock band She & Him, consisting of actress and musician Zooey Deschanel and musician M. Ward. The album was released on October 28, 2016, and features several covers of classic holiday songs.
Tell Me How You Really Feel is the second studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett. It was released on 18 May 2018 by Barnett's Milk! Records, Mom + Pop Music, and Marathon Artists. The album received generally positive reviews from critics.
"Not the End of the World" is a song recorded by American singer Katy Perry for her sixth studio album Smile (2020), which was released on August 28, 2020. The song was written by Perry, Michael Pollack, Madison Love, Jacob Hindlin, and Andrew Goldstein, and was produced by Goldstein and Oscar Görres. "Not the End of the World" is a trap-pop song with an underlying disco beat, sampling a melody from Steam's 1969 song "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye".
