Vitals (Mutemath album)

Last updated
Vitals
Mutemath Vitals.jpg
Studio album by Mutemath
Released November 13, 2015
Recorded 2014-2015
Genre
Length47:47
Label
Producer Mutemath
Mutemath chronology
Odd Soul
(2011) Odd Soul2011
Vitals
(2015)
Play Dead
(2017) Play Dead2017
Singles from Vitals
  1. "Monument"
    Released: August 18, 2015
  2. "Used To"
    Released: October 2, 2015

Vitals is the fourth full-length release from New Orleans group Mutemath. The album was released on November 13, 2015. It is the group's first release on their own imprint label Wojtek Records, following their departure from Warner Bros. Records and the dissolution of Teleprompt Records. It is also the first studio album featuring Todd Gummerman since he joined the group in 2011. [1]

New Orleans Largest city in Louisiana

New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana. With an estimated population of 393,292 in 2017, it is the most populous city in Louisiana. A major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region of the United States.

Mutemath American alternative rock band

Mutemath is an American alternative rock band from New Orleans that formed in 2002. The band currently only consists of lead vocalist and keyboardist Paul Meany, but is subject to add future musicians. They draw heavily from influences in 1960s and 1970s soul, psychedelic rock, and jam band styles, utilizing vintage guitars and amplifiers, as well as Rhodes keyboards, synthesizers, and other electronic instruments such as the keytar.

Warner Bros. Records American record label

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and headquartered in Burbank, California. It was founded in 1958 as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros., and was one of a group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations for much of its existence. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros. and its allied labels evolved through a convoluted series of corporate mergers and acquisitions from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Over this period, Warner Bros. Records grew from a struggling minor player in the music industry to one of the top record labels in the world.

Contents

Recording

Following 2011's Odd Soul , the band started recording material for their fourth album in 2012, and began playing some of the new material live in 2013. Paul Meany in an interview explained that at the end of 2013, "we had a sobering moment ... [we] listened to what we had, and we had that sinking feeling of like, 'Gosh, this just isn't it. This isn't the record we want.'" [2] Starting over, the band made a resolution to write a new song each day starting January 1, 2014, until they felt they'd "got it – got what this album needs to say and what we feel it should represent about where we're at right now." [2]

<i>Odd Soul</i> 2011 studio album by Mutemath

Odd Soul is the third full-length release from New Orleans group Mutemath. The album was released by Teleprompt Records and Warner Bros. Records on October 4, 2011. It is the first album without original guitarist Greg Hill. Bassist Roy Mitchell Cardenas filled in on guitar duties during writing and recording. The album was recorded at Paul Meany's house in New Orleans with no involvement by record company executives. In various interviews band members stated that the process of creating the album was very collaborative with all members playing guitar.

Contrasting the recording of Vitals to that of their previous album, Meany has stated that "The challenge for this record was how few notes could we get away with? We would overplay all the time, recording this record, but then it was a process of trying to now skim it back. What are the essential parts of the song? We were trying to see how loud we could let simplicity happen for each song idea." [2] He also explained that the process was highly collaborative, with all band members sharing responsibilities: "Our approach on this record was not, 'All right, you do guitar. You do bass. You do drums.' It was, 'OK, today we're doing drums. Today we're doing synths.' All four of us, speaking into whatever the part was, were trying to find the best part." [2]

Release

The album's title was announced on June 23, 2015. [3] The release date was initially slated to be October 16, 2015, [4] but was later pushed back to November 13. [5] The album was released in Japan on February 24, 2016.[ citation needed ]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
CCM Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]
Rolling Stone Australia Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

Vitals received generally positive reviews upon its release.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Joy Rides"4:00
2."Light Up"3:41
3."Monument"3:33
4."Stratosphere"3:55
5."All I See"3:47
6."Vitals" (instrumental)3:58
7."Composed"2:54
8."Used To"4:15
9."Best of Intentions"3:34
10."Bulletproof" (instrumental)3:39
11."Safe If We Don't Look Down"4:39
12."Remain"5:52
Total length:47:47
Cassette edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Azteca"3:46
14."Self"3:17
Total length:54:50
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Somewhere Right"4:20
14."Fine After All"3:17

Charts

The album debuted at #49 on the Billboard 200 and #32 on Top Album Sales with 10,000 units sold on Billboard charts dated December 5, 2015.

Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [10] 49
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [11] 2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [12] 4
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [13] 1
US Digital Albums (Billboard) [14] 14
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [15] 10

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