Total Life Forever

Total Life Forever
A number of people are swimming under water.
Studio album by Foals
Released 10 May 2010 (2010-05-10)[1]
Recorded September 2009[2]
Svenska Grammofon Studios, Gothenburg, Sweden[3]
Genre Indie rock, post-rock[4]
Length 50:21
Label Transgressive, Sub Pop
Producer Luke Smith[1]
Foals chronology
Antidotes
(2008)		 Total Life Forever
(2010)		 Holy Fire
(2013)
Singles from Total Life Forever
  1. "Spanish Sahara"
    Released: 17 April 2010
  2. "This Orient"
    Released: 3 May 2010
  3. "Miami"
    Released: 4 July 2010
  4. "Blue Blood"
    Released: 8 November 2010

Total Life Forever is the second studio album by British indie rock band Foals, released on 10 May 2010 through Transgressive Records.[5] Prior to the album's release, the band described it as sounding "like the dream of an eagle dying".[6] It was produced by Luke Smith,[1] and was recorded at Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg.[3] Upon its release, the album charted in numerous countries worldwide, including number eight in the UK Albums Chart.

Promotion and release

Two guitarists are performing a song live on a stage, in front of a mic mounted on a microphone stand.
Foals supporting Blur in Hyde Park, London, 2 July 2009

In January 2009, the band released three semi-instrumental segments of tracks through the band's MySpace profile, giving an insight into the band's recording process.[7] A short three date tour of the United Kingdom took place in April 2009.[8]

During July 2009, the band played an intimate show for Rockfeedback, as a warm up for future festival shows and a chance to debut songs from their second album.[9] On 2 July, the band supported Blur during their reunion show in Hyde Park, London, playing an untitled new song which frontman Yannis Philippakis stated was unfinished.[10] Later the same month, the band appeared at the 2009 T in the Park festival, performing new songs "Total Life Forever" and "Dirty Waves". Both songs had been previously aired during the band's appearance at The Breeders-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May 2009.[11] In September 2009, the band performed at London's Heaven as part of Transgressive Records' fifth anniversary, performing new songs "Spanish Sahara", "Death Surf" and one other untitled track.[12]

The album's title was revealed on 24 February 2010.[13] Zane Lowe premiered the promotional track "Spanish Sahara" on BBC Radio 1, naming the track his "Hottest Record in the World" for 1 March 2010.[14] From 8pm the same day, a remix of the track was made available to download from Foals' official website.[15] The accompanying video was added to Foals' YouTube page on 2 March 2010.[16] A limited number vinyl of "Spanish Sahara" was released on 17 April 2010, to mark the 2010 Record Store Day.[17] In support of the album, the band announced a fourteen date tour of Europe throughout April–May 2010, including dates in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and the United Kingdom.[18][19] These were the band's first live performances of the year.[20]

Following "Spanish Sahara"'s limited release, the album's first official single was announced as "This Orient", released on 3 May 2010.[21][22] The track reached number 97 on the UK Singles Chart.[23] Second single "Miami" was then released on 4 July 2010.[24] It reached No. 127 on the same chart. Third single "Blue Blood" was released on 8 November 2010.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[25]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[26]
The A.V. ClubA−[27]
The Daily Telegraph[28]
The Guardian[29]
The Independent[30]
Mojo[31]
NME8/10[32]
Pitchfork Media7.6/10[33]
Q[34]
Spin6/10[35]

Total Life Forever was very well received; many commented how the band's music has matured from their debut album. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[25]

The Q Magazine's reviewer, though, expressed some doubts. Calling it "the schizophrenic second album", Rupert Howe opined that "while this album carries more instrumental and emotional heft than its predecessor, something remains off-balance".[34]

Besides being shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize,[36] Total Life Forever brought the band several nominations for the 2011 NME awards, including best album, best track ("Spanish Sahara") and best album artwork.[37]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Drowned in Sound UK Albums of the Year 2010 33[38]
Mojo UK Top 50 Albums of 2010 2010 25[39]
NME UK Top 75 Albums of 2010 2010 6[40]
Q UK Top 50 Albums of 2010 2010 16[41]

The writers and editors of the free UK magazine "The Fly" voted for Total Life Forever as the best album of 2010. A readers poll also voted for it as album of the year.

Track listing

All tracks written by Foals. 

No.TitleLength
1."Blue Blood"  5:17
2."Miami"  3:42
3."Total Life Forever"  3:18
4."Black Gold"  6:26
5."Spanish Sahara"  6:46
6."This Orient"  4:06
7."Fugue"  0:49
8."After Glow"  6:09
9."Alabaster"  4:00
10."2 Trees"  5:11
11."What Remains"  4:37
Total length:50:21

Chart performance

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[43] 83
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[44] 72
French Albums Chart[45] 38
German Albums Chart[46] 48
Greek Albums Chart[47] 21
Irish Albums Chart[48] 25
Swiss Albums Chart[49] 62
UK Albums Chart[50] 8
US Heatseekers Albums[51] 35

Personnel

Foals
Additional musicians
Technical personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Foals announce new album title and tracklisting". NME. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Foals Return". The Fly. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  3. 1 2 Sclafani, Tony. "Foals: Total Life Forever". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Benson, Nikki (23 June 2010). "Album Review: Foals – "Total Life Forever"". Seattle Showgal. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  5. ↑ Simpson, Oli (23 February 2010). "Foals 'announce second album details'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  6. ↑ "Foals: 'New album will sound like the dream of an eagle dying'". NME. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Foals give away new album downloads". NME. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  8. ↑ "Foals to preview new album at UK live dates". NME. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  9. ↑ Bychawski, Adam. "Foals to warm up for Blur show with intimate London gig". NME. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  10. ↑ "Blur reveal 'Parklife' inspiration at Hyde Park gig". NME. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Foals joined by Friendly Fires star at T In The Park". NME. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "Foals play new songs at London Transgressive show". NME. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  13. ↑ Gregory, Jason (24 February 2010). "Foals Reveal Second Album Title And Release Date". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "Zane Lowe, 01/03/2010". BBC Radio 1. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  15. ↑ Murray, Robin (1 March 2010). "Foals Add Intimate UK Tour Dates". Clash. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  16. ↑ "wearefoals's Channel". YouTube. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "The A-Z of Record Store Day 2010". FACT. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  18. ↑ Murray, Robin (24 February 2010). "Foals Confirm Second Album Plans". Clash. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  19. ↑ Gregory, Jason (1 March 2010). "Foals Announce May UK And Ireland Tour". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  20. ↑ Michaels, Sean (24 February 2010). "Foals confirm second album title and release date". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  21. ↑ "Foals announce new single and UK and Ireland tour – ticket details". NME. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  22. ↑ "Foals Unleash New Video". MTV. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  23. ↑ "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending 15 May 2010". ChartsPlus. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd (455): 1.
  24. ↑ "Watch Foals' transgender-featuring 'Miami' video". NME. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  25. 1 2 "Reviews for Total Life Forever by Foals". Metacritic. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  26. ↑ Heaney, Gregory. "Total Life Forever – Foals". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  27. ↑ O'Neal, Sean (21 December 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  28. ↑ Horan, Tom (7 May 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  29. ↑ Costa, Maddy (6 May 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  30. ↑ Gill, Andy (7 May 2010). "Album: Foals, Total Life Forever (Warner Bros)". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  31. ↑ "Foals: Total Life Forever". Mojo (199): 96. June 2010.
  32. ↑ Parker, Rob (3 May 2010). "Album Review: Foals – 'Total Life Forever' (Warner Bros)". NME. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  33. ↑ Bevan, David (20 May 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  34. 1 2 Howe, Rupert (June 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". Q (287): 130.
  35. ↑ Walters, Barry (August 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". Spin. 26 (7): 84. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  36. ↑ "Mercury Prize 2010 Nominations Announced". NME. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  37. ↑ "Foals and Arcade Fire lead NME awards nominations". BBC Newsbeat. BBC. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  38. ↑ Adams, Sean (2 December 2010). "Drowned in Sound's albums of the year 2010: 50-11 / In Depth // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  39. ↑ Pubblicato da cabal (13 December 2010). "Spotirama: Mojo's Best 50 Albums of 2010". Spotirama.blogspot.com. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  40. ↑ "NME Top 75 Albums Of 2010". Stereogum. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  41. ↑ "Q's 50 Best Albums Of 2009". Stereogum. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  42. ↑ "Total Life Forever (Deluxe 2CD Edition)". Foals official website. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  43. ↑ "Belgian (Flanders) album positions" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  44. ↑ "Belgian (Wallonia) album positions" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  45. ↑ "French album positions" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  46. ↑ "German album positions" (in German). musicline.de. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  47. ↑ "Greek album positions". greekcharts.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  48. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 13 May 2010". Chart-Track. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  49. ↑ "Swiss album positions" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  50. ↑ "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending 16 May 2010". ChartsPlus. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd (456): 5. 16 May 2010.
  51. ↑ "Total Life Forever - Foals". Billboard. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
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