Ocean Eyes (album)

Ocean Eyes is the second studio album by American electronica project Owl City, released on July 14, 2009, by Universal Republic Records.[1] It features a photograph of the Burj Al Arab as its album artwork.[2] A vinyl edition was released, followed by a deluxe edition available on January 26, 2010.[3] The deluxe edition incorporates four new tracks, including a remix of "Hello Seattle". The album contains guest vocals by Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen on the songs "Fireflies", "Cave In", "The Bird and the Worm", and "Tidal Wave".

Not to be confused with Ocean Eyes (song).

Ocean Eyes
Studio album by
Owl City
ReleasedJuly 14, 2009
Recorded2007–2009
StudioSky Harbor Studios (Owatonna, MN), Two Sticks Audio (Seattle, WA)
Genre
Length42:52
LabelUniversal Republic
ProducerAdam Young
Owl City chronology
Maybe I'm Dreaming
(2008)		 Ocean Eyes
(2009)		 All Things Bright and Beautiful
(2011)
Singles from Ocean Eyes
  1. "Fireflies"
    Released: July 14, 2009
  2. "Vanilla Twilight"
    Released: January 26, 2010
  3. "Umbrella Beach"
    Released: May 17, 2010

Background

In the 2000s, the works of the Postal Service inspired a wave of emo-influenced synthpop acts such as PlayRadioPlay!, Hellogoodbye, and Owl City.[4] Just before Ocean Eyes's July 2009 release, Owl City garnered two hits on the Top Electronic Albums chart and over 40 million plays on MySpace.[4]

On July 14, 2009, the song "Fireflies" was chosen as the Single of the Week by the iTunes Store. This led to a huge success as the song was downloaded over 650,000 times and helped the album reach No. 2 on the U.S. store. This success also led to the record company pushing back the release date of the physical copy of the album from July 28, 2009, to September 1, 2009.[1] The album sold 20,000 copies in its debut week,[1] and reached the top ten in the U.S., peaking at No. 8.[5] That same week, its lead single, "Fireflies", topped the Billboard Hot 100.[6] Eventually, Ocean Eyes climbed to No. 1 on the iTunes Store after the album price was lowered for a limited period of time. The album has sold 1.1 million copies in the US as of 2012.[7]

The album contains slightly different versions of songs from previous albums, namely "Hello Seattle" from Of June and "On the Wing" and "The Saltwater Room" from Maybe I'm Dreaming.

Young revealed the origin of the album's title when he said:

I'm from the middle of nowhere in Minnesota you see, so the ocean has always been a curiously dreamy, ethereal, almost romantic thing to me. Over the years I spent a great deal of time with my eyes closed, imagining myself having the most wonderful adventures by the seaside. Doing things one can only do in dusk and glow and midsummer dreams, as if the back of my closed eyelids were a silver screen and I was a sentimental projectionist with hundreds of fanciful reels at hand, all ready to roll. Thus is the reasoning behind the title.

— Adam Young, Adam Young's blog

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?4.7/10[8]
Metacritic53/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Alternative Press[11]
The A.V. ClubC−[12]
Clash3/10[13]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[14]
Evening Standard[15]
The Guardian[16]
Q[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Spin5/10[19]
The Times[20]

Ocean Eyes received mixed reviews from critics, based on an aggregate Metacritic score of 53/100, indicating "Mixed or average reviews".[9] The album gained some positive reviews, including Entertainment Weekly which gave it a B+ and said that it was filled with memorable choruses and that the highlight song was "Dental Care".[14] Jesus Freak Hideout also was favorable towards the album; the review highlighted the album's musical style, saying that it had "dreamy lyrics and open soundscapes."[4] Aaron Basiliere of PopMatters stated that Owl City, "has crafted an incredibly upbeat album filled with starry-eyed lyrics and electro-pop fluff" and called the album "a welcome change."[21] However, he was critical on tracks such as "Dental Care" calling it mundane.[21]

Tony Cummings of Cross Rhythms noted, "Adam does brilliantly in creating wistfully pretty, ethereal music which is far more accessible than the work of The Postal Service... All in all, if you liked the single, you'll love the album."[22] A mixed review came from Fraser McAlpine of the BBC. He stated, "There's no denying that Adam can create a pretty picture. 'On The Wing', for example, is a valiant mix of undulating strings, ticker-tape percussion and sparkling glockenspiel which is begging for a quirky cartoon to soundtrack. On the other hand, 'Dental Care' is a string of observations about a trip to the dentist. It's not even a metaphorical or magical dentist: just a dentist."[23]

On the other hand, Rolling Stone claimed Ocean Eyes as "disappointing", only awarding it 2/5 stars. The magazine especially criticized the slower songs, saying that forgettable tracks like "On the Wing" were "just mush."[18] AllMusic also gave the album a total of 2.5/5, stating "Ocean Eyes ultimately winds up too sugary for its own good, though, having focused on dessert without giving its listeners any sort of meaty, substantive entrée. A handful of ballads add some sense of variety to the album's pace, but Owl City is largely a vehicle for the one song Adam Young knows how to make."[10] The Independent gave a much more negative review of the album stating that, "Ocean Eyes is such an insultingly bad photocopy of Give Up."[24]

Singles

"Fireflies" was released as the album's first single on July 14, 2009.[25] It climbed the Billboard Hot 100 slowly until reaching No. 7 and leaping to No. 1 the following week.[6] "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Chart for two non-consecutive weeks,[26] as well as topping the iTunes Top 100 Chart for several weeks. "Fireflies" was originally released as a free iTunes digital download the week the album had its digital release in the U.S., which could have contributed to the single's massive success.[1] The song continued to make the top 10 most downloaded songs in many countries[27] and reached No. 1 on the Official UK Singles Chart on January 24, 2010.[28]

"Vanilla Twilight" was released as the album's second single on January 26, 2010, to radio,[29] the same day that the deluxe edition of Ocean Eyes hit stores.[30] During the same week that "Fireflies" topped the Hot 100, "Vanilla Twilight" debuted at No. 95.[31] The song re-entered the chart and peaked at No. 72 on the week ending January 9, 2010.[32]

"Umbrella Beach" was released as the album's third and final single on May 17, 2010.[33] "Umbrella Beach" was originally released promotionally on November 22, 2009, preceding the release of the official first single "Fireflies."[34] An exclusive remix created by Kenny Hayes is included on the single release.[35] There is also a music video available for it. Unlike "Fireflies" and "Vanilla Twilight", Young does not appear in the video, aside from a few photos.

Promotional singles

"Hot Air Balloon" premiered on the AOL Spinner Tastemaker website on May 1, 2009. The song debuted at number one on AOL Music's Top 40 Songs Chart with more than 270,000 streams in the first week and has sold over 12,400 copies.[36] The track was later released as a digital-only promotional single on May 5, 2009, leading up to the release of the album, though it did not appear on the album.[37]

"Strawberry Avalanche" premiered exclusively via Spin on June 1, 2009,[36] and was released digitally the following day.[38][39] The song sold over 9,000 copies as of July 2009.[36] The song was included in the deluxe edition of the album.

"Sunburn" was released as a digital-only promotional single for the soundtrack of 90210 on October 13, 2009, and it was also released free to people who bought "Ocean Eyes" during a span of several weeks of December 2009.[40]

Awards and nominations
Awards and nominations for Ocean Eyes
Year Organization Award Result Ref(s)
2011 Billboard Music Awards Dance/Electronic Album of the Year Nominated [41]

Accolades
Year Publication Country List
2010 Cross Rhythms United Kingdom "The 20 Best Albums of 2010"[42]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Adam Young, except where noted

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cave In" 4:02
2."The Bird and the Worm"
3:27
3."Hello Seattle" (originally from Of June) 2:47
4."Umbrella Beach" 3:50
5."The Saltwater Room" (originally from Maybe I'm Dreaming) 4:02
6."Dental Care" 3:11
7."Meteor Shower" 2:14
8."On the Wing" (originally from Maybe I'm Dreaming) 5:01
9."Fireflies" 3:48
10."The Tip of the Iceberg" 3:23
11."Vanilla Twilight" 3:52
12."Tidal Wave"
  • Young
  • Thiessen
3:10
Total length:42:47
iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Hello Seattle (Remix)"5:53
14."If My Heart Was a House"4:06
Total length:52:46
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Hot Air Balloon"3:35
14."Rugs From Me To You"1:28
Total length:47:50
Deluxe edition: disc 2
No.TitleLength
1."Hot Air Balloon"3:35
2."Butterfly Wings"2:54
3."Rugs from Me to You"1:27
4."Sunburn"3:47
5."Hello Seattle (Remix)"5:53
6."If My Heart Was a House"4:06
7."Strawberry Avalanche"3:18
8."Fireflies (Adam Young Remix)" (exclusively on iTunes)3:12
Total length:28:12

Personnel

Credits for Ocean Eyes adapted from AllMusic.[43]

Owl City
  • Adam Young – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, guitars, bass, drums, programming, producer, engineer
Additional musicians and production
  • Breanne Düren – additional vocals on tracks 5 and 8
  • Austin Tofte – additional vocals on track 8
  • Matthew Thiessen – additional vocals on tracks on 1, 2, 9, 12 and 14, production on tracks 2, 9, 12
  • Melisa Morgan – additional vocals on tracks 7 and 10
  • Jolie Lindholm – additional vocals on track 7
  • Phil Peterson – cello on tracks 1, 4, 8, 9 and 10
  • Steve Bursky – producer, management
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Christopher Kornmann – art direction
  • Imran Khan – artwork
  • John Goodmanson – audio mixer
Recording location

Charts

Certifications
Certifications and sales for Ocean Eyes
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[79] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[80] Gold 40,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[81] Gold 10,000‡
Singapore (RIAS)[82] Gold 5,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[83] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[84] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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