Odditorium or Warlords of Mars

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars is the fifth studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was recorded from April 2004 to January 2005 in the band's own Odditorium studio, and was released on September 13, 2005, through Capitol Records; their final album before parting ways with the label.

"Warlords of Mars" redirects here. For the book by Edgar Rice Burroughs, see The Warlord of Mars.

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
Studio album by
The Dandy Warhols
ReleasedSeptember 13, 2005
RecordedApril 2004 – January 2005
StudioThe Odditorium, Portland, Oregon, United States
GenrePsychedelic rock[1]
Length62:09
LabelCapitol
Producer
The Dandy Warhols chronology
The Black Album/Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols
(2004)		 Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
(2005)		 ...Earth to the Dandy Warhols...
(2008)
Singles from Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
  1. "Smoke It"
    Released: August 29, 2005
  2. "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey"
    Released: October 29, 2005

The album is a return to the psychedelic, guitar-based sound of the group's earlier records, following their foray into a new wave style with 2003's Welcome to the Monkey House.[2] The album failed to meet up to the commercial success of its predecessors and received a mixed response from music critics. Two singles were released from the album: "Smoke It" and "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey".

Background and production

The album's title references the novel The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs[3] as well as the band's Portland, Oregon pad The Odditorium, where the album was recorded from between April 2004 and January 2005. It was produced by Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Gregg Williams. Bandmember Zia McCabe worked on the album during a pregnancy with her first child, Matilda Louise, and gave birth only a week after its completion.

Release

The first single from the album, "Smoke It", was released on August 29, 2005. It peaked at No. 59 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] The Guardian praised the song, saying it "reeks of rock's decadent best".[5] The song was featured in "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang", an episode of Veronica Mars.[6]

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars was released on September 13, 2005. It peaked at No. 89 in the US Billboard chart[7]—their second highest charting album to date—and No. 67 in the UK,[8] staying in both charts for only one week.

The album's second and final single, "All the Money or the Simple Life Honey", was released on October 29.[9]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic57/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Robert Christgau(1-star Honorable Mention)[12]
Drowned in Sound8/10[13]
The Guardian[14]
NME6/10[2]
Pitchfork1.2/10[15]
PopMatters5/10[16]
Rolling Stone[10]

Critics were divided on their opinion of the album. The Guardian wrote, "The Dandy Warhols seem to knock out great music as easily as getting out of bed. Their fifth album further expands their palette of effortless cool", calling it "their best yet."[14] Drowned in Sound called it "an album full of creative magic and songwriting gems."[13] Trouser Press wrote: "Odditorium is the Dandys' magnum opus, a sprawling, rambling but somehow coherent result of the ambitions developed on previous albums".[17]

AllMusic, on the other hand, called it "half inspired, half-embarrassing and completely self-indulgent."[11] Pitchfork gave the album an exceptionally low 1.2/10 rating, writing "only the truly earless would mistake this assortment of bloated in-jokes and interminable, sub-song drones for some kind of masterpiece."[15] Alternative Press wrote, "Basically, Odditorium sounds like a giant "fuck you" to [their] record label."[18] The album appeared at number 242 in the Village Voice annual Pazz and Jop critics poll.[19]

Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor once called the album "definitely the strongest we've ever made",[20] though would later state it was "a f**k(sic) you record. Drop us, please, we want off your label."[21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, except where noted

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Colder Than the Coldest Winter Was Cold" (intro) 1:02
2."Love Is the New Feel Awful" 9:36
3."Easy" 7:32
4."All the Money or the Simple Life Honey"Taylor-Taylor, Miles Zuniga4:29
5."The New Country"Taylor-Taylor, Peter Holmström2:10
6."Holding Me Up" 7:15
7."Did You Make a Song with Otis" (interlude) 0:55
8."Everyone Is Totally Insane" 3:41
9."Smoke It"Taylor-Taylor, Zuniga4:06
10."Down Like Disco" 4:54
11."There Is Only This Time"Taylor-Taylor, Holmström4:40
12."A Loan Tonight"Taylor-Taylor, Holmström, Zia McCabe, Brent DeBoer11:49
Japan bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."11cc"Taylor-Taylor, Holmström8:16

Personnel

The Dandy Warhols

Additional personnel

  • Lockett Allbritton – vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Achilleas Anastasopolis – trumpet
  • Eric Early – banjo
  • John Fell – additional vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Sean Gothman – "number nine" on "Smoke It"
  • Travis Hendricks – trombone, additional vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Herb Kirshrot – accordion
  • Bill Kurtis – narration on "Colder Than the Coldest Winter Was Cold"
  • Michele Loew – additional vocals on "Holding Me Up"
  • Caleb Spiegel – additional vocals on "Holding Me Up"
  • Gregg Williams – additional percussion, additional vocals on "Did You Make a Song with Otis"
  • Steven Birch – album design, layout
  • Tchad Blake – mixing
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Clark Stiles – editing, additional production
  • Gregg Williams – production, recording, editing
  • Scott Young – album front cover artwork

Charts
Chart performance for Odditorium or Warlords of Mars
Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 56
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 52
Irish Albums (IRMA)[25] 75
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[26] 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 85
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 67
US Billboard 200[29] 89

References
  1. "Dandy Warhols Open the Odditorium". Spin. June 27, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  2. Beaumont, Mark (September 19, 2005). "NME Album Reviews – The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". nme.com. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  3. "MI.net: Dandy Warhols Interview". marsinvestigations.net. October 11, 2005. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  4. "Smoke It". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  5. "Smoke It Review (Long) From The Guardian". Slabtown.net. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  6. "The Music Of Veronica Mars: Episode 2-3: Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang". Mars Investigations: The (In)Complete Guide to Veronica Mars. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  7. "The Dandy Warhols – Chart History | Billboard". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  8. "Dandy Warhols | Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  9. Gothman, Sean (October 28, 2005). "'Money' Single Available for UK Download". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  10. "Critic Reviews for Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". Metacritic. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  11. Phares, Heather. "Odditorium or Warlords of Mars – The Dandy Warhols : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  12. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: The Dandy Warhols". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  13. Adams, Sean (September 14, 2005). "The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  14. Simpson, Dave (September 9, 2005). "CD: The Dandy Warhols, Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  15. Hogan, Marc (September 15, 2005). "The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  16. McAndrew, Maura (September 9, 2005). "The Dandy Warhols: Odditorium or Warlords of Mars". PopMatters. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  17. Robbins, Ira. "TrouserPress.com :: Dandy Warhols". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  18. "[Odditorium or Warlords of Mars review]". Alternative Press: 218. November 2005.
  19. Buda, Andrzej (2006). Historia rocka, popu i hip-hopu – według krytyków: 1974–2000 (in Polish). Wydawn. Niezależne (Independent editors). ISBN 83-915272-8-X.
  20. Chan, Alvin (August 2008). "The Dandy Warhols". musicOMH. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  21. "The Dandy Warhols to play first show in Bend". The Bulletin. June 20, 2018. Retrieved June 21, 2018.
  22. "Australiancharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  23. "Ultratop.be – The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  24. "Lescharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  25. "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Dandy Warhols". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  26. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  27. "Swisscharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  28. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  29. "The Dandy Warhols Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
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