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2011 studio album by Bright Eyes From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The People's Key is the ninth studio album by American band Bright Eyes. The album was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska at ARC Studios, produced by Mike Mogis, and engineered by Mogis and Andy LeMaster. The album was released on February 15, 2011, lead singer Conor Oberst's 31st birthday, by Saddle Creek Records.[1] Prior to its official release, the album was available to stream online in its entirety, as part of NPR's "First Listen" series.[2]
| The People's Key | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 15, 2011 | |||
| Studio | ARC (Omaha) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:58 | |||
| Label | Saddle Creek | |||
| Producer | Mike Mogis | |||
| Bright Eyes chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The People's Key | ||||
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| Singles from The People's Key: A Companion | ||||
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The album features guest artists Andy LeMaster of Now It's Overhead, Matt Maginn of Cursive, Carla Azar of Autolux, Clark Baechle of The Faint, Shane Aspegren of The Berg Sans Nipple, Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, and Denny Brewer of Refried Ice Cream.[3] The lyrics make mention of Haile Selassie, the Lion of Judah and I and I; all things associated with Rastafari.
The album was reissued by Dead Oceans alongside a six-track companion EP on June 16, 2023.[4]
According to designer Zack Nipper, the basic idea for the "wall of fire" design came from Conor Oberst, who wanted it to be "visually striking". The design was created using cut paper, similar to the cover for Every Day and Every Night, the first Bright Eyes release Nipper had worked on. Nipper stated that he "designed for vinyl first, then CD, and MP3 last, because that's the order in which viewing it matters."
The first 50,000 copies of this album came with a limited-edition packaging similar to that of all copies of the LP record, in a 6-panel tri-fold die-cut digipak printed on iridescent foil, and including an O-card, full-color CD inner sleeve and a 20-page booklet.
In January 2011, it was announced that The People's Key had won the Best Art Vinyl award.[5]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 70/100[6] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [7] |
| Consequence of Sound | [8] |
| Drowned in Sound |   [9] |
| NME | [10] |
| No Ripcord | 6/10[11] |
| Paste | 7.5/10[12] |
| Pitchfork | 5.0/10[13] |
| PopMatters | [14] |
| Rolling Stone | [15] |
| Spin | [16] |
The People's Key has received mixed to positive critical reception. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[6]
AllMusic praised its smaller scale and gave the album 3 and a 1/2 out of 5 stars.[7] Pitchfork gave the album 5 out of 10 and criticized the "impersonal" feel of the songs, yet praised "Ladder Song".[13] Slant Magazine gave the album 2 out of a possible 5 stars. No Ripcord gave the album a 6 out of 10 and commented, "There's not a lot fundamentally wrong with The People's Key; it's just that we know Bright Eyes can do better."[11] However, Drowned in Sound and NME gave the album 9 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 respectively,[9] with NME calling it a "sleek electro-tinged classic" and praising Oberst's more electric musical direction, saying it brought a "fresh strain of Bright Eyes record".[10]
The album debuted at number 13 on the Billboard 200, and made it to number 7 on the Alternative Albums chart. The People's Key also reached number 46 on the UK Albums Chart.[17]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Firewall" | 7:16 |
| 2. | "Shell Games" | 3:55 |
| 3. | "Jejune Stars" | 4:10 |
| 4. | "Approximate Sunlight" | 4:24 |
| 5. | "Haile Selassie" | 4:33 |
| 6. | "A Machine Spiritual (in the People's Key)" | 4:19 |
| 7. | "Triple Spiral" | 3:50 |
| 8. | "Beginner's Mind" | 3:55 |
| 9. | "Ladder Song" | 3:58 |
| 10. | "One for You, One for Me" | 6:38 |
| Total length: | 46:58 | |
All tracks are written by Conor Oberst, except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Singularity" | 4:30 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Singularity" | 4:30 |
| 12. | "In the Real World" | 3:36 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jejune Stars" (companion version) | 4:28 |
| 2. | "Firewall" (companion version) | 4:54 |
| 3. | "When You Were Mine" (Prince Rogers Nelson) | 4:55 |
| 4. | "Approximate Sunlight" (companion version) | 3:55 |
| 5. | "A Machine Spiritual (The People's Key)" (companion version) | 4:22 |
| 6. | "A Beginner's Mind" (companion version) | 3:36[18] |
A limited edition deluxe edition contains MP3 file samples of various Saddle Creek artists.
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] | 55 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] | 36 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] | 60 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] | 67 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] | 42 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] | 49 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] | 21 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] | 39 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] | 50 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[17] | 46 |
| US Billboard 200[28] | 13 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[29] | 7 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] | 3 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] | 3 |
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