A Sailor's Guide to Earth

A Sailor's Guide to Earth
Studio album by Sturgill Simpson
Released April 15, 2016 (2016-04-15)
Recorded Butcher Shoppe, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre Country, psychedelic rock
Length 38:54
Label Atlantic Records
Producer Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson chronology
Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
(2014)		 A Sailor's Guide to Earth
(2016)
Singles from A Sailor's Guide to Earth
  1. "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"
    Released: March 3, 2016

A Sailor's Guide to Earth is the third studio album by American country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson. It was announced on March 3, 2016, with the release of the single "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)." The album was released on April 15, 2016.[1]

Background

Prior to the album's announcement, Simpson stated in an interview with GQ that "what's next is already finished... Quite honestly, I need about six months at home with my family."[2] On March 3, 2016, Simpson released "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" on YouTube and his website; the next day he released the nine-song tracklist of A Sailor's Guide to Earth.[3] A week later, he published the music video for "Brace for Impact," which was directed by Matt Mahurin and contains the Grim Reaper, a hot rod coffin and sailboats.[4] On March 24, 2016, Simpson released his cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" along with its music video, also directed by Matt Mahurin. Simpson said, "I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt [Cobain]."[5] Streaming of the album became available on April 7, 2016, on NPR's official website.[6]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic87/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Slant Magazine[10]
Pitchfork Media8.0/10[11]

A Sailor's Guide to Earth received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 87, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 17 reviews.[7]

The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 52,000 copies (55,000 units including tracks and streams) in its first week.[12] The album sold a further 13,400 copies in the second week.[13]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Sturgill Simpson except "In Bloom", which is written by Kurt Cobain. 

No. Title Length
1. "Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)"   4:53
2. "Breakers Roar"   3:33
3. "Keep It Between the Lines"   4:01
4. "Sea Stories"   3:17
5. "In Bloom" (Nirvana cover) 4:01
6. "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"   5:49
7. "All Around You"   3:36
8. "Oh Sarah" (Was originally released on Sunday Valley's album To the Wind and On to Heaven in 2011) 4:15
9. "Call to Arms"   5:30
Total length:
 38:54

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 108
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[15] 31
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[16] 66
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 39
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] 34
UK Albums (OCC)[19] 43
US Billboard 200[20] 3
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[21] 1
US Top Country Albums (Billboard)[22] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[23] 1

References

  1. ↑ Matthew Strauss. "Sturgill Simpson Announces New Album A Sailor's Guide to Earth, Shares "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  2. ↑ Will Welch (2016-01-07). "The GQ&A: Sturgill Simpson, Country Music’s Psychedelic Warrior-Philosopher". GQ. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  3. ↑ Carolyn Menyes (2016-03-04). "Sturgill Simpson Reveals 'A Sailor's Guide to Earth' Tracklist with Nirvana Cover & Tour Dates". MusicTimes. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  4. ↑ Andrew Leahey (2016-03-10). "Watch Sturgill Simpson's Surreal 'Brace for Impact' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  5. ↑ James Grebey (2016-03-24). "Listen to Sturgill Simpson’s Country Cover of Nirvana’s ‘In Bloom’". SPIN. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  6. ↑ Ann Powers (2016-04-07). "First Listen: Sturgill Simpson, 'A Sailor's Guide To Earth'". NPR. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  7. 1 2 "A Sailor's Guide to Earth Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  8. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  9. ↑ Hermes, Will (2016-04-14). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  10. ↑ Winograd, Jeremy (2016-04-21). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  11. ↑ Goble, Corban (2016-04-19). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  12. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (April 24, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson and Santana Debut in Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  13. ↑ Bjorke, Matt (May 5, 2016). "Country Album Chart Report: May 5, 2016". Roughstock.
  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  17. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 16, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Folk Albums for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Top Country Albums for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Sturgill Simpson – Chart history" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Sturgill Simpson. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
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