What Went Down is the fourth studio album by British rock band Foals, released on 28 August 2015 via Transgressive Records in the United Kingdom.[1] The album is produced by James Ford, known for his work with Simian Mobile Disco, The Last Shadow Puppets and Arctic Monkeys amongst others. According to frontman Yannis Philippakis, it is slated to be their loudest and heaviest record to date.[2] What Went Down debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and at #58 on the Billboard 200, making it their highest charting album in the United States to date.
Promotion and release
On 9 June 2015, a 12-second clip teaser of the band performing aggressively in an empty warehouse entitled "FOALS // 2015" was released through their social media.[3] Two days later, it was announced that What Went Down was to be released 28 August 2015 via Transgressive Records with a slightly longer trailer in lieu.[4]
On 16 June, the album's self-titled debut single was debuted on DJ Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show,[5] along with the premiere of the music video (directed by Niall O'Brien) via YouTube.[6]
Reception
What Went Down received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[7]
Mark Beaumont of NME praised the album saying, "For ‘What Went Down’, written in their Oxford “stinkbox”, they have found their fulcrum. Riffs. Massive, fucking heavy cavern rock riffs, the size of cathedrals and the weight of God’s balls. They slammed into your eardrums like wrecking balls the first time you heard the compulsive title-track, aghast that these desert rock goliaths could be the same band that sounded like frivolous disco pixies just two years ago. Opening their fourth album, Yannis roaring “When I see a man I see a lion!” over its Stooges-meets-Queens fuzz throttle, it sounds like a defining statement, an arrival. They’ve mastered math rock, destroyed disco and flattened funk, now they measure hard rock in their hands like a medicine ball, and find it a comfortable weight."[13]
Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media gave the album a generally positive review noting that, "What Went Down is the latest example of Foals’ uncanny ability to make records whose basic musical trajectory and quality are nearly equal regardless of the band's intentions going in. And What Went Down is their most consistent, steady-handed work yet—the distance between their purest pop moments ("Miami", "My Number") and their opulent ballads ("Spanish Sahara") has virtually disappeared. It's also significantly less exciting than Total Life Forever and Holy Fire, dynamic records because of their unevenness and ambitious strain—while Foals have realized a sound that's truly their own, they sound far too comfortable in it."[14]
Accolades
| Publication |
Accolade |
Year |
Rank |
| NME |
NME's Albums of the Year 2015 |
2015 |
|
Track listing
| 1. |
"What Went Down" |
5:00 |
| 2. |
"Mountain at My Gates" |
4:02 |
| 3. |
"Birch Tree" |
4:21 |
| 4. |
"Give It All" |
4:47 |
| 5. |
"Albatross" |
5:23 |
| 6. |
"Snake Oil" |
4:21 |
| 7. |
"Night Swimmers" |
4:44 |
| 8. |
"London Thunder" |
4:14 |
| 9. |
"Lonely Hunter" |
4:37 |
| 10. |
"A Knife in the Ocean" |
6:52 |
| 11. |
"What Went Down" (Official Video) |
5:41 |
| 12. |
"Mountain At My Gates" (Official Video) |
4:01 |
| 13. |
"Birch Tree" (Lyric Video) |
4:22 |
| 14. |
"Give It All" (Poolside Session) |
5:41 |
| 15. |
"Albatross" (CCTV Session) |
6:06 |
| 16. |
"Snake Oil" (CCTV Session) |
5:02 |
| 17. |
"Night Swimmers" (Lyric Video) |
4:43 |
| 18. |
"London Thunder" (Poolside Session) |
4:49 |
| 19. |
"Lonely Hunter" (CCTV Session) |
5:28 |
| 20. |
"A Knife in the Ocean" (Lyric Video) |
6:54 |
| 21. |
"Crème anglaise" (Making of What Went Down (iTunes Exclusive)) |
27:58 |
| 1. |
"Crème anglaise" (Making of What Went Down) |
27:59 |
| 2. |
"What Went Down" (Official Video) |
5:48 |
| 3. |
"Give It All" (Poolside Session) |
5:40 |
| 4. |
"London Thunder" (Poolside Session) |
4:47 |
Personnel
- Foals
- Yannis Philippakis – vocals, guitar, art direction
- Jack Bevan – drums
- Jimmy Smith – guitar, keyboards
- Walter Gervers – bass, backing vocals
- Edwin Congreave – keyboards, backing vocals
- James Ford – additional keyboards, guitar & percussion
- Technical personnel
- James Ford – producer
- Jimmy Robertson – engineer
- Damien Arlot – studio assistant
- Alan Moulder – mixing at Assault & Battery Studios, London
- Caesar Edmunds – mix assistant
- John Davis – mastering at Metropolis Studios, London
- Foals – studio photography
- Daisuke Yokota – artwork and additional photography
- Neil Krug – additional photography
- Mike Lythgoe – design
- DVD personnel
- Kit Monteith & Foals – filming and editing of "Crème anglaise" and the Poolside Sessions
- Niall O'Brien – director of "What Went Down"
- Liz Kessler – producer of "What Went Down"
Charts
Certifications
References
- ↑ Kimberley-Marie Sklinar Green. "Foals share new material: all 12 seconds of it". Never Enough Notes.
- ↑ NME.COM. "Foals Interview: Yannis Philippakis On Their Most Volatile, Intense Album Yet". NME.COM.
- ↑ FOALS // 2015. YouTube. 9 June 2015.
- ↑ "Foals". Pitchfork.
- ↑ "Foals". Pitchfork.
- ↑ FOALS - What Went Down [Official Music Video]. YouTube. 16 June 2015.
- 1 2 "Reviews for What Went Down by Foals". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ Donelson, Marcy. "What Went Down – Foals". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ↑ McCormick, Neil (25 August 2015). "Foals, What Went Down, review: 'brutally imposing'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ↑ Anderson, Kyle (28 August 2015). "What Went Down". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ↑ Mokoena, Tshepo (27 August 2015). "Foals: What Went Down review – bulked-up indie with a hypermasculine snarl". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ↑ Doyle, Tom (24 August 2015). "Foals – What Went Down". Mojo. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- 1 2 Beaumont, Mark (25 August 2015). "Foals – 'What Went Down'". NME. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- 1 2 Cohen, Ian (2 September 2015). "Foals: What Went Down". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ↑ "Foals: What Went Down". Q (351): 100. October 2015.
- ↑ Dolan, Jon (28 August 2015). "What Went Down". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
- ↑ "Foals: What Went Down". Uncut (221): 75. October 2015.
- ↑ "NME'S Albums of the Year 2015". nme.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
- ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Foals – What Went Down". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Foals – What Went Down" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Foals – What Went Down" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ "Ultratop.be – Foals – What Went Down" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Foals – What Went Down" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ "Lescharts.com – Foals – What Went Down". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
- ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ↑ "Top 40 album DVD és válogatáslemez-lista – 2015. 38. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 36, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Foals – What Went Down". Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ↑ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. September 7, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Foals – What Went Down". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ↑ "Foals – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Foals. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
- ↑ "British album certifications – Foals – What Went Down". British Phonographic Industry. Enter What Went Down in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
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