Ritual (White Lies album)
Ritual | ||||
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Genre | ||||
Length | 49:39 | |||
Label | Fiction | |||
Producer | Alan Moulder, Max Dingel | |||
White Lies chronology | ||||
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Singles from Ritual | ||||
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Ritual is the second
A Ritual short film was released, containing three songs from the album: "Bad Love", "Holy Ghost" and "Bigger than Us".
As of January 2012, UK sales stand at 95,000 copies according to The Guardian.[6]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Harry McVeigh, Charles Cave and Jack Lawrence-Brown
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Is Love" | 4:52 |
2. | "Strangers" | 5:24 |
3. | "Bigger than Us" | 4:43 |
4. | "Peace & Quiet" | 5:54 |
5. | "Streetlights" | 5:00 |
6. | "Holy Ghost" | 4:22 |
7. | "Turn the Bells" | 5:04 |
8. | "The Power & the Glory" | 5:13 |
9. | "Bad Love" | 3:58 |
10. | "Come Down" | 5:10 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Bigger than Us (Walls Hold Me Remix)" | 6:39 |
12. | "Is Love (Stereolab Remix)" | 6:26 |
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | ||
---|---|---|
Source | Rating | |
Album of the Year | 54/100 Drowned In Sound | [11] |
NME | [12] | |
Rolling Stone | [13] | |
Spin | [14] | |
Sputnikmusic | [15] | |
The Telegraph | [16] | |
Pitchfork | 2.5/10[17] | |
Paste | 8.4/10[18] |
Ritual was met with mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. On review aggregator website, Metacritic, Ritual has an average score of 60 out of 100, indicating "mixed reviews" from 24 reviews.[19] Album of the Year gave Ritual an aggregate score of 54 out of 100 based on 23 critic reviews, indicating "mixed reviews".
Jeff Leven, writing for Paste praised Ritual, praising the instrumentation in particular. Leven said of Ritual that "the sonic touches, song structure and performances are often immaculate, adventurous and loaded with intent. There are rarely guitars for the sake of guitars, and the washes of sound conjure ebony skies in a way that obscures the identity of the players themselves in service of the tableau". Leven ultimately gave Ritual an 8.4 out of 10, which was the highest amongst contemporary professional critics. Brian Boyd of The Irish Times also praised Ritual, giving it the "Album of the Week" distinction. Boyd described the album as "prog goth", and gave extra praise the vocals of Harry McVeigh saying that McVeigh's voice is "big and bold, with an industrial undertow."[20] Boyd awarded the album a four out of five-star rating.[20]
In a more mixed review, Chris Mandle of the
Gregory Heaney of
Writing for Pitchfork, Ian Cohen panned the album summarising Ritual as "wildly overwrought and painfully dull".[17] Cohen dismissed the album as poorly written, and with cringeworthy lyrics. Describing the sound of the album, he compared the album to bands like Glasvegas saying that "once you've lived through Glasvegas and such, so you should know the drill by now: guitars whoosh and whir to sound exactly like synthesizers while the actual synthesizer goo provides the empty calories required for nearly every track on Ritual to reach its completely arbitrary five-minute length."[17] Describing the instrumentation, Cohen said "The constant hi-hats and thrumming bass are meant to imply some sense of urgent momentum, and the inevitable half-time chorus lets McVeigh over-sing even more. Take all these ingredients, mix them together, and voila-- instant UK buzzband." Cohen ultimately gave Ritual a 2.5 out of 10.[17]
Stacy Anderson of Rolling Stone also was critical of Ritual critiquing the vocals on the album. Anderson said "when McVeigh beats you over the head with his bummed wail on "Bigger Than Us," you'll want to slip him some Wellbutrin." Anderson gave Ritual a two out of five-star rating.[13]
Personnel
- White Lies
- Additional personnel
- Alan Moulder – production
- Max Dingel – production
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] | 21 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] | 4 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] | 27 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[24] | 2 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] | 3 |
Finnish Albums ( Suomen virallinen lista)[26]
|
20 |
French Albums ( SNEP)[27]
|
123 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] | 10 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] | 7 |
Italian Albums ( FIMI)[30]
|
64 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[31] | 19 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[32] | 14 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[33] | 94 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[34] | 12 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] | 15 |
UK Albums (OCC)[36] | 3 |
US Billboard 200[37] | 95 |
US | 14 |
US | 22 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2011) | Position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[40] | 60 |
UK Albums (OCC)[41] | 165 |
References
- Clash. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
- ^ Doherty, Niall (7 October 2010). "White Lies 'Ritual' // First Listen". The Fly. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ^ "Max Dingel". Woodpop Management. Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ "White Lies to release new album in January". NME. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
- ^ Izundu, Chi Chi (1 November 2010). "White Lies reveal new album details". Newsbeat. BBC Online. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
- ^ Lynskey, Dorian (16 January 2012). "Indie rock's slow and painful death". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
- ^ "White Lies - Ritual - Reviews". Album of the Year. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Ritual by White Lies Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ AllMusic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ Wade, Ian. "BBC - Music - Review of White Lies - Ritual". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ "Album Review: White Lies - Ritual". Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ a b c d e Mandle, Chris (3 October 2016). "Album Review: White Lies - Ritual (Fiction)". NME. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ a b Anderson, Stacy (18 January 2011). "Ritual — White Lies". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Spin – Review". Spin Magazine. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ^ "White Lies - Ritual (album review 3) - Sputnikmusic". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ Perry, Andrew (14 January 2011). "White Lies: Ritual, CD review". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ Conde Nast. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
- ^ Leven, Jeff (20 January 2011). "White Lies: Ritual". Paste. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ "Five by White Lies". Metacritic.
- ^ a b Boyd, Brian (7 January 2011). "White Lies - Ritual". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – White Lies – Ritual" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – White Lies – Ritual" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – White Lies – Ritual" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Danishcharts.dk – White Lies – Ritual". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – White Lies – Ritual" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – White Lies – Ritual". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ACNielsen. Archived from the originalon 4 April 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – White Lies – Ritual". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- . Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – White Lies – Ritual". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – White Lies – Ritual". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – White Lies – Ritual". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "White Lies Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "White Lies Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "White Lies Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2011". Ultratop. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ "End Of Year Chart 2011" (PDF). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 January 2021.