Wasting Light
Encyclopedia
Wasting Light is the seventh studio album
by American alternative rock
band Foo Fighters
, released April 12, 2011, on RCA Records
. It was produced by Butch Vig
and described by the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl
as their "heaviest album yet." The title is taken from the lyrics of the song "Miss the Misery". Guest musicians include Bob Mould
and Krist Novoselic
.
The album sold 235,000 in its first week of release and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200
chart, becoming the band's first number-one album in the United States. It also attained chart success in several other countries. Upon its release, Wasting Light received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented its production and the band's songwriting. On November 30th, the album was nominated for five Grammy Awards
including Album of the Year
.
, who had previously produced the two new tracks for the band's Greatest Hits
album. The band's lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl
said of the album, "With [Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
] we were too concerned with being musical. Now it's time for us to be a rock band again." Unlike the band's previous two albums, In Your Honor
and Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
, Wasting Light was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage, as opposed to the band's home-built studio, Studio 606. Regarding this decision, Grohl states: "There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley
but also makes a record in a garage." Vig said in an interview with MTV that the album was recorded using entirely analogue equipment until post-mastering. All CD copies of the album contain a small section of the original analogue master tape, an idea by Dave Grohl.
Although he has performed live with the band since 2006, Wasting Light is the first studio album to feature guitarist Pat Smear
as an official member since The Colour and the Shape
(1997). The recording of the album was filmed as part of a career-spanning documentary called Back and Forth.
On February 1, the band released another teaser of the song "Miss the Misery" on their website, as well as announcing that the official release date of the new record would be April 12, 2011. On February 12, a music video was released for "White Limo", featuring Lemmy of Motörhead. On February 23, 2011, "Rope" was made available for online stream. It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Rock Chart, making it only the second single to do so since the chart's advent in 2009. The band's second single "Walk" was played during the bar scene and in the closing credits to Thor while "Miss the Misery" appeared on the soundtrack to Real Steel
. In addition, "Bridge Burning" appears in the videogame Madden NFL 12
.
chart, with first-week sales of 235,000 copies in the United States. It is the band's first number-one album in the US and their second-highest sales week, following In Your Honor
s first-week sales of 311,000 copies in 2005. Wasting Light has sold 497,000 copies in the US as of July 6, 2011. In Canada, the album debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart
, selling 21,000 copies in its first week.
s. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 78, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews." Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine
gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented its "untrammeled rock," calling it "the fiercest album they’ve ever made [...] the kind of record they’ve always seemed on the verge of delivering but never have." Entertainment Weekly
s Amanda Petrusich complimented its "catchy, pummeling anthems" and called the album "a muscular rock & roll throwdown." Mikael Wood of Spin
noted a "back-to-basics aspiration" and dubbed the album "Grohl's most memorable set of songs since 1997's The Colour and the Shape
." Rob Parker of NME
wrote that the album is "both broad and focused enough to appeal to casuals and longhairs alike," describing it as "the pure sound of the band being the band, and through headphones or a decent system it sounds phenomenal." Paul Brannigan of Q
praised Grohl's lyrics and called Wasting Light "the most life-affirming, positively-charged album of his career." Rolling Stone
writer David Fricke
commended Grohl's themes and producer Butch Vig for his "nuanced approach to weight and release." David Gassmann of PopMatters
gave the album an eight out of 10 rating and commented that it "has more modest intentions and scope than some of its predecessors."
However, Slant Magazine
's Kevin Liedel criticized the band's "growing aversion to anthemic songs," writing that "the obvious high points of Wasting Light are those that strive for stadium-pleasing melodies." Dave Simpson of The Guardian
noted an "undue" arena influence and called the album "a typically supersized arena-rock barrage, with lots of howling and wailing, every chorus tailored to imaginary walls of pyrotechnics and some tracks seemingly specifically constructed to accommodate a guitar spot or drum solo." Pitchfork Media
's David Bevan commented that "There just isn't a melody or hook to really amplify." Andy Gill of The Independent
criticized its "bombastic level" and stated "the presumed desire for back-to-the-roots simplicity [...] jettisons the diversity of Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
." Despite stating "beneath all the froth, really this is more of the same," BBC Online's Ian Winwood noted "a number of terrific songs" and commented that "this is nothing more than business as usual: some killer, some filler." Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club
wrote that "it's a little surprising that an album so obsessed with getting back to the basics doesn’t deliver the hooks Grohl and company do so well," but viewed that it lacks the filler of the band's previous albums and stated, "As a return to Foo Fighters' specialty—melodic, hard-hitting rock with soaring choruses—Wasting Light is a success." Sputnikmusic
's Nick Butler stated "Wasting Light isn't a masterpiece, nor does it see Grohl really reinventing the wheel as far as the band's sound goes, but it's clearly painted from a broader pallette of colours and it's clearly their first consistently good set of songs."
Additional personnel
Production
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
, released April 12, 2011, on RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. It was produced by Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
and described by the band's lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
as their "heaviest album yet." The title is taken from the lyrics of the song "Miss the Misery". Guest musicians include Bob Mould
Bob Mould
Robert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...
and Krist Novoselic
Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian-American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band...
.
The album sold 235,000 in its first week of release and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, becoming the band's first number-one album in the United States. It also attained chart success in several other countries. Upon its release, Wasting Light received positive reviews from most music critics, who complimented its production and the band's songwriting. On November 30th, the album was nominated for five Grammy Awards
54th Grammy Awards
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will be broadcasted on CBS. Nominations were announced on November 30, 2011 on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a...
including Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
.
Background and recording
Recording of the album began September 6, 2010 with producer Butch VigButch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
, who had previously produced the two new tracks for the band's Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Foo Fighters album)
-DVD:At the main menu, there is bullet hole that you can click, and shows Dave Grohl performing "Home" on the piano.-Personnel:...
album. The band's lead vocalist and guitarist Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
said of the album, "With [Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, selling 135,685 albums in its first week. The album also went platinum in its first week in both Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,000 copies in its first week, and has since been...
] we were too concerned with being musical. Now it's time for us to be a rock band again." Unlike the band's previous two albums, In Your Honor
In Your Honor
In Your Honor is the fifth studio album by Foo Fighters, released on June 14, 2005 on BMG. It consists of two discs. The first contains up beat rock songs and the second disc contains mellower acoustic songs.-Development:...
and Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, selling 135,685 albums in its first week. The album also went platinum in its first week in both Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,000 copies in its first week, and has since been...
, Wasting Light was recorded in Dave Grohl's garage, as opposed to the band's home-built studio, Studio 606. Regarding this decision, Grohl states: "There's poetry in being the band that can sell out Wembley
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
but also makes a record in a garage." Vig said in an interview with MTV that the album was recorded using entirely analogue equipment until post-mastering. All CD copies of the album contain a small section of the original analogue master tape, an idea by Dave Grohl.
Although he has performed live with the band since 2006, Wasting Light is the first studio album to feature guitarist Pat Smear
Pat Smear
Pat Smear is a rock musician who has been a guitarist in several well-known bands including The Germs and Nirvana. He is currently a guitarist for the Foo Fighters...
as an official member since The Colour and the Shape
The Colour and the Shape
-Track information:DollGrohl stated that is "basically a song about being afraid to enter into something you're not prepared for."Monkey WrenchGrohl stated that it was "a song about realising that you are the source of all of the problems in a relationship and you love the other person so much, you...
(1997). The recording of the album was filmed as part of a career-spanning documentary called Back and Forth.
Release and promotion
On January 17, 2011, the band released a 30 second teaser of the song "Bridge Burning" from the new album via their website.On February 1, the band released another teaser of the song "Miss the Misery" on their website, as well as announcing that the official release date of the new record would be April 12, 2011. On February 12, a music video was released for "White Limo", featuring Lemmy of Motörhead. On February 23, 2011, "Rope" was made available for online stream. It debuted at #1 on Billboard's Rock Chart, making it only the second single to do so since the chart's advent in 2009. The band's second single "Walk" was played during the bar scene and in the closing credits to Thor while "Miss the Misery" appeared on the soundtrack to Real Steel
Real Steel
Real Steel is a 2011 American science fiction film starring Hugh Jackman and directed by Shawn Levy. The film is based in part on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, though Levy placed the film in U.S. state fairs and other "old-fashioned" Americana settings. Real Steel was in...
. In addition, "Bridge Burning" appears in the videogame Madden NFL 12
Madden NFL 12
Madden NFL 12 is an American football video game based on the National Football League published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It was released on August 30, 2011 in North America and September 2, 2011 in Europe...
.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, with first-week sales of 235,000 copies in the United States. It is the band's first number-one album in the US and their second-highest sales week, following In Your Honor
In Your Honor
In Your Honor is the fifth studio album by Foo Fighters, released on June 14, 2005 on BMG. It consists of two discs. The first contains up beat rock songs and the second disc contains mellower acoustic songs.-Development:...
s first-week sales of 311,000 copies in 2005. Wasting Light has sold 497,000 copies in the US as of July 6, 2011. In Canada, the album debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...
, selling 21,000 copies in its first week.
Critical reception
Wasting Light received positive reviews from most music criticMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
s. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 78, based on 35 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews." Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and complimented its "untrammeled rock," calling it "the fiercest album they’ve ever made [...] the kind of record they’ve always seemed on the verge of delivering but never have." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Amanda Petrusich complimented its "catchy, pummeling anthems" and called the album "a muscular rock & roll throwdown." Mikael Wood of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
noted a "back-to-basics aspiration" and dubbed the album "Grohl's most memorable set of songs since 1997's The Colour and the Shape
The Colour and the Shape
-Track information:DollGrohl stated that is "basically a song about being afraid to enter into something you're not prepared for."Monkey WrenchGrohl stated that it was "a song about realising that you are the source of all of the problems in a relationship and you love the other person so much, you...
." Rob Parker of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
wrote that the album is "both broad and focused enough to appeal to casuals and longhairs alike," describing it as "the pure sound of the band being the band, and through headphones or a decent system it sounds phenomenal." Paul Brannigan of Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
praised Grohl's lyrics and called Wasting Light "the most life-affirming, positively-charged album of his career." Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writer David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
commended Grohl's themes and producer Butch Vig for his "nuanced approach to weight and release." David Gassmann of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
gave the album an eight out of 10 rating and commented that it "has more modest intentions and scope than some of its predecessors."
However, Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's Kevin Liedel criticized the band's "growing aversion to anthemic songs," writing that "the obvious high points of Wasting Light are those that strive for stadium-pleasing melodies." Dave Simpson of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
noted an "undue" arena influence and called the album "a typically supersized arena-rock barrage, with lots of howling and wailing, every chorus tailored to imaginary walls of pyrotechnics and some tracks seemingly specifically constructed to accommodate a guitar spot or drum solo." Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's David Bevan commented that "There just isn't a melody or hook to really amplify." Andy Gill of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
criticized its "bombastic level" and stated "the presumed desire for back-to-the-roots simplicity [...] jettisons the diversity of Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, selling 135,685 albums in its first week. The album also went platinum in its first week in both Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,000 copies in its first week, and has since been...
." Despite stating "beneath all the froth, really this is more of the same," BBC Online's Ian Winwood noted "a number of terrific songs" and commented that "this is nothing more than business as usual: some killer, some filler." Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
wrote that "it's a little surprising that an album so obsessed with getting back to the basics doesn’t deliver the hooks Grohl and company do so well," but viewed that it lacks the filler of the band's previous albums and stated, "As a return to Foo Fighters' specialty—melodic, hard-hitting rock with soaring choruses—Wasting Light is a success." Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
's Nick Butler stated "Wasting Light isn't a masterpiece, nor does it see Grohl really reinventing the wheel as far as the band's sound goes, but it's clearly painted from a broader pallette of colours and it's clearly their first consistently good set of songs."
Track listing
All songs written by Foo Fighters.Personnel
Foo Fighters- Dave GrohlDave GrohlDavid Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
– lead vocalsLead vocalistThe lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
, rhythm and lead guitars - Chris ShiflettChris ShiflettChristopher Aubrey "Chris" Shiflett is best known as the lead guitarist for the rock band Foo Fighters as well as the punk rock cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. He is the younger brother of musician Scott Shiflett.-Career:Shiflett joined Foo Fighters after the release of their third...
– lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals - Pat SmearPat SmearPat Smear is a rock musician who has been a guitarist in several well-known bands including The Germs and Nirvana. He is currently a guitarist for the Foo Fighters...
– rhythm and lead guitars - Nate MendelNate MendelNathan Gregor "Nate" Mendel is an American bassist for the bands Foo Fighters, The Jealous Sound, Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Fire Theft.-Biography:...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Taylor HawkinsTaylor HawkinsOliver Taylor Hawkins is an American musician, best known as the drummer of the rock band Foo Fighters....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, backing vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Additional personnel
- Bob MouldBob MouldRobert Arthur "Bob" Mould is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.-Early life:...
– guitar and backing vocals on "Dear Rosemary" - Krist NovoselicKrist NovoselicKrist Anthony Novoselic II is a Croatian-American rock musician, best known for being the bassist and co-founder of the grunge band Nirvana. After Nirvana ended, Novoselic formed Sweet 75 and then Eyes Adrift, releasing one album with each band...
– bass and accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
on "I Should Have Known" - Rami JaffeeRami JaffeeRami Jaffee, born March 11, 1969, in Los Angeles, is best known as the keyboardist of The Wallflowers and work for several bands and artists, including Foo Fighters, Pete Yorn, Soul Asylum, Pearl Jam, Stone Sour, Joseph Arthur and Coheed and Cambria....
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
on "Bridge Burning" and "Rope", mellotronMellotronThe Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
on "I Should Have Known", organ on "Walk" - Jessy GreeneJessy GreeneJessy Greene is a violin, cello, and vocal musician from Sheffield, Massachusetts, USA. She has released two albums, Blue Sky , and A Demon & Her Lovers . She was a former member of Geraldine Fibbers and The Jayhawks. Jessy has also played with a number of artists including Wilco, Atmosphere,...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "I Should Have Known" - Fee WaybillFee WaybillJohn Waldo Waybill , known as Fee Waybill, is the lead singer and songwriter of the band the Tubes...
– backing vocals on "Miss the Misery" - Butch Vig − percussion on "Back & Forth"
- Drew HesterDrew HesterDrew Hester is a drummer / percussionist / record producer who plays drums with Joe Walsh , Jewel drums, Foo Fighters percussion, Chicago drums and percussion, Lisa Marie Presley drums, Common Sense drums, Taylor Hawkins and the Coattail Riders drums and percussion and many others.In...
− percussion on "Arlandria"
Production
- Butch VigButch VigButch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Alan MoulderAlan MoulderAlan Moulder is one of Britain's premier alternative rock record producers. He has worked with such artists as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Elastica, Gary Numan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Curve, Ride, Lush and My Bloody Valentine, Lostprophets, Shihad, Ivyrise and Placebo, as well as with many American...
– mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Emily Lazar – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Joe LaPorta - masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- James Brown – engineer
Chart positions
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Flanders) |
1 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... (Wallonia) |
4 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
1 |
| Czech Albums Chart | 4 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 3 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
2 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 1 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
18 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
1 |
| Greek Albums Chart IFPI Greece International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... |
6 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
3 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 4 |
| Mexican Albums Charts | 52 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
1 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
1 |
| Polish Albums Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... |
12 |
| Portuguese Albums Chart | 3 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 7 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
1 |
| Swiss Albums Charts Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
1 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
Platinum |
| Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
Platinum |
| Finland | Gold |
| Germany Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises.... |
Gold |
| New Zealand | Platinum |
| United States | Gold |
External links
- Wasting Light at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Wasting Light at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...