Total Life Forever
A number of people are swimming under water.
Studio album by
Foals
Released10 May 2010 (2010-05-10)[1]
RecordedSeptember 2009[2]
StudioSvenska Grammofon[3]
(Gothenburg, Sweden)
Genre
Length50:21
Label
ProducerLuke Smith[1]
Foals chronology
Antidotes
(2008)		 Total Life Forever
(2010)		 Holy Fire
(2013)
Singles from Total Life Forever
  1. "Spanish Sahara"
    Released: 17 April 2010
  2. "This Orient"
    Released: 3 May 2010
  3. "Miami"
    Released: 4 July 2010
  4. "Blue Blood"
    Released: 8 November 2010

Total Life Forever is the second studio album by English indie rock band Foals, released on 10 May 2010 through Transgressive Records.[5] Prior to the album's release, the band described it as sounding "like the dream of an eagle dying".[6] It was produced by Luke Smith,[1] and was recorded at Svenska Grammofon Studion in Gothenburg.[3] Upon its release, the album charted in numerous countries worldwide, including number eight in the UK Albums Chart.

Promotion and release

Two guitarists are performing a song live on a stage, in front of a mic mounted on a microphone stand.
Foals supporting Blur in Hyde Park, London, 2 July 2009

In January 2009, the band released three semi-instrumental segments of tracks through the band's MySpace profile, giving an insight into the band's recording process.[7] A short three date tour of the United Kingdom took place in April 2009.[8]

During July 2009, the band played an intimate show for Rockfeedback, as a warm up for future festival shows and a chance to debut songs from their second album.[9] On 2 July, the band supported Blur during their reunion show in Hyde Park, London, playing an untitled new song which frontman Yannis Philippakis stated was unfinished.[10] Later the same month, the band appeared at the 2009 T in the Park festival, performing new songs "Total Life Forever" and "Dirty Waves". Both songs had been previously aired during the band's appearance at The Breeders-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May 2009.[11] In September 2009, the band performed at London's Heaven as part of Transgressive Records' fifth anniversary, performing new songs "Spanish Sahara", "Death Surf" and one other untitled track.[12]

The album's title was revealed on 24 February 2010.[13] Zane Lowe premiered the promotional track "Spanish Sahara" on BBC Radio 1, naming the track his "Hottest Record in the World" for 1 March 2010.[14] From 8pm the same day, a remix of the track was made available to download from Foals' official website.[15] The accompanying video was added to Foals' YouTube page on 2 March 2010.[16] A limited number vinyl of "Spanish Sahara" was released on 17 April 2010, to mark the 2010 Record Store Day.[17] In support of the album, the band announced a fourteen date tour of Europe throughout April–May 2010, including dates in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and the United Kingdom.[18][19] These were the band's first live performances of the year.[20]

Following "Spanish Sahara"'s limited release, the album's first official single was announced as "This Orient", released on 3 May 2010.[21][22] The track reached number 97 on the UK Singles Chart.[23] Second single "Miami" was then released on 4 July 2010.[24] It reached No. 127 on the same chart. Third single "Blue Blood" was released on 8 November 2010.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[25]
Metacritic78/100[26]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[27]
The A.V. ClubA−[28]
The Daily Telegraph[29]
The Guardian[30]
The Independent[31]
Mojo[32]
NME8/10[33]
Pitchfork7.6/10[34]
Q[35]
Spin6/10[36]

Total Life Forever was very well received; many commented how the band's music has matured from their debut album. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the album a normalised rating of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[26]

Q magazine's Rupert Howe was more reserved in his praise. Calling it "the schizophrenic second album", Howe opined that "while this album carries more instrumental and emotional heft than its predecessor, something remains off-balance".[35]

Besides being shortlisted for the 2010 Mercury Prize,[37] Total Life Forever brought the band several nominations for the 2011 NME awards, including best album, best track ("Spanish Sahara") and best album artwork.[38]

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Beats per Minute US The Top 50 Albums of 2010[39] 2011 43
Clash UK Top 40 Albums Of 2010[40] 2010 7
Consequence of Sound US The Top 100 Albums of 2010[41] 2010 46
DIY UK Albums of the Year[42] 2010 11
Drowned in Sound UK Albums of the Year[43] 2010 33
The Line of Best Fit UK Albums of 2010[44] 2010 20
Mojo UK Top 50 Albums of 2010[45] 2010 25
musicOMH UK Top 50 Albums of 2010[46] 2010 8
NME UK Top 75 Albums of 2010[47] 2010 6
Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s[48] 2019 19
Q UK Top 50 Albums of 2010[49] 2010 16
Sputnikmusic US Top 50 Albums of 2010[50] 2011 47

Track listing

All tracks are written by Foals

No.TitleLength
1."Blue Blood"5:17
2."Miami"3:42
3."Total Life Forever"3:18
4."Black Gold"6:26
5."Spanish Sahara"6:46
6."This Orient"4:06
7."Fugue"0:49
8."After Glow"6:09
9."Alabaster"4:00
10."2 Trees"5:11
11."What Remains"4:37
Total length:50:21
Deluxe edition CD 2[51]
No.TitleLength
1."Bloo Blood"1:00
2."Bloo Blood 2"0:46
3."TLF"0:40
4."TLF 2"1:00
5."TLF 3"1:31
6."TLF 4"1:02
7."TLF 5"1:26
8."Black Gold //"2:53
9."Black Gold 2"8:30
10."Spanish Sahara (Sonar)"1:20
11."----"0:36
12."Alabastr"1:31
13."Two Trees"0:50
14."Two Trees 2"1:37
15."Remains"1:13
iTunes LP bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
27."The Forked Road"5:37
28."Wear & Tear"4:24
29."Spanish Sahara" (Mount Kimbie Remix)4:00
30."Spanish Sahara" (Topher Jones Remix)7:18
31."Spanish Sahara" (Deadboy Remix)8:58
32."Spanish Sahara" (Chad Valley Remix)3:56
33."Spanish Sahara" (John Dahlback Remix)6:49
34."Miami" (MyMy Remix)6:49
35."Miami" (Sacha Funke Remix)8:23
36."Miami" (Tim Fuchs Remix) (featuring Flight Facilities)6:36
37."Miami" (Lissvik Remix)5:26
38."This Orient" (Starkey Remix)4:42
39."This Orient" (Astronomer Remix)6:24
40."Total Life Forever" (iTunes Festival)5:04
41."Miami" (iTunes Festival)4:00
42."Alabaster" (iTunes Festival)4:49
43."Miami" (Glastonbury Acoustic)3:44
44."Spanish Sahara" (6 Music Glastonbury Session)5:20
45."Spanish Sahara" (music video)6:49
46."Miami" (music video)4:13
47."This Orient" (music video)3:51
48."Blue Blood" (music video)4:50
49."Total Life Forever" (making of)19:00

Personnel

Foals

  • Yannis Philippakis – vocals, guitar, drums
  • Jack Bevan – drums
  • Jimmy Smith – guitar
  • Walter Gervers – bass, backing vocals
  • Edwin Congreave – keyboard, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • Caroline Wickberg – additional vocals on "Black Gold" and "This Orient"

Technical personnel

  • Foals – art direction
  • Big Active – artwork
  • Foals – artwork
  • Tinhead – artwork
  • Ferg Peterkin – engineering, programming
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Steve Gullick – photography
  • Dave Ma – photography
  • Luke Smith – producer
  • Mike Crossey – producer, recording assistant on "Blue Blood"
  • Daniel Rejmer – engineering on "Spanish Sahara"
  • Catherine Marks – engineering, mixing on "Spanish Sahara"
  • Alan Moulder – mixing on "Spanish Sahara"

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[64] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Foals announce new album title and tracklisting". NME. 23 February 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  2. ↑ "Foals Return". The Fly. 30 September 2009. Archived from the original on 23 April 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  3. 1 2 Sclafani, Tony. "Foals: Total Life Forever". Prefix Magazine. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Benson, Nikki (23 June 2010). "Album Review: Foals – "Total Life Forever"". Seattle Showgal. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  5. ↑ Simpson, Oli (23 February 2010). "Foals 'announce second album details'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  6. ↑ "Foals: 'New album will sound like the dream of an eagle dying'". NME. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  7. ↑ "Foals give away new album downloads". NME. 5 January 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  8. ↑ "Foals to preview new album at UK live dates". NME. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  9. ↑ Bychawski, Adam. "Foals to warm up for Blur show with intimate London gig". NME. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Blur reveal 'Parklife' inspiration at Hyde Park gig". NME. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Foals joined by Friendly Fires star at T In The Park". NME. 11 July 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  12. ↑ "Foals play new songs at London Transgressive show". NME. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  13. ↑ Gregory, Jason (24 February 2010). "Foals Reveal Second Album Title And Release Date". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  14. ↑ "Zane Lowe, 01/03/2010". BBC Radio 1. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  15. ↑ Murray, Robin (1 March 2010). "Foals Add Intimate UK Tour Dates". Clash. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  16. ↑ "wearefoals's Channel". YouTube. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "The A-Z of Record Store Day 2010". FACT. 12 April 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  18. ↑ Murray, Robin (24 February 2010). "Foals Confirm Second Album Plans". Clash. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  19. ↑ Gregory, Jason (1 March 2010). "Foals Announce May UK And Ireland Tour". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  20. ↑ Michaels, Sean (24 February 2010). "Foals confirm second album title and release date". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  21. ↑ "Foals announce new single and UK and Ireland tour – ticket details". NME. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  22. ↑ "Foals Unleash New Video". MTV. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2010.
  23. ↑ "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending 15 May 2010". ChartsPlus. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd (455): 1.
  24. ↑ "Watch Foals' transgender-featuring 'Miami' video". NME. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  25. ↑ "Total Life Forever by Foals reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  26. 1 2 "Reviews for Total Life Forever by Foals". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  27. ↑ Heaney, Gregory. "Total Life Forever – Foals". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  28. ↑ O'Neal, Sean (21 December 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  29. ↑ Horan, Tom (7 May 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  30. ↑ Costa, Maddy (6 May 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  31. ↑ Gill, Andy (7 May 2010). "Album: Foals, Total Life Forever (Warner Bros)". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  32. ↑ "Foals: Total Life Forever". Mojo (199): 96. June 2010.
  33. ↑ Parker, Rob (3 May 2010). "Album Review: Foals – 'Total Life Forever' (Warner Bros)". NME. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  34. ↑ Bevan, David (20 May 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  35. 1 2 Howe, Rupert (June 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". Q (287): 130.
  36. ↑ Walters, Barry (August 2010). "Foals: Total Life Forever". Spin. 26 (7): 84. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  37. ↑ "Mercury Prize 2010 Nominations Announced". NME. 20 July 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  38. ↑ "Foals and Arcade Fire lead NME awards nominations". BBC Newsbeat. BBC. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  39. ↑ "The Top 50 Albums of 2010". Beats per Minute. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  40. ↑ "Clash's Top 40 Albums Of 2010". 6 December 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  41. ↑ "CoS Year-End Report: The Top 100 Albums of 2010". Consequence of Sound. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  42. ↑ "DIY Albums of the Year: 20–11". DIY. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  43. ↑ Adams, Sean (2 December 2010). "Drowned in Sound's albums of the year 2010: 50-11 / In Depth // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  44. ↑ "Albums of 2010". The Line of Best Fit. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  45. ↑ Pubblicato da cabal (13 December 2010). "Spotirama: Mojo's Best 50 Albums of 2010". Spotirama.blogspot.com. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  46. ↑ "musicOMH's Top 50 Albums Of 2010: The Complete List". musicOMH. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  47. ↑ "NME Top 75 Albums Of 2010". Stereogum. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  48. ↑ "The Best Albums of The Decade: The 2010s". NME. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  49. ↑ "Q's 50 Best Albums Of 2009". Stereogum. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  50. ↑ Spencer, Trey (2 January 2011). "Top 50 Albums of 2010". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  51. ↑ "Total Life Forever (Deluxe 2CD Edition)". Foals official website. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  52. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 21 February 2011" (PDF). The ARIA Report. Australian Recording Industry Association (1095): 6. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2021 – via Pandora Archive.
  53. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Foals – Total Life Forever" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  54. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Foals – Total Life Forever" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  55. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Foals – Total Life Forever". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  56. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Foals – Total Life Forever" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  57. ↑ "Greek album positions". greekcharts.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  58. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Foals". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  59. ↑ トータル・ライフ・フォーエヴァー - フォールズ (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  60. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Foals – Total Life Forever". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  61. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  62. ↑ "Foals Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  63. ↑ "End of Year 2010" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  64. ↑ "British album certifications – Foals – Total Life Forever". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
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