It's Blitz!
studio
ArtistYeah Yeah Yeahs
CoverYeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz.png
ReleasedMarch 6, 2009
Recorded2008
Studio
Genre
Length41:49
Label
Producer
Prev year2007
Next year2009

It's Blitz! is the third studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on March 6, 2009, by Interscope Records. Originally set for release on April 14, 2009, the album was leaked to the Internet on February 22,[4] causing it to be pushed forward to March 10 for the digital release and March 31 for the physical release.[5]

The album was produced by Nick Launay, along with TV on the Radio's David Andrew Sitek.[6] It spawned three singles: "Zero", "Heads Will Roll", and "Skeletons".

It's Blitz! received acclaim from music critics, and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2010 Grammy Awards.[7]

Recording

"When Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner packed his bag for the band's trip to the studio…" wrote John Doran in Classic Rock, "he made a random decision that would completely change their direction. The vintage ARP synthesizer that he carried with him to the Tornillo studios in the west Texan desert was supposed to provide downtime entertainment, but ended up being the defining noise on It's Blitz!."[8]

According to coproducer Nick Launay, the album was unusual for being largely written and created in the studio at a time when record labels had cut back considerably on production budgets. The few songs the band took to the first sessions were altered significantly.[9]

Launay described a typical session: "Brian [Chase] would play lots of different drumbeats and we'd record it, chop it up and then make a groove loop out of it. Nick [Zinner] would then just jam to it, and we'd come up with an interesting rhythm part. Karen [O] would listen to that and come up with a vocal melody and then suddenly everything would fall into place."[9]

During the sessions – which took place over several months in 2008 – there were numerous breaks "to get inspired".[9]

Critical reception

It's Blitz! received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 82 based on 36 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10] Heather Phares of AllMusic believed the band successfully departed from their established sound, writing that "between the violently happy songs and the softer ones, this is some of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most balanced and cohesive music."[11] Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the band "grapple with separation and need, using dance beats to suggest the compulsive pleasure seeking that tries to drown out loneliness", and he commended their musical direction, stating, "The band is echoing the evolution of postpunk, from dogmatic austerity to technologically assisted".[12]

Blender also gave the album four stars out of five and hailed it as "the sound of a band reborn with new momentum, and on an album that requires dancing, the message is clear: It doesn't matter where you came from. Just keep moving."[13] Clash commented that the trio had grown without distancing themselves from what made their name: "The album proves that they can provide epic music with personal themes, that YYYs can expand without losing what made us fall for them in the first place".[14] The Guardians Caroline Sullivan declared the "glittery new disco sound suits them very well. It's all cool, brittle catchiness, with a debt owed to Eat to the Beat-era Blondie".[15] Emily Mackay of NME wrote, "It's Blitz!s heartfelt love letter to the transcendent possibilities of the dancefloor is an unexpectedly emphatic reassertion of why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the most exciting bands of this decade."[16] Mojo awarded it four stars out of five and wrote that the band "managed to mix the human and the electronic, the emotional and the artsy, the fashion-forward and the oddly retro."[17]

Spins Charles Aaron called it "the alternative pop album of the decade – one that imbues The Killers' Hot Fuss and MGMT's Oracular Spectacular with a remarkable emotional depth and finesse".[2] Uncuts April Long scored it four out of five and praised its "spirit of experimentation", stating "What unifies them is a warm romanticism that runs throughout, edging out Karen's blatant eroticism of yore – even though there are more come-downs than come-ons, every song seems to glow from within".[18] Theon Weber of The Village Voice said Karen O "isn't revealed to us through the record's lyrics, which are as gnomic as ever, but through attitudes, tones, put-on sneers, and audible grins."[19]

Rankings

PublicationAccoladeRankRef.
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die[20]
The A.V. ClubThe Top 25 Albums of 200920[21]
BillboardTop 10 Albums of 20092[22]
ClashTop 40 Albums of 20093[23]
Consequence of SoundThe Top 100 Albums of 20096[24]
Drowned in SoundTop 50 Albums of 20093[25]
Entertainment Weekly10 Best (and 5 Worst) Albums of 2009Best Rock Album[26]
The GuardianAlbums of 200910[27]
MojoTop 50 Albums of 200910[28]
musicOMHTop 50 Best Albums of 20096[29]
NME50 Best Albums of 20093[30]
PasteThe 25 Best Albums of 200923[31]
PitchforkThe Top 50 Albums of 200912[32]
PopMattersThe Best 60 Albums of 200911[33]
Q50 Best Albums of 20093[28]
RhapsodyThe 25 Best Albums of 200912[34]
Rolling StoneThe 25 Best Albums of 200920[35]
Slant MagazineThe 25 Best Albums of 20092[36]
SpinThe 40 Best Albums of 20092[37]
Spin125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years118[38]
Uncut50 Best Albums of 20099[28]
The Village VoicePazz & Jop Critics' Poll: The Top 25 Albums of 20094[39]

Commercial performance

It's Blitz! debuted at number 32 on the Billboard 200, selling 13,000 digital copies in its first week.[40] Following its physical release, the album climbed to a new peak position of number 22 in its fourth week on the chart, selling 22,000 copies.[41] As of October 2009, it had sold 184,000 copies in United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[42] The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number nine with first-week sales of 18,054 copies.[43]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of It's Blitz![44]

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Nick Launay – production, recording
  • David Andrew Sitek – production (tracks 1–4, 8, 9); additional production (tracks 5); recording (all tracks)
  • Dan Huron – recording
  • Aaron Dembe – engineering assistance
  • Alyssa Pittaluga – engineering assistance
  • Atom – engineering assistance
  • Charles Godfrey – engineering assistance
  • Chris Coady – engineering assistance
  • Chris Moore – engineering assistance
  • Justin Leeah – engineering assistance
  • Mike Laza – engineering assistance
  • Spike Stent – mixing at Chalice Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)
  • Matty Green – mixing assistance
  • Chris Kasych – mixing assistance
  • Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City)

Artwork

  • Karen O – art direction
  • Seb Marling – art direction
  • Urs Fischer – art direction, cover photography, inside photography
  • Autumn de Wilde – live photography (band)
  • David Belisle – live photography (Karen and Brian)
  • Eric Uhlir – live photography (Nick)

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for It's Blitz!
Chart (2009)Peak
position
European Albums (Billboard)[45]32
Japan Album Sales (Billboard Japan)[46]90
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[47]62
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[48]56

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for It's Blitz!
Chart (2009)Position
UK Albums (OCC)[49]164
US Billboard 200[50]192
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[51]43

Release history

Release dates and formats for It's Blitz!
RegionDateFormatEditionLabelRef(s)
AustraliaMarch 6, 2009Digital downloadStandardUniversal[52]
United KingdomMarch 9, 2009Standard · deluxePolydor[53][54]
United StatesMarch 10, 2009Dress Up · DGC · Interscope[55][56]
GermanyMarch 13, 2009StandardUniversal[57]
United StatesMarch 31, 2009CDStandard · deluxeDress Up · DGC · Interscope[58][59]
AustraliaApril 3, 2009Universal[60]
Digital downloadDeluxe[52]
GermanyCDStandard · deluxe[61][62]
LPStandard[63]
Digital downloadDeluxe[64]
United KingdomApril 6, 2009CDStandard · deluxePolydor[65][66]
LPStandard[67]
United StatesApril 14, 2009Dress Up · DGC · Interscope[68]
JapanApril 15, 2009CD · digital downloadJapan standardUniversal[69][70]

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