Noble Beast Explained

Noble Beast is the fifth solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, and his eighth overall. It was released on January 20, 2009.^[1] Two songs from this album were previewed on his webpage; "Oh No" and "Carrion Suite", while the entire album was made available by NPR^[2] as a streaming feed. Noble Beast was made available as a standard CD release, a special limited-edition deluxe two-CD package and a double-LP package.

The track "Tenuousness" appears in the closing credits for the 2011 movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Reception

The album received a Metacritic score of 79 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.

The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 12, and No. 3 on the Top Rock Albums Albums chart,^[3] selling 26,000 copies in the first week.^[4] The album has sold 150,000 copies in the United States .^[5]

Other appearances

• "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" samples from the song "First Impossible," which appears on Dosh's album Wolves and Wishes.
• "The Privateers" uses the same lyrics as "The Confession," a song appearing on Oh! The Grandeur by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire.
• A different version of "Section 8 City" appears on Fingerlings 4.

Useless Creatures (Deluxe edition bonus disc)

The limited edition of Noble Beast shipped with a companion disc of instrumental songs, entitled Useless Creatures.^[6] This collection was made available on Bird's website in early January, before the album's release. Noble Beast / Useless Creatures was deleted after a single run, both in the US and the UK, exclusively.

Personnel

• Andrew Bird – violin, vocals, whistling, guitar
• Martin Dosh – percussion, looping, keys
• Jeremy Ylvislaker – guitar, bass, organ, shortwave
• Kelly Hogan – background vocals
• Mike Lewis – clarinet
• Todd Sickafoose – double bass
• Ben Martin – cardboard box drums
• Tony Crow – juno

Notes and References

1. Paul Thompson, "Andrew Bird to Unleash Noble Beast on New Album", pitchforkmedia.com, October 3, 2008.
2. Web site: Exclusive First Listen: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'. .
3. Top Rock Albums . Billboard . February 7, 2009.
4. Bruce Springsteen Squeaks By Adele, Earns Tenth No. 1 Album . March 14, 2012 . Keith . Caulfield . Billboard.
5. Web site: ANDREW BIRD to release 'Break It Yourself' in March 2012 . Bella Union. December 8, 2011 .
6. Web site: Andrew Bird new album release moved up . NME. 26 November 2008.