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Ocean Eyes is the second studio album by Owl City. It was released on July 14, 2009, on the iTunes Store, and in stores on September 1, 2009. The cover art features a photograph of the Burj Al Arab. A vinyl edition was released, followed by a two-disc deluxe edition available on January 26, 2010. The deluxe edition includes seven new tracks (including the remix version of "Hello Seattle").  The album also contains guest vocals by Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen on the songs "Fireflies", "Cave In", "The Bird and the Worm", and "Tidal Wave".

On July 14, 2009, the lead single, "Fireflies", was chosen as the Single of the Week by the iTunes music store. This led to a huge success as the song was downloaded over 650,000 times and helped the album reach No. 2 on the US store. This success also led to the record company push back the release date of the physical copy of the album from July 28, 2009, to September 1, 2009. Adam Young, the founder of Owl City told The Sun that "Cave In" was especially dear to his heart as "that song captures in just a few words, all [his] hopes and dreams." The album sold approximately 18,000 copies digitally in its debut week. The album reached the top ten in the US peaking at No. 8. The same week its lead single "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, Ocean Eyes climbed to No. 1 on iTunes after the album price was lowered for a limited period of time.


Background[]

Young discussed the origin of the album's title, saying:

"I'm from the middle of nowhere in Minnesota you see, so the ocean has always been a curiously dreamy, ethereal, almost romantic thing to me. Over the years I spent a great deal of time with my eyes closed, imagining myself having the most wonderful adventures by the seaside. Doing things one can only do in dusk and glow and midsummer dreams, as if the back of my closed eyelids were a silver screen and I was a sentimental projectionist with hundreds of fanciful reels at hand, all ready to roll. Thus is the reasoning behind the title."
— Adam Young, Adam Young's blog [1]

Critical reception[]

Ocean Eyes has received mixed reviews from critics, based on an aggregate. Metacritic gave the album a 53/100. The album gained some positive reviews, including Entertainment Weekly which gave it a B+ and said that it was filled with memorable choruses and that the highlight song was "Dental Care". Jesus Freak Hideout also was favorable towards the album; the review highlighted the album's musical style, saying that it had "dreamy lyrics and open soundscapes."

On the other hand, Rolling Stone claimed Ocean Eyes as "disappointing", by giving it only 2/5 stars. The magazine especially criticized the slower songs, saying that forgettable tracks like "On the Wing" were "just mush". AllMusic also gave the album an a total of 2.5/5, stating that "Ocean Eyes ultimately winds up too sugary for its own good, though, having focused on dessert without giving its listeners any sort of meaty, substantive entrée. A handful of ballads add some sense of variety to the album's pace, but Owl City is largely a vehicle for the one song Adam Young knows how to make."

Singles[]

The lead single, "Fireflies", was released on July 14, 2009. It climbed the Billboard Hot 100 slowly until reaching No. 7 and leaping to No. 1 the following week. "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Chart for two non-consecutive weeks, as well as topping the iTunes Top 100 Chart for several weeks. "Fireflies" was originally released as a free US iTunes digital download the week the album had its digital release in the US, which could have contributed to the single's massive success. "Fireflies" continued to make the top 10 most-downloaded songs in many countries and reached No. 1 on the Official UK Singles Chart on January 24, 2010.

The second single, "Vanilla Twilight", was released on January 26, 2010, to radio, the same day that the deluxe edition of Ocean Eyes hit stores. During the same week that "Fireflies" topped the Hot 100, "Vanilla Twilight" debuted at No. 95. "Vanilla Twilight" re-entered the chart and peaked at No. 72 on the week ending January 9, 2010.

The third single, "Umbrella Beach", was released on May 17, 2010. It was originally released promotionally on November 19, 2009, preceding the release of the official first single, "Fireflies". An exclusive remix created by Kenny Hayes is included on the single release. Unlike in the music videos for "Fireflies" and "Vanilla Twilight", Young does not appear in the video aside from a few photos.

Promotional singles[]

The first promotional single, "Hot Air Balloon", was released on May 5, 2009. The song premiered on the AOL Spinner Tastemaker website on May 1, 2009. "Hot Air Balloon" debuted at number one on AOL's Top 40 Songs Chart with more than 270,000 streams in the first week and has sold over 12,400 copies.

The second promotional single, "Strawberry Avalanche", was released on June 2, 2009. The song premiered exclusively via Spin the day before. The song sold over 9,000 copies as of July 2009.

The third promotional single, "Sunburn", was released on October 13, 2009. It appeared on the soundtrack of the American television series 90210, and was also released free to people who bought Ocean Eyes during a span of several weeks of December 2009.

Trivia[]

  • The Burj Al Arab featured on the cover also appears in the music video for Adam Young's short instrumental of the same title.
  • Ocean Eyes is the highest UK charting Owl City album to date, peaking at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. It is also the only Owl City top 10 album and the only album that spawns two top 100 UK singles from it.
  • Ocean Eyes is the first album to not have been self released.
  • Ocean Eyes is the first album to have co-writers.
  • Ocean Eyes features several re-recorded tracks from previous albums: "Hello Seattle" from Of June and "On the Wing" and "The Saltwater Room" from Maybe I'm Dreaming.

Track listing[]

All tracks were written by Adam Young, except where noted.

Standard Edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Cave In" 4:02
2."The Bird and the Worm"Young • Matthew Thiessen3:27
3."Hello Seattle" (originally from Of June) 2:47
4."Umbrella Beach" 3:50
5."The Saltwater Room" (originally from Maybe I'm Dreaming) 4:02
6."Dental Care" 3:11
7."Meteor Shower" 2:14
8."On the Wing" (originally from Maybe I'm Dreaming) 5:01
9."Fireflies" 3:48
10."The Tip of the Iceberg" 3:23
11."Vanilla Twilight" 3:52
12."Tidal Wave"Young • Thiessen3:10
Total length:42:47


iTunes bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Hello Seattle" (remix)5:53
14."If My Heart Was a House"4:06
Total length:52:46
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Hot Air Balloon"3:35
14."Rugs from Me to You"1:28
Total length:47:50
Deluxe edition: disc 2
No.TitleLength
1."Hot Air Balloon"3:35
2."Butterfly Wings"2:54
3."Rugs from Me to You"1:27
4."Sunburn"3:47
5."Hello Seattle" (remix)5:53
6."If My Heart Was a House"4:06
7."Strawberry Avalanche"3:18
8."Fireflies" (Adam Young Remix)3:12
Total length:28:12

Personnel[]

Owl City[]

  • Adam Young – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, guitars, bass, drums, programming, producer, engineer

Additional musicians and production[]

  • Breanne Düren – additional vocals on tracks 5 and 8
  • Austin Tofte – additional vocals on track 8
  • Matthew Thiessen – additional vocals on tracks on 1, 2, 9, 12, and 14, production on tracks 2, 9, and 12
  • Melisa Morgan – additional vocals on tracks 7 and 10
  • Jolie Lindholm – additional vocals on track 7
  • Phil Peterson – cello on tracks 1, 4, 8, 9, and 10
  • Steve Bursky – producer, management
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Christopher Kornmann – art direction
  • Imran Khan – artwork
  • John Goodmanson – audio mixer

References[]

Songs from Ocean Eyes
Cave InThe Bird and the WormHello SeattleUmbrella BeachThe Saltwater RoomDental CareMeteor ShowerOn the WingFirefliesThe Tip of the IcebergVanilla TwilightTidal WaveHot Air BalloonButterfly WingsRugs from Me to YouSunburnIf My Heart Was a HouseStrawberry Avalanche
Owl City Discography
Albums Maybe I'm DreamingOcean EyesAll Things Bright and BeautifulThe Midsummer StationMobile OrchestraCinematicCoco Moon
EPs Of JuneShooting StarThe Midsummer Station - AcousticUltravioletReel 1Reel 2Reel 3
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