Up All Night
Studio album by
Razorlight
Released28 June 2004
StudioSawmills, Cornwall and Sphere Studios, London, England
Genre
Length45:49
Label
Producer
Razorlight chronology
Up All Night
(2004)		 Razorlight
(2006)

Up All Night is the debut album by English indie rock band Razorlight, released on 28 June 2004. The album was mainly recorded at Sawmills Studio and mixed at Sphere Studios by John Cornfield.

The album garnered favourable reviews but critics questioned the band's influence-filled musicianship throughout the tracks. Up All Night peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and spawned six singles: "Rock 'N' Roll Lies", "Rip It Up", "Stumble and Fall", "Golden Touch", "Vice" and "Somewhere Else".

On 4 June 2014, the band, with only lead singer Johnny Borrell remaining from the line-up which recorded the album, played at the Electric Ballroom in Camden to mark Up All Night's 10th anniversary.[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic65/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
BBC(positive)[4]
Drowned in Sound8/10[5]
Entertainment Weekly(positive)[6]
The Guardian[7]
NME8/10[8]
Pitchfork3.7/10[9]
PopMatters5/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Stylus MagazineC[12]

Up All Night received positive reviews but music critics were divided by the overall musicianship resembling that of bands both classic and contemporary. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65 based on 16 reviews.[2]

Tim Jonze of NME gave the album high praise for Johnny Borrell's sharp street poetry and the band's instrumentation for giving Borrell the right amount of strength and control to sing them, saying "For all its flaws, Up All Night bristles with passion, energy and, most importantly, amazing songs."[8] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised Borrell for backing up his bravado with tracks that exude tight lyrics and optimism, saying that "Up All Night is a brilliant mod explosion of scruffy pub punk, in the mode of his old friends the Libertines."[11] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian said the album's various influence-filled tracks get by on Borrell being able to deliver them with gusto and conviction, concluding that "Originality may not be Razorlight's strong point, but Borrell's raw charisma carries the day."[7] Richard Banks of BBC praised the band's commitment to delivering upbeat three-chord punk tracks while still being to able to make it wholly original, concluding that "With a debut this good, Razorlight are a band that deserve to do very, very well."[4]

Mark Edwards of Stylus Magazine was mixed about the record, saying the band utilise the basic rock 'n' roll formula to craft catchy tracks but then sputter out in terms of inspiration to create nondescript material. He concluded with, "This is a good debut album—no more, no less. The second album could very well be as good as they think this one is. But they're going to have to wait a while before they get what they so desire."[12] Alex Reicherter of PopMatters felt that a majority of the album's tracks utilising the hedonistic party tale formula work and any diversions from it fall flat, saying "though they lack the rapid-fire consistency of their predecessors, they've put together a likable, if completely unoriginal rock record that's sure to get even the dullest of parties onto the police blotter."[10] Nick Sylvester of Pitchfork found the album's instrumentation and lyrics derivative of The Strokes and Television, and criticised Borrell's vocal delivery for impersonating said bands' frontmen with no passion, concluding that "Razorlight refuse to meet their influences with anything more than half hugs and limp handshakes, butchering the bits they brazenly borrow, and taking rock 'n' roll apathy to formerly unbelievable lengths."[9]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Johnny Borrell, unless otherwise noted; all music is composed by Razorlight

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Leave Me Alone" 3:50
2."Rock ‘N’ Roll Lies"Borrell, John Fortis3:08
3."Vice" 3:14
4."Up All Night" 4:03
5."Which Way Is Out" 3:18
6."Rip It Up" 2:25
7."Don't Go Back to Dalston" 2:59
8."Golden Touch" 3:25
9."Stumble and Fall"Borrell, Björn Ågren3:02
10."Get It and Go" (Omitted from US/Europe release) 3:22
11."In the City" 4:50
12."To the Sea"Borrell, Ågren5:31
13."Fall, Fall, Fall" 2:42
14."Somewhere Else" (Bonus track on 2005 re-release) 3:16

Personnel

  • Johnny Borrell - vocals and guitar
  • Björn Ågren - guitar
  • Carl Dalemo - bass
  • Shïan Smith-Pancorvo - drums

Singles

  1. "Rock 'N' Roll Lies" (18 August 2003)
  2. "Rip It Up" (10 November 2003)
  3. "Stumble and Fall" (26 January 2004)
  4. "Golden Touch" (14 June 2004)
  5. "Vice" (13 September 2004)
    • "Rip It Up" was re-released on 29 November 2004 as the last single from the album's initial release.
  6. "Somewhere Else" (11 April 2005)
    • The bonus track on the 2005 re-release.

Charts and certifications

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] 4× Platinum 1,200,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog
Japan 9 June 2004 Universal International CD UICR-1032
United Kingdom 28 June 2004 Vertigo LP 6 02498 67101 6
CD 6 02498 66804 7
18 April 2005 Mercury CD / bonus track 6 02498 71043 2
United States 26 October 2004 Mercury, Universal CD B0003362-02 / 6 02498 67156 6
17 May 2005 CD / bonus track B0004788-02 / 6 02498 71460 7

References

  1. ↑ "Razorlight to play London date on 10th anniversary of debut album". NME. IPC Media. 10 April 2014. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Up All Night by Razorlight". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  3. ↑ Leijon, Erik. "Up All Night - Razorlight". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 October 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 Banks, Richard. "Razorlight - Up All Night". BBC. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  5. ↑ Wisgard, Alex (30 June 2004). "Razorlight - Up All Night". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Fiore, Raymond (3 December 2004). "Up All Night". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  7. 1 2 Lynskey, Dorian (18 June 2004). "CD: Razorlight, Up All Night". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 Jonze, Tim (22 July 2004). "Razorlight : Up All Night". NME. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  9. 1 2 Sylvester, Nick (19 August 2004). "Razorlight: Up All Night". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 Reicherter, Alex (11 April 2005). "Razorlight: Up All Night". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  11. 1 2 Sheffield, Rob (10 February 2005). "Up All Night : Razorlight". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 21 May 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  12. 1 2 Edwards, Mark (13 October 2004). "Razorlight - Up All Night". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Razorlight". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2004". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  16. ↑ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2005". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  17. ↑ "2006 UK Albums Chart" (PDF). ChartsPlus. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "British album certifications – Razorlight – Up All Night". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 January 2016. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Up All Night in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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