Nothing as the Ideal

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Nothing as the Ideal
Studio album by
All Them Witches
ReleasedSeptember 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)
RecordedMarch 2020
StudioAbbey Road
Genre
Length48:43
LabelNew West
Producer
  • All Them Witches
  • Mikey Allred
All Them Witches chronology
ATW
(2018) 		Nothing as the Ideal
(2020)

Nothing as the Ideal is the sixth studio album by American psychedelic rock band All Them Witches. It was released on September 4, 2020, through New West Records.

Background and production[edit]

After the release of 2018's ATW, All Them Witches drummer Robby Staebler converted his Nashville home into a studio, which proved creatively uneventful for the band, who recorded only one track there. The band decided to hire Mikey Allred, who had previously produced 2015's Dying Surfer Meets His Maker, to help record their sixth studio album. After two months of writing, All Them Witches recorded Nothing as the Ideal in March 2020 at Abbey Road Studios.[1]

Composition and themes[edit]

Nothing as the Ideal has been classified as a stoner rock and neo-psychedelia album.[2][3][4]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Classic Rock[7]
Dead Press![8]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[4]
musicOMH[3]
New Noise Magazine[9]
Paste7.9/10[2]

Nothing as the Ideal was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Nothing as the Ideal has an average score of 85 based on five reviews.[5]

Tyler Damara Kelly of The Line of Best Fit compared Nothing as the Ideal to the works of Kyuss and Tool, and praised how All Them Witches were able to retool as a trio, with "each musician being undoubtedly proficient in their craft and able to create with a dynamism that is truly unparalleled".[4] James Christopher Monger of AllMusic, similarly, praised how the remaining band members "have crystallized their signature amalgam of improvisation and songcraft into an exclamation point where every soaring lead, snare crack, and mechanical whirr feels essential".[6] Nicolas Perez of Paste said that the absence of keyboard was "barely noticeable since the songs have no uncomfortable gaps".[2]

Certain critics highlighted the epic nature of the album, and individual tracks within. Polly Glass of Classic Rock said that, particularly with the addition of "See You Next Fall" and "Rats in Ruin", Nothing as the Ideal "feels as much like a film soundtrack as it does a hooky rock'n'roll album".[7] Graeme Marsh of musicOMH added that the two longest tracks on the album "top nine minutes yet leave you dissatisfied that they didn't last twice as long".[3] John Moore of New Noise Magazine said that the album, "though it might take a few cycles to catch, is a wildly satisfying experience".[9]

Some reviewers criticized a perceived lack of experimentation and originality on Nothing as the Ideal. Shawn Donohue of Glide said that Nothing as the Ideal was "an excellent sounding but slightly flat affair as the band settles into life as a trio", and that the "sound experiments and tape collages" in the album "feel tacked on to spruce up a standard number more laboriously".[10] Tom Morgan of Dead Press! compared certain tracks to Mastodon, Royal Blood, and Led Zeppelin, before asking, "Why bother to even emulate these artists and sounds from so long ago?"[8]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by All Them Witches

Standard edition track listing[11]
No.TitleLength
1."Saturnine & Iron Jaw"6:49
2."Enemy of My Enemy"3:29
3."Everest"2:07
4."See You Next Fall"9:50
5."The Children of Coyote Woman"3:36
6."41"5:20
7."Lights Out"3:13
8."Rats in Ruin"9:10
Total length:48:43

Personnel[edit]

Information taken from the Nothing as the Ideal liner notes.[11]

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Nothing as the Ideal
Chart (2020) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 70
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 56
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 30
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 57
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[16] 25
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[17] 15
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[18] 11
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[19] 7

Formats[edit]

The album is widely available on most streaming services, but was also sold as a Digital Download from the band's website, as well as offered on Compact Disc, Vinyl, and Cassette Tape.[20]

Available on Vinyl in the following formats:
Edition Vinyl Color Weight Availability
New West Exclusive Opaque Green 140g Second-Hand Only
Special Edition Picture Disc Picture 180g Second-Hand Only
Bandcamp Exclusive Deluxe Edition Translucent Lysergic Purple 180g Second-Hand Only
Limited Edition Color Green & Black Galaxy 140g Available
Standard Edition Black 140g Available

References[edit]

  1. ^ Lanham, Tom (September 3, 2020). "All Them Witches on Crafting Grimy Psych-Rock at Abbey Road". Spin. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Perez, Nicolas (September 8, 2020). "All Them Witches' Nothing as the ideal Is an Experimental Reminder That Life Sucks Sometimes". Paste. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Marsh, Graeme (September 3, 2020). "All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal". musicOMH. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Kelly, Tyler Damara (September 2, 2020). "All Them Witches prove themselves inimitable and extraordinary on Nothing As The Ideal". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Nothing as the Ideal by All Them Witches Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Monger, James Christopher. "Nothing as the Ideal - All Them Witches". AllMusic. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Glass, Polly (September 4, 2020). "All Them Witches: Nothing As The Ideal - an enticing feast for psychedelic senses". Classic Rock. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Morgan, Tom (September 6, 2020). "ALBUM REVIEW: All Them Witches - Nothing As The Ideal". Dead Press!. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Moore, John (September 3, 2020). "Album Review: All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal". New Noise. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  10. ^ Donohue, Shawn (September 4, 2020). "All Them Witches Riff Up Its Grimy Psych At Abbey Road Studio Via 'Nothing as the Ideal' (Album Review)". Glide. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Nothing as the Ideal (booklet). All Them Witches. New West Records. 2020. NW5421.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ "Austriancharts.at – All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  14. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  15. ^ "Swisscharts.com – All Them Witches – Nothing As The Ideal". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  16. ^ "All Them Witches Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  17. ^ "All Them Witches Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  18. ^ "All Them Witches Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  19. ^ "All Them Witches Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  20. ^ "Nothing as the Ideal, by All Them Witches". All Them Witches. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
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