''Euphoric Heartbreak'' (stylized as ''EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\'') is the second studio album by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

rock group

Glasvegas Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan (vocals), Rab Allan (lead guitar) and Paul Donoghue (bass guitar), with Swedish drummer Jonna Löfgren joining the group in 2010 until her departure in 2020 ...

, which was released on 4 April 2011 by Columbia Records. It reached No.10 in the UK and No.1 in Sweden. The album was written, demoed and tracked by James Allan in a luxury beach house in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

before full production and final recording took place in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. The album was produced by

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

and mixed by Claudius Mittendorfer. The song "The World is Yours" features on

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

' ''

FIFA 12 ''FIFA 12'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 12'' in North America) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released in September 2011 on consoles for PlayStatio ...

''. As of July 2014, the album had sold 30,400 units in the UK, which is ten percent of the sales of their platinum-selling debut album.

Pre-release

After recording was finished Glasvegas opened 2011 with an 8 date tour of Scotland which took the band to places in Scotland that are normally missed out by touring bands. The tour took in

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

Forres Forres (; gd, Farrais) is a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, approximately northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions. There ...

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

Dunoon Dunoon (; gd, Dùn Omhain) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in the south of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well ...

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

and

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

. The band announced these intimate dates to ensure that Scotland would be the first to hear the new music. The tour received positive critical reviews with

Simon Price Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British music journalist and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''The Independent on Sunday'' and his book ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)''. Career Writer Pric ...

of ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' quoting that "Glasvegas are still – and we desperately need this right now – a band to believe in". The band also announced a showcase tour planned around smaller venues in March 2011 with several dates selling out within hours of going on sale followed by an academy size tour planned for April/May 2011 to promote the new album.

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

were extremely pleased with the quality of songs delivered by the band and the fact it was a marked departure from the debut album. The marketing campaign kicked off alongside the tour in January 2011 with a free track giveaway and the track chosen was the second track on the album "The World Is Yours". However the band wanted something more substantial than just a free giveaway and the label eventually agreed to creating an "Album Trailer Movie" as well.

Release and reception

Glasvegas's second album ''Euphoric Heartbreak'' was released on 4 April 2011 reaching No.10 in the UK and No.1 in Sweden. The album polarised opinion, some reviews criticised the band for being too bold and that the album was too big a departure from their debut whilst others praised this move forward and the high quality songwriting the album contained. Initial reviews of the album were generally positive with the '' Daily Record'' declaring it "the album of the year!" ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' gave the album 9/10, and wrote that; "Turning pain into joy is the stuff that dreams are made of for an album as thrillingly ambitious as it is enigmatic". ''Clash'' magazine praised the band for delivering a more accomplished sound by reassuringly admitting "pioneers they remain". The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

declared the album "a triumph" despite all the upheaval with the band in 2010. However, the album garnered negative opinions such as

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

, who felt the album was "too bombastic and that it simply numbs you with 50 minutes of novocaine for the soul." While

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

gave the album 5/10 and said that the "album smears together into one gigantic well-produced stadium anthem, shining like the night sky while remaining just as inert". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' awarded the album 3/5 but felt "they were still waiting on an undeniable triumph from Glasvegas" Furthermore, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' gave the album 2/5, saying it was "insubstantial" and that "as with bad acting, it's not persuasive enough to make one care." On 16 September 2011 it was announced that the band's song "The World Is Yours" (the second listed track) from ''Euphoric Heartbreak'' would be featured on the soundtrack in

football game, ''

''. A free download of "The World Is Yours" was made available on Glasvegas' official website on 16 January 2011. It was also revealed that the opening track "Pain Pain, Never Again" is a spoken word piece, and likewise the final track "Change" features James Allan's mother performing a small spoken word piece. According to James Allan, the

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and backward slashes contained in the album title represent "the ascent, the crest of a wave, and then the crash." I Feel Wrong (Homosexuality Pt:1) and Stronger Than Dirt (Homosexuality Pt:2) were also key tracks on the album.

Singles

The band released their first official single from the album, "Euphoria, Take My Hand" on 28 March 2011. The single included two exclusive b-sides: "Georgia, Walk With Me" and "7 AM Eternally".

Artwork

The USA release of the album features a photo of Allan's mother on the cover instead of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

Track listing

;Bonus tracks

Personnel

*James Allan – vocals, drums *Rab Allan – guitars *Paul Donaghue – bass Note: While drummer Jonna Löfgren is listed as a member of the band, Glasvegas recorded the album as a trio prior to her joining with drums credited to Echo, which was a pseudonym for James Allan.

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Glasvegas albums Albums produced by Flood (producer)