''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' is the fourth studio album by French

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band Phoenix. It was released on 25 May 2009 by V2 Records. While the band's previous work enjoyed a moderate underground following, the release of ''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' drew the attention of a more mainstream audience. In the US, Phoenix began a promotional tour including performances on several late night talk shows. ''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' continued to gain momentum with the increased exposure of the tour. The album received critical acclaim with many publications calling it one of the best albums of 2009. ''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' earned the band a

Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...

at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares P ...

held on 31 January 2010.

Background

The album credits Phoenix band members

Thomas Mars Thomas Pablo Croquet (born 21 November 1976), known as Thomas Mars, is a French musician and the lead singer of the French indie pop band Phoenix. Early life Thomas Pablo Croquet was born on 21 November 1976 in Versailles, France. Croquet was ...

on vocals, Deck D'Arcy on bass, and Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai on guitar.

Phillipe Zdar Cassius was a French musical duo consisting of producers Philippe Cerboneschi and Hubert Blanc-Francard, better known as Zdar and Boombass (or sometimes Philippe Zdar and Hubert Boombass). Under its different incarnations the duo is likened to ...

produced and mixed the album and played drums on the song "Fences", with Cult of Luna drummer

Thomas Hedlund Thomas Carl Chaminda Hedlund (born May 13, 1980) is a Sri Lankan-born Swedish drummer. He is currently the drummer for Swedish post-metal band Cult of Luna and Swedish indie rock band Deportees. Additionally, he is the touring drummer for Frenc ...

playing drums on the majority of the album. Phoenix produced 10 songs for release on the album in the US and Canada under the Glassnote label. The album name plays off of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, using his first and middle name and replacing his last with the band's name "Phoenix". Of the name, Phoenix,

says, "The album title is almost like a childish thing, like you're unleashing a child into the museum and he draws a mustache on the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best kno ...

'' or something ... It's kind of bratty, especially with me, my mom is German and Mozart is Austrian and in Germany it's like messing with the Pope or something."

Writing and composition

''Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'' has been described as a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

, and new wave album. Co-producer Philippe Zdar hosted the recording of the album from his in home studio in Paris. During the production of the album, the band recorded video of the sessions, which they have released as mini documentaries of their journey to create Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The videos are available on th
band's website
Throughout the process, lead singer

, noted the use of

Oblique Strategies Oblique Strategies (subtitled ''Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas'') is a card-based method for promoting creativity jointly created by musician/artist Brian Eno and multimedia artist Peter Schmidt, first published in 1975. Physically, it takes ...

flash cards to promote his creative thinking during the development of the album. Reviewer Andrew Winistorfer said of the album, "'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' opens with two monster singles, 'Lisztomania', a glittery anthem that manufactures a sense that you're in for greatness and an immense motion that gets more urgent as the song progresses, and '

1901 Events January * January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minist ...

', a synth-washed heartfelt ode from frontman

about falling in love." " Lisztomania" refers to the term 'Lisztomania', a word coined by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

romantic writer

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

to describe the massive public response to

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's virtuosic piano performances. The third single, "Lasso", is one of the few songs in which the band has utilized a guitar solo. The opening drumbeat, fast-paced toms and the drumroll in the chorus were played on a synthesizer by Mars, who was a drummer at a young age.

Promotion and release

It was announced in early 2009 that the band would be releasing an album. The first single "1901" was released 23 February 2009. In order to get fans interested in the album the band released an EP version of the album that was only available through iTunes. The EP featured both songs that were performed on ''SNL'' and two others; "Love Like a Sunset pt 1 & 2". On 25 May 2009 the album was released on V2 records in conjunction with Loyauté the band's own record label worldwide and on Glassnote in the United States of America. From 12 May 2009, the album was available to download from the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

for customers in North America and from Amazon MP3. On 7 August 2009, Phoenix performed a live version of "Lisztomania" on Australian youth radio network

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

in a program called "Like a Version".

Reception

In Australia, the album debuted at number 13. It debuted on the US ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart at No. 37 and remained in the Top 100 for several weeks due to the

alternative radio Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

success of the album's singles "1901" and "Lisztomania". It has sold 721,000 copies in the US as of April 2013. The album won the

on 31 January 2010. Year-end list entries *5th – ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

s Top 10 Albums of 2009 *3rd – ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'': The 25 Best Albums of 2009 *8th – ''

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 ...

''s Top 50 Albums of 2009 *1st – '' The A.V. Club'': The top 25 albums of 2009 *1st – ''

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History '' ...

s Top 50 Albums of 2009 *2nd – Rhapsody: "The 25 Best Albums of 2009" *3rd – ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

s The 40 Best Albums of 2009 *2nd – ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

s Pazz & Jop poll for 2009 "Lisztomania" and "1901" were both listed on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2009, and received No. 4 and No. 13 respectively.

Track listing

Special edition box set bonus remix CD

Personnel

– vocals * Deck d'Arcy – bass, keyboards * Laurent Brancowitz – guitar, keyboards * Christian Mazzalai – guitar *

– drums, drum samples, sampling

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{authority control 2009 albums 2009 remix albums Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album Phoenix (band) albums V2 Records albums V2 Records remix albums Glassnote Records albums