The Back Room (album)

The Back Room is the debut studio album by British post-punk revival band Editors, released on 25 July 2005. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number 13 in July 2005, before peaking at number 2 in January 2006. It was produced by Jim Abbiss, and was released by Kitchenware in the United Kingdom, PIAS Recordings in Europe, and Fader Label in the United States.

The Back Room
Studio album by Editors
Released	25 July 2005
Recorded	2004–2005
Genre	Indie rock, post-punk revival
Length	43:48
Label	Kitchenware
Producer	Jim Abbiss, Gavin Monaghan (track 8)
Editors chronology
The Back Room (2005) An End Has a Start (2007)
Singles from The Back Room
"Bullets" Released: 24 January 2005 "Munich" Released: 18 April 2005 "Blood" Released: 11 July 2005 "Bullets (reissue)" Released: 26 September 2005 "Munich (reissue)" Released: 2 January 2006 "All Sparks" Released: 27 March 2006 "Blood (reissue)" Released: 19 June 2006

The Back Room was met with critical acclaim. It received a 2006 Mercury Prize nomination.

Overview

A limited special two-disc edition of The Back Room was released in the United Kingdom, the second disc (called Cuttings) comprising unused tracks from the album recording sessions and B-sides. In the Netherlands and Germany, the album was re-released in a limited, Festival Edition CD/DVD set including a 50-minute concert recorded at Paradiso in Amsterdam, on 30 January 2006.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B−[3]
The Guardian	[4]
The Irish Times	[5]
Mojo	[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork	6.0/10[8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
The Village Voice	C+[11]

The Back Room received generally positive reviews with a Metacritic score of 76 based on 23 reviews.[1] E! Online has written that "The Back Room is a fine album that proves you can look backward while paving the way forward", giving an album score 91 of 100. Drowned in Sound has written that it's "how Interpol would sound like if they dealt with universal themes and reflection rather than singing about fellatio fantasies with Stella, or their length of loves". AllMusic Guide said that "Alternative rock hasn't seen anything like this since the release of Turn on the Bright Lights." NME wrote that "this is a debut that will endure", and The Guardian wrote "The longer you listen, the better they become." However, Pitchfork has written that "Editors sound like an earnest rock band who grew up loving the same bands as the current batch of revivalists, but beyond the workmanlike interpretations of their heroes, it's hard to swallow."

The album was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize.[12]

Track listing

All tracks by Lay, Leetch, Smith, Urbanowicz.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lights"	2:31
2.	"Munich"	3:46
3.	"Blood"	3:29
4.	"Fall"	5:06
5.	"All Sparks"	3:33
6.	"Camera"	5:02
7.	"Fingers in the Factories"	4:14
8.	"Bullets"	3:09
9.	"Someone Says"	3:13
10.	"Open Your Arms"	6:00
11.	"Distance"	3:38

iTunes exclusive track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"French Disko"	2:25

Japan edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Come Share the View"	4:43
13.	"Time to Slow Down"	3:03

Cuttings (UK bonus disc)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home"	4:38
2.	"You Are Fading"	4:30
3.	"Crawl Down the Wall"	3:34
4.	"Colours"	3:51
5.	"Release"	5:44
6.	"Forest Fire"	3:00

Festival Edition bonus DVD (Netherlands and Germany)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Lights"
2.	"Blood"
3.	"All Sparks"
4.	"Fall"
5.	"Bullets"
6.	"Find Yourself a Safe Place"
7.	"Camera"
8.	"You Are Fading"
9.	"Munich"
10.	"Open Your Arms"
11.	"Fingers in the Factories"

• Videos of the concert at the Paradiso, Amsterdam – 30 January 2006

Credits

• Editors – art direction, design
• Jim Abbiss – producer, engineer
• Garret Lee – producer, engineer
• Gavin Monaghan – producer, engineer
• Loz Brazil – engineer
• Ewan Davis – engineer
• Andy Taylor – engineer, digital editing
• Cenzo Townshend – mixing
• Ami Barwell – photography

Chart performance

Chart (2005)	Peak position
UK	2
Belgium	53
France	107
Ireland	23
Netherlands	30
US Top Heatseekers	14
US Independent Albums	21

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[13]	Gold	25,000^*
Ireland (IRMA)[14]	Gold	7,500^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[15]	Gold	40,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	Platinum	555,588[17]
United States	—	63,000[18]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	1,000,000[19]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Reviews for The Back Room by Editors". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
2. Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Back Room – Editors". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
3. Fiore, Raymond (24 March 2006). "Editors: The Black Room". Entertainment Weekly: 70.
4. Clarke, Betty (22 July 2005). "Editors, The Back Room". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
5. Gleeson, Sinéad (22 July 2005). "Editors: The Back Room (Kitchenware)". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
6. "Editors: The Back Room". Mojo (141): 94. August 2005.
7. Jam, James (27 July 2005). "Editors : The Back Room". NME. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
8. Crock, Jason (4 August 2005). "Editors: The Back Room". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
9. "Editors: The Back Room". Q (229): 135. August 2005.
10. Hoard, Christian (9 March 2006). "Editors: The Back Room". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 April 2006. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
11. Christgau, Robert (4 April 2006). "Consumer Guide: Radical Comfort". The Village Voice. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
12. Pain, Andre (16 July 2007). "Editors aim for front page". Reuters. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
13. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2010". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
14. "The Irish Charts - 2005 Certification Awards - Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
15. "Dutch album certifications – Editors – The Back Room" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 9 May 2019. Enter The Back Room in the "Artiest of titel" box.
16. "British album certifications – Editors – The Back Room". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type The Back Room in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
17. Jones, Alan (9 October 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Rudimental's second LP debuts at No.1 on 22,718 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
18. Adams, Steve (3 October 2009). "Global Artist". Billboard. p. 26. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
19. Jon Perks (2008-02-18). "Editors are back in town". Birminghampost.net. Retrieved 9 May 2019.