Sermon on the Rocks | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 16, 2015 | |||
Recorded | January 5–17, 2015[1] | |||
Studio | The Parlor, New Orleans | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 44:41 | |||
Label | Pytheas Recordings | |||
Producer | Trina Shoemaker, Josh Ritter | |||
Josh Ritter chronology | ||||
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Singles from Sermon on the Rocks | ||||
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Sermon on the Rocks is the eighth full-length studio album, by singer/songwriter Josh Ritter. It was released October 16, 2015 on Pytheas Recordings.
Ritter described the record as "messianic oracular honky-tonk."
American singer-songwriter Josh Ritter released his sixth full-length studio album, The Beast in Its Tracks, on March 5, 2013, via Pytheas Recordings.[2] The album, inspired by Ritter's 2011 divorce from fellow musician Dawn Landes, intentionally ended on a hopeful note, as Ritter told Boston, "I do believe that in all my records, I've never ended it on a 'down' note. I just don't believe in it. I want to leave a little fire to carry on into the next record."[3]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 79/100[4] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [5] |
Irish Times | [6] |
Raidió Teilifís Éireann | [7] |
Rolling Stone | [8] |
NPR's Stephen Thomson said the album contains "some of Ritter's slipperiest, nimblest wordplay"[9] and Jonathan Bernstein of Rolling Stone commented that the record used "Eighties textures" and "vivid character sketches" to yield a very different result from its predecessor, The Beast in Its Tracks.[8]
All songs written by Josh Ritter.
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
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US Billboard 200[10] | 49 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[11] | 6 |
US Folk Albums (Billboard)[12] | 1 |
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[13] | 5 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[14] | 8 |
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[15] | 4 |