What We Saw from the Cheap Seats

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What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
Regina Spektor - What We Saw from the Cheap Seats.png
Studio album by
Regina Spektor
ReleasedMay 29, 2012 (2012-05-29)
RecordedSummer 2011 in Los Angeles
Genre
Length37:18
LabelSire Records
ProducerMike Elizondo, Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor chronology
Live in London
(2010) 		What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
(2012) 		Remember Us to Life
(2016)
Singles from What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
  1. "All the Rowboats"
    Released: February 27, 2012
  2. "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)"
    Released: March 26, 2012
  3. "How"
    Released: October 16, 2012

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats is the sixth studio album by American alternative singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. On November 21, 2011, Spektor posted on her Facebook page that the album had been recorded with Mike Elizondo in Los Angeles during the summer of 2011. It was released on May 29, 2012.[1] The album is a collection of new material along with the very first studio recordings of several of Spektor's older live songs.

At the time of the album's release, "Jessica" was the only entirely new song. "How" and "The Party" had been debuted only weeks before during Spektor's headlining tour, "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" had been released in an alternate version on a previous album, Songs, and all others had been performed in past performances.

Singles and promotion[]

The album's first single, "All the Rowboats", was released for streaming on February 27, 2012, and for digital download the following day.[2] It was featured on a prime spot on the CW's Ringer on March 13, 2012, making her the "Artist Spotlight" of the week.[3]

The album's second single, "Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" is a new version of "Ne Me Quitte Pas", a song originally from Spektor's 2002 album Songs. Both of these singles have accompanying music videos.

On October 16, 2012, "How" was released as the third single.

The album was promoted through two tours. The first was a southern US tour on which Spektor opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for eight shows in April and May 2012. The second was an international show that opened with three sold-out shows in New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia. Only Son, a band led by her husband Jack Dishel, was the opening act for all three shows. The tour, which extended to several European countries (including Russia, to which Spektor has never traveled since emigrating from it as a child), ran through the summer of 2012.

Appearances to promote the album include the Late Show with David Letterman, Good Morning America, The Colbert Report, a New York Times interview, a Vh1 performance, and special "Live on YouTube" engagement.

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[5]
The A.V. Club(A-)[6]
Consequence of Sound3.5/5 stars[7]
Entertainment Weekly(B)[8]
NME(8/10)[9]
Ology(A−)[10]
Pitchfork(6.3/10)[11]
Paste Magazine(6/10)[12]
Rolling Stone3.5/5 stars[13]
Slant Magazine4/5 stars[14]
Sputnikmusic5/5 stars[15]

Similarly to Spektor's previous studio albums, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats received a favourable reaction upon its release. On the Metacritic review-aggregating site it accrued a score of 73 out of 100, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Several critics praised its unique quirk, with Rolling Stone reviewer, who gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, claiming that the album "may be her best," and made Spektor "her generation's Joni Mitchell."[16] A staff reviewer for Sputnikmusic gave the album the maximum 5 out of 5 stars, writing that it is Spektor's "best effort yet," and that "an artist who could already seemingly do no wrong went and became even more perfect."[17] American Songwriter writes that "Cheap Seats as a whole...points toward ever unfolding new directions for an artist whose sense of whimsy never excludes the possibility of real-world despair."[18]

Commercial performance[]

What We Saw from the Cheap Seats has thus far debuted on at least nine national album charts. In the United States, the album debuted at No. 3, with sales of 42,000, a slight decrease from the opening of her previous album.[19] The album has sold 174,000 copies in the United States as of September 2016.[20]

Track listing[]

All songs written by Spektor except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Small Town Moon" 3:02
2."Oh Marcello"Spektor w/ interpolation by Bennie Benjamin, Sol Marcus, and Gloria Caldwell ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood")2:38
3."Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas)" 3:39
4."Firewood" 4:55
5."Patron Saint" 3:40
6."How" 4:48
7."All the Rowboats" 3:34
8."Ballad of a Politician" 2:13
9."Open" 4:30
10."The Party" 2:28
11."Jessica" 1:44
Total length:37:18
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Call Them Brothers" (featuring Only Son)Jack Dishel, Regina Spektor3:07
13."The Prayer of François Villon (Molitva)"Bulat Okudzhava3:33
14."Old Jacket (Stariy Pidjak)"Bulat Okudzhava2:04
Total length:46:03

Personnel[]

All credits for tracks one through eleven are listed in the album's booklet.

  • Regina Spektor: vocals, piano (1-10), keyboards (2-10), marimba (3), co-producer, songwriter
  • Mike Elizondo: producer, bass (1, 3, 5, 7-10), upright bass (2, 4, 6), electric guitar (1, 6, 7), acoustic guitars (11), programming (3, 5, 7)
  • Aaron Sterling: drums (1, 3-7, 9), percussion (1, 5, 7), marimba (3)
  • Jay Bellerose: drums (2, 7, 10), percussion (2, 10), bongos (10)
  • Danny T. Levin: trumpet (3)
  • David Moyer: baritone and tenor saxophone (3)
  • Jack Dishel: vocals (3, 5)
  • John Daversa: trumpet (10)
Additional personnel
  • Art Direction, Design – Stephen Walker (6)
  • Co-producer – Regina Spektor
  • Engineer – Adam Hawkins
  • Engineer [Assistant] – Brent Arrowood
  • Management – Ron Shapiro
  • Management [Business] – Errol Wander
  • Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
  • Photography By – Shervin Lainez
  • Producer – Mike Elizondo
  • Written-By – Regina Spektor[21]

Charts[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Exclusive: Regina Spektor Premieres Cover Art". Rolling Stone. March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  2. ^ "Regina Spektor- All The Rowboats". Indie Shuffle. February 27, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  3. ^ "Ringer Music - Artist Spotlight". The CW. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  4. ^ "What We Saw from the Cheap Seats - Regina Spektor". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Allmusic review".
  6. ^ Murray, Noel. "Regina Spektor: What We Saw From The Cheap Seats | Music | Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  7. ^ "Regina Spektor - Album review: Regina Spektor - 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats' - Album Reviews". ConsequenceofSound.net. May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2012.
  8. ^ Kyle Anderson (May 23, 2012). "What We Saw From The Cheap Seats | Music". EW.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  9. ^ "Regina Spektor - Album review: Regina Spektor - 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats' - Album Reviews". Nme.Com. May 29, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  10. ^ Brett Warner (May 22, 2012). "Album review: Regina Spektor - 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats'". ology.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  11. ^ Lindsay Zoladz (May 30, 2012). https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16670-what-we-saw-from-the-cheap-seats/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Ryan Reed (May 31, 2012). https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2012/05/regina-spektor-what-we-saw-from-the-cheap-seats.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ Will Hermes (May 29, 2012). https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/what-we-saw-from-the-cheap-seats-20120529. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ "Slant review".
  15. ^ "Regina Spektor: What We Saw from the Cheap Seats". Sputnik Music. May 21, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
  16. ^ Hermes, Will. Review: What We Saw from the Cheap Seats. Rolling Stone. May 29, 2012. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/what-we-saw-from-the-cheap-seats-20120529
  17. ^ "Review: Regina Spektor - What We Saw from the Cheap Seats - Sputnikmusic". Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  18. ^ "Regina Spektor: High Fidelity". American Songwriter. 28 June 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  19. ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 6, 2012). "John Mayer's No. 1 for Second Week on Billboard 200".
  20. ^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016.
  21. ^ "Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  22. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats" (in German). Hung Medien.
  23. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". Hung Medien.
  24. ^ "Ultratop.be – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  25. ^ "Ultratop.be – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats" (in French). Hung Medien.
  26. ^ "Regina Spektor Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard.
  27. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  28. ^ "Lescharts.com – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". Hung Medien.
  29. ^ "Officialcharts.de – Top 100 Longplay". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  30. ^ "What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". aCharts database.
  31. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". Hung Medien.
  32. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". Hung Medien.
  33. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats". Hung Medien.
  34. ^ "Regina Spektor | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  35. ^ "Regina Spektor Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  36. ^ "Regina Spektor Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard.
  37. ^ "Regina Spektor Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  38. ^ "Regina Spektor Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
  39. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2012". Billboard. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  40. ^ https://www.billboard.com/music/regina-spektor/chart-history/rock-digital-songs

External links[]

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