Grand Romantic
2015 studio album by Nate Ruess
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Grand Romantic is the debut solo studio album of Nate Ruess, lead vocalist from The Format and Fun. It was released on June 16, 2015, by Fueled by Ramen. The album was produced by Some Nights producer Jeff Bhasker. Following the hiatus of Fun, Ruess announced that he would be working on material for a solo project.[4]
| Grand Romantic | |
|---|---|
| |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | June 16, 2015 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 46:17 |
| Label | Fueled by Ramen |
| Producer | Jeff Bhasker |
| Singles from Grand Romantic | |
| |
The album received a generally positive reception, however critics noted that it was overly theatrical in terms of production, lyricism and vocal delivery. Grand Romantic debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: "Nothing Without Love", "AhHa", "Great Big Storm" and "What This World Is Coming To".
Promotion
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 61/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk | 60%[8] |
| AllMusic |    [9] |
| Alternative Press | [10] |
| The A.V. Club | C[1] |
| New York Daily News | [11] |
| Pitchfork | 5.5/10[3] |
| PopMatters | [12] |
| Punknews.org | [2] |
| Rolling Stone | [13] |
| Spin | 4/10[14] |
Grand Romantic received positive reviews but music critics were divided over Ruess' musical vision in terms of production, lyrics and performance. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 61, based on 10 reviews.[7]
Awarding the album four of five stars, Jack Appleby of Alternative Press wrote that "Grand Romantic is proof-positive more Nate Ruess is always a good thing."[10] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone was positive towards the album's theatrical production and upbeat optimism, saying that, "Fun. co-producers Jeff Bhasker and Emile Haynie help Ruess create richly orchestrated bombast with the right amount of sonic wanderlust."[13] Matt Collar of AllMusic praised the collaboration of Ruess, Bhasker and Haynie for creating a project that embraces the concept of love, calling it "a fittingly grandiose, occasionally silly, passionately effusive, and ultimately very catchy album."[9]
Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club saw potential in the album's themes but said that it was brought down by subdued production and lyrical content with neither depth or conflict in its romantic tales, concluding that "Grand Romantic often feels so preoccupied with grandiose gestures that it loses sight of the little details that in the past have made Ruess’ music so memorable."[1] Alfred Soto of Spin criticized Ruess for his inability to tone down his singing style or deliver songs that stood out on the album.[14] Jim Farber of the New York Daily News compared the album negatively to Adam Lambert's The Original High saying that while both are musically similar, Lambert's voice performs campy theatrics better than Ruess' unsubtle delivery, saying that "[T]here's no roundness, or richness, to his tone. It's all hard angles, offering no cushion for the screech."[11]
Film
Alongside the release of this album, The Grand Romantic, a 28-minute short film starring Nate Ruess was also released. It features a number of songs from this album.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Grand Romantic (intro)" | 0:43 | |
| 2. | "AhHa" | 4:24 | |
| 3. | "Nothing Without Love" |
| 3:56 |
| 4. | "Take It Back" |
| 4:24 |
| 5. | "You Light My Fire" |
| 3:12 |
| 6. | "What This World Is Coming To" (featuring Beck) |
| 4:03 |
| 7. | "Great Big Storm" |
| 4:01 |
| 8. | "Moment" |
| 4:13 |
| 9. | "It Only Gets Much Worse" |
| 4:18 |
| 10. | "Grand Romantic" | Roger Manning | 3:36 |
| 11. | "Harsh Light" |
| 4:51 |
| 12. | "Brightside" |
| 4:35 |
| Total length: | 46:17 | ||
Personnel
Adapted from the Grand Romantic liner notes.[16]
- John Janick – executive producer
- Sam Means – art direction
- Teresa Oaxaca – painting, sketching and photography
- Emily Moore - backing vocals[17][18]
Charts
| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[19] | 61 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] | 94 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] | 56 |
| US Billboard 200[22] | 7 |