Comfort Eagle

Comfort Eagle
Studio album by
Cake
ReleasedJuly 24, 2001 (2001-07-24)
RecordedParadise Studios in Sacramento, California, with additional recording at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, California
Genre
Length36:55
LabelColumbia
ProducerCake
Cake chronology
Prolonging the Magic
(1998) 		Comfort Eagle
(2001) 		Pressure Chief
(2004)
Singles from Comfort Eagle
  1. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket"
    Released: August 14, 2001
  2. "Arco Arena"
    Released: 2001
  3. "Love You Madly"
    Released: 2001

Comfort Eagle is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Cake. It was released on July 24, 2001, on Columbia Records, their first with the company.

Release

In its opening week, Comfort Eagle sold about 72,000 copies, debuting at number 13 on the Billboard 200.[1] By 2002, the album had sold 408,000 copies.[2] On February 2, 2003, it was certified gold by the RIAA for shipments of half a million copies.[3]

The album's lead single was "Short Skirt/Long Jacket." The band asked fans to vote for the album's second single via their website, with the album's title track "Comfort Eagle" being the eventual winner, however this single release was cancelled after the September 11 attacks. The band wrote: "Due to unforeseen changes in national media, CAKE must now change its upcoming single from 'Comfort Eagle' to 'Love You Madly.' We apologize to those of you who voted for the latter, but due to its airplane, corporate, and Middle Eastern references, 'Comfort Eagle' has been deemed inappropriate for today's emotional climate."[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Alternative Press[5]
Blender[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[7]
PopMatters7/10[5][8]
Q[5]
Rolling Stone[9]
Uncut[5]

Comfort Eagle was generally well received by critics, some noting its similarity to the band's previous albums, for better or worse.[5][6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by John McCrea, unless otherwise noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Opera Singer"McCrea, Mark Kornweibel4:06
2."Meanwhile, Rick James..." 3:57
3."Shadow Stabbing"McCrea, George Kane3:07
4."Short Skirt/Long Jacket" 3:24
5."Commissioning a Symphony in C" 2:59
6."Arco Arena" 1:31
7."Comfort Eagle" 3:40
8."Long Line of Cars" 3:24
9."Love You Madly" 3:58
10."Pretty Pink Ribbon" 3:08
11."World of Two" 3:41
Total length:36:55

Personnel

Cake
  • John McCrea – vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion
  • Vince DiFiore – trumpet, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Xan McCurdy – electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Gabriel Nelson – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
  • Todd Roper – drums, percussion, Moog synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Tyler Pope – keyboard, electric guitar ("Opera Singer", "Short Skirt/Long Jacket", "Arco Arena")
Technical
  • Kirt Shearer – mixing
  • David Cole – mixing
  • Craig Long – mixing
  • Gabriel Shepard – mixing
  • Don C. Taylor – mastering

Charts

Album
Year Chart Position
2001 Billboard 200[10] 13
Top Internet Albums[10] 2
Year-end
Year-end chart performance for Comfort Eagle
Chart (2001) Position
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[11] 151
Single
Year Single Chart Position
2001 "Short Skirt/Long Jacket"[10] Modern Rock Tracks 7

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[12] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[13] Platinum 1,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Week Ending Jan. 16, 2011: Albums: Even Lower Chart Watch – Yahoo! Music". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  2. ^ Archive-David-Basham. "Got Charts? Sympathy For Mariah, 2001's Biggest Flops, Nine Inch Nails' Chart Algebra". MTV News. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  3. ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – June 08, 2013". riaa.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  4. ^ CAKE News Newsflash for Week of September 24, 2001
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Critic Reviews for Comfort Eagle – Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Vanderhoff, Mark. "Comfort Eagle – Cake : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. AllRovi. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  7. ^ Serpick, Evan (August 3, 2001). "Cake: Comfort Eagle Review | Music Reviews and News | ew.com". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  8. ^ Fowler, Shan (July 23, 2001). "Cake: Comfort Eagle | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  9. ^ Berger, Arion (July 24, 2001). "Cake: Comfort Eagle : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". rollingstone.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  10. ^ a b c "Cake's 'Comfort' Soars Like an 'Eagle' Billboard". billboard.com. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  11. ^ "Top 200 Albums of 2001 (based on sales)". Jam!. Archived from the original on November 6, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Cake – Comfort Eagle". Music Canada. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  13. ^ "American album certifications – Cake – Comfort Eagle". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 11, 2022.