Paper Tigers

For other uses, see Paper tiger (disambiguation).

Paper Tigers
Studio album by
Caesars
Released26 April 2005
Recorded2001–2004
GenreIndie rock
Length47:33
LabelToshiba-EMI (Japan)
VJCP 68748
Virgin CDVIR219 (UK)
Astralwerks ASW 60828 (US)
ProducerJoakim Åhlund, Michael H. Brauer
Caesars chronology
39 Minutes of Bliss (In An Otherwise Meaningless World)
(2003) 		Paper Tigers
(2005) 		Strawberry Weed
(2008)
Singles from Paper Tigers
  1. "We Got to Leave"
    Released: 2005
  2. "It's Not the Fall That Hurts"
    Released: 2005
  3. "Paper Tigers"
    Released: 2005

Paper Tigers is the fourth studio album by Swedish band Caesars, released on 26 April 2005. The album was released on Virgin in the United Kingdom, Astralwerks in the United States and Toshiba-EMI in Japan.[1] The album contains the re-release of the song "Jerk It Out".

Recording

Recording for Paper Tigers first began in the winter of 2003 at Silence Studio. The sessions then moved to Joakim Åhlund's Decibel Studio, in Stockholm. The album was mixed in New York by Michael Brauer.[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Joakim Åhlund unless otherwise noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Spirit"Joakim Åhlund, Nino Keller4:51
2."It's Not the Fall That Hurts" 2:49
3."Out There"César Vidal3:03
4."Jerk It Out" 3:17
5."May the Rain" 3:08
6."My Heart Is Breaking Down"Max Group2:35
7."Paper Tigers" 3:58
8."Your Time Is Near" 4:49
9."Throwaway"Joakim Åhlund, César Vidal2:49
10."Winter Song" 3:05
11."We Got to Leave" 3:23
12."Soul Chaser" 4:13
13."Good and Gone" 3:02
14."(I'm Gonna) Kick You Out (bonus track on certain editions)" 2:50

Personnel

The following people contributed to Paper Tigers:[3]

Caesars

  • César Vidal – lead vocals, guitar
  • Joakim Åhlund – audio Production, guitar, mixing, producer
  • Nino Keller – Drums, vocals
  • David Lindquist – bass guitar

Additional personnel

  • Hector Araya – strings
  • Chris Athens – mastering
  • Michael Brauer – mixing
  • Lasse Mårtén – engineer
  • Kristoffer Nergårdh – piano
  • Pontus Olsson – engineer
  • Ismail Samie – A&R
  • Fredrik Wennerlund – photography
  • Björn Yttling – Farfisa organ, phillycorda

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Entertainment Weekly(A) link
The Guardian link
Pitchfork Media(4.9/10) link
PopMatters(5/10) link
Rolling Stone Archived 2 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine

Paper Tigers has received mixed to positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album has a 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A grade, writing that the album was "one meaty, vigorous track after another of modern-Mersey-beat pop..." Browne concluded his review with: "All retro rock should sound this good."[5] In another positive review, The Guardian's Dave Simpson wrote that Paper Tigers "is a treasure waiting to be found by the rest of us," and called the album "simultaneously ecstatic and melancholy."[6]

On the other hand, Allmusic's Heather Phares criticized the album, writing that beyond "Jerk It Out", "It's Not the Fall That Hurts" and "Soulchaser", there were not many other memorable songs on the album.[7] Stephen Haag of Popmatters also criticized the album's lack of memorable tracks, writing "If folks are purchasing Paper Tigers expecting a dozen more tunes like 'Jerk It Out'... they'll soon find that Caesars is guilty of bait-and-switch."[8] In another mixed review, Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media described the album as "...one or two decent singles surrounded by a bunch of mediocre-or-worse filler."[9]

Singles

This single has been featured on iPod shuffle advertisements, the British television series "Teachers" and on the video games "FIFA Football 2004", SSX 3, and as downloadable content for Rock Band 3.
CD DINSD274: "Jerk It Out" / "The Longer We Stay Together"
"7" DINS274: "Jerk It Out" / "Up All Night"

Charts

Album

Chart (2005) Peak
position
US Heatseekers 44[11]

Singles

Year Song Peak positions
UK
[12] 		US Alt
[11] 		US Adult Top 40
[11] 		European Hot 100
[11]
2005 "We Got to Leave" — — — —
2005 "Jerk It Out" 8 40 38 20
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References

  1. ^ Paper Tigers - Caesars. Allmusic. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  2. ^ "CAESARS Press". Archived from the original on 30 November 2005. Retrieved 2 September 2016.. caesarsweb.com. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  3. ^ Paper Tigers - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 23 June 2011
  4. ^ Critic Reviews for Paper Tiger. Metacritic. Retrieved 21 June 2011
  5. ^ Browne, David. Paper Tigers Review. Entertainment Weekly. 18 April 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2011
  6. ^ Simpson, Dave. The Caesars, Paper Tigers. The Guardian. 9 December 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2011
  7. ^ Phares, Heather. Paper Tigers - Caesars. Allmusic. Retrieved 23 June 2011
  8. ^ Haag, Stephen. Caesars: Paper Tigers. Popmatters. 2 May 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2011
  9. ^ Hogan, Marc. Album Reviews: Caesars: Paper Tigers. Pitchfork Media. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2011
  10. ^ We Got to Leave - Single Archived 18 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine. iTunes. Retrieved 21 June 2011
  11. ^ a b c d "Paper Tigers - Caesars". Billboard.com. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  12. ^ CAESARS. The Official Chart Company. Retrieved 21 June 2011