Crack the Skye by Mastodon

Crack the Skye is the fourth studio album by American progressive metal band Mastodon, released on March 24, 2009 through Reprise Records. It features seven tracks and runs at 50 minutes and 6 seconds. The album debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. In Australia, the album debuted at number 19. It had sold 200,000 copies in the US as of September 2010, making it one of their highest selling albums to date. According to an interview on the DVD The Making of Crack the Skye, this album represents the element of aether, which is represented by the souls and spirits of all things, a theme closely related to the context of the album. Because the elements of fire, water and earth have already represented by the band's first three albums Remission, Leviathan and Blood Mountain, respectively, the element of air is the only classical element which has yet to be represented by a Mastodon album, as their follow-up studio album The Hunter does not represent an element, nor is it a concept album. Initial critical response to Crack the Skye was very positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received a score of 82, based on 29 reviews. Time Magazine placed "Crack the Skye" at #3 on its "Top 10 Albums of 2009" list, and Rock Sound named it their Album of the Year for 2009. In addition, Spin Magazine listed it as the 17th best album of the year. Rhapsody called it the 7th best album of 2009. Crack the Skye received positive reviews from many major reviewing sites. Total Guitar's Nick Cracknell awarded the album a 5/5 rating, describing it as "even more ambitious in scope and sound than 2006’s Blood Mountain. Embracing elements of prog and country, but above all classic rock, Hinds and Kelliher literally add new dimensions to the band’s ever-expanding sound." Decibel, who named Blood Mountain as their number 1 album of 2006, gave Crack the Skye a 7/10 rating as reviewer Joe Gross responded that "Crack is clearly designed as a grower, not a shower, the sound of a band that grew tired of people not responding to their ground game, so they put the ball in the air. Who knows when it will come down?" Clash's review was particularly glowing in its praise for the album, saying "no metal release of 2009 is likely to be as important as ‘Crack The Skye." The review praised the album's expansive sound and emotion, and finished by claiming that the album is "surely destined to become the stuff of legend." Reviewer Nate Chinen of the New York Times noted the album's "ambitious vision and vivid execution." The New Yorker pop music critic Sasha Frere-Jones lists it as one of his favorite albums of the year on his personal blog and in an article for The New Yorker called the Crack the Skye a "deeply entertaining album." The album was also voted the #1 Album of 2009 by Metal Hammer's critics and contributors. ℗ 2009 Reprise Records