Ocean Eyes by Owl City

Ocean Eyes is the second full-length album by synthpop act Owl City. It was made available for download on July 14, 2009, on iTunes, and on September 1, 2009 it was released in stores with a photograph of the Burj Al Arab as its album artwork. A vinyl edition and a two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album were also released. The Deluxe Edition was released on January 26, 2010, and features three new tracks and a remix of "Hello Seattle". The album features guest vocals by Relient K vocalist, Matt Thiessen, on the songs "Fireflies", "Cave In", "The Bird and the Worm" and "Tidal Wave". On July 14, 2009, the song "Fireflies" was chosen as the Single of the Week by the iTunes music store. This led to a huge success as the song was downloaded over 650,000 times and helped the album reach #2 on the US store. This success also led to the record company pushing back the release date of the physical copy of the album from July 28, 2009 to September 1, 2009. Adam Young, a.k.a. Owl City told The Sun that "Cave In" was especially dear to his heart as "that song captures in just a few words, all my hopes and dreams." The album sold approximately 18,000 copies digitally in its debut week. The album has sold around 609,000 copies and reached the top ten in the US peaking at #8. The same week its lead single "Fireflies" topped the Billboard Hot 100. Eventually, Ocean Eyes climbed to number one on iTunes after the album price was lowered for a limited period of time. The album has slightly modified versions of songs from previous albums, namely "Hello Seattle" from Of June and "On The Wing" and "The Saltwater Room" from Maybe I'm Dreaming. Ocean Eyes has received mixed reviews from critics, based on a Metacritic score of 50/100. The album gained some positive reviews, including Entertainment Weekly which gave it a B+ and said that it was filled with catchy choruses and that the highlight was "Dental Care". Jesus Freak Hideout also was favorable; the review highlighted the album's style of music, saying that it had "dreamy lyrics and open soundscapes." However, Rolling Stone claimed Ocean Eyes to be disappointing, only awarding it 2/5 stars. They especially criticized the slower songs, saying that tracks like "On the Wing" were "just mush". Allmusic gave the album an average rating of 2.5/5. ℗ 2009 Universal Republic Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.