Positive Songs for Negative People

Positive Songs for Negative People is the sixth studio album by English singer/songwriter Frank Turner. It was released on 7 August 2015 by Xtra Mile Recordings.[1] The album garnered a positive reception but critics said it was derivative of Turner's previous works. Positive Songs for Negative People debuted at number 2 in the UK and number 69 on the Billboard 200 and spawned only one single: "The Next Storm". To promote the record, Turner toured across North America, Europe and Australia.

Positive Songs for Negative People
Studio album by
Frank Turner
Released7 August 2015
RecordedDecember 2014
StudioTraxidermy Studios (Nashville)
GenreFolk punk, folk rock
Length39:45
LabelXtra Mile
ProducerButch Walker
Frank Turner chronology
The Third Three Years
(2014)		 Positive Songs for Negative People
(2015)		 Be More Kind
(2018)
Singles from Positive Songs for Negative People
  1. "The Next Storm"
    Released: 25 July 2015

Promotion

On 15 June 2015, Turner announced a few UK tour dates on November to promote the upcoming album, beginning with Llandudno's Venue Cymru arena and finishing at London's Alexandra Palace.[2] On 19 August, he added some in-store performances during his US tour on September and October, starting in Boston's Newbury Comics and ending at Houston's Cactus Music.[3] On 10 November, Turner went on an extensive worldwide tour to promote the record along with his first box set The First Ten Years, beginning with Falmouth, Cornwall's Princess Pavilion and ending on Miami's Salty Dog Cruise.[4]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubB+[6]
AbsolutePunk(85%)[7]
AllMusic[8]
Consequence of SoundB[9]
DIY[10]
Drowned in Sound3/10[11]
The Guardian[12]
NME8/10[13]
Paste6.8/10[14]
Rolling Stone[15]

Positive Songs for Negative People received favourable reviews but music critics were divided over Turner's vocal delivery and lyricism. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 20 reviews.[5]

Mark Beaumont of NME praised the sentiments spread throughout the record and the variety of emotions the songs bring out.[13] Eric Swedlund of The A.V. Club found the album better than Tape Deck Heart, praising the upbeat demeanor that goes along with Turner's songwriting, saying that "[T]he result pushes Turner and his band back into more energetic territory after the careful, pristine sound of his previous effort."[6] Thom Jurek of AllMusic praised the record's eclectic musicianship combined with uplifting and introspective lyrics, calling it "an invigorating, infectious set that reaffirms Turner's faith in music's power to motivate and heal."[8]

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian found some of the material weary with its earnestness and rousing bombast, but said that they were outweighed with more melancholic tracks like "Silent Key" and "Song for Josh", concluding that, "For all its flaws, Positive Songs for Negative People feels like the work of someone who knows exactly what he’s doing."[12] Ryan Reed of Paste noted that the songs throughout were marred by a mixture of embarrassing lyrics with soaring choruses, concluding that "Turner leaves behind considerable wreckage with Positive Songs—in ways both cathartic and clumsy. And as usual, he goes down swinging."[14]

Stuart Knapman of DIY found the album's various themes lacking in terms of insight and character that worked well in previous efforts, saying that "'Positive Songs…' simply fails to live up to the high standards Turner has previously set."[10] Benjamin Bland of Drowned in Sound criticised the record for being a re-hash of previous material that replaces the charm and witty lyricism with off-putting delivery and generic lyrics that are "almost self-parody level at times." Bland said that, "This is Turner’s most staid and uninvolving work to date, suggesting that some of the filler that clogged up 2013's decent enough Tape Deck Heart was a sign of things to come."[11]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 2 in the UK behind Dr. Dre's Compton during the week of 14 August 2015.[16] On the Billboard 200, it debuted and peaked at number 69 the week of 29 August 2015, before leaving the chart completely.[17] It additionally charted within the top 40 of several additional territories, surpassing what Tape Deck Heart achieved previously. The record debuted at number 7 in Germany before dropping to number 34 the next week and leaving the chart.[18] It debuted at numbers 11 and 21 in Switzerland and Austria respectively (whereas his previous album charted at numbers 79 and 34 respectively).[18]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Frank Turner, except where noted

Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."The Angel Islington"2:26
2."Get Better"2:46
3."The Next Storm"3:34
4."The Opening Act of Spring" (Frank Turner, Matt Nasir)3:00
5."Glorious You"3:15
6."Mittens"4:30
7."Out of Breath"2:06
8."Demons"4:05
9."Josephine"3:22
10."Love Forty Down"2:30
11."Silent Key"4:40
12."Song for Josh"3:28
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Get Better" (acoustic version)2:50
2."The Next Storm" (acoustic version)3:34
3."The Opening Act of Spring" (acoustic version)3:20
4."Glorious You" (acoustic version)3:51
5."Mittens" (acoustic version)4:18
6."Out of Breath" (acoustic version)2:00
7."Demons" (acoustic version)4:26
8."Josephine" (acoustic version)3:29
9."Love Forty Down" (acoustic version)2:35
10."Silent Key" (acoustic version)4:26
iTunes pre-order bonus track
No.TitleLength
1."Old Flames"3:39

Personnel

Adapted credits from the liner notes of Positive Songs for Negative People.[19]

Charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20] 55
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 114
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] 28
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 7
Irish Albums (IRMA)[25] 35
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[27] 2
US Billboard 200[28] 69

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Silver 60,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "'Positive Songs for Negative People'". 15 June 2015.
  2. "New UK Tour Dates". www.frank-turner.com. 15 June 2015. Archived from the original on 24 April 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  3. "US in-store shows". www.frank-turner.com. 19 August 2015. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  4. Hudson, Alex (10 November 2015). "Frank Turner Maps Out Canadian Winter Tour". Exclaim!. Ian Danzig. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. "Reviews for Positive Songs for Negative People by Frank Turner". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  6. Swedlund, Eric (7 August 2015). "Frank Turner pushes for boisterous and uplifting on his 6th album". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  7. Manning, Craig (17 August 2015). "Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People". AbsolutePunk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  8. Jurek, Thom. "Positive Songs for Negative People - Frank Turner". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 April 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  9. Brennan, Colin (5 August 2015). "Frank Turner – Positive Songs for Negative People". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  10. Knapman, Stuart (31 July 2015). "Frank Turner - Positive Songs For Negative People album review". DIY. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  11. Bland, Benjamin (4 August 2015). "Album Review: Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  12. Petridis, Alexis (6 August 2015). "Frank Turner: Positive Songs for Negative People review – sincere but undemanding singalong rock". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  13. Beaumont, Mark (20 July 2015). "Frank Turner - 'Positive Songs For Negative People'". NME. IPC Media. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  14. Reed, Ryan (4 August 2015). "Frank Turner: Positive Songs for Negative People Review". Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  15. Dolan, Jon (7 August 2015). "Frank Turner - Positive Songs for Negative People". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  16. Sexton, Paul (14 August 2015). "Dr. Dre Gains an Instant U.K. No. 1 With 'Compton'". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on 27 February 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  17. "Billboard 200: August 9, 2015". Billboard. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  18. "Positive Songs For Negative People by Frank Turner". aCharts.co. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  19. Positive Songs for Negative People (booklet). Frank Turner. Xtra Mile. 2015. 4741661.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. Ryan, Gavin (15 August 2015). "ARIA Albums: Dr Dre Compton Debuts At Number One in Australia". Noise11. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  21. "Austriancharts.at – Frank Turner – Positive Songs for Negative People" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  22. "Ultratop.be – Frank Turner – Positive Songs for Negative People" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Frank Turner – Positive Songs for Negative People" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  24. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  25. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 33, 2015". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  26. "Swisscharts.com – Frank Turner – Positive Songs for Negative People". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  27. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  28. "Frank Turner Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  29. "British album certifications – Frank Turner – Positive Songs For Negative People". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 31 January 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Positive Songs For Negative People in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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