Yes! (Jason Mraz album) explained
Yes! is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jason Mraz. The album was released on July 11, 2014, Atlantic Records.[1] The album's lead single "Love Someone" was released on May 19, 2014.[2]
The album is a collaboration between Jason Mraz and the members of indie-rock-folk band Raining Jane: Mai Bloomfield, Becky Gebhardt, Chaska Potter and Mona Tavakoli, with whom Mraz has been working since 2007,[3] and who are his backing band on the record,[4] as well as co-writers of majority of the songs.
Critical reception
Yes! was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 62, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 6 reviews.
Matt Fruchtman of Slant Magazine gave the album two out of five stars, saying "his wide-lens worldview leaves Yes! feeling like the musical equivalent of a G-rated sitcom." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, saying "The exclamation point that punctuates its title suggests Jason Mraz may be a little enthusiastic on Yes! but that's a feint, hiding how this 2014 record is the next logical step on the singer/songwriter's road of seduction. Gone is the celebrated wordplay, a self-conscious maturation that was perhaps inevitable, but also absent are the smooth soul flourishes of 2012's Love Is a Four Letter Word."
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 102,000 copies in the United States.[5]
In Canada, the album debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart with 12,000 copies, falling behind Rise Against's The Black Market.[6]
Track listing
- Notes
Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic.[7]
- Jason Mraz – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, Fender Rhodes, piano, synthesizer bass, engineering, mixing, production
- Raining Jane
- Mai Bloomfield – cello, glockenspiel, hi-string guitar, marimba, papoose, vocals
- Becky Gebhardt – bass, upright bass, sitar
- Chaska Potter – electric guitar, mandolin, ukulele, vocals
- Mona Tavakoli – drums, percussion, vocals
- Additional musicians
- Mike Mogis – banjo, dobro, e-bow, electric guitar, mellotron, pedal steel, synthesizer bass
- Andy Powers – banjo, dobro, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, pedal steel
- Ben Brodin – drums, percussion, piano, organ
- Chris Joyner – drones, organ, piano, tanpura
- Nate Walcott – organ, piano, Wurlitzer
- Brian Jones – drums
- John O'Reilly – drums
- Stewart Myers – bass
- Maryann Galewood – handclapping
- Amber Elliot – handclapping
- Ms. Tina – handclapping
- Colin Killalea – inspiration [sic], vocal arrangement
- Regan Sprenkle – vocal arrangement
- Technical personnel
- Mike Mogis – engineering, mixing, production
- Chris Keup – engineering, production, additional production
- Stewart Myers – engineering, production, additional production
- Justin Hergett – engineering, mixing assistant
- David Kalish – engineering
- Ben Brodin – assistant engineering
- Tony Maserati – mixing
- James Krausse – mixing assistant
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
- Additional personnel
- Tony Corey – production management
- Jeff Nicholas – creative direction
- Sam Riback – A&R
- Douglas Gledhill – design
- Ryan McCann – design
- Patrick Morales – design
- Jen Rosenstein – band photo
Charts and certifications
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
Notes and References
- Web site: Jason Mraz's 'Yes!' Album: Hear First Single 'Love Someone' . . June 26, 2014.
- Web site: Love Someone: Jason Mraz: MP3 Downloads . . June 26, 2014.
- Web site: About the band . rainingjane.com . July 26, 2014.
- Web site: Interview: Jason Mraz Details His First Acoustic Album, 'YES!' . Annie . Reuter . . May 19, 2014 . July 26, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150704024344/http://radio.com/2014/05/19/interview-jason-mraz-details-his-first-acoustic-album-yes/ . July 4, 2015 . dead .
- Web site: 'Weird Al' Yankovic Gets First No. 1 Album On Billboard 200 with 'Mandatory Fun' . . July 23, 2014 . July 23, 2014.
- Web site: Alan Cross . A Journal of Musical ThingsWeekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 23 July 2014 . A Journal of Musical Things . 2014-07-28.
- Web site: Yes! - Jason Mraz Credits . . September 14, 2014.
- Web site: Artisti - Classifica settimanale WK 29 (dal 14-07-2014 al 20-07-2014). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. it. 24 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141008171024/http://www.fimi.it/main/chart_id/1849. 8 October 2014. dead.
- Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 2014. dutchcharts.nl. May 30, 2020.
- Web site: Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2014. Billboard. May 30, 2020.
- Web site: iTunes - Music - Yes! by Jason Mraz . Itunes.apple.com . 2014-07-01 . 2014-07-27.
- Web site: iTunes - Music - YES! by Jason Mraz . . June 23, 2014 . June 26, 2014.
