Blueberry Boat

More than twenty different instruments were used in the creation of this album, including the sitar, which was substituted for guitar on some songs. Keyboards, guitars, and drums are the main instruments used. As with all Fiery Furnaces releases, Eleanor Friedberger provides most of the vocals, with her brother Matt adding to a few songs. Matt is considered the main instrumentalist for the band, while both Friedbergers share lyrical duties. The album is more structurally complex than the band's debut, Gallowsbird's Bark, and most of the songs have distinct movements that sound like multiple songs combined.

The song "Straight Street" references the biblical "street called straight" in Damascus. "1917" features references to the 1917 World Series, the most recent series that the Chicago White Sox had won at the point this album was released.

{{Album ratings

| MC = 70/100

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/blueberry-boat-mw0000208700 |title=Blueberry Boat – The Fiery Furnaces |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=June 25, 2015 |last=Phares |first=Heather}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = A−{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2004/07/30/blueberry-boat |title=Blueberry Boat |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=July 30, 2004 |accessdate=December 28, 2015 |last=Tucker |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Tucker |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628052938/http://ew.com/article/2004/07/30/blueberry-boat/ |archivedate=June 28, 2017 |url-status=dead}}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/sep/03/popandrock.shopping3 |title=The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=September 3, 2004 |accessdate=June 30, 2013 |last=Pleschek |first=Dave}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-22-ca-rackkelly22-story.html |title=Furnaces' introspection stands up to inspection |work=Los Angeles Times |date=August 22, 2004 |accessdate=December 28, 2015 |last=Hochman |first=Steve}}

| rev5 = Mojo

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal |title=The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat |journal=Mojo |issue=130 |date=September 2004 |page=90}}

| rev6 = NME

| rev6score = 1/10{{cite journal |title=The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat (Rough Trade) |journal=NME |date=September 4, 2004 |page=73 |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Rob}}

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 9.6/10{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3272-blueberry-boat/ |title=The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat |work=Pitchfork |date=July 13, 2004 |accessdate=June 25, 2015 |last=Dahlen |first=Chris}}

| rev8 = Q

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal |title=The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat |journal=Q |issue=218 |date=September 2004 |page=120}}

| rev9 = Rolling Stone

| rev9score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thefieryfurnaces/albums/album/6235048/review/6486773/blueberry_boat |title=The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=September 22, 2004 |accessdate=June 25, 2015 |last=Hoard |first=Christian |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619071814/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thefieryfurnaces/albums/album/6235048/review/6486773/blueberry_boat |archivedate=June 19, 2008 |url-status=dead}}

| rev10 = Spin

| rev10score = C{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVuFuZEeUX0C&pg=PA108 |title=Breakdown |journal=Spin |volume=20 |issue=8 |date=August 2004 |accessdate=December 28, 2015 |page=108}}

}}

Blueberry Boat garnered polarized but generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 70, which indicates "generally positive reviews", based on 34 reviews.{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/blueberry-boat/the-fiery-furnaces/ |title=Reviews for Blueberry Boat by The Fiery Furnaces |publisher=Metacritic |accessdate=June 30, 2013}} In a rave review, Chris Dahlen of Pitchfork described Blueberry Boat as "a record for the overgrown part of our brain that craves engrossing complexity". Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that the album "can be appreciated in the same way you would a puzzle box with intricate, endlessly shifting parts: you can spend a lot of time trying to unlock (or describe) its riddles, or just enjoy the artfulness behind them."

Writing for The Guardian, Dave Pleschek found Blueberry Boat{{'}}s lyrics and song structures to be overly "obtuse" and stated that the Friedbergers "will try anything but don't know when to stop", calling the album a "a crashing disappointment". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a "dud" rating,{{cite news |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv804-04.php |title=Consumer Guide: Inter-Century Freundschaft |work=The Village Voice |date=September 14, 2004 |accessdate=June 25, 2015 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}} indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."{{cite web |url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php |title=Key to Icons |publisher=RobertChristgau.com |accessdate=January 30, 2014 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}} The NME panned the album as "toe-curlingly unlistenable."

Pitchfork placed Blueberry Boat at number 145 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/|work=Pitchfork|author=Pitchfork staff|title=The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200–151|date=September 28, 2009|accessdate=October 1, 2009|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070710/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/|url-status=dead}}

{{tracklist

| total_length = 76:09

| title1 = Quay Cur

| length1 = 10:25

| title2 = Straight Street

| length2 = 5:00

| title3 = Blueberry Boat

| length3 = 9:09

| title4 = Chris Michaels

| length4 = 7:53

| title5 = Paw Paw Tree

| length5 = 4:39

| title6 = My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found

| length6 = 3:29

| title7 = Mason City

| length7 = 8:14

| title8 = Chief Inspector Blancheflower

| length8 = 8:58

| title9 = Spaniolated

| length9 = 3:21

| title10 = 1917

| length10 = 4:52

| title11 = Birdie Brain

| length11 = 3:05

| title12 = Turning Round

| length12 = 2:13

| title13 = Wolf Notes

| length13 = 4:51

}}

;The Fiery Furnaces

• Eleanor Friedberger – performance
• Matthew Friedberger – performance, production
• The Fiery Furnaces – packaging

;Additional personnel

• Samara Lubelski – violin, engineering, mixing
• David Muller – drums (3, 4, 7)
• Emily Scholnick – artwork
• Nicolas Vernhes – engineering, mixing, computer editing, drums (2, 4, 13)

{{Reflist|2}}

• [http://www.thehighhat.com/PopsClicks/005/blueberry.html Review and Summary of Album's Concept] The High Hat
• [http://claps.blogspot.com/2005_10_16_claps_archive.html Unfinished but Detailed Analysis of Album Concept] Clap Clap Blog (October 17, 2005) entry

{{The Fiery Furnaces}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:2004 albums

Category:The Fiery Furnaces albums

Category:Rough Trade Records albums