A/B (album)

A/B
Studio album by Kaleo
Released	10 June 2016
Recorded	2014–2015
Studio	Blackbird (Nashville) Undertow (Nashville) Ocean Way (Nashville) Red Caiman (Pittsburgh) Livingston (London) Arlyn (Austin) Orb (Austin) Chicago Recording Company (Chicago) Capitol (Los Angeles) Henson (Los Angeles) C Blake (Newark, Delaware) Wrightway (Baltimore) Aeronaut (Reykjavík)
Genre	Blues rock garage rock rock
Length	42:17
Label	Elektra
Producer	Mike Crossey Arnar Guðjónsson Kaleo Jacquire King
Kaleo chronology
Kaleo (2013) A/B (2016) Surface Sounds (2021)
Singles from A/B
"All the Pretty Girls" Released: 20 January 2015 "Way Down We Go" Released: 7 August 2015 "No Good" Released: 20 November 2015 "I Can't Go On Without You" Released: 19 February 2016

A/B is the second studio album by Icelandic rock band Kaleo. It was released on June 10, 2016, through Elektra Records.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	Positive[1]
The Guardian	[2]
PopMatters	[3]
Renowned for Sound	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Sound Fiction	[6]

A/B received generally favourable reviews from music critics, some of which praised Jökull Júlíusson's vocals,^[3][4][5] as well as the songs "No Good" and "All the Pretty Girls".^[3][4][5] Kate Hutchinson from The Guardian, however, thought it lacked originality, seeing the pieces as taking inspiration from the Black Keys ("Hot Blood"), James Bay ("Way Down We Go"), Bon Iver ("All the Pretty Girls") and Kings of Leon (much of the rest).^[2]

The track "Glass House" was featured in the soundtrack of Madden NFL 17 and as DLC for Rock Band 4. The track "Hot Blood" is featured in NHL 18, Far Cry 5 and Asphalt 9: Legends. The track "Way Down We Go" was featured in FIFA 16 and in the trailer for the 2017 film, Logan.^[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by JJ Julius Son, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"No Good"		3:55
2.	"Way Down We Go"	JJ Julius Son	3:39
3.	"Broken Bones"	JJ Julius Son Rubin Pollock	4:05
4.	"Glass House"		4:01
5.	"Hot Blood"		3:38
6.	"All the Pretty Girls"		4:29
7.	"Automobile"		3:06
8.	"Vor í Vaglaskógi"	Jónas Jónasson Kristján frá Djúpalæk	4:37
9.	"Save Yourself"		4:33
10.	"I Can't Go on Without You"		6:14

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for A/B Chart (2016–18) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 29 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[9] 27 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 21 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[11] 31 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[12] 2 French Albums (SNEP)[13] 28 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 9 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[15] 19 Iceland (Tónlistinn)[16] 4 Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 17 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 15 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 6 UK Albums (OCC)[20] 27 US Billboard 200[21] 16 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[22] 4

Year-end charts 2016 year-end chart performance for A/B Chart (2016) Position Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)[23] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[24] 42 2017 year-end chart performance for A/B Chart (2017) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 96 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[26] 133 French Albums (SNEP)[27] 115 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] 97 Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)[29] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 59 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 50 2018 year-end chart performance for A/B Chart (2018) Position Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)[32] 16 2019 year-end chart performance for A/B Chart (2019) Position Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn)[33] 19

Certifications

Certifications and sales for A/B

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[34]	Gold	7,500^*
Canada (Music Canada)[35]	2× Platinum	160,000^‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[36]	Gold	10,000^‡
France (SNEP)[37]	Platinum	100,000^‡
Germany (BVMI)[38]	Gold	100,000^‡
Iceland (FHF)[39]	Platinum	7,000[40]
Norway (IFPI Norway)[41]	Gold	10,000^*
Poland (ZPAV)[42]	Platinum	20,000^‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[43]	Gold	100,000^‡
United States (RIAA)[44]	Platinum	1,000,000^‡
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Monger, Timothy (10 June 2016). "A/B - Kaleo Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
2. Hutchinson, Kate (23 June 2016). "Kaleo: A/B review – warbling, fedora-clad rock with not a single original idea". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
3. Skinner, Jared (11 July 2016). "Kaleo: A/B review". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
4. Smith, Michael (20 June 2016). "Kaleo 'A/B' Album Review". Renowned for Sound. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
5. Dolan, Jon (30 June 2016). "Kaleo 'A/B' Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
6. Smith, Michael (20 June 2016). "Kaleo 'A/B' Album Review". Sound Fiction. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
7. Movieclips Trailers (19 January 2017), Logan Trailer #2 (2017) | Movieclips Trailers, retrieved 7 July 2018
8. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
9. "Austriancharts.at – Kaleo – A/B" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
10. "Ultratop.be – Kaleo – A/B" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
11. "Ultratop.be – Kaleo – A/B" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
12. "Kaleo Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
13. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums - SNEP (Week 13, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 4 April 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Kaleo – A/B" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
15. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2018. 26. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
16. "Tónlistinn Vika 50 – 2016". Plötutíðindi (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 26 December 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
17. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 24, 2016". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
18. "Charts.nz – Kaleo – A/B". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
19. "Swisscharts.com – Kaleo – A/B". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
20. "Kaleo | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
21. "Kaleo Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
22. "Kaleo Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
23. "Tónlistinn – Plötur – 2016" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
24. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
25. "Jaaroverzichten 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
26. "Rapports Annuels 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
27. "Top de l'année Top Albums 2017" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
28. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
29. "Tónlistinn – Plötur – 2017" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
30. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2017 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
31. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
32. "Tónlistinn – Plötur – 2018" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
33. "Tónlistinn – Plötur – 2019" (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
34. "Austrian album certifications – Kaleo – A/B" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
35. "Canadian album certifications – Kaleo – A/B". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
36. "Danish album certifications – Kaleo – A/B". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
37. "French album certifications – Kaleo – A/B" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
38. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Kaleo; 'A/B')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
39. "Tónlistinn – Plötur" [The Music – Albums] (in Icelandic). Plötutíðindi. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
40. "Söluviðurkenningar" (in Icelandic). Félag hljómplötuframleiðenda. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
41. "Norwegian album certifications – Kaleo – A/B" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
42. "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2021 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
43. "British album certifications – Kaleo – A/B". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
44. "American album certifications – Kaleo – A/B". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2 February 2024.