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Is There a Ghost
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Wikipedia article
"'Is There a Ghost'" is the first single taken from Band of Horses' second album 'Cease to Begin', which was released on August 28, 2007. It reached #34 on the US Alternative Songs chart and #30 in Denmark, making it the band's most successful song until "Casual Party" reached #27 on the Alternative Songs chart in 2016.
Background
The lyrics consist of two lines which are repeated throughout the song: "'I could sleep, I could sleep. When I lived alone, Is there a ghost in my house?"' According to the student newspaper 'The Reflector', "A simple finger-picked melody morphs into a strum-and-drum tour de force; there are layers of guitars, but not too much distortion.Gregory, Nathan [http://media.www.reflector-online.com/media/storage/paper938/news/2007/10/12/Entertainment/horses.Buck.Sophomore.Slump-3028799.shtml#4 "Horses buck sophomore slump"] 'The Reflector' - October 11, 2007
In general 'Cease to Begin' has a more Southern rock, less indie sound than Band of Horses' debut album 'Everything All the Time'. However, "Is There a Ghost" has a strong indie feel, in contrast to the rest of 'Cease to Begin'.Shea, Erin [http://media.www.ramcigar.com/media/storage/paper366/news/2007/10/18/Entertainment/Cease.To.Begin.Is.Introspective.Followup.For.Band.Of.Horses-3040830.shtml#5 "Cease to Begin is introspective followup for Band of Horses"] 'The Good 5 Cent Cigar' - October 18, 2007Grandy, Eric [http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=408888 "Album Reviews"] 'The Stranger' - October 3, 2007
Reception
Critical response to the single was generally very favourable. An article in 'The Scotsman' singled out "Is There a Ghost" as one of the main reasons that Band of Horses have received significant international attention,Pollock, David [http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Colts-on-the-trail.3784624.jp "Colts on the trail"] 'The Scotsman' - February 16, 2008 however one reviewer disliked the "polished" sound of 'Cease to Begin,' saying that, "In the switch from low to high fidelity, Band of Horses sacrifices a good deal of angst and quality."Herrmann, Zachary [http://www.diamondbackonline.com/2.2793/beginning-of-the-end-1.284250 "Beginning of the end"] 'The Diamondback' - October 8, 2007 Others were more enthusiastic, with one reviewer claiming that, "'Is There A Ghost' is the catchiest song with only 14 words to its credit since Pearl Jam's 'Smile'."Hagen, Kelly [http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/opinion/columnist/kelly_hagen/article_6831f2c7-1cf4-53b7-a85a-e0c66fea619a.html "My top 10 album picks for the year"] 'Bismarck Tribune' - December 27, 2007
'Rolling Stone' ranked "Is There a Ghost" at #93 in its 100 best songs of 2007.Castina, [http://www.popcrunch.com/rolling-stone-magazine-the-100-best-songs-of-2007/ "Rolling Stone Magazine The 100 Best Songs Of 2007"] 'Pop Crunch' - December 13, 2007
Chart performance
Personnel
*Ben Bridwell - Lead vocals, guitar
*Rob Hampton - Guitar, bass guitar
*Creighton Barrett - Drums
*Ryan Monroe - Keyboards
References
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