Popestar
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Popestar is the second EP by the Swedish rock band Ghost. It consists mainly of covers and was produced by Tom Dalgety. The EP was released on 16 September 2016, by Loma Vista Recordings. The band began the Popestar Tour of North America following its release.
Background
Popestar consists almost entirely of covers. Ghost chose unexpected songs that differed from their own musical style.
The only original track on the EP, "Square Hammer", was conceived at the end of the sessions for the band's Meliora album. Because the concept of the album was already in place and the song had a different feeling, the band decided not to include it on the album. "Square Hammer" was released as a single on 12 September 2016, prior to the EP.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Peek-a-Boo | 80/100 |
Popestar debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart, becoming the first EP to reach the chart's top position. It sold 21,000 copies in its first week.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Square Hammer" | A Ghoul Writer | 3:59 |
| 2. | "Nocturnal Me" (Echo & the Bunnymen cover) | Pete de FreitasLes PattinsonWill SergeantIan McCulloch | 5:13 |
| 3. | "I Believe" (Simian Mobile Disco cover) | Jas ShawSimon LordJames Ford | 4:06 |
| 4. | "Missionary Man" (Eurythmics cover) | Annie LennoxDavid Stewart | 3:42 |
| 5. | "Bible" (Imperiet cover) | Christian FalkFred AspJoakim ThåströmPer Hägglund | 6:34 |
| Total length: | 23:34 |
Personnel
| Ghost Papa Emeritus III (Vocals) Nameless Ghouls: Fire Element (Lead Guitar) Aether Element (Rhythm Guitar) Water Element (Bass) Earth Element (Drums) Air Element (Keyboards) | Additional personnel Sofia Kempe – backing vocals on "Missionary Man" and "Bible" Brian Reed – harmonica on "Missionary Man" | Technical Tom Dalgety – production, engineering, mixing Niels Nielsen – additional engineering, programming Markus Krona – assistant Joe LaPorta – mastering Necropolitus Cracoviensis Zbigniew Bielak II – cover artwork |
Charts
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 7 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 12 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 44 |
| New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ) | 7 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)ERROR in "Scotland": Invalid date format. Expected: YYYYMMDD or YYYY-MM-DD. | 32 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 3 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 85 |
| US Billboard 200 | 16 |