Album · Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is an album by Neutral Milk Hotel, released in 1998. 6 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 28 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”, on 13 lists with a best position of #80.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel's second album, came out on Merge on February 10, 1998, and it sounds like a field recording of a fever dream. Robert Schneider produced it at Pet Sounds Studio between July and September 1997, and instead of reaching for pedals he crushed the sound with heavy compression, so the guitars fuzz and the whole band seems to bleed into the red. Jeff Mangum brought in Julian Koster, Jeremy Barnes and Scott Spillane, and the arrangements set singing saw and uilleann pipes beside the drums and strummed guitars.
The songs are surreal and cryptic, wandering from nostalgia to love, with Anne Frank's diary hovering over the record as a key influence. Reviews were warm but not rapturous, a cult grew around it, Mangum retreated from touring, and the band went quiet. Its reputation has only swelled since.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In The Aeroplane Over The Sea | 13 | #80 | – | 2005–2026 | |
| 2 | Holland, 1945 | 8 | #115 | – | 2014–2023 | |
| 3 | Two-Headed Boy | 4 | #351 | – | 2007–2023 | |
| 4 | The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. One | 1 | #222 | – | 2023 | |
| 5 | Two-Headed Boy Pt. Two | 1 | #759 | – | 2018 | |
| 6 | Untitled | 1 | #811 | – | 2009 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.