A River Ain't Too Much to Love

Last updated

A River Ain't Too Much to Love
A River Ain't Too Much To Love.jpg
Studio album by
Smog
ReleasedMay 31, 2005 (2005-05-31)
RecordedNovember 2004 [1]
StudioPedernales Studio,
Spicewood, Texas [1]
Genre
Length50:47
Label
Producer Bill Callahan
Smog chronology
Supper
(2003)		A River Ain't Too Much to Love
(2005)		 Woke on a Whaleheart
(2007)

A River Ain't Too Much to Love is the eleventh studio album by Smog, released on May 30, 2005, on Domino Records in Europe and on Drag City in North America. It is Bill Callahan's final studio album released under the Smog moniker. Callahan initially wanted to release the album under his own name, but decided against doing so after pressure from Drag City. [3]

Contents

A River Ain't Too Much to Love features guest appearances by Joanna Newsom and Thor Harris of Shearwater. [4] [1] Music videos were produced for both "Rock Bottom Riser" and "I Feel Like the Mother of the World", the latter featuring actress Chloë Sevigny. [5] [6] Both videos can be found on the "Rock Bottom Riser" CD single release. [7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 76/100 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Cokemachineglow 77/100 [10]
Drowned in Sound 8/10 [11]
Entertainment Weekly A− [12]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Pitchfork Media 7.7/10 [14]
PopMatters 8/10 [15]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Stylus Magazine A [17]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bill Callahan, except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Palimpsest"2:52
2."Say Valley Maker"5:10
3."The Well"7:00
4."Rock Bottom Riser"5:44
5."I Feel Like the Mother of the World"3:09
6."In the Pines" (traditional)5:12
7."Drinking at the Dam"4:07
8."Running the Loping"6:55
9."I'm New Here"3:59
10."Let Me See the Colts"6:39

Cover versions

Callahan's "I'm New Here" is covered on (and used as the album title of) Gil Scott-Heron's final album. [18]

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 A River Ain't Too Much to Love (liner notes). Drag City. 2005. DC292.
  2. ↑ Hutlock, Todd (May 31, 2005). "Smog - A River Ain't Too Much To Love - Review". Stylus Magazine . Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Bill Callahan Rolls on Like a River". spin.com. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Hot Product". Billboard . May 30, 2005. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  5. ↑ Roberts, Randall. "Find the River". Dallas Observer. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Smog / Rock Bottom Riser". PictureDRIFT. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  7. ↑ Rock Bottom Riser (liner notes). Drag City. 2006. DC302.
  8. 1 2 "A River Ain't Too Much To Love by Smog". Metacritic . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  9. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "A River Ain't Too Much to Love - Smog". AllMusic . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  10. ↑ Ford, Sean (June 1, 2005). "Smog: A River Ain't Too Much to Love". Cokemachineglow . Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  11. ↑ Dobson, Gareth. "Smog: A River Ain't Too Much Love". Drowned in Sound . Archived from the original on January 16, 2006. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  12. ↑ Pastorek, Whitney. "A River Ain't Too Much to Love". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  13. ↑ Sweeting, Adam (May 27, 2005). "Smog, A River Ain't Too Much to Love". The Guardian . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  14. ↑ Carr, Eric (June 8, 2005). "Smog: A River Ain't Too Much to Love". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ Horning, Rob (July 25, 2005). "Smog: A River Ain't Too Much to Love". PopMatters . Archived from the original on November 17, 2005. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  16. ↑ Cameron, Keith (September 2011). "Like This? Try This...". Q . p. 100.
  17. ↑ Hutlock, Todd (May 31, 2005). "Smog - A River Ain't Too Much To Love". Stylus Magazine . Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  18. ↑ Frere-Jones, Sasha (April 11, 2011). "No Depression". The New Yorker . ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved April 9, 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.