| Against the Grain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1978 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Soft rock | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Phil Ramone, Barry Beckett | |||
| Phoebe Snow chronology | ||||
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Against the Grain is the fifth album by singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow, released in 1978.
| Against the Grain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1978 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | Soft rock | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Phil Ramone, Barry Beckett | |||
| Phoebe Snow chronology | ||||
| ||||
Against the Grain is the fifth album by singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow, released in 1978.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+ [2] |
| Smash Hits | 6/10 [3] |
At the time of the release of Against the Grain, Phoebe Snow called it her "rockiest" album, "a deliberate turning away from the jazz influences" of her earlier recordings. [4] Peter Reilly of Stereo Review recognized the album's intent to "mark [Snow's] entrance into Outright Rock-&-Roll", dismissing it as "merely a paraphrase of real rock" and lamenting that "a singer who...has shown a real flair for projecting a lyric with poignancy and feeling has made such an awkward and clumsy turnabout." [5]
Rising no higher than #100 on the Billboard 200, Against the Grain became Snow's second album to seriously under-perform, ending her association with Columbia Records. Snow would have one album release in the next ten years, which was Rock Away , touted as her move into "rock-&-roll". [6] [7] [8] In interviews concurrent with the 1981 release of Rock Away, Snow would label Against the Grain a "disaster": [9] "[it] tried to be a rock album but had too many opinions. Everybody who played, sang or cleaned up the studio produced that album...Putting [ Paul McCartney's "Every Night"]" - which afforded Snow a hit in the UK and Australia - "was the one idea of mine that filtered through." [10]
In a retrospective review for Allmusic, critic William Ruhlmann wrote of the album "The decision to add Barry Beckett as co-producer with Phil Ramone helped add an R&B depth and fervor, but 'Against the Grain' was just a more impassioned effort than its predecessor." [1] Robert Christgau wrote of the album; "this time she dies on the non-originals...Paul McCartney's Every Night' shows up the hooklessness of almost everything else." [2]
Songs written by Phoebe Snow, except where noted.
Side One
Side Two
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) [11] | 9 |
Horns (Tracks 2, 3, 7 & 9)
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