Alibis & Other Lies

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Alibis & Other Lies
Alibis-And-Other-Lies.jpg
Studio album by
Released21 July 2007 (Australia)
Recorded2006–2007
Genre Post-grunge, alternative rock, blues rock, glam metal [1]
Label Universal Music
Producer Ramesh Sathiah, Grinspoon
Grinspoon chronology
Best in Show
(2005)
Alibis & Other Lies
(2007)
Six to Midnight
(2009)
Singles from Alibis & Other Lies
  1. "Black Tattoo"
    Released: 30 June 2007
  2. "What You Got"
    Released: 15 September 2007
  3. "Minute by Minute"
    Released: 8 December 2007

Alibis & Other Lies is the fifth studio album by Grinspoon, which was released 21 July 2007. The first single from the album is Black Tattoo, being released as a digital download on 23 June and on Single 30 June 2007. Ramesh Sathiah, producer of Green Album and Licker Bottle Cozy, is producing the album. "Black Tattoo" is more similar to songs from Guide to Better Living than the songs off their last album, but the rest of the songs range from AC/DC-esque rockers like "Choirboy" to country rock songs like "Find Your Own Way", to glam metal songs like "Carried Away" and to soft rock songs like "Minute by Minute".

Contents

This was their final album under their current contract with Universal Music Australia. The album sessions were delayed during February to April as Phil Jamieson was in rehabilitation due to addiction to crystal methamphetamines. [2]

During that short time, the band's webpage was replaced with a video of Jamieson in suspenders, doing vocal takes for "Black Tattoo" and a countdown to when the album was supposed to come out.

At the J Awards of 2007, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year. [3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]

Despite the band's claims that Alibis and Other Lies was to be similar to their hard-rocking debut album, Guide to Better Living , the album actually contains songs of various genres, which failed to appeal to Grinspoon's core fanbase. Reviews for the album were mostly mixed, with some of its more negative reviews being extremely so. For example, Allmusic called it "a peculiar side trip for a band who used to have more in common with the musical likes of Rage Against the Machine", and gave the album a rating of only two stars out of five.

Track listing

All songs written by Phil Jamieson & Pat Davern, except where noted.

  1. "Black Tattoo" – 2:49
  2. "Choirboy" (Jamieson) – 4:11
  3. "Carried Away" – 3:04
  4. "Minute by Minute" (Jamieson) – 4:07
  5. "Outside Looking In" – 3:41
  6. "Business = Pleasure" (Hansen, Jamieson) – 3:23
  7. "What You Got" (Strong, Jamieson) – 2:52
  8. "Leave It" (Jamieson) – 3:39
  9. "Living in the City" – 3:39
  10. "Melted Holiday" (Strong, Jamieson) – 3:46
  11. "Gun for Hire" (Hansen, Jamieson) – 3:32
  12. "Find Your Own Way" – 4:30
  13. "Got to Get Away" – 3:10 (iTunes bonus track)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2007)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [5] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2007)Position
Australian Artist Albums Chart [6] 44

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [7] Gold35,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Related Research Articles

Grinspoon are an Australian rock band from Lismore, New South Wales, formed in 1995 and fronted by Phil Jamieson on vocals and guitar with Pat Davern on guitar, Joe Hansen on bass guitar and Kristian Hopes on drums. Also in 1995, they won the Triple J-sponsored Unearthed competition for Lismore, with their post-grunge song "Sickfest". Their name was taken from Dr. Lester Grinspoon, an associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who supports marijuana for medical use.

The Wrights were a one-off Australian rock music "supergroup". They consisted of Nic Cester, Bernard Fanning, Phil Jamieson, Kram, Chris Cheney, Davey Lane and Pat Bourke. They are named after Australian music legend and former Easybeats frontman Stevie Wright, the original performer of the song-trilogy "Evie" which was the group's feature song.

<i>Guide to Better Living</i> 1997 studio album by Grinspoon

Guide to Better Living is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Grinspoon. It was released on 16 September 1997 on the Grudge Records label and was produced by Phil McKellar. The album reached number 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart and spent 36 weeks on the national charts. The album peaked at number 8 when rereleased in 2017.

Phil Jamieson

Philip Jamieson is an Australian musician from Hornsby, New South Wales. He is a founding member and singer-guitarist for the rock band Grinspoon.

<i>Grinspoon</i> (EP) 1995 EP by Grinspoon

Grinspoon EP, also known as the Green EP, is the debut extended play by the Australian band Grinspoon. The six-track EP was recorded over two weeks at Grevillia Studios in Brisbane in July 1995, with producer, Ramesh Sathiah, and was released on 1 August 1995 via local independent record label, Oracle Records.

<i>Pushing Buttons</i> 1998 EP by Grinspoon


Pushing Buttons is the third extended play by Australian alternative rock band Grinspoon, and was released on 21 September 1998 via Universal Records. It peaked at number 13 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

<i>Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills</i> 2004 studio album by Grinspoon

Thrills, Kills + Sunday Pills is the fourth studio album by Australian alternative rock band, Grinspoon. It was released on 20 September 2004 by record label, Universal Music, with Howard Benson producing. On the ARIA Albums Chart it peaked at No. 4; ARIA certified the album as platinum for shipment of 70,000 units.

<i>Licker Bottle Cozy</i> 1996 EP by Grinspoon

Licker Bottle Cozy, was the second EP by the Australian rock band Grinspoon. The EP was initially released by Grudge Records Australia on 16 December 1996. It was recorded by Phil McKellar in July of that year and was of a significantly better sound quality than their first EP. Two of the tracks, "Post Enebriated Anxiety" and "Champion" were included unchanged in their debut album Guide to Better Living. It was released in the United States by Universal Records in March 1997. The EP reached No. 65 on the ARIA Singles Chart in January 1997 and No. 25 on the CMJ's 'Metal Top 25' in 1998.

<i>Best in Show</i> (Grinspoon album) 2005 compilation album by Grinspoon

Best in Show is a compilation album by Australian post-grunge band Grinspoon. The album was released on 7 November 2005 to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the band. The album peaked at No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified Gold. The album featured the band's hits and several older songs, like "Champion", which landed the song on Gran Turismo 3. The first track, "Sweet as Sugar", was specially recorded for this album and, appropriately, is a return to the earlier style of the band. The rest of the tracks are listed chronologically, from "Champion", recorded in 1996, to "Hard Act to Follow", recorded in 2004. The liner notes contain photography of the band from their beginnings to the present, and details the history of the band in the form of a fairy tale about the 'Knights of Grinspoon' from the 'Land of Oz'. The limited edition bonus disc includes a collection of covers recorded over the years.

Black Tattoo

"Black Tattoo" is the first single by Grinspoon from their fifth studio album, Alibis & Other Lies. It was released on 30 June 2007 on the Grudge label, debuting at No. 45 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The song also polled at No. 72 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2007. The video shows the band being dragged along a prairie while one of the members drives the car that's dragging them.

Bleed You Dry 2005 song performed by Grinspoon

"Bleed You Dry" is the fourth single by Australian post-grunge band Grinspoon from their fourth studio album Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills. It was released on 13 June 2005 via Universal Records, which peaked in the top 100 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The music video for "Bleed You Dry" was directed by James Hackett and Jean Camden and was a finalist in the 2005 SoundKILDA music video competition as part of the St Kilda Film Festival.

"Hold on Me" is the third single released by Grinspoon from their fourth studio album Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills. It was released on 21 February 2005 on the Universal Records label. The initial single release included a lapel pin badge under shrink wrap, with 'Hold On Me - Grinspoon EP' themed artwork. It debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at No. 44.

Hard Act to Follow

"Hard Act to Follow" is a song by Australian rock band Grinspoon and was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album Thrills, Kills & Sunday Pills. It reached No. 24 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was ranked #16 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004.

Violent and Lazy

"Violent and Lazy" is the fourth single by Grinspoon from their second studio album Easy. It was released on 13 November 2000 on the Grudge label, which peaked at No. 15 on the ARIA Alternative Singles Chart.

"Rock Show" was the third single by Grinspoon from their second studio album Easy. It was released on 5 May 2000 on the Grudge label, reaching No. 78 on the Australian Singles Chart and polling at No. 33 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2000.

"What You Got" is the second single by Grinspoon from their fifth studio album Alibis & Other Lies. The song was co-written by Phil Jamieson and Matthew Strong (Custard), who is the bass player in Jamieson’s side project, Lost Gospel. The single was only released in a digital format on iTunes.

"Minute by Minute" is a song by Grinspoon and is the third single from the studio album Alibis & Other Lies. The single was initially a digital release however a CD single was released on 8 December 2007. The track "Blind Lead Blind" also features on a compilation CD titled Caution: Life Ahead, making the song available on hard disk. "Minute by Minute" is included in the various artists' 3× CD, Flood Relief: Artists for the Flood Appeal, which raised money for victims of the Queensland floods of that year.

DC×3

"DC×3" is the second single released by Australian alternative metal band Grinspoon, from the debut album, Guide to Better Living. It peaked at No. 50 on the ARIA Singles Chart. It also reached No. 34 on Triple J's Hottest 100 in 1997.

<i>Black Rabbits</i> 2012 studio album by Grinspoon

Black Rabbits is the seventh studio album by Australian post-grunge band Grinspoon, which was released on 28 September 2012. Its title is Cockney rhyming slang for "bad habits", which relates to their reputation as being "a hard rocking, harder living band from Lismore, NSW, who emerged at the turn of the millennium with the same never-say-no ethic of Seattle's toughest grunge bands."

"Just Ace" is the fourth single released by Australian rock band Grinspoon, from their debut album, Guide to Better Living. It peaked at No. 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart, remaining in the charts for fifteen weeks. It also reached No. 18 on Triple J's Hottest 100 in 1998.

References

  1. Sky News Australia, "New Grinspoon album" 14 July 2007
  2. "The J Award 2007". Triple J . Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  3. Allmusic review
  4. "Australiancharts.com – Grinspoon – Alibis & Other Lies". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  5. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 50 Australian Artist Albums 2007". ARIA. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  6. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2007 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2019.