Everclear (album)

Last updated
Everclear
American Music Club Everclear.jpg
Studio album by
American Music Club
ReleasedOctober 5, 1991 (1991-10-05)
Recorded1991
Studio
  • Music Annex Studio A (Menlo Park, California)
  • Soma Sync Studios (San Francisco, California)
  • Brilliant Studios (San Francisco, California)
Genre
Length36:36
Label Alias
Producer
  • American Music Club
  • Bruce Kaphan
  • Norman Kerner
American Music Club chronology
United Kingdom
(1989)		Everclear
(1991)		 Mercury
(1993)
Singles from Everclear
  1. "Rise"
    Released: September 1991 (1991-09)
  2. "Why Won't You Stay"
    Released: 1991 (1991) (Europe only)

Everclear is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band American Music Club. It was released on October 5, 1991, on Alias Records.

Contents

"Rise" was released as a single in 1991 via the Rise CD maxi-EP on Alias Records, which contained the non-album tracks "Chanel #5", "The Right Thing" and an alternate version of "Crabwalk". The music video for "Rise" received minor play on MTV's 120 Minutes late-night program.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg Five Pointed Star Solid.svg [4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 7/10 [7]

On the strength of Everclear, Mark Eitzel was named Rolling Stone magazine's Songwriter of the Year in 1991. Rolling Stone also placed Everclear in their list of top five albums of the year.

In an article in the December 1994 – January 1995 issue of Addicted to Noise , the band recounted:

"I remember we were somewhere in Germany and we found out about the Rolling Stone poll," says Eitzel. "It made me feel really good. But for the next show there were about 20 people in the audience. And they were army guys and they thought American Music Club were some righteous American freedom-fighting, cool ass Springsteen-influenced Guns N' Roses kind of guys. And we did not rock." "They didn't know we'd made 'one of the best records of the year' and he was the 'best songwriter,'" adds bassist Dan Pearson. "They couldn't give a fuck about that shit," says Eitzel. "And they certainly didn't agree."

Eric Weisbard of Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995) wrote that Everclear marked American Music Club's failed attempt to "take over the world", adding that the album "was weirdly produced by Kaphan—imagine a pedal steelist's megalomanic fantasy—with the would-be modern rock hit 'Rise' especially cheesy." However, he praised several songs, including the mournful, AIDS-inspired "Sick of Food" and "The Dead Part of You". [7] Pitchfork 's Chris Ott included Everclear in a list of albums common in second-hand stores. [1] He wrote: "Hideously produced for Alias-- the same label that fucked up Yo La Tengo's May I Sing with Me -- Everclear is an overstuffed, underdeveloped album drenched in a plate of reverb on par with Queensryche." [1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Eitzel

No.TitleLength
1."Why Won't You Stay"2:59
2."Rise"3:11
3."Miracle on 8th Street"4:07
4."Ex-Girlfriend"2:49
5."Crabwalk"3:33
6."The Confidential Agent"4:10
7."Sick of Food"4:02
8."The Dead Part of You"2:42
9."Royal Café"3:23
10."What the Pillar of Salt Held Up"2:38
11."Jesus' Hands"3:02

Personnel

Production notes

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Ott, Chris (August 2003). "Castoffs and Cutouts: The Top 50 Most Common Used CDs". Pitchfork. p. 6. Archived from the original on October 2, 2003. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  2. ↑ Ankeny, Jason. "Everclear – American Music Club". AllMusic . Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  3. ↑ Caro, Mark (October 17, 1991). "American Music Club: Everclear (Alias)". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000). "American Music Club: Everclear". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s . Macmillan Publishers. ISBN   0-312-24560-2 . Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. ↑ "American Music Club: Everclear". Q (63). December 1991.
  7. 1 2 Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide . Vintage Books. ISBN   0-679-75574-8.
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