Feels Like

Last updated

Feels Like
Bully Feels Like.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 25, 2015
Recorded2014
Studio Electrical Audio (Chicago, Illinois)
Genre
Length27:51
Label
Producer Alicia Bognanno
Bully chronology
Bully
(2014)
Feels Like
(2015)
Losing
(2017)
Singles from Feels Like
  1. "I Remember"
    Released: March 11, 2015 [4]
  2. "Trying"
    Released: April 7, 2015 [5]
  3. "Too Tough"
    Released: June 12, 2015 [6]

Feels Like is the debut studio album by American rock band Bully, released on June 23, 2015 by Startime International and Columbia Records. [7] The album was produced by Bully frontwoman Alicia Bognanno and recorded in 2014 at Electrical Audio in Chicago. [8] [9]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10 [10]
Metacritic 77/100 [11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
The A.V. Club B [13]
Exclaim! 8/10 [14]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
NME 8/10 [3]
Pitchfork 7.8/10 [15]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [17]
Spin 8/10 [18]
Uncut 8/10 [19]

Feels Like received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on 19 reviews. [11] In his review for NME , Robert Cooke highlighted Alicia Bognanno's "honest, witty" songwriting and stated that Feels Like "revels in the simplicity of a great pop song while cleverly articulating the everyday truths of 20-something life". [3] Pitchfork 's Laura Snapes noted the contrast between the "explosive, rollicking" music and Bognanno's lyrics, which Snapes felt displayed an intimacy comparable to that of "Courtney Barnett or Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield". [15] James Oldham of Q wrote that while Bully's heavy influence from 1990s alternative rock is apparent, the album "retains a thrilling freshness" due to Bognanno's "formidable presence", as well as her "taut, confessional" lyrics, whose directness he said complemented the music's "brutal succinctness". [16]

Michael Hann of The Guardian was less enthusiastic, describing Feels Like as "a grab-bag of early-90s alt-rock styles that sounded tired by the mid-90s – and haven't got any fresher since." [2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alicia Bognanno

No.TitleLength
1."I Remember"1:47
2."Reason"2:46
3."Too Tough"3:17
4."Brainfreeze"2:36
5."Trying"3:53
6."Trash"3:58
7."Six"2:17
8."Picture"2:48
9."Milkman"2:04
10."Bully"2:25
Total length:27:51
Digital edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
11."Sharktooth"3:29
Total length:31:20

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. [20]

Bully

Production

Design

Charts

Chart (2015)Peak
position
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [21] 10
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [22] 34

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References

  1. Michalik, Timmy (October 18, 2017). "Bully are on to a winner with Losing". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Hann, Michael (July 30, 2015). "Bully: Feels Like review – a grab-bag of early 90s alt-rock styles". The Guardian . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Cooke, Robert (June 15, 2015). "Bully – 'Feels Like'". NME . Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  4. Fitzmaurice, Larry (March 11, 2015). "Bully's 'I Remember' Is The Most Energizing Punk Song You'll Hear All Day". The Fader . Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  5. Claymore, Gabriela Tully (April 7, 2015). "Bully – 'Trying' (Stereogum Premiere)". Stereogum . Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  6. Brodsky, Rachel (June 12, 2015). "Bully Gets 'Too Tough' On Yowling New Single". Spin . Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  7. Gordon, Jeremy (March 26, 2015). "Bully Announce Debut Album Feels Like". Pitchfork . Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  8. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (July 30, 2015). "How Bully's Alicia Bognanno Went From Studio Geek to Alt-Rock Screamer". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  9. Brodsky, Rachel (May 6, 2015). "Bully: Honesty Is Their Best Policy". Spin . Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  10. "Feels Like by Bully reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Feels Like by Bully Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  12. Deming, Mark. "Feels Like – Bully". AllMusic . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  13. Anthony, David (June 23, 2015). "Bully serves up a pop-rock sucker punch with Feels Like". The A.V. Club . Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  14. Lindsay, Cam (June 19, 2015). "Bully: Feels Like". Exclaim! . Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  15. 1 2 Snapes, Laura (June 25, 2015). "Bully: Feels Like". Pitchfork . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Oldham, James (September 2015). "Bully: Feels Like". Q . No. 350. pp. 109–110.
  17. Sheffield, Rob (June 29, 2015). "Feels Like". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  18. Joyce, Colin (June 23, 2015). "Review: Bully Stone and Dethrone the '90s Indie Set on 'Feels Like'". Spin . Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  19. Watts, Peter (August 2015). "Bully: Feels Like". Uncut . No. 219. p. 72.
  20. Feels Like (liner notes). Bully. Startime International / Columbia Records. 2015. 88875075122.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. "Bully Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  22. "Bully Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 11, 2018.