For Your Own Special Sweetheart

Last updated
For Your Own Special Sweetheart
Special sweetheart.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 8, 1994
RecordedAugustSeptember 1993
StudioOZ Studio (Baltimore, Maryland)
Genre Post-hardcore [1]
Length41:42
Label Atlantic
Producer Ted Niceley, Jawbox
Jawbox chronology
Novelty
(1992)
For Your Own Special Sweetheart
(1994)
Jawbox
(1996)
Singles from For Your Own Special Sweetheart
  1. "Savory"
    Released: 1994
  2. "Cooling Card"
    Released: 1994

For Your Own Special Sweetheart is the third album by Washington D.C. post-hardcore band, Jawbox. It was produced by Ted Niceley, best known for his work with Fugazi. This would be the band's major label debut, as they had left Dischord Records to sign with Atlantic Records. It is also the first album to feature Zachary Barocas on drums, as he replaced original drummer Adam Wade two years prior. The album was not much of a commercial success, despite being well received by critics.

Contents

"Savory" was the album's first single, followed by "Cooling Card". "Motorist" and "Jackpot Plus!" had previously been released on a Dischord single and were newly recorded for this album. The album was remastered and reissued by DeSoto in 2009 with three bonus tracks (b-sides from the "Savory" single) and new cover art.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
The A.V. Club A [3]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [4]
Drowned in Sound 9/10 [5]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [6]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
NME 7/10 [8]
Pitchfork 9.3/10 [9]
Record Collector Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Spin 7/10 [11]

The album received very positive reviews upon release. Greg Kot called the album "the quartet's punchiest record yet, surpassing in blowtorch clarity the group's earlier releases on Fugazi's Dischord label." He praised Ted Niceley's production, writing that it "puts a vicious gleam on Jawbox's rhythm section, particularly Kim Coletta's power-tool bass." He concluded by calling it "music of intelligence and intensity, superbly recorded." [4]

Retrospective reviews (published mostly upon the album's reissue) have been even more positive. Jason Heller called it "the group’s crowning achievement" and "one of that decade’s most lasting, magnificent discs." [3] Andy Kellman called the album "their peak, a thrilling collision of vibrant guitar-generated noise and off-center melodic hooks over a rhythm section that swings as easily as it pummels." "Inside or outside its D.C. epicenter," he writes, "this is one of post-hardcore’s most exceptional releases, second to whatever Fugazi album gives you the biggest charge." [12] Matt LeMay wrote that the album "has aged exceedingly well [...] precisely because it did not pander to the aesthetic fads of its time-- mainstream or underground. Instead, Jawbox honed their sound, maximized the resources at their disposal, and made a record that hides behind no extraneous instruments, sounds, or ideologies." [9]

"Savory" was covered by Sacramento rock band Deftones with alternative rock group Far on Deftones' B-Sides and Rarities album.

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeRank
Alternative Press The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s38 [13]
Pitchfork Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (1999)19 [14]
Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003)70 [15]
LAS Magazine90 Albums of the 90s15[ citation needed ]
Magnet Top 60 Albums 1993-200349[ citation needed ]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."FF=66"2:41
2."Savory"4:39
3."Breathe"2:47
4."Motorist"3:43
5."LS/MFT"2:50
6."Cooling Card"2:51
7."Green Glass"3:26
8."Cruel Swing"2:16
9."Jackpot Plus!"2:34
10."Chicago Piano"3:30
11."Reel"3:39
12."U-Trau"3:10/3:01
13."Whitney Walks"3:57
2009 Reissue Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
14."Lil' Shaver"2:10
15."68"3:17
16."Sound on Sound" (Big Boys cover)4:06
Total length:51:15

Personnel

All personnel as per AllMusic. [12]

Jawbox
Production

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References

  1. Jeff Terich. August 30, 2012. 10 Essential ’90s Post-Hardcore Albums. treblezine.com
  2. Kellman, Andy. "For Your Own Special Sweetheart – Jawbox". AllMusic . Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Heller, Jason (November 24, 2009). "Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart". The A.V. Club . Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Kot, Greg (March 10, 1994). "Aural Feast". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  5. Perry, Tom (March 29, 2010). "Album Review: Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart (reissue)". Drowned in Sound . Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  6. Brod, Doug (March 11, 1994). "For Your Own Special Sweetheart". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  7. Levine, Robert (February 13, 1994). "Jawbox, 'For Your Own Special Sweetheart,' Atlantic". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  8. "Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart". NME . April 9, 1994. p. 41.
  9. 1 2 LeMay, Matt (November 24, 2009). "Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart". Pitchfork . Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  10. Pearlman, Mischa (May 2010). "Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart". Record Collector . No. 375. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  11. Hultkrans, Andrew (December 2009). "Reissues". Spin . Vol. 25, no. 12. p. 82. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  12. 1 2 "For Your Own Special Sweetheart – Jawbox (Credits)". AllMusic . Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  13. "Rocklist.net..Alternative Press." www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  14. Heard, Jaron (2018-11-05). "Pitchfork's Best Albums of the 1990s: changes from 1999 to 2003". Medium. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  15. "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2019-03-12.