Freak City Soundtrack

Last updated
Freak City Soundtrack
Freak City Soundtrack album cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 8, 1994
Genre Power pop
Length35:16
Label Mercury
Producer Mike Chapman
Material Issue chronology
Destination Universe
(1992)
Freak City Soundtrack
(1994)
Goin' Through Your Purse
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Freak City Soundtrack is the third studio album by Material Issue, released on Mercury Records in 1994. [4] [5] It was the last studio album the band would record before frontman Jim Ellison committed suicide in 1996. [6]

Contents

Production

The album was produced by Mike Chapman, who also produced breakthrough albums for Blondie and The Knack. [7] [4] Rick Nielsen appears on the album. [8]

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the album "an unqualified triumph," and praised "Help Me Land" as "two minutes of slashing power chords, a frenzied vocal and Zelenko’s totally out-of-control drumming." [9] The Hartford Courant called it "40 minutes of high-energy, minimal-angst-factor fun." [8] The Chicago Tribune called Freak City Soundtrack "a return to form ... It comes as close as any disc to capturing the band's live energy." [10]

Track listing

All songs written by Jim Ellison except when noted.

  1. "Goin' Through Your Purse" - 3:23
  2. "Kim the Waitress" (Jeff Kelly, Jim Kelly) - 4:57
  3. "Funny Feeling" - 3:25
  4. "The Fan" - 3:05
  5. "One Simple Word" - 2:44
  6. "A Very Good Thing" - 2:42
  7. "I Could Use You" - 4:10
  8. "Ordinary Girl" - 3:11
  9. "Eko Beach" - 2:35
  10. "She's Going Through My Head" - 3:11
  11. "Help Me Land" - 1:53

Related Research Articles

Soundtrack Recorded music accompanying a production such as a film

A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film, video, or television presentation; or the physical area of a film that contains the synchronised recorded sound.

Liz Phair American singer-songwriter

Elizabeth Clark Phair is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career in San Francisco, California, but returned to her home in Chicago, where she began self-releasing audio cassettes under the name Girly-Sound. The tapes led to a recording contract with the independent record label Matador Records.

Stabbing Westward American band

Stabbing Westward is an American industrial rock band. Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band in 1985 in Macomb, Illinois. The band released an extended play in 1992, followed by four studio albums: Ungod (1994), Wither Blister Burn & Peel (1996), Darkest Days (1998), and Stabbing Westward (2001). The band announced a dissolution on February 9, 2002. Two compilation albums were later released in 2003. Stabbing Westward reunited in 2016 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its formation and continued to perform live shows. The band's first new album in 21 years, Chasing Ghosts, was released in 2022.

<i>Burn to Shine</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals

Burn to Shine is an album by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, released in 1999 on Virgin Records America. Harper's fourth album, it shows him working within many different genres, including blues, rock, soul, and folk. The songs "Steal My Kisses" and "Suzie Blue" became successful on college radio. Like most other Harper albums, different versions were released in different regions within varying bonus material.

Wall of Voodoo American rock band

Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, best known for its 1983 hit "Mexican Radio". The band had a sound that was a fusion of synthesizer-based new wave music with the spaghetti Western soundtrack style of Ennio Morricone.

<i>Freak Show/Freak Show Soundtrack</i> 1990 soundtrack album by The Residents

Freak Show is a studio album by The Residents, released in 1990. It marked the beginning of The Residents' obsession with emerging computer technology in the 1990s, and much of the music was made with various MIDI devices.

Material Issue American power pop band

Material Issue was an American power pop trio from Chicago, Illinois. The band's trademark is pop songs with themes of love and heartbreak. A number of their song titles used girls' first names.

Flying Saucer Attack

Flying Saucer Attack is an English experimental space rock band formed in Bristol in 1992, led by songwriter David Pearce. Rachel Brook of Movietone was a member during the band's early incarnation; other musicians contributing to the group's recordings and live performances included Rocker, Matt Elliott and Sam Jones.

Red Krayola

The Red Krayola is an American underground rock band from Houston, Texas, formed in 1966 by the original trio of singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson, drummer Frederick Barthelme, and bassist Steve Cunningham.

Ted Ansani is an American musician who is most known as the bassist/vocalist of 1990s power pop group Material Issue.

"Gonna Raise Hell" is a song written by Rick Nielsen and originally released on Cheap Trick's 1979 album Dream Police. The subject of "Gonna Raise Hell" has been disputed. Some authors, such as Ira Robbins of Trouser Press, have believed that the song was about the Jonestown Massacre. However, the song was written before that event. AllMusic critic Tom Maginnis claims that the song is about having a good time despite the apathy in the world; since we can't change the world "we might as well raise some hell." Composer Rick Nielsen claims that the song is about "religious, political and nuclear fanatics."

<i>And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders</i> 1993 studio album by The Ex and Tom Cora

And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders is the second of two albums by Dutch punk band The Ex in collaboration with avant-garde cellist Tom Cora. Cora was acknowledged in the credits of earlier album Joggers and Smoggers but didn't actually appear on an Ex album until a recording session in 1990 which led to Scrabbling at the Lock as well as And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders.

<i>Dark Continent</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Wall of Voodoo

Dark Continent is the debut studio album by American new wave band Wall of Voodoo, released in 1981 by I.R.S. Records. Early live versions of four songs are featured on the compilation The Index Masters.

<i>International Pop Overthrow</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Material Issue

International Pop Overthrow is the debut studio album by Material Issue, released on Mercury Records on February 5, 1991. The album was recorded in multiple recording sessions between 1988 and 1991, with the total recording costs reaching only $5,000. Mercury Records only expected the record to sell about 70,000 copies. However, it initially sold about 180,000 copies, with final sales exceeding 300,000. It reached #86 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album was produced by Jeff Murphy, guitarist/vocalist for the band Shoes, at the Shoes' Short Order Recorder studio, in Zion, Illinois.

Dumptruck is an American rock musical group formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1983 by composers, guitarists and singers Seth Tiven and Kirk Swan.

Valerie Loves Me

"Valerie Loves Me" is a song by American power pop trio Material Issue, released in 1991 as a single from their debut album International Pop Overthrow. The song, written by the band's singer-guitarist Jim Ellison, peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Bummer Road is a compilation album by the American blues musician Sonny Boy Williamson II, released in 1969. It achieved notoriety due to the inclusion of 11 minutes of studio outtakes related to the track "Little Village", where Williamson and producer Leonard Chess argue about the song. The album was issued with a label advising that the track was not suitable for airplay, due to profanity—allegedly, it is the first blues album to carry any kind of "explicit lyrics" sticker. "Little Village" inspired the name of Little Village, a band that included Ry Cooder, Jim Keltner, Nick Lowe, and John Hiatt.

Spin the World is an album by the American punk funk band Royal Crescent Mob, released in 1989. It was the band's major label debut.

Cakewalk is an album by the American alternative rock duo House of Freaks, released in 1991. It was the duo's first album for a major label.

Sound ... Goodbye to Your Standards is an album by the English band the Mighty Lemon Drops, released in 1991.

References

  1. "Freak City Soundtrack - Material Issue | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" via www.allmusic.com.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 566.
  3. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 723.
  4. 1 2 "Material Issue | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  5. "Perfect Sound Forever: Material Issue". www.furious.com.
  6. Derogatis, Jim. "Into the Sunset". Chicago Reader.
  7. "MATERIAL ISSUE WILL BE THE MATERIAL ISSUE TUESDAY". Deseret News. June 3, 1994.
  8. 1 2 "MATERIAL ISSUE PLAYS WITH POP". courant.com.
  9. "Material Issue". Trouser Press. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  10. Kot, Greg. "LAST DANCE". chicagotribune.com.