II | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 5, 1996 | |||
Recorded | Studio Litho, Seattle, Washington, August 1996 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 39:47 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer, Jason Finn, Craig Montgomery | |||
The Presidents of the United States of America chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from II | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The A.V. Club | (Unfavorable) [2] |
Chicago Tribune | [3] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [4] |
Los Angeles Times | [5] |
Rolling Stone | [6] |
II is the second studio album by the American rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released via Columbia Records on November 5, 1996, coinciding with the United States presidential election.
The album included a few songs that originally appeared on Froggystyle, a self-released cassette that was recorded before their debut album, The Presidents of the United States of America . These songs, which were re-recorded for this album, were "L.I.P", then known as "Little Indian Princess", "Lunatic to Love" and "Puffy Little Shoes". Also, "Twig" was re-recorded, as it was previously recorded as a B-side to a "Lump" single, where it was known as "Twig in the Wind". That version was later released on Rarities as "Twig (Semi Acoustic Version)".
All songs by The Presidents of the United States of America.
"Basketball Dream" features a boy, Tony Ballew (a relative of Chris Ballew), describing a dream he had about Magic Johnson - for this reason, the track is often mislabeled "Magic Johnson Dream". Chris Ballew can be heard faintly whispering the lyrics underneath the boy. The recording of Tony's voice, with a different musical backing, previously appeared on Feel Good, an album by Ballew's pre-PUSA band Egg, in 1987.
Chart (1996-1997) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [7] | 3 |
Canada Albums (The Record) [8] | 5 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [9] | 30 |
French Albums (SNEP) [10] | 43 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [11] | 20 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [12] | 35 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [13] | 29 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [14] | 50 |
US Billboard 200) | 31 |
Chart (1996) | Position |
---|---|
Australia (ARIA) | 37 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [15] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [16] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [17] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
The Presidents of the United States of America were an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1993. The three-piece group's initial lineup consisted of vocalist and bassist Chris Ballew, drummer Jason Finn, and guitarist Dave Dederer. The band became popular in the mid-1990s for their hits "Lump" and "Peaches"—released in 1995 and 1996, respectively—which helped their self-titled debut album go triple Platinum.
The Presidents of the United States of America is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band The Presidents of the United States of America, released on March 10, 1995, via PopLlama Records. Columbia Records signed the band shortly after its release to handle increased distribution for the album.
Christopher Ballew is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group the Presidents of the United States of America. He also performs and records as a children's artist under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants.
The Colour of My Love is the twelfth studio album and third English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was released by Sony Music on 9 November 1993. The songs were produced mainly by David Foster, Ric Wake, Walter Afanasieff, Christopher Neil, and Guy Roche, and four of them were written by Diane Warren. The album features cover versions of "The Power of Love" and "When I Fall in Love".
Anthology 2 is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of The Beatles Anthology series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for Help! until the sessions immediately prior to their trip to India in February 1968. It is the second in a trilogy of albums with Anthology 1 and Anthology 3, all of which tie in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is "Real Love", the second of the two recordings that reunited the Beatles for the first time since the band's break-up. Like its predecessor, the album topped the Billboard 200 album chart and has been certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA.
Wings at the Speed of Sound is the fifth studio album by the British–American rock band Wings, released on 26 March 1976. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, it reached the top spot on the US album chart—the band's fourth consecutive album to do so—and peaked at number 2 on the UK album chart. Both singles from the album also reached the top 5 of the UK and US singles charts, with "Silly Love Songs" reaching number 1 in the US.
Welcome to the Neighbourhood is the seventh studio album by American rock singer Meat Loaf, released in 1995 as the follow-up to his successful comeback album Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell. It went platinum in the United States and United Kingdom.
Come Clean is the debut studio album by American rock band Puddle of Mudd. Released on August 28, 2001, the album's music was responsible for breaking Puddle of Mudd into the mainstream music scene. It features the singles "Control," "Blurry," "Drift & Die" and "She Hates Me". Various tracks were re-recorded from the band's previous releases, Stuck and Abrasive. The album was the band's biggest hit on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number nine.
"Peaches" is a song by American alternative rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. It was included on their album The Presidents of the United States of America and released as a single in February 1996. The track was produced by Conrad Uno. The band members have acknowledged that "Peaches" borrows riffs from Bad Company's 1975 song "Feel Like Makin' Love".
"Lump" is a song by alternative rock band the Presidents of the United States of America. It was released in August 1995 by Columbia Records and included on their album The Presidents of the United States of America (1995). The song reached number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart the same year. Composer Chris Ballew said that the lyrics combined his own history of having a benign tumor in the head with a vision he had of a woman in a swamp, while employing the word "lump" because Ballew was fond of it. The musical part was described by Ballew as him "trying to write a Buzzcocks song". Ballew considers it his favorite composition. The music video for the song was directed by Roman Coppola. "Lump" has been covered or remade by several artists, including the Johnstones and "Weird Al" Yankovic.
Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael is the first compilation album by George Michael, released on 9 November 1998. The collection of 29 songs is separated into two-halves, with each CD of the double set containing music of a particular theme and mood. The first CD, titled "For the Heart", predominantly contains Michael's hit ballads, while the second CD, "For the Feet", comprises mostly his popular dance tunes. A DVD release also titled Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael followed in 1999, featuring 23 music videos from Michael's career. After his death in December 2016, it was revealed by Michael's friend Geri Halliwell on The One Show that all of the British profits from the album went to the charity Terrence Higgins Trust.
Wildest Dreams is the ninth solo studio album by Tina Turner, released on April 22, 1996, by Parlophone internationally and Virgin Records in the US. Six singles were released from the album: the theme for the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, "GoldenEye"; "Whatever You Want"; "On Silent Wings" featuring Sting; "Missing You"; "Something Beautiful Remains"; and "In Your Wildest Dreams", a duet with Barry White. It has earned double platinum certifications in the United Kingdom and in Europe.
Mercury Falling is the fifth studio album by English musician Sting. It was released on 8 March 1996 through A&M Records and was produced by Sting alongside longtime producer Hugh Padgham. The album features many tracks which see elements of soul and country music integrated to a greater extent than on past releases. Supporting musicians on the album include frequent collaborators Dominic Miller on guitar, Kenny Kirkland on keyboards, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, and Branford Marsalis on tenor and soprano saxophone.
Duets: An American Classic is a studio album by Tony Bennett, released in 2006 via Columbia label.
The discography of The Presidents of the United States of America, an American alternative rock group formed in Seattle, Washington in 1993, consists of six studio albums, sixteen singles, three extended plays, one video album, two compilation albums and a live album. The group's self-titled debut album was released on Columbia Records in 1995, with the singles "Kitty" and "Lump" bringing them exposure on the United States charts, as well as in Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom and Australia. Since then, The Presidents of the United States of America released five further albums, sometimes on different labels, none of which have been received as commercially or critically well as their debut album. The band broke up in 2016.
West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is the third studio album by British indie rock band Kasabian, which was released on 5 June 2009. It was the band's first album not to feature Christopher Karloff, the band's lead guitarist and songwriter who departed during the writing stages of Empire (2006). Rhythm guitarist Sergio Pizzorno became lead songwriter and co-producer for the band. It is also their first album to feature guitar contributions from Tim Carter, who would become the band's touring guitarist in 2013 and a full-fledged member of the band in 2021.
I Dreamed a Dream is the debut studio album by Scottish singer Susan Boyle. It was released on 23 November 2009 by Syco Music in the United Kingdom, and by Columbia Records in the United States one day later. In the standard edition, 11 out of the 12 songs that appear on the album are cover songs, plus the original composition "Who I Was Born to Be". It quickly became the world's biggest selling album of 2009, according to IFPI. The album had sold around 10 million copies worldwide since its debut.
Iron Man 2 is a soundtrack album for the 2010 film of the same name consisting of music by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was released on April 19, 2010.
Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies is the fifth studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat. The album was released on 5 April 2013. The title refers to the outlaws and gunslingers of the 19th century. This is the band's first album with guitarist Rob Caggiano and their final album with bassist Anders Kjølholm. The track "Room 24", with vocalist King Diamond, was made available for the fans as a free download on 5 April 2013, and was later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
LP1 is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter FKA Twigs, released on 11 August 2014 by Young Turks. Production for the album is handled by FKA Twigs herself, alongside Emile Haynie, Arca, Cy An, Devonté Hynes, Clams Casino, Paul Epworth, Sampha and Tic.