II | ||||
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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 | ||||
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Singles from II | ||||
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Review scores | |
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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 |
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Australia (ARIA) | 37 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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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 alternative rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1993. The three-piece group's initial line-up 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 3× 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.
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