| Kissingsohard | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Label | Forward/Rhino [1] | |||
| Producer | Don Gilmore, John Doe | |||
| John Doe chronology | ||||
| ||||
Kissingsohard is an album by the American musician John Doe, credited to the John Doe Thing. [2] [3] It was released in 1995. [4] Doe promoted the album by touring with Juliana Hatfield, and then with Shane MacGowan. [5] [6]
The album was produced by Don Gilmore and Doe. [7] [8] Doe desired to make an album in an alternative rock style, in contrast to country sound of his solo debut. [9] He considered many of the songs to be of a more personal nature, compared to the ones he wrote in X. [10]
"My Goodness" and "Love Knows" were cowritten with Exene Cervenka. [11] Brad Houser, Chalo Quintana, Smokey Hormel, and Joey Waronker played on Kissingsohard; Sandra Bernhard and Cervenka contributed vocals. [12] [13] [14] "Willamette" was inspired by the lives of homeless people in Portland, Oregon. [15] Doe considered adding a cover of "Vigilante Man" to the album. [16]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [17] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− [19] |
| Los Angeles Times | [14] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [20] |
| Orlando Sentinel | [8] |
No Depression wrote that "crash and burn guitars, string arrangements, and tape loops overwhelm some of the songs, and leave enough space for others to breathe." [11] Entertainment Weekly thought that Doe's "bracing, sinewy vocals provide the perfect complement for these unsettling vignettes." [19]
Trouser Press stated: "Avoiding the kind of sweeping statements that tend to bring such proceedings to a screeching halt, Doe zeroes in on the details of lives under extreme stress." [21] The Los Angeles Times determined that "the full-bodied songs, stained with tragic tears and sloshed beers, feature fine fretwork from Blasters guitarist Smokey Hormel and a distinct country twang." [14] Newsday concluded that, "by filtering the downbeat ethos of hard country through a continually evolving post-punk consciousness, Doe has come up with rare album that reaches across the alternative and adventuresome adult markets." [22]
AllMusic wrote that "no one seems to understand Doe's music like his old bandmates in X, and his strong vocals and lyrics just can't carry the record on their own." [17]
All tracks are written by John Doe; except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fallen Tears" | 2:39 | |
| 2. | "Safety" | 3:10 | |
| 3. | "Love Knows" | Doe, Exene Cervenka | 3:38 |
| 4. | "My Goodness" | Doe, Cervenka | 3:12 |
| 5. | "Tragedy by Definition" | 3:31 | |
| 6. | "Kissing" | 4:08 | |
| 7. | "Hits the Ground" | 4:30 | |
| 8. | "Going Down the Fast" | 4:00 | |
| 9. | "T.V. Set" | 4:49 | |
| 10. | "Beer. Gas. Ride Forever" | 2:46 | |
| 11. | "Field of Dirt" | 4:11 | |
| 12. | "Willamette" | 3:21 | |
| 13. | "Liar's Market" | 5:09 |
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