Motel California

For the Eagles album, see Hotel California (Eagles album).

Motel California
Studio album by Ugly Kid Joe
Released	October 22, 1996
Recorded	1996
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, alternative rock
Length	39:30
Label	Evilution [1]
Ugly Kid Joe chronology
Menace to Sobriety (1995) Motel California (1996) The Very Best of Ugly Kid Joe: As Ugly as It Gets (1998)

Motel California is the third album by the American rock band Ugly Kid Joe, and released on October 22, 1996. ^{[2] [3]} Motel California was the last full-length studio album until 2015. The group disbanded in January 1997 and reformed in 13 years later in January 2010. The album received lukewarm reviews and was a commercial failure.

The title is a parody of the Eagles' album, Hotel California . The song "Rage Against the Answering Machine" is a pun on the name of the Los Angeles rock band Rage Against the Machine.

The re-recorded acoustic version of the song "Would You Like to be There" appears as a bonus track from 2012 EP Stairway to Hell.

Music videos for the songs "Bicycle Wheels" and "Sandwich" were previously unreleased for almost a decade. They were finally surfaced in the internet in 2006

Production

The album was recorded with the Butcher Bros. in Philadelphia. ^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[6]
Rock Hard	5/10 [7]

AllMusic wrote that Ugly Kid Joe "return to their roots, bashing out grungy metal in their garage and recording it for posterity ... Motel California works a lot better than it should, sounding fiercer and more committed." ^[5]

Track listing

All tracks written by Ugly Kid Joe.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"It's a Lie"	3:01
2.	"Dialogue"	2:27
3.	"Sandwich"	2:46
4.	"Rage Against the Answering Machine"	1:40
5.	"Would You Like to Be There"	3:18
6.	"Little Red Man"	4:02
7.	"Bicycle Wheels"	2:01
8.	"Father"	3:31
9.	"Undertow"	4:31
10.	"Shine"	2:51
11.	"Strange"	4:22
12.	"12 Cents"	4:54

Personnel

• Whitfield Crane – vocals
• Dave Fortman – guitars
• Klaus Eichstadt – guitars
• Cordell Crockett – bass
• Shannon Larkin – drums
• Lemmy Kilmister – guest backing vocals on "Little Red Man"
• Tim Wheater - guest flutist on "12 Cents"

Charts

Chart performance for Motel California

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [8]	129
UK Albums (OCC)	128

References

1. "Ugly Kid Joe". Trouser Press. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
2. "Ugly Kid Joe | Biography & History". AllMusic.
3. "Ugly Kid Joe's Klaus Eichstadt". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016.
4. "Studio Action". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 21, 1996 – via Google Books.
5. "Motel California - Ugly Kid Joe | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
6. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 334.
7. "UGLY KID JOE - Motel California". ROCK HARD Heavy-Metal-Magazin.
8. "Ugly Kid Joe ARIA Chart history 1988 to 2024". ARIA. Retrieved July 28, 2024– via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.