| NRBQ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Rounder | |||
| Producer | Terry Adams, Joey Spampinato | |||
| NRBQ chronology | ||||
| ||||
NRBQ is an album by the American band NRBQ, released in 1999. [1] [2] According to NRBQ, the album is untitled, with just the band's name on the cover. [3] It was NRBQ's final studio album for Rounder Records. [4]
The album coincided with NRBQ's 30th anniversary and a period of renewed interest in the band, during which they appeared in The Simpsons and the film 28 Days . [5] [6] The band supported the album with a North American tour that included a 30th anniversary celebration with the Shaggs. [7] [8]
The album was recorded between January and May 1999. [9] It was the first regular studio album with Johnny Spampinato on lead guitar; he wrote some of the album's songs with his brother. [10] [11] "Housekeeping" was inspired by decades of being awakened by hotel maids while on tour. [12] "Tired of Your Permanent" was influenced by rockabilly music. [3] "Birdman" was originally intended for Space Ghost Coast to Coast . [13]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Orlando Sentinel | |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Winston-Salem Journal | |
The Hartford Courant noted that "I Want My Mommy" "may well be the most annoying NRBQ song of all time." [17] The Orlando Sentinel determined that the "gorgeous 'Blame It on the World' ... sounds like a long-lost McCartney-Gilberto Gil collaboration." [14] The Courier News concluded that, "for the first time in many years, an NRBQ studio album fails to contain at least one truly memorable song." [18]
The Telegram & Gazette stated that the album is "rocking, jazzy, bluesy, ballady, cartoony stuff pulled together with a patented NRBQ sense of logic." [19] The New York Times wrote that NRBQ "still loves the same basic rock ingredients: the ingratiating melodies of 1960's pop, the twang and two-beat of rockabilly and the splashy, rowdy piano playing that links Jerry Lee Lewis to Sun Ra." [20] The Morning Call listed NRBQ among the worst albums of 1999. [21] The Winston-Salem Journal opined that "the aging band's air of childlike innocence, once charming, now seems creepy." [16]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ain't No Horse" | Donn Adams, Terry Adams | 3:46 |
| 2. | "Sail On Sail On" | Joey Spampinato | 3:10 |
| 3. | "Pain" | T. Adams | 2:33 |
| 4. | "Housekeeping" | Joey Spampinato, Johnny Spampinato, T. Adams | 3:26 |
| 5. | "Breakaway to My Dreams" | Joey Spampinato, Johnny Spampinato | 2:52 |
| 6. | "Puddin' Truck" | T. Adams | 3:14 |
| 7. | "CM Pups" | T. Adams | 3:09 |
| 8. | "Take Me to Your Secret" | Joey Spampinato, Johnny Spampinato, T. Adams | 2:47 |
| 9. | "Blame It on the World" | Joey Spampinato, Johnny Spampinato | 3:02 |
| 10. | "Birdman" | David Greenberger, T. Adams | 1:03 |
| 11. | "I Want My Mommy" | T. Adams | 2:01 |
| 12. | "Careful What You Ask For" | Joey Spampinato | 3:23 |
| 13. | "Tired of Your Permanent" | T. Adams | 2:05 |
| 14. | "Love Came to Me" | Joey Spampinato | 3:05 |
| 15. | "Termites" | T. Adams | 3:22 |