Only Life

Last updated
Only Life
Feeliesonlylife.jpg
Studio album by
The Feelies
ReleasedSeptember 13, 1988 [1]
Length39:17
Label Coyote/A&M [2]
Producer Steve Rinkoff, Bill Million, Glenn Mercer
The Feelies chronology
The Good Earth
(1986)		Only Life
(1988)		 Time for a Witness
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Robert Christgau B+ [4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
Pitchfork 7.6/10 [7]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 7/10 [10]

Only Life is the third album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1988. [11] [12] It was made with the same line-up that appeared on the band's previous album, The Good Earth . [13] The album contains a cover of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On". [9]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 173 on the Billboard 200. [14] Jonathan Demme directed the video for "Away". [15]

Production

The album was produced by Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, and Steve Rinkoff. [16]

Critical reception

Magnet wrote that "the songs grapple with apprehension and the longing for comfort, which the music delivers in the form of indelible hooks and transcendent rave-ups." [17] Rolling Stone wrote: "Driven by the interlocking guitars of Mercer and Bill Million, the band constructs waves of beautiful hypnotic drone, with subtle tempo shifts and percussion accents that ripple through the arrangements." [8] Trouser Press praised the "amazingly exacting sound and performances" and "riveting songs of breathless electricity." [18] USA Today listed the album at number nine on its list of the ten best albums of 1988. [19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Glenn Mercer except where noted

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."It's Only Life" 3:01
2."Too Much"Bill Million, Glenn Mercer4:38
3."Deep Fascination" 4:07
4."Higher Ground" 4:38
5."The Undertow" 3:43
Total length:20:07
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."For Awhile" 4:05
7."The Final Word"Million, Mercer2:23
8."Too Far Gone"Million, Mercer3:38
9."Away" 5:27
10."What Goes On" Lou Reed 3:37
Total length:19:10

Personnel

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References

  1. ↑ Dupler, Steven (1988-09-03). "The Eye". Billboard. Vol. 100, no. 36. p. 48. ISSN   0006-2510. Coyote/A&M act the Feelies' new single, "Away," from the album, "Only Life," due out Sept. 13
  2. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 415.
  3. ↑ Ned Raggett. "Only Life - The Feelies | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  4. ↑ "CG: feelies". Robert Christgau. 1991-03-26. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  5. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 419.
  6. ↑ Moon, Tom (9 Oct 1988). "A STRONG BAND THAT WINS WITH ITS INSTRUMENTALS". The Philadelphia Inquirer: G14.
  7. ↑ "The Feelies: Only Life/Time For A Witness". Pitchfork.
  8. 1 2 "The Feelies: Only Life : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . November 3, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-11-03.
  9. 1 2 The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 242.
  10. ↑ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 146–147.
  11. ↑ "The Feelies | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  12. ↑ "The Feelies: Only Life & Time for a Witness". Relix Media. June 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ Earles, Andrew (September 15, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN   9780760346488 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ "The Feelies". Billboard.
  15. ↑ "FEELIES SAYING SOMETHING - Record Collector Magazine".
  16. ↑ Jenkins, Mark (14 Sep 1988). "Records: The Feelies And Pere Ubu: Polished Power". The Washington Post: C7.
  17. ↑ "Essential New Music: The Feelies' "Only Life" And "Time For A Witness"". April 17, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Feelies". Trouser Press. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  19. ↑ Gundersen, Edna (13 Dec 1988). "The year in music: Only a few stand out in a so-so period for rock: In 1988, pop falls short on substance". USA Today: 1D.


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