Only Life

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Only Life
Feeliesonlylife.jpg
Studio album by
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)

Only Life is the third album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1988. [3] [4] It was made with the same line-up that appeared on the band's previous album, The Good Earth . [5] The album contains a cover of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On". [6]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 173 on the Billboard 200. [7] Jonathan Demme directed the video for "Away". [8]

Style

Only Life has been described as an "updated and mature form" of its predecessor, The Good Earth . It features fewer acoustic tracks, with a "greater focus on speedy jangle-strum rockers". [9]

Production

The album was produced by Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, and Steve Rinkoff. [10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Robert Christgau B+ [12]
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 [13]
The Philadelphia Inquirer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [14]
Pitchfork 7.6/10 [15]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 7/10 [17]

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." [18] 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." [16] Trouser Press praised the "amazingly exacting sound and performances" and "riveting songs of breathless electricity." [19] USA Today listed the album at number nine on its list of the ten best albums of 1988. [20]

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

References

  1. Dupler, Steven (September 3, 1988). "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. "The Feelies | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  4. "The Feelies: Only Life & Time for a Witness". Relix Media. June 10, 2016.
  5. Earles, Andrew (September 15, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN   9780760346488 via Google Books.
  6. 1 2 The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 242.
  7. "The Feelies". Billboard.
  8. "FEELIES SAYING SOMETHING - Record Collector Magazine".
  9. Earles, Andrew (September 15, 2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Yoyageur Press. p. 104.
  10. Jenkins, Mark (September 14, 1988). "Records: The Feelies And Pere Ubu: Polished Power". The Washington Post: C7.
  11. Ned Raggett. "Only Life - The Feelies | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  12. "CG: feelies". Robert Christgau. March 26, 1991. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  13. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 419.
  14. Moon, Tom (October 9, 1988). "A STRONG BAND THAT WINS WITH ITS INSTRUMENTALS". The Philadelphia Inquirer: G14.
  15. "The Feelies: Only Life/Time For A Witness". Pitchfork.
  16. 1 2 "The Feelies: Only Life : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . November 3, 2008. Archived from the original on November 3, 2008.
  17. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 146–147.
  18. "Essential New Music: The Feelies' "Only Life" And "Time For A Witness"". April 17, 2016.
  19. "Feelies". Trouser Press. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  20. Gundersen, Edna (December 13, 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.