Pay Attention

Pay Attention
Studio album by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Released	May 2, 2000
Recorded	1999–2000
Genre	Ska punk, ska-core [1]
Length	51:08
Label	Island
Producer	Paul Q. Kolderie, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones chronology
Live from the Middle East (1998) Pay Attention (2000) A Jackknife to a Swan (2002)
Singles from Pay Attention
"So Sad to Say" Released: 2000 "She Just Happened" Released: 2000

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Kerrang!	[3]
Ox-Fanzine	Favorable [4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Wall of Sound	71/100 [6]

Pay Attention is the sixth studio album by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It was released on May 2, 2000 by Island Records. The video for "So Sad to Say" premiered on MTV's 120 Minutes on April 25, 2000. ^[7] In March and April 2001, the band held several shows in certain US cities as part of a multi-day club tour. ^[8]

It reached #74 on the Billboard 200 ^{[ citation needed ]} and #170 on the Australian ARIA Charts. ^[9]

Track listing

All songs written by Dicky Barrett and Joe Gittleman, except where noted.

1. "Let Me Be" – 3:52
2. "The Skeleton Song" – 3:01
3. "All Things Considered" (Barrett, Nate Albert) – 4:01
4. "So Sad to Say" – 3:10
5. "Allow Them" – 3:57
6. "High School Dance" – 2:52
7. "Over the Eggshells" – 2:59
8. "She Just Happened" – 2:53
9. "Finally" – 3:47
10. "I Know More" – 3:08
11. "Riot on Broad Street" – 3:13
12. "One Million Reasons" (Barrett, Gittleman, Dennis Brockenborough) – 3:01
13. "Bad News and Bad Breaks" – 3:33
14. "Temporary Trip" – 2:27
15. "Where You Come From" (Barrett, Albert) – 2:46
16. "The Day He Didn't Die" (Barrett, Albert) – 3:24

Big Rig 12" Double Vinyl bonus tracks

17. "The Meaning" – 2:33
18. "The Skeleton Song" (demo) – 3:10
19. "Simmer Down" (live) – 2:29
20. "New England Memories" – 2:28

Australia CD bonus tracks

17. "Together" – 3:05
18. "Just as Much" – 3:01

Personnel

• Dicky Barrett – lead vocals
• Nate Albert – guitars, backing vocals
• Joe Gittleman – bass, backing vocals
• Tim "Johnny Vegas" Burton – saxophone, backing vocals
• Roman Fleysher – saxophone
• Dennis Brockenborough – trombone
• Joe Sirois – drums
• Ben Carr – Bosstone, vocals
• Paul Q. Kolderie – producer, engineer
• Johnny Goetchius – keyboards, backing vocals
• Rolf Langsjoen – trumpet
• John Allen – vocals on track 11
• Paul Scarpino – acoustic guitar on track 11
• Ernie Wilson – bass guitar on track 11
• Bob Richards – drums on track 11
• Nat Freedberg – backing vocals on track 9
• Mark Higgins – musician
• Billy O'Malley – musician
• Andrew Schneider – engineer
• Sean Slade – engineer
• Fran Flannery – assistant engineer
• Ted Paduck – assistant engineer
• Andy Wallace – mixing
• Howie Weinberg – mastering
• Steve Sisco – assistant
• Joseph Cultice – photography
• Bill Horsman – photography

Notes

• This was the last album recorded with guitarist Nate Albert, trombonist Dennis Brockenborough, and the first with Roman Fleysher on saxophone. It was also the band's last on a major label.
• "So Sad to Say", the first single off this album, made its debut at Fenway Park on the big screen on Opening Day, 2000.
• "Riot on Broad Street" is based on the fights between Yankee firefighters and an Irish funeral procession on June 11, 1837.

References

1. Drozdowski, Ted (May 2000). "United Colors of Beantown". CMJ New Music Monthly . No. 81. p. 47. Cut for cut, Pay Attention is another step in songwriting evolution for the once-plaid-clad architects of the fusion of punk rock and Afro-Caribbean dance music known as skacore.
2. Pay Attention at AllMusic
3. Travers, Paul (April 29, 2000). "Albums". Kerrang! . No. 799. EMAP. p. 45.
4. Wessel, Lauri (June–August 2000). "Reviews: Mighty Mighty Bosstones / Pay Attention CD". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved May 26, 2019.
5. Rolling Stone review
6. Remstein, Bob. "Review: Pay Attention". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on April 15, 2001. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
7. "Dicky TV, So Pay Attention". Punknews.org. April 25, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
8. White, Adam (February 19, 2001). "Your Town Throwdown". Punknews.org. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
9. "The Mighty Mighty Bosstones ARIA Albums Chart history (complete 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.