Piece of Cake is the third studio album by American rock band Mudhoney.[1][2] Released in 1992, it was the band's first album for Reprise Records.[3] The album was released at the height of grunge, a genre Mudhoney had helped create.[4]
The album peaked at No. 189 on the Billboard 200.[5] The band supported it with a North American tour that included shows with Eugenius.[6] "Suck You Dry" and "Blinding Sun" were released as singles.[7]
Reprise reissued the album in 2003, bundled with the E.P.Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew and the b-sides from the singles. In 2020, Piece of Cake was included in the 4CD box set Real Low Vibe: Reprise Recordings 1992-1998.[8]
Production
Recorded at Seattle's Egg Studios, the album was produced by Conrad Uno and the band.[9][10] Mudhoney spent $15,000 to record it; unlike previous albums, the band completed it at one time, instead of spending non-consecutive weeks in the studio.[11][12] Reprise granted Mudhoney full artistic freedom in the making of Piece of Cake.[13]
Mudhoney reserved four of the album's tracks for each individual band member to do what he saw fit.[14] "Youth Body Expression Explosion" is an instrumental track.[15] The band used an organ on many of the songs.[16]Piece of Cake was the first Mudhoney album that bass player Matt Lukin was satisfied with.[17]
The Toronto Star wrote that the songs "are leavened with hooks and humor, and mostly free of extraneous axework."[24] The Calgary Herald determined that "it takes time to grow on you because [Mudhoney] eschews more over-the-top metal influences in favor of punkish garage-rock glory."[19] The Toronto Sun opined that "the majority of the 13 songs sound artlessly tossed together, as though the group felt a lack of effort, in and of itself, somehow constituted a statement about signing with a big corporation."[23]
The Washington Post concluded: "Where other Seattle bands seem to embrace going under, this one fights back ... Mudhoney is too noisy, too punchy and just plain too contrary to curl up and die."[25]The Indianapolis Star stated that, "in his minor-key yelp, Mark Arm frequently equates love with death ... Some listeners may be reminded of a similar album thematically, X's Under the Big Black Sun."[20]
The Rocky Mountain News listed Piece of Cake as the sixth best album of 1992.[26]Spin included the album on its list of the 20 best records of the year.[27]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Mudhoney, except where noted.
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