Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on February 11, 1992. Following up on the surprise success of their breakthrough singles "Ball and Chain" and "Story of My Life", Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell became a popular album and received positive reviews from music critics. It also spawned their highest-charting single "Bad Luck", which peaked at number 2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell was one of the best-selling albums of Social Distortion's recording career, achieving gold sales certification in the United States by 2000,[4] and by 1996, the album had sold 296,000 copies.[5] It peaked at number 76 on the US Billboard 200 and topped the Heatseekers chart, and was also Social Distortion's last to feature drummer Christopher Reece, who left the band in 1994.
The cover art features frontman Mike Ness mid-jump, while playing one of his Gibson Les Pauls. The cover is reminiscent and possibly an homage to Joan Jett jumping with her Gibson MelodyMaker over a canary yellow background on her third album, Album.
Music style
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell continues the melding of country and rockabilly influences with punk rock that began with Social Distortion's 1988 album Prison Bound. Clear influences include Hank Williams (on "This Time Darlin'") and Johnny Cash (on "99 to Life").[6] Critic Robert Christgau referred to the album as a "new meaning of hard-honky-tonk," referring to the band's mixing of honky-tonk style of country music and hardcore punk.[2]
Reviews for Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell have generally been favorable. AllMusic's Paul Tinelli awards the album four-and-a-half stars out of five and praised the music as a "share of rollicking, straight-ahead hard rock." He also claims that Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell "had all the earmarks of a major commercial success with some radio friendly tunes and strong production, but it never found the large audience Epic Records expected."[1]
Covers
In 2008, Danish rock band Volbeat released a cover of “Making Believe” on their third album, Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood. In 2018, the German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen covered the song "Cold Feelings" on their "Laune der Natur" single.
Track listing
All songs written by Mike Ness unless otherwise noted.
Michael James Ness is an American musician who is the lead guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter for the punk rock band Social Distortion, which was formed in 1979.
John Maurer is an American musician who was a longtime bass guitarist for Social Distortion from 1984 to 2004.
Dennis Eric Danell (June 24, 1961 – February 29, 2000) was an American musician, guitarist and co-founding member of the Southern California punk rock band Social Distortion.
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness, Jonny Wickersham, Brent Harding, David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards).
Social Distortion is the third studio album and major label debut by the American punk rock band of the same name, released on March 27, 1990, through Epic Records. The album furthered the country-infused experimentation of Prison Bound with songs like "Drug Train" and the radio hit "Ball and Chain".
Christopher Reece is an American musician. He was the drummer of The Lewd (1981–1983) and Social Distortion (1984–1993).
Prison Bound is the second studio album by Social Distortion, released in 1988. It was the first album with bass guitarist John Maurer and drummer Christopher Reece. It expands the punk rock sound of the band's first album, Mommy's Little Monster (1983), by adding influences from country music and blues rock.
Mommy's Little Monster is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Social Distortion, released in 1983 through their vanity label 13th Floor Records. The album is notably different in its tone and quality from the band's subsequent releases, featuring styles of traditional punk rock, both traditional hardcore and melodic hardcore, and pop-punk. This is Social Distortion's only studio album to feature bassist Brent Liles and drummer Derek O'Brien, both of whom were out of the band by early 1984 and would be replaced by John Maurer and Chris Reece respectively. The album received underground acclaim from punk rock fanzines, and it has been acknowledged as influential and inspirational to the then-burgeoning pop-punk and skate punk scenes.
White Light, White Heat, White Trash is the fifth studio album by American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on September 17, 1996, by 550 Music and Epic Records. The album was produced by Michael Beinhorn. After the release of Social Distortion's 1992 album Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, the band toured until the end of 1993 and needed a break. After dealing with court battles over early recordings and attempting to retrieve them, package them up, and release them, Social Distortion wrote many songs to plan a new album.
Free at Last is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Free. It was recorded between January and March 1972, and released in May that year. After breaking up in May 1971 due to differences between singer Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, the band had reformed in January 1972.
Live at the Roxy is a live album by American punk rock band Social Distortion. It was released in 1998, on the independent label Time Bomb label. It is the last Social Distortion release to feature founding rhythm guitarist Dennis Danell, who died in 2000. John Moore of New Noises referred to Live at the Roxy as one of the best live punk rock albums of all time.
"Story of My Life" is a 1990 song by American punk rock band Social Distortion, written by frontman Mike Ness. It was released as a single and also appeared on their self-titled album as well as Live at the Roxy live album. The song describes a man looking back wistfully on life, such as a love interest he had as a teenager, and how things have changed and how quickly his life has passed him by.
The discography of Social Distortion, a Southern California-based punk rock band formed in 1978 by vocalist/guitarist and founder Mike Ness, contains seven studio albums, one extended play (EP), two compilation albums, two DVDs and twenty-four singles.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by Social Distortion. It was released on June 25, 2007. It includes hit singles from Mommy's Little Monster to Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll - as well as the unreleased track "Far Behind", which also became a hit single – yet lacks anything from Mainliner, which is actually a compilation of unreleased early material.
"Bad Luck" is a song by American punk rock band Social Distortion from their fourth studio album Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell which was released as a single in 1992.
Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood is the third studio album by Danish rock band Volbeat, released on 1 September 2008. It reached the #1 position on both the Danish and Finnish album charts, staying on the former for 35 consecutive weeks, while also briefly reappearing on it in 2014. The album also charted highly in several other countries. Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood is the follow-up to Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil, which achieved platinum status in Denmark, and cemented Volbeat's popularity in Denmark as well as increasing their popularity in nearby countries considerably.
Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes is the seventh and latest studio album by American punk rock band Social Distortion, released on January 18, 2011. It is the band's first album recorded with bassist Brent Harding, their first album of new material since 2004's Sex, Love and Rock 'n' Roll, and their first release on Epitaph Records. Work on the album began in 2006 and it was originally forecast for a 2007 release, but was pushed back several times while the band continued touring and writing new material. After four years of writing, Social Distortion recorded the album from February to July 2010 at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California. Drummer Atom Willard left the group during the recording sessions in favor of his other band, Angels & Airwaves. He was temporarily replaced by Scott Reeder before David Hidalgo, Jr. joined as the band's new permanent drummer. Despite being listed as a band member on the album, Hidalgo did not actually play on it; instead, the band hired session musician Josh Freese to record the drum tracks.
"Making Believe" is a country music song written by Jimmy Work. Kitty Wells recorded a chart-topping version in 1955. The song is on many lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over the past fifty years, including Thorleifs, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Don Gibson, Roy Acuff, Lefty Frizzell, Wanda Jackson, Connie Francis, Ray Charles, Anita Carter, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, The Kendalls, Ernest Tubb, Skeeter Davis, The Haden Triplets, Social Distortion and Volbeat. The song is occasionally called "Makin' Believe".
"Let It Be Me" is a song by American punk rock band Social Distortion from their 1990 self-titled album. Released as a single, it charted on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart at No. 11. A live version appears on their Live at the Roxy live album.
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