The Mommyheads (album)

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The Mommyheads
The Mommyheads (album).jpg
Studio album by
the Mommyheads
Released1997
Studio Ocean Way Recording, The Pool House
Genre Pop [1]
Label DGC [2]
Producer The Mommyheads, Don Was
The Mommyheads chronology
Bingham's Hole
(1995)		The Mommyheads
(1997)		You're Not a Dream
(2008)

The Mommyheads is an album by the American band the Mommyheads, released in 1997. [3] [4] The first single was "Jaded". [5]

Contents

The band supported the album with a North American tour. [6] The Mommyheads was nominated for a Bammie Award. [7] The album was barely marketed by Geffen; the band went dormant for more than a decade shortly after its release. [8]

Production

The album was produced by the band and Don Was, and was recorded at Ocean Way Recording and Was's home studio. [9] [10] It was mixed by Jim Scott. [11] "Wake Up Irene" employed a horn section. [12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
Contra Costa Times B [14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Rocky Mountain News B− [12]
The Tampa Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [9]

The Dayton Daily News called the album "pristine pop from a quartet that's spent a lot of time constructively observing the world around them before they put songwriting pen to paper." [16] The New York Times deemed the band "postgraduate students of the Beach Boys and the Beatles, out to capture the nuances of longing in perfectly balanced melodies." [17] The St. Petersburg Times advised: "Mix one part Wings Paul McCartney with two parts Weezer, then toss in an old '70s organ for a quirky sentimentality, and you have the major label debut of the Mommyheads." [18]

Stereo Review noted that "the Mommyheads seem to be rooted in the notion of pop as something that's both ambitious and instantly appealing, something that's accessibly in tune while sounding slightly off-kilter." [19] Guitar Player determined that "few things in music are as subtle as pure pop... [Adam] Cohen produces the kind of underplayed guitar that recent Brit poppers can only fantasize about." [20] The Contra Costa Times concluded that "the spirit of the Abbey Road-era Beatles glides in and out of the Mommyheads self-titled new album so frequently it's almost eerie." [14]

AllMusic praised the "mature pop sound." [13]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Jaded" 
2."I'm in Awe" 
3."Bellhop" 
4."In the Way" 
5."You Keep On Looking Back" 
6."Sad Girl" 
7."Wake Up Irene" 
8."Thought of You" 
9."Monkey" 
10."Would He Know?" 
11."Corky" 
12."Screwed" 

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References

  1. ↑ Conner, Thomas (August 1, 1997). "The Mommyheads The Mommyheads". Entertainment News. Tulsa World. p. 12.
  2. ↑ Heller, Greg (July 20, 1997). "S.F.'s Mommyheads Hitting the Big Time". Sunday Datebook. San Francisco Chronicle. p. 42.
  3. ↑ "The Mommyheads Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  4. ↑ Greene, Sarah (June 4, 2011). "The Mommyheads". Now Toronto.
  5. ↑ Rosen, Craig (July 12, 1997). "Mommyheads' 'Jaded' heralds DGC set". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 28. pp. 14, 101.
  6. ↑ "Revolutions". Arts & Entertainment. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 19 Sep 1997. p. 20.
  7. ↑ Garcia, Chris (7 Dec 1997). "Bammie nod for Bracket". The Press Democrat. p. Q3.
  8. ↑ "North Adams resident McNair part of the Mommyheads' third act". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  9. 1 2 Lammers, Dirk (January 9, 1998). "The Mommyheads, The Mommyheads". Friday Extra!. The Tampa Tribune. p. 17.
  10. ↑ "Mommyheads mum on what's in a name". Los Angeles Daily News. 4 July 1997. p. L21.
  11. ↑ Powell, Betsy (4 Sep 1997). "Adam Cohen wasn't feeling particularly warm and fuzzy...". Toronto Star. p. G9.
  12. 1 2 Mehle, Michael (August 8, 1997). "Don Was works with a lot of big names...". Rocky Mountain News. p. 18D.
  13. 1 2 "The Mommyheads Mommyheads". AllMusic.
  14. 1 2 McMullen, Randy (August 22, 1997). "'The Mommyheads, The Mommyheads". Contra Costa Times. p. TO30.
  15. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 773.
  16. ↑ Rollins, Ron (22 Aug 1997). "Recordings in Brief". Go!. Dayton Daily News. p. 19.
  17. ↑ Pareles, Jon (19 Sep 1997). "Pop and Jazz Guide". The New York Times. p. E27.
  18. ↑ Blank, Christopher (23 Jan 1998). "The Mommyheads: The Mommyheads". Weekend. St. Petersburg Times. p. 18.
  19. ↑ Puterbaugh, Parke (Nov 1997). "The Mommyheads". Stereo Review. Vol. 62, no. 11. p. 132.
  20. ↑ Dawdy, Philip (Dec 1997). "The Mommyheads". Guitar Player. Vol. 31, no. 12. p. 100.
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