The Wayward Bus | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1992 | |||
Genre | Indie rock, indie pop | |||
Length | 28:39 | |||
Label | PoPuP, Merge | |||
Producer | Stephin Merritt | |||
The Magnetic Fields chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | B+ [2] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10 [3] |
The Wayward Bus is the second studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released in 1992 by the band's own label, PoPuP Records. [4]
As with the band's first release, Distant Plastic Trees , Susan Anway sings lead vocals on The Wayward Bus. The Wayward Bus is the last album featuring Anway, as she left the band to move interstate; [5] Stephin Merritt subsequently assumed vocal duties. [6] [7]
Merritt composed all of the album's songs but collaborated with a number of other musicians in recording the album, and they play various acoustic instruments. The Wayward Bus is unlike Distant Plastic Trees in this regard; the earlier album was synthesiser-based, and this synthesised instrumentation was performed exclusively by Merritt. [6]
Merritt acknowledged the influence of Phil Spector on the first half of the album: "It's a comment about Phil Spector songs. The second half is whatever I had lying around. Most people listen just to the first half of the record and assume it's all like that, a Phil Spector tribute or something, which it really isn't." [8]
The front cover was painted by Wendy Smith, the girlfriend of Stuart Moxham from Young Marble Giants, [9] and the title of the album is taken from the John Steinbeck novel The Wayward Bus .[ citation needed ]
In 1994, The Wayward Bus was released by Merge Records in a compilation with Distant Plastic Trees. [6] In 2016, Merge reissued this compilation as a double LP set. [7]
All tracks are written by Stephin Merritt
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "When You Were My Baby" | 2:43 |
2. | "The Saddest Story Ever Told" | 2:12 |
3. | "Lovers from the Moon" | 2:52 |
4. | "Candy" | 2:32 |
5. | "Tokyo Á Go-Go" | 3:12 |
6. | "Summer Lies" | 2:59 |
7. | "Old Orchard Beach" | 2:54 |
8. | "Jeremy" | 3:01 |
9. | "Dancing in Your Eyes" | 2:56 |
10. | "Suddenly There Is a Tidal Wave" | 3:18 |
The Magnetic Fields are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as frequent multi-instrumentalist. Merritt's lyrics are often about love and feature atypical or neutral gender roles, and are by turns ironic, tongue-in-cheek, bitter, and humorous.
Stephin Merritt is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is known for his distinctive and untrained bass voice.
69 Love Songs is the sixth studio album by American indie pop band the Magnetic Fields, released on September 7, 1999, by Merge Records. As its title indicates, 69 Love Songs is a three-volume concept album composed of 69 love songs, all written by Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt.
The Charm of the Highway Strip is the third studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released in 1994. It was the fourth Magnetic Fields album to be recorded, but was released five months prior to their intended third album Holiday, which was delayed for more than a year due to label issues. The Charm of the Highway Strip was also the band's debut release on Merge Records.
Get Lost is the fifth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released on October 24, 1995.
Holiday is the fourth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. The album was the band's third to be recorded and was intended to be release prior to The Charm of the Highway Strip through the label Feel Good All Over, but due to the label delaying its release, was issued in 1994 five months after its successor. Merge Records would later rerelease the album in 1999.
Colossal Youth is the only studio album by Welsh post-punk band Young Marble Giants, released in February 1980 on Rough Trade Records. Young Marble Giants were offered the opportunity to record the album after Rough Trade heard just two songs by the band on the local Cardiff music compilation Is the War Over?
i is the seventh studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was released on May 4, 2004, by record label Nonesuch. The songs of the album all start with the letter "i" and are all sung by Stephin Merritt. The songs are also in alphabetical order.
Distant Plastic Trees is the debut studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released in 1991. Lead vocals on the album are performed by Susan Anway.
The House of Tomorrow EP is the third major release by The Magnetic Fields, and the first with Stephin Merritt as the main vocalist. Merge Records reissued it in 1996. The EP's five songs are built on both musical and vocal repetition, so much so that the sleeve reads "five loop songs" as a pun on "five love songs".
Pieces of April is the soundtrack to the film of the same name. Written by Stephin Merritt and performed by his various bands, it was released on November 4, 2003 on Nonesuch Records. Three of the songs were previously released on The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, and "As You Turn to Go" and "You You You You You" were previously seen on The 6ths' album, Hyacinths and Thistles.
Distortion is the eighth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was released on January 15, 2008 on Nonesuch Records.
Memories of Love is the debut studio album by American indie pop band Future Bible Heroes, released in 1997 in the U.S., the U.K., Europe and Korea. Its accompanying booklet features twelve word puzzles and games that, if solved correctly, reveal the name of the band and the title of the album, plus the lyrics to each of the album's eleven songs.
Realism is the ninth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was officially released on January 26, 2010 by Nonesuch Records.
Love at the Bottom of the Sea is the tenth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was released in the U.K. on March 5, 2012 by record label Domino and in the U.S. on March 6, 2012 by Merge.
"100,000 Fireflies" is the first single by the American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, taken from their first studio album Distant Plastic Trees, released in 1991. It is known for its bleak, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and black humour and for Susan Anway's sparse, soprano vocal performance. The song saw play on alternative and college radio stations on its release and slowly grew into a cult classic, becoming "the ultimate staple" of indie mixtape culture during the 1990s.
Obscurities is a compilation album by Stephin Merritt, released in 2011 on Merge Records. It consists of B-sides, compilations cuts, and various other previously unreleased material.
50 Song Memoir is the eleventh studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released on March 10, 2017. 50 Song Memoir is an autobiographical concept album that chronicles the first 50 years of lyricist Stephin Merritt's life, with one song for each year that he has lived.
Shirley Simms is an American singer and songwriter known for her work as a member of indie pop band the Magnetic Fields. She has been singing on the band's albums since her first appearance on 1999's 69 Love Songs, with her and Stephin Merritt alternating between singing lead vocals throughout the album. Previously, she sang on several tracks on the Magnetic Fields' 1999 album 69 Love Songs. In addition to her vocal work with the Magnetic Fields, she also sometimes plays ukulele for them. In the late 1980s, before he started the Magnetic Fields, Merritt and Simms started the short-lived musical project Buffalo Rome; the group self-released a cassette during their existence. Also during the 1980s, she was also a member of the Boston-based band Lazy Susan, along with Claudia Gonson and Therese Bellino. As members of Lazy Susan, Simms and Gonson wrote the song "Plant White Roses", which was later included on Merritt's 2011 album Obscurities.
Quickies is the twelfth studio album by The Magnetic Fields. The album consists of 28 songs, each of which is between 0:17 and 2:35 in length. For the album's conceit, Magnetic Fields singer and songwriter Stephin Merritt was influenced by the short fiction of Lydia Davis and the writing of his own book of Scrabble poetry.