| Welcome | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1992 | |||
| Label | Frontier | |||
| Producer | Ed Brooks, Dharma Bums | |||
| Dharma Bums chronology | ||||
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Welcome is an album by the American band Dharma Bums, released in 1992. [1] [2] Issued via Frontier Records, it was the band's final album. [3] [4] A video was shot for "The Light in You", the album's first single. [5] The band supported the album with European and North American tours. [6] [7] Welcome was a hit on college radio charts. [8]
The album was produced by Ed Brooks and the band. [9] Most of the songs are about romantic relationships; the band considered the sound to be similar to power pop. [10] Dharma Bums were also influenced by the heavier music of the early 1990s Northwestern scene. [11]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | |
The Oregonian wrote: "Rough-hewn but melodic, their sound works the guitar-bass-drums basics with freshness and fervor." [5] The Arizona Daily Star deemed the songs "petulant, sweet, loose, jangly, folky." [13] The Los Angeles Times determined that Welcome "combines sharp pop tunefulness with the transparent innocence and energy of youth." [8] The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that Dharma Bums "make their sound from R.E.M.-style jingle-jangle crossed with a garage band's rugged edge." [14]
The Houston Chronicle noted that the band "combines pop hooks and post-punk grunge with the energy of misspent youth." [15] CD Review concluded that "Welcome finds the Bums just as up front and credible as ever, [reminiscent] of the Saints or the Hoodoo Gurus at those groups' very best." [16] The Missoula Independent praised the "cosmic, emotive, accessible, modern rock vein." [17] The Central New Jersey Home News opined that "melodies and solos are understated; there seems to be something dark simmering beneath." [18]
AllMusic wrote that "most of Welcome consists of intriguing slices of moody jangle pop and country-tinged alt-rock that are all the more refreshing for the fact that none of them particularly sound like R.E.M." [12] LA Weekly included Welcome among the best albums of 1992. [19]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Light in You" | |
| 2. | "First Time/Last Time" | |
| 3. | "Good Advice" | |
| 4. | "Incestuous" | |
| 5. | "Porch Song" | |
| 6. | "A Push Me Pull Me" | |
| 7. | "Favor" | |
| 8. | "Wreck Around Town" | |
| 9. | "Bright Orange Spot" | |
| 10. | "Words" | |
| 11. | "Aces" |