Lovesongs for Underdogs | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 9, 1997 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 45:04 | |||
Label | Sire/Warner Bros. Records (USA only); 4AD (rest of the world) | |||
Producer | Tanya Donelly, Wally Gagel, Gary Smith | |||
Tanya Donelly chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Lovesongs for Underdogs is the solo debut album by American singer Tanya Donelly, who had formerly recorded with Throwing Muses, The Breeders, and Belly. It was released on August 9, 1997. Two singles were released for promotion of the album. "Pretty Deep" was released in July 1997, while "The Bright Light" was released in October 1997. In the U.S both 4AD released singles were released in two parts, each including 2 newly released B-Sides. "Pretty Deep" featured "Spaghetti", "Morna", "These Days" and "Influenza". "The Bright Light" featured "Bury Me", "How Can You Sleep?", "Life On Sirius" and "Moon Over Boston". A music video for each single was produced and aired on Vh1 and MTV2. Both videos differed highly in creative and artistic direction from previous Belly videos and exclusively featured Tanya solo, in movie like settings. "Pretty Deep" and "The Bright Light" enjoyed heavy airplay on Triple A radio stations in the U.S Northeast. "Lovesongs For Underdogs" peaked at #36 on the Official UK Albums Chart for 2 weeks upon its release. The singles, "Pretty Deep" and "The Bright Light" peaked at #55 and #65 (the latter) for 2 weeks each upon their 2 CD Single releases.
All songs by Tanya Donelly except where noted.
Album – Billboard (North America)
Year | Chart | Position |
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1997 | Heatseekers | 20 |
The album was very popular in the Northeast, hitting Billboard's Northeast Heatseekers chart, and remaining for 4 weeks.
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Lords of Acid is a Belgian/American electronic music group, led by musician Praga Khan. They debuted with the new beat single "I Sit on Acid" in 1988. Created by Praga Khan, Olivier Adams, and Jade 4U; their debut album, 1991's Lust, were critically acclaimed within the electronic music and dance music communities for their outrageously sexual lyrics and sound samples. Their second album was Voodoo-U (1994), which featured a more industrial sound. This was followed by Our Little Secret (1997), Heaven Is an Orgasm (1998) and Expand Your Head (1999). In 2000 they released a more rock-influenced album titled Farstucker and in 2003, after being in the business for fifteen years, released a greatest hits album called Greatest T*ts.
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Throwing Muses is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was originally fronted by two lead singers, Kristin Hersh and Tanya Donelly (stepsisters), who both wrote the group's songs. Throwing Muses are known for performing music with shifting tempos, creative chord progressions, unorthodox song structures, and surreal lyrics. The group was set apart from other contemporary acts by Hersh's stark, candid writing style; Donelly's pop stylings and vocal harmonies; and David Narcizo's unusual drumming techniques eschewing use of cymbals. Hersh's hallucinatory, feverish lyrics occasionally touch on the subject of mental illness, more often drawing portraits of characters from daily life or addressing relationships.
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Tanya Donelly is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band The Breeders in 1989, before leaving to front her own band Belly in 1991. By the late 1990s, she settled into a solo recording career, working largely with musicians connected to the Boston music scene.
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Wally Gagel is an American, multi platinum, award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. His current work with Blondfire, Zella Day, Best Coast, Hunter Hunted, The Mowglis and Redlight King has garnered critical acclaim as well as commercial success. His production of Family of the Year's #1 single "Hero" caught the attention of movie director Richard Linklater who used it in the film "Boyhood."
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