| Let's Talk About Feelings | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Lagwagon |
| Cover: | Lets-Talk-About-Feelings.jpg |
| Released: | November 24, 1998 |
| Recorded: | 1998 |
| Genre: | Skate punk[1] |
| Length: | 25:25 59:02 (Reissue) |
| Label: | Fat Wreck Chords |
| Prev Title: | Double Plaidinum |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Let's Talk About Leftovers |
| Next Year: | 2000 |
Let's Talk About Feelings is the fifth full-length album released by the punk rock band Lagwagon on November 24, 1998.
Singer Joey Cape has stated that it is his favorite Lagwagon album.[2] NOFX's Punk in Drublic (1994) was a big influence on the album.[3] "Gun In Your Hand" contains a sound clip from the 1994 film, Swimming With Sharks and the song "Leave The Light On" contains two sound clips: One from the 1990 film, Jacob's Ladder, and another from the 1995 film, Welcome To The Dollhouse.
The front cover, painted by Mark deSalvo, depicts a teenage girl stating in a comic book word balloon "Let's Talk about Feelings". The back cover is a painting of a group of teenage girls talking in a bedroom.
Let's Talk About Feelings would debut at 33 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart,[4] and was met with positive reviews.
The song "May 16" would become a fan favorite and was included in the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 soundtrack. In 2016 Noisey did an interview with singer and songwriter Joey Cape about the meaning of the song and how the date had the nickname, "Lagwagon Day". Speaking about the inspiration for the song:
You know, it was me, hungover in an apartment with some girl I went home with from the bar the night before. There was an acoustic guitar in the corner. I heard this ruckus happening in a park adjacent to the apartment complex, and it was just a wedding happening on this Saturday, May 16. And my heart just broke; this wedding that I hadn’t been invited to for someone I was so close to for so many years of my life, where a misunderstanding caused a falling out between us from some time before. That story is very long and I don’t want to revisit it, but I kind of picked up the guitar and the first thing that came to mind was: “It’s just another Saturday,” but obviously I was in denial. The melody and the song came together; by the time my new friend got out of the shower or whatever, I had this terribly sad song.[5]
The album was reissued in 2011 with demos, outtakes, EP’s, and B-Sides.[6]
In a 2008 review from Consequence of Sound it was noted that "Where as many bands lose sight of their roots when they try to expand their sound, Lagwagon knows how to use their innovation in all the right places, satisfying both indie purists and Warped Tour teenagers in the process. Going to the skatepark never sounded so good."[7] On November 15, 2017, music and popular culture magazine Rolling Stone named Let's Talk About Feelings the 42nd greatest pop-punk album.[8] Cleveland.com ranked "May 16" at number 48 on their list of the top 100 pop-punk songs.[9]