Piece of Cake (album) explained

Piece of Cake
Type:Album
Artist:Mudhoney
Cover:Piece Of Cake.jpg
Released:October 13, 1992
Recorded:July 1992
Studio:Egg Studios
Length:44:33
Label:Reprise
Producer:Conrad Uno, Mudhoney
Prev Title:Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Prev Year:1991
Next Title:My Brother the Cow
Next Year:1995

Piece of Cake is the third studio album by American rock band Mudhoney.[1] [2] Released in 1992, it was the band's first album for Reprise Records.[3] The album was released at the height of grunge, a genre Mudhoney had helped create.[4]

The album peaked at No. 189 on the Billboard 200.[5] The band supported it with a North American tour that included shows with Eugenius.[6] "Suck You Dry" and "Blinding Sun" were released as singles.[7]

Reprise reissued the album in 2003, bundled with the E.P. Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew and the b-sides from the singles. In 2020, Piece of Cake was included in the 4CD box set Real Low Vibe: Reprise Recordings 1992-1998.[8]

Production

Recorded at Seattle's Egg Studios, the album was produced by Conrad Uno and the band.[9] [10] Mudhoney spent $15,000 to record it; unlike previous albums, the band completed it at one time, instead of spending non-consecutive weeks in the studio.[11] [12] Reprise granted Mudhoney full artistic freedom in the making of Piece of Cake.[13]

Mudhoney reserved four of the album's tracks for each individual band member to do what he saw fit.[14] "Youth Body Expression Explosion" is an instrumental track.[15] The band used an organ on many of the songs.[16] Piece of Cake was the first Mudhoney album that bass player Matt Lukin was satisfied with.[17]

Critical reception

The Toronto Star wrote that the songs "are leavened with hooks and humor, and mostly free of extraneous axework."[18] The Calgary Herald determined that "it takes time to grow on you because [Mudhoney] eschews more over-the-top metal influences in favor of punkish garage-rock glory." The Toronto Sun opined that "the majority of the 13 songs sound artlessly tossed together, as though the group felt a lack of effort, in and of itself, somehow constituted a statement about signing with a big corporation."

The Washington Post concluded: "Where other Seattle bands seem to embrace going under, this one fights back ... Mudhoney is too noisy, too punchy and just plain too contrary to curl up and die."[19] The Indianapolis Star stated that, "in his minor-key yelp, Mark Arm frequently equates love with death ... Some listeners may be reminded of a similar album thematically, X's Under the Big Black Sun."

The Rocky Mountain News listed Piece of Cake as the sixth best album of 1992.[20] Spin included the album on its list of the 20 best records of the year.[21]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mudhoney, except where noted.

Original

  1. "[Untitled 1]" – 0:38
  2. "No End in Sight" – 3:34
  3. "Make It Now" – 4:25
  4. "When in Rome" – 3:55
  5. "[Untitled 2]" – 0:25
  6. "Suck You Dry" – 2:34
  7. "Blinding Sun" – 3:39
  8. "Thirteenth Floor Opening" – 2:31
  9. "Youth Body Expression Explosion" – 1:59
  10. "I'm Spun" – 4:04
  11. "[Untitled 3]" – 0:40
  12. "Take Me There" – 3:32
  13. "Living Wreck" – 3:30
  14. "Let Me Let You Down" – 3:57
  15. "[Untitled 4]" – 0:29
  16. "Ritzville" – 2:38
  17. "Acetone" – 4:15

2003 reissue bonus tracks

  2. "Over the Top" (Lemmy Kilmister, Eddie Clarke, Phil Taylor)– 2:35 *
  3. "King Sandbox" – 2:43 **
  4. "Baby o Baby" (Martin Rev) – 3:45 **
  5. "In the Blood" – 3:08 ***
  6. "No Song III" – 4:11 ***
  7. "Between Me and You Kid" – 3:38 ***
  8. "Six Two One" – 2:34 ***
  9. "Make It Now Again" – 4:35 ***
  10. "Deception Pass" – 2:54 ***/*/**
  11. "Underide" – 2:07 ***/*

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.[22]

Mudhoney
Additional musicians
Technical

Chart positions

Album

Chart (1992)Peakposition
Official UK Charts39
US Heatseekers9
US Billboard Top 200189

Singles

Notes and References

  1. True . Everett . Mudhoney . Melody Maker . Aug 22, 1992 . 68 . 34 . 24.
  2. Piece of Cake by Mudhoney . People . Oct 26, 1992 . 38 . 17 . 24.
  3. News: Sweeting . Adam . Pop/Rock . The Guardian . 16 Oct 1992 . Features.
  4. News: Powers . Ann . The Dirty Beat, Loud and Masculine . The New York Times . 31 Oct 1992 . 1:13.
  5. News: Mendoza . Manuel . Making a Scene – Seattle's sound has succeeded where others failed . The Dallas Morning News . November 8, 1992 . 1C.
  6. News: Hot Ticket . Vancouver Sun . 9 Nov 1992 . C1.
  7. News: MacDonald . Patrick . Home Bodies . The Seattle Times . November 27, 1992 . Tempo . 3.
  8. Web site: Deming. Mark. Mark Deming. Real Low Vibe: Reprise Recordings 1992-1998. AllMusic. November 26, 2023.
  9. News: Piquant Beat . The Wenatchee World . November 12, 1992 . A3.
  10. Piece of Cake by Mudhoney . Billboard . Oct 31, 1992 . 104 . 44 . 82.
  11. News: Kot . Greg . Sending up Seattle . Chicago Tribune . 6 Nov 1992 . Friday . 5.
  12. News: Smallwood . Sue . The Irreverent Mudhoney . The Virginian-Pilot . April 2, 1993 . Preview . 3.
  13. News: Sculley . Alan . Mudhoney of a Deal . Daily Press . 2 Apr 1993 . Newport News . InRoads . 15.
  14. News: Smith . Andy . Mudhoney's 'overblown' hit . The Providence Journal . November 1, 1992 . E5.
  15. News: Cohen . Howard . Mudhoney, Piece of Cake . Miami Herald . January 13, 1993 . 5E.
  16. News: Lepage . Mark . Mudhoney Piece of Cake . The Gazette . 14 Nov 1992 . Montreal . E14.
  17. News: Spanberg . Erik . Mudhoney's artful noise rises from Seattle scene . The Advocate . March 26, 1993 . Baton Rouge . Fun . 15.
  18. News: Howell . Peter . Mudhoney Piece of Cake (Reprise); Alice In Chains Dirt (Columbia) . Toronto Star . 31 Oct 1992 . G10.
  19. News: Jenkins . Mark . Mudhoney et al.: Making Waves in Puget Sound . The Washington Post . 1 Nov 1992 . G9.
  20. News: Mitchell . Justin . Season's Greetings from 1992's Top Rockers . Rocky Mountain News . November 13, 1992 . Weekend . 88.
  21. News: Johnson . Robert . Humor, 'Hypocrisy' add spice to '92's best . San Antonio Express-News . January 8, 1993 . 12A.
  22. Piece of Cake (2003 reissue). . 2003. Reprise Records. 5046658772.

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