Rubberneck (album) explained

Rubberneck
Type:studio
Artist:Toadies
Cover:Rubberneck_album_cover.jpg
Released:August 23, 1994
Recorded:September 18 – October 7, 1993[1]
Studio:Record Two Mendocino, Comptche, California
The Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
Length:36:21
Label:Interscope
Producer:Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf
Prev Title:Pleather
Prev Year:1993
Next Title:Hell Below/Stars Above
Next Year:2001

Rubberneck is the debut studio album by American rock band Toadies. It was released in August 1994 on Interscope Records and attained RIAA gold and platinum status in December 1995 and December 1996 respectively. The album produced the band's most popular single, "Possum Kingdom".

In 2014, in honor of the album's 20th anniversary, Kirtland Records re-released the album on CD and vinyl on April 1.[2] The album was remastered and also includes five bonus tracks.[3] Three of the bonus tracks are previously unreleased songs from the original album's sessions, including "Run in with Dad" and a cover of Pylon's "Stop It", both of which were previously recorded for Velvet, and "Rockfish", an early version of "Waterfall", a song later recorded for Feeler, the intended follow-up to Rubberneck. The other two bonus tracks are early live versions of "Possum Kingdom" and "Tyler", recorded at Trees Dallas on December 5, 1991. The vinyl only features the original 11 album tracks, and includes a download of the five bonus tracks.

Also in honor of the album's 20th anniversary, current band member Clark Vogeler made Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck, a 23-minute documentary about the album, featuring original behind-the-scenes footage recorded by Lisa Umbarger as well as newly recorded interviews.[4] It was debuted on March 10, 2014, at the Kessler Theater, in Dallas, Texas. The documentary was then posted on the internet two days later.[5]

Critical reception

The New York Times opined that "Todd Lewis's voice comes across somewhere between Robert Plant and Eddie Vedder."[6] The Village Voice noted that the band's "shrewd mixture of black-metal thematics, punk aggression, and grunge melancholia contains a seed of genuine revelation that rewards anyone who isn't scared off by the whiff of brimstone and scandal that clings to their work."[7]

Personnel

Chart positions

Singles

YearSingleChartPosition
1995"Possum Kingdom"Mainstream Rock Tracks9
Modern Rock Tracks4
1996"Away"Mainstream Rock Tracks23
Modern Rock Tracks28

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Clark Vogeler's "Dark Secrets - The Stories of Rubberneck" . YouTube.com.
  2. Web site: Rubberneck 20th Anniversary . thetoadies.com . January 8, 2014 . January 10, 2014.
  3. Web site: January 8, 2014. Toadies Announce Rubberneck 20-Year Anniversary Edition. January 10, 2014. Glide Magazine.
  4. Web site: Clark Vogeler's "Dark Secrets - The Stories of Rubberneck" . YouTube.com.
  5. Web site: Wilonsky. Robert. March 12, 2014. Exclusive video: The Toadies documentary 'Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck'. https://web.archive.org/web/20160220053242/https://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/03/exclusive-video-the-toadies-documentary-dark-secrets-the-stories-of-rubberneck.html/. February 20, 2016. April 24, 2014. The Dallas Morning News.
  6. News: Pareles . Jon . Never Far from Punk, and 31 Songs to a Set . The New York Times . May 27, 1995 . A15.
  7. News: Cooper . Carol . Swamp Thing . The Village Voice . 41 . 2 . Jan 9, 1996 . 42.
  8. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996. Billboard. November 9, 2020.