Center of the Universe | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1992 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Label | Restless | |||
Producer | Giant Sand | |||
Giant Sand chronology | ||||
|
Center of the Universe is an album by the American band Giant Sand, released in 1992. [1] [2] It was the first Giant Sand album to receive wide distribution and a traditional promotional campaign. [3] It was also the band's first album for Restless Records, which had rereleased a couple of older Giant Sand albums. [4] The band supported Center of the Universe with a North American tour. [5]
Recorded in Venice, California, the album was produced by the band; they did not want a traditional producer suggesting or correcting musical ideas. [6] [7] Giant Sand entered the studio with songs for half an album, and had to finish the rest of the songs during the sessions. [8] Many of the songs are about characters on the fringes of society. [9] Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill, credited as the Psycho Sisters, provided backing vocals on some of the tracks. [10] Victoria Williams contributed vocals to the title track. [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau |
![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [14] |
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that "leader Howe Gelb continues to write ragged songs that refuse to adhere to a narrative track." [15] Robert Christgau praised "Thing Like That" and the title track. [12] Trouser Press said that "the heads-down rockism of the loud'n'proud Center of the Universe is clearly descended from Crazy Horse, particularly when Convertino and bassist Joey Burns lock into a groove as primordial as the one that propels the harsh 'Seeded ('tween Bone and Bark)'." [16] The Washington Post deemed it a "post-punk version of country-rock." [11]
USA Today noted that the band "embraces both pop structure and punk abandon." [17] Spin determined that the album "opens with an explosion of pointy guitar noise worthy of the meanest Lower East Side cluster-hunch, and coalesces into a wide brainful of songs describing the world as seen from the window of a mobile home falling through deep space." [18] The Vancouver Sun opined that "Gelb songs sound likes he's using guitar strings about the size of trans-Atlantic cable, plucked with chunks of floor tile and sung in a borderline psychotic drawl." [8]
AllMusic wrote that Giant Sand "assays another fascinating set of desert-fried rock & roll, serving up one winner after another on this excellent album." [10]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Seeded ('tween Bone and Bark)" | |
2. | "Pathfinder" | |
3. | "Center of the Universe" | |
4. | "Off Ramp Man" | |
5. | "Year of the Dog" | |
6. | "Live to Tell" | |
7. | "Thrust" | |
8. | "Loretta and the Insect World" | |
9. | "Sonic Drive In" | |
10. | "Milkshake Girl" | |
11. | "Stuck" | |
12. | "Thing Like That" | |
13. | "Return to Fodder" | |
14. | "Unwed and Well Sped" | |
15. | "Solomon's Ride" |
Center of the Universe | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1992 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Label | Restless | |||
Producer | Giant Sand | |||
Giant Sand chronology | ||||
|
Center of the Universe is an album by the American band Giant Sand, released in 1992. [1] [2] It was the first Giant Sand album to receive wide distribution and a traditional promotional campaign. [3] It was also the band's first album for Restless Records, which had rereleased a couple of older Giant Sand albums. [4] The band supported Center of the Universe with a North American tour. [5]
Recorded in Venice, California, the album was produced by the band; they did not want a traditional producer suggesting or correcting musical ideas. [6] [7] Giant Sand entered the studio with songs for half an album, and had to finish the rest of the songs during the sessions. [8] Many of the songs are about characters on the fringes of society. [9] Vicki Peterson and Susan Cowsill, credited as the Psycho Sisters, provided backing vocals on some of the tracks. [10] Victoria Williams contributed vocals to the title track. [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau |
![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [14] |
The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that "leader Howe Gelb continues to write ragged songs that refuse to adhere to a narrative track." [15] Robert Christgau praised "Thing Like That" and the title track. [12] Trouser Press said that "the heads-down rockism of the loud'n'proud Center of the Universe is clearly descended from Crazy Horse, particularly when Convertino and bassist Joey Burns lock into a groove as primordial as the one that propels the harsh 'Seeded ('tween Bone and Bark)'." [16] The Washington Post deemed it a "post-punk version of country-rock." [11]
USA Today noted that the band "embraces both pop structure and punk abandon." [17] Spin determined that the album "opens with an explosion of pointy guitar noise worthy of the meanest Lower East Side cluster-hunch, and coalesces into a wide brainful of songs describing the world as seen from the window of a mobile home falling through deep space." [18] The Vancouver Sun opined that "Gelb songs sound likes he's using guitar strings about the size of trans-Atlantic cable, plucked with chunks of floor tile and sung in a borderline psychotic drawl." [8]
AllMusic wrote that Giant Sand "assays another fascinating set of desert-fried rock & roll, serving up one winner after another on this excellent album." [10]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Seeded ('tween Bone and Bark)" | |
2. | "Pathfinder" | |
3. | "Center of the Universe" | |
4. | "Off Ramp Man" | |
5. | "Year of the Dog" | |
6. | "Live to Tell" | |
7. | "Thrust" | |
8. | "Loretta and the Insect World" | |
9. | "Sonic Drive In" | |
10. | "Milkshake Girl" | |
11. | "Stuck" | |
12. | "Thing Like That" | |
13. | "Return to Fodder" | |
14. | "Unwed and Well Sped" | |
15. | "Solomon's Ride" |