Wide Swing Tremolo
Wide Swing Tremolo is the third studio album by alternative country band Son Volt.[9][10] It was released in 1998 on Warner Bros. Records.[2][11]
| Wide Swing Tremolo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Son Volt | ||||
| Released | October 6, 1998 | |||
| Recorded | Jajouka Studio | |||
| Genre | Alternative country | |||
| Length | 45:34 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Son Volt | |||
| Son Volt chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[3] |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | |
| Pitchfork Media | 7.3/10[6] |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The New Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
The album peaked at No. 93 on the Billboard 200.[12]
Production
The album was recorded in Millstadt, Illinois, at the band's rehearsal space.[13] It was produced by the band and engineered by David Barbe.[14]
Critical reception
Entertainment Weekly wrote that "many of the songs ... return to the power and purity of the band’s brilliant 1995 debut, Trace.[3] Trouser Press called the album "genuinely mediocre," writing that "the flourishes that had initially made Son Volt uncanny had transgressed into stale formula."[15] The Tucson Weekly wrote that "the songs retain Farrar's downcast approach, but they're extremely well-written this time around; and the band seems to have been reinvigorated, putting a little more into their performances than the cultivated ennui we've become accustomed to."[16]
Track listing
All songs written by Jay Farrar.
- "Straightface" - 3:02
- "Driving the View" - 2:57
- "Jodel" - 0:41
- "Medicine Hat" - 4:12
- "Strands" - 5:06
- "Flow" - 2:18
- "Dead Man's Clothes" - 2:46
- "Right on Through" - 3:08
- "Chanty" - 1:27
- "Carry You Down" - 3:28
- "Question" - 4:00
- "Streets That Time Walks" - 5:24
- "Hanging Blue Side" - 3:41
- "Blind Hope" - 3:17
Personnel
- Jay Farrar - guitars, lead vocals, Chamberlin organ, acoustic and electric pianos, dulcimer, harmonica
- Dave Boquist - guitars, lap steel guitar, fiddle, viola
- Jim Boquist - bass, backing vocals, slide guitar (4), piano (7)
- Mike Heidorn - drums, percussion
- Eric Heywood - pedal steel guitar (13, 14)
- Dave Barbe - Kenyan rattle (13)
References
- "Wide Swing Tremolo - Son Volt | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
- Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 600.
- "Wide Swing Tremolo". EW.com.
- "Album Review / Pop". Los Angeles Times. October 10, 1998.
- MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1049.
- "Son Volt: Wide Swing Tremolo: Pitchfork Record Review". April 27, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-27.
- "Wide Swing Tremolo : Son Volt : Review : Rolling Stone". February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24.
- The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 759.
- "Son Volt | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- "Son Volt Turn It Up With Tremolo". MTV News.
- "Distant Rumblings". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network, Inc. November 11, 1998 – via Google Books.
- "Son Volt". Billboard.
- Himes, Geoffrey (September 25, 1998). "SON VOLT'S RURAL ROCK" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
- Harris, Michael C. (October 1, 1998). "Americana, No Depression, Whatever". Miami New Times.
- "Son Volt". Trouser Press. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- "Tucson Weekly: Soundbites (October 22 - October 28, 1998)". www.tucsonweekly.com.
