Golden State (album)
Golden State | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 23 October 2001 | |||
Studio | Olympic Studios, London and The Village Recorder, West Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 47:21 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Dave Sardy, Bush | |||
Bush chronology | ||||
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Scrapped album cover | ||||
Singles from Golden State | ||||
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Golden State is the fourth studio album by the British
Production
When asked by Rolling Stone reporter Christina Saraceno what the band was trying to achieve with Golden State, Rossdale replied:
I think to be honest, a lot of it was thinking about what kind of stuff I wanted to do live. To write new songs, you've got to start knocking some songs off the set list, and so I just kind of thought about songs like that, really. So everything has to be quite strident and forceful because we were playing in a rehearsal room and it was horrible [laughs], so it had to be strong.[2]
Rossdale also mentioned in an NY Rock interview that people would often have the clichéd idea that he is a dark, depressed person. To counteract this, he used the name Golden State because it sounded "warm and positive." Regarding the songs' positive theme, Rossdale noted "I'm far more relaxed and I guess that influenced the album quite a bit." The stripped down musical style was a result of the band practicing all the songs five weeks before recording. This voided the use of industrial elements as heard on The Science of Things. And as a final test, Rossdale played the songs through a "shitty" car stereo to make sure they recorded well.[3]
Nigel Pulsford later expressed disappointment at the final mix of the album:
Golden State suffered from too much Pro Tools and I don't think it sounds very good: all the life was produced out of it. It's a shame because the basic backing tracks sounded great.[4]
Music
The music of Golden State is held to be a resurrection of the sound of the band's 1994 debut album, Sixteen Stone.[5] Rossdale commented that he felt the band were "coming back full-circle" with the record, after a near decade together, further proclaiming Golden State to be "a real rock record" with a sound he felt was "very naked" and "empowering and uplifting".[1]
Promotion
The album's original cover featured an outline of a passenger
Since the song is one of love, appreciation and rising against adversity, we hope that this change will reflect our desire to be part of the soothing that art brings at these times.[7]
The song "Headful of Ghosts" also featured a lyric change when performed live, substituting the word terrorist for maverick, for the same reason.
Upon release, "The People That We Love" saw significant radio play as well as
Golden State was released by Atlantic Records, which originally distributed Sixteen Stone. Bush co-hosted the 22 October 2001 edition of Channel One News to promote the album and give away an autographed copy,[8] an act which critics of the educational program derided.
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Alternative Press | 6/10[9] |
Entertainment Weekly | B[10] |
LA Weekly | (unfavorable)[11] |
Q | [9] |
Rock Sound | [12] |
Rolling Stone | [13] |
Spin | 6/10[9] |
Yahoo! Music UK | [14] |
Golden State received mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, where they assign a "weighted average" rating out of 100 to selected independent ratings and reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a Metascore of a 63, based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[9]
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave a mainly positive review, considering Bush "comfortable and powerful, rocking hard" and to be "turning out songs that are not only catchy, but that hold together and cohere over the course of an album."[5] Erlewine complemented the band's return to their 1994 sound, giving the view that Golden State sounded "charmingly retro".[5]
Kerrang! lauded Golden State as "Bush's best album yet."[1]
Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone was, however, more dismissive, commenting "Today, the group could be criticized for imitating itself... Gavin Rossdale's delicious rasp is still unequivocally sexy, but his melodies are rote versions of the same old song." She added "Nothing here hits the inevitable, almost scientific heights the band reached with anthems like 'Everything Zen' or 'Glycerine.' As it is, Golden State has only a few bright spots."
Track listing
All songs written by Gavin Rossdale[15]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Solutions" | 4:27 |
2. | "Headful of Ghosts" | 4:21 |
3. | "The People That We Love" | 4:01 |
4. | "Superman" | 4:00 |
5. | "Fugitive" | 4:02 |
6. | "Hurricane" | 3:15 |
7. | "Inflatable" | 4:18 |
8. | "Reasons" | 3:41 |
9. | "Land of the Living" | 4:15 |
10. | "My Engine Is with You" | 2:35 |
11. | "Out of This World" | 4:04 |
12. | "Float" | 4:15 |
Total length: | 47:21 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Japanese Freight Train" (B-side) (Released on official website; bonus track on Australian and Japanese releases) | |
2. | "American Eyes" (B-side) ("The People That We Love" single) | |
3. | "Fireball" (Unreleased) |
Song appearances in other media
"The People That We Love" was included on the
Personnel
Bush
Additional musicians
|
Technical personnel
|
Chart performance
Album
Chart (2001) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums Chart (ARIA)[16] | 78 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] | 11 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] | 31 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] | 41 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] | 10 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[21] | 59 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] | 31 |
UK Albums (OCC)[23] | 53 |
US Billboard 200[24] | 22 |
Singles
Single | Chart | Peak position |
Year |
---|---|---|---|
"The People That We Love" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
|
10 | 2001 |
"Inflatable" | 2002 |
References
- ^ a b c BUSH -New Single, "The People That We Love" 2-4-7-music.com (15 November 2001). Retrieved on 11-24-08.
- ^ Dickinson, Stephanie Long Way Down From Where They've Been PopMatters (2001). Retrieved on 11-24-08.
- ^ Gabriella Interview with Gavin Rossdale of Bush Archived 7 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine NYRock.com (December 2001). Retrieved on 11-24-08.
- ^ "Wales - Music - Nigel Pulsford - Interview (2009) - part two". BBC. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ All Media Network. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
- ^ "Bush News - Yahoo! Music". New.music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- Chart. 19 September 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 2009-10-08.)
{{cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link - ^ Channel One Turns Show Over To Rock Band Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Obligation, Inc. (23 October 2001). Retrieved in 2007.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- ^ "Golden State". Ew.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ "LA Weekly review". Laweekly.com. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ^ K, Johnny (November 2001). "Reviews: Rock". Rock Sound. No. 30. UK: IXO Publishing Ltd. p. 84.
- ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
{{cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Yahoo! Music UK review". Archived from the original on 31 August 2004. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - All Media Network. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Bush – Golden State" (in German). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Bush – Golden State" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Bush – Golden State" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- Phononet GmbH.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Bush – Golden State". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Bush | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
- ^ "Bush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.