Inside (Matthew Sweet album)

Inside
Studio album by
Released1986
StudioThe Power Station, RPM Studios, Unique Recording Studios, Right Track Recording, Soundworks, The Hit Factory (New York City, New York); The Sound Factory (Hollywood, California); Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, California); Park Avenue Sound (Massachusetts); RG Jones, Good Earth Studios, Marquee Studios, Westside Studios, Advision Studios, Air Studios, Mayfair Studios and Battery Studios, (London, UK).
GenreAlternative rock
Length41:22
LabelColumbia
ProducerMatthew Sweet, David Kahne, François Kevorkian, Stephen Hague, Ron Saint Germain, Don Dixon, David M. Allen, Alan Tarney[1]
Matthew Sweet chronology
Inside
(1986)
Earth
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]
Spin Alternative Record Guide5/10[5]

Inside is the debut album by alternative rock musician Matthew Sweet.[6][7] It was released on Columbia Records in 1986.[8][9] Sweet was dropped from the label after the album's release, and would not put out another record for three years.[10]

Production

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The album was recorded in multiple studios with a large number of producers and musicians, including Bernie Worrell, Chris Stamey, Scott Litt, Don Dixon, and Aimee Mann, among others.[11]

Critical reception

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Trouser Press called the album "a bit like R.E.M. and early dB’s doing sincere power-pop with keyboards."[11] The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote that the songs "come across like the snappy work of a brainy Tommy James."[4] The Spin Alternative Record Guide called Inside "notable only because it features ten different producers, none of whom have a clue what to do with Sweet's music."[5] The Chicago Reader called it "tuneful and pleasant but ... sunk by the electropop, machine-driven production Sweet was pursuing."[12]

Track listing

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All songs written by Matthew Sweet, except where indicated.

  1. "Quiet Her" - 3:27
  2. "Blue Fools" - 3:43
  3. "We Lose Another Day" (Sweet, Pal Shazar) - 3:11
  4. "Catch Your Breath" - 4:00
  5. "Half Asleep" - 4:26
  6. "This Above All" - 3:50
  7. "Save Time for Me" (Sweet, Jules Shear) - 4:14
  8. "By Herself" (Sweet, Adele Bertei) - 3:47
  9. "Brotherhood" (Sweet, Pal Shazar) - 3:31
  10. "Love I Trusted" - 4:15
  11. "Watch You Walking" (Sweet, Pal Shazar) - 2:57

Personnel

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Production

[edit]
  • Steve Rallbovsky – executive producer
  • Scott Litt – producer (1, 6), engineer (1, 6), mixing (2, 4, 9)
  • David Kahne – producer (2)
  • Stephen Hague – producer (3, 11)
  • David M. Allen – producer (4, 9)
  • Matthew Sweet – producer (4)
  • Simon Hanhart – producer (5), engineer (5)
  • Don Dixon – producer (6)
  • Alan Tarney – producer (7)
  • François Kervorkian – producer (8, 10)
  • Ron St. Germain – producer (8, 10), recording (8, 10), mixing (8, 10)
  • Tchad Blake – engineer (2)
  • David Jacob – mixing (3, 11)
  • Gordon Futter – engineer (4)
  • Gerry Kitchenham – engineer (7)
  • John Hudson – mixing (7)
  • Mark Saunders – engineer (9)
  • Jon Goldenberger – assistant engineer (1, 6)
  • Jay Healy – assistant engineer (1), mix assistant (4)
  • Mike Krowiak – assistant engineer (6)
  • Noel Rafferty – assistant engineer (7)
  • Acar Key – recording assistant (8, 10)
  • Billy Miranda – recording assistant (8)
  • Dennis Mitchell – mix assistant (8), recording assistant (10)
  • Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
  • Stephen Byram – design
  • Harris Savides – photography
  • Tony Meilandt and AGM Management – management

References

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  1. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1115.
  2. ^ Inside at AllMusic
  3. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 879.
  4. ^ a b The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 687.
  5. ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 391.
  6. ^ "Matthew Sweet | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  7. ^ "Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Cover the Eighties". The New Yorker.
  8. ^ "Matthew Sweet's got a thing for felines". The San Francisco Examiner. January 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "Matthew Sweet". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021.
  10. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock (2nd ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 978.
  11. ^ a b "Matthew Sweet". Trouser Press. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  12. ^ Wyman, Bill. "Divine Intervention: How they made Matthew sound so sweet". Chicago Reader.