All About Chemistry
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2010) |
| All About Chemistry | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 13, 2001 | |||
| Studio | Seedy Underbelly Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, power pop | |||
| Length | 51:41 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | Semisonic, Dan Wilson | |||
| Semisonic chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from All About Chemistry | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 69/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
| The A.V. Club | Positive[4] |
| Chicago Tribune | Average[5] |
| Dotmusic |  [6] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[7] |
| NME | 3/10[2] |
| Q | [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
| Spin | 5/10[1] |
| Wall of Sound | 60/100[9] |
All About Chemistry is the third studio album by American rock band Semisonic, released on March 13, 2001, through MCA Records. With this release, the band failed, at least in America, to capitalize on the momentum it had generated with the song "Closing Time" from their previous album, Feeling Strangely Fine. This had a softer edge than Feeling Strangely Fine and was not as popular with the fans. By 2002, the album had sold 58,000 copies,[10] and its poor sales partially led to the band going on an unofficial hiatus.[citation needed] However, it has a five star rating by Q Magazine. The track "Chemistry" was featured on the soundtrack for 40 Days and 40 Nights.
The song "One True Love" was co-written by the band's singer/guitarist, Dan Wilson and music legend Carole King. The song "Get a Grip" is an ode to masturbation. The title track was included on the album "Nolee Mix" which was released to promote the My Scene dolls.
The special edition of the album features cover art with orange (or pink in the UK) fluid in the vials instead of the blue fluid of the original. It includes two bonus tracks, "Girlfriend" and "Ordinary Life"; instead of being tacked onto the end, they appear between "Get a Grip" and "Surprise."
Critical reception
[edit]Q listed All About Chemistry as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[11]
Track listing
[edit]All songs written by Dan Wilson, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chemistry" | 4:08 | |
| 2. | "Bed" | 4:05 | |
| 3. | "Act Naturally" | 3:42 | |
| 4. | "She's Got My Number" | 5:02 | |
| 5. | "Follow" | 3:44 | |
| 6. | "Sunshine & Chocolate" | 3:35 | |
| 7. | "Who's Stopping You?" | John Munson, Wilson | 3:06 |
| 8. | "I Wish" | 7:56 | |
| 9. | "One True Love" | Wilson, Carole King | 3:51 |
| 10. | "Get a Grip" | 3:35 | |
| 11. | "Surprise" | 3:48 | |
| 12. | "El Matador" | Jacob Slichter | 5:08 |
Charts
[edit]| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | 125 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 103 |
Personnel
[edit]- Dan Wilson – vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards
- John Munson – bass, piano, keyboards, trombone
- Jacob Slichter – drums, piano, keyboards
Guest musicians
- Ken Chastain – congas on "Act Naturally", darbuca on "Sunshine & Chocolate", Korg WaveDrum on "I Wish", tabla on "El Matador"
- Carole King – vocals, electric piano on "One True Love"
- Matt Wilson – additional vocals, synth on "Bed"
- John Fields – synths, loops, bass on "Sunshine & Chocolate"
- Gary Louris – guitar solo on "I Wish"
- Shane Washington – french horn on "Surprise"
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Critic Reviews for All About Chemistry". Metacritic. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^ Segal, Victoria (March 6, 2001). "NME Album Reviews - Semisonic : All About Chemistry". NME. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Rabin, Nathan (February 13, 2001). "Semisonic: All About Chemistry". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^ Kot, Greg (April 15, 2001). "Train Drops of Jupiter (Columbia); Semisonic All About Chemistry (MCA)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^ Browne, Nichola (March 1, 2001). "Semisonic - 'All About Chemistry' (MCA)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on June 27, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (March 16, 2001). "All About Chemistry Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 8, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^ Moon, Tom (March 16, 2001). "Semisonic: All About Chemistry". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.
- ^ Wright, Anders. "All About Chemistry". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on March 30, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
- ^ Archive-David-Basham. "Got Charts? Sympathy For Mariah, 2001's Biggest Flops, Nine Inch Nails' Chart Algebra". MTV News. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
- ^ "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q. December 2001. pp. 60–65.
