Nineteeneighties
| Nineteeneighties | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 27, 2006 | |||
| Studios |
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| Genres | Rock, folk | |||
| Length | 43:54 | |||
| Label | Zoë | |||
| Producer | Grant-Lee Phillips | |||
| Grant-Lee Phillips chronology | ||||
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Nineteeneighties is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Grant-Lee Phillips. The album consists of cover songs of college rock bands synonymous with the 1980s.[1] It was released on June 27, 2006, under Zoë Records.
Production
The bulk of the album was recorded at Grant-Lee Phillips' personal studio, Magnetic Fields Recordings, with Phillips performing most of the instruments. David J. Carpenter, a collaborator of John Doe and Gregory Page, and Kevin Jarvis, drummer on several Steve Wynn solo albums, performed on four tracks each, while The Section Quartet founder Eric Gorfain appeared on a single recording.[2]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 75/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [4] |
| MusicOMH | [5] |
Nineteeneighties was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 75, based on 10 reviews.[3] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 73 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 5 reviews.[6]
In a review for Slant Magazine, Preston Jones awarded the album three out of five stars and complimented "Age of Consent" as a "particular beauty".[7] For NPR, Stephen Thompson wrote "it's surprising how smoothly these tributes fit into his homespun, heartfelt catalog."[8] Michael Metivier, writing for PopMatters, positively compared Nineteeneighties to The Covers Record by Cat Power, believing Phillips' interpretations had an "identifiable purpose".[9] Mark Deming of AllMusic called Phillips' arrangements "measured and atmospheric", continuing with "Phillips reaches into the material with an obvious love and respect, and he finds a beautifully melancholy essence".[4] Billboard critic Joshua Klein commended Phillips for not leaning into the "giddy 80s excess" and instead focused on "the explosion of creativity inspired by punk and new wave" of the 1980s.[10] For The Sunday Times, Mike Edwards praised the renditions of "Boys Don't Cry", "So Central Rain", and "Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me", but said "the dreamy pace can occasionally become soporific".[11]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wave of Mutilation" | Black Francis | Pixies | 3:36 |
| 2. | "Age of Consent" | Gillian Lesley Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Paul David Morris, Bernard Sumner | New Order | 3:34 |
| 3. | "The Eternal" | Ian Curtis, Hook, Morris, Summer | Joy Division | 5:15 |
| 4. | "I Often Dream of Trains" | Robyn Hitchcock | Robyn Hitchcock | 3:20 |
| 5. | "The Killing Moon" | Pete Louis Vincent de Freitas, Ian Stephen McCulloch, Leslie Thomas Pattinson | Echo & the Bunnymen | 4:14 |
| 6. | "Love My Way" | John Gez Ashton, Richard Lofthouse Butler, Timothy George Butler, Vincent Ely | The Psychedelic Furs | 4:33 |
| 7. | "Under the Milky Way" | Karin Jansson, Steve Kilbey | The Church | 4:29 |
| 8. | "City of Refuge" | Nick Cave | Nick Cave | 3:36 |
| 9. | "So. Central Rain" | William Thomas Berry, Peter Lawrence Buck, Michael E. Mills, John Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | 3:24 |
| 10. | "Boys Don't Cry" | Michael Dempsey, Robert Smith, Laurence Tolhurst | The Cure | 3:46 |
| 11. | "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" | Morrissey, Johnny Marr | The Smiths | 4:07 |
Personnel
- Musicians
- Grant-Lee Phillips - vocals, six and twelve-string acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, piano, organ, harmonium, toy piano, mellotron, Wurlitzer, baritone guitar, baritone ukulele, mandolin, harmonica, hand percussion, programming, loopage
- Kevin Jarvis - drums on "Age of Consent", "The Killing Moon", "Love My Way", and "City of Refuge"
- David J. Carpenter - upright bass on "Wave of Mutilation", "Age of Consent", "I Often Dream of Trains", "Love My Way", and "City of Refuge"
- Eric Gorfain - violin on "Love My Way"
- Production
- Grant-Lee Phillips - producer, recording, mixing, art, layout
- Mark Linett - recording and mixing on "Love My Way"
- Dave Schultz - mastering
- Thomas Manzi - management
- Steven Jurgensmeyer - layout
- Denise Siegel - photography
References
- ↑ Wener, Ben (June 28, 2006). "The happiest breakup album ever". Orange County Register. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
- ↑ Nineteeneighties (Media notes). Zoe. 2006.
- 1 2 "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- 1 2 Deming, Mark. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ↑ Heywood, Tony (June 26, 2006). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ↑ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
- ↑ Jones, Preston (August 7, 2006). "Review:Grant-Lee Phillips, Nineteeneighties". Slant Magazine. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
- ↑ Thompson, Stephen (June 27, 2006). "Downsizing Drama with Delicacy and Grace". NPR. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
- ↑ Metivier, Michael (July 6, 2006). "Grant-Lee Phillips: Nineteeneighties". PopMatters. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
- ↑ Klein, Joshua (July 18, 2006). "Grant-Lee Phillips - Nineteeneighties". Billboard. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
- ↑ Edwards, Mike (June 25, 2006). "Grant-Lee Phillips: Nineteeneighties". The Sunday Times. Retrieved March 24, 2026.
External links