Thes One, one of the two members of People Under the Stairs, is a great beat maker. On this album, he somewhat handicaps himself by only using samples that are procured from radio an commercial jingles of the 1970s. I wish he would drop some bars on a couple of the tracks, but for an instrumental only hip hop album, it is able to keep the listener's attention. Some songs are bit one note, but the odd feeling of Muzak and TV nostalgia make for an interesting combo with hip hop. Songs include samples from Grain Belt Beer, Pan Am Airlines, Target, Hy-Vee, and more.
In 1997, the band releases it's first album, Fush Yu Mang, which spawns their first major hit, Walkin' On The Sun. They establish themselves as somewhat unique from the other ska punk bands at the time by focusing more on soul and funk from the 1960s, and they even cover "Why Can't We Be Friends" by War as well.
In 1999, Smash Mouth releases their sophomore album, Astro Lounge. The first single from the album, a cover of the classic soul song "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" is a modest success. The second single from the album entitled "All Star" is included on the soundtrack of the 1999 superhero spoof movie "Mystery Men". The subsequent music video contains scenes of the film, and the song reaches #4 on the Billboard charts, and is the band's biggest success to date. The album has a lot of other groovy summery surf tunes on it besides that though. (Listen to the whole thing if you haven't).
The band has modest success after Astro Lounge, but nothing close to All Star. They rightfully fade from the spotlight until the Internet decided to latch onto their most famous song.
This might be the first meme like video with Smash Mouth related subject matter. (Although it's very obscure).
In 2010, Shrek becomes the internet's favorite meme, and All Star with it.
Then, in 2014, internet culture expert, Neil Ciecierega, creates a mash up album that mixes Smash Mouth's "All Star" with other Top 40 hits, bolstering the memes life indefinitely.
100's of other videos dissecting "All Star" in nearly every fashion have been made in the years' since.
In 2017, Smash Mouth responded to their meme status.
“We have never taken ourselves that seriously,” bassist Paul Delisle said. “We like the attention, so even though it’s a bit of a goof, it usually centers around our song ‘All Star’ and it still sells weekly like mad. So we take the bad with the good and fully embrace the meme aspect.”
What good sports they are.
Anyways, what I'm trying to get at is that Smash Mouth has been unfairly treated. Astro Lounge is really a fairly competent pop album. I would rather hear anything that was radio pop from 1999 than what's going on now. At least the music was fun and sincere. You can't be a singer as bad as Steve Harwell and not be the most honest person alive. (Look up Smash Mouth live if you want to hear how bad he really is). I suggest that people make up their own opinions on the band. Give "Astro Lounge" a listen. It's probably going to sound dated and cheesy, but it's also unpretentious, and sometimes I think that can be a good thing. And god dammit if this music isn't just F-U-N, FUN!
In 1997, the band releases it's first album, Fush Yu Mang, which spawns their first major hit, Walkin' On The Sun. They establish themselves as somewhat unique from the other ska punk bands at the time by focusing more on soul and funk from the 1960s, and they even cover "Why Can't We Be Friends" by War as well.
In 1999, Smash Mouth releases their sophomore album, Astro Lounge. The first single from the album, a cover of the classic soul song "Can't Get Enough of You Baby" is a modest success. The second single from the album entitled "All Star" is included on the soundtrack of the 1999 superhero spoof movie "Mystery Men". The subsequent music video contains scenes of the film, and the song reaches #4 on the Billboard charts, and is the band's biggest success to date. The album has a lot of other groovy summery surf tunes on it besides that though. (Listen to the whole thing if you haven't).
The band has modest success after Astro Lounge, but nothing close to All Star. They rightfully fade from the spotlight until the Internet decided to latch onto their most famous song.
This might be the first meme like video with Smash Mouth related subject matter. (Although it's very obscure).
In 2010, Shrek becomes the internet's favorite meme, and All Star with it.
Then, in 2014, internet culture expert, Neil Ciecierega, creates a mash up album that mixes Smash Mouth's "All Star" with other Top 40 hits, bolstering the memes life indefinitely.
100's of other videos dissecting "All Star" in nearly every fashion have been made in the years' since.
In 2017, Smash Mouth responded to their meme status.
“We have never taken ourselves that seriously,” bassist Paul Delisle said. “We like the attention, so even though it’s a bit of a goof, it usually centers around our song ‘All Star’ and it still sells weekly like mad. So we take the bad with the good and fully embrace the meme aspect.”
What good sports they are.
Anyways, what I'm trying to get at is that Smash Mouth has been unfairly treated. Astro Lounge is really a fairly competent pop album. I would rather hear anything that was radio pop from 1999 than what's going on now. At least the music was fun and sincere. You can't be a singer as bad as Steve Harwell and not be the most honest person alive. (Look up Smash Mouth live if you want to hear how bad he really is). I suggest that people make up their own opinions on the band. Give "Astro Lounge" a listen. It's probably going to sound dated and cheesy, but it's also unpretentious, and sometimes I think that can be a good thing. And god dammit if this music isn't just F-U-N, FUN!
I really want to listen to Astro Lounge as well as there other stuff. Sometimes in hindsight acts that end up being popular and look as a "joke" will get treated unfairly on a site like this. Then again I feel the same way for The Black Eyed Peas or Cudi. Acts that get shit upon though they do have good albums and songs underneath there belt. Oh well. The only thing I will say is that if you tell me they are shit, I will look at you say okay and go on my day.
I liked Fush Yu Mang too. Every time I put it in my pile of CDs to trade in, I always take it out at the last minute. For some reason I want to hang onto it. Walking on the Sun was one of those all-time great singles of the 90s. Nothing they ever did again even come close to it, but I must say the rest of the album kind of holds together and it's really really listenable even after a long time. There were so many alternative bands from that period that started with an amazing all time great single but never lived up to it again. There were lots of good ones. After Walking on the Sun, my top pick would be Come Out and Play by Offspring. That was one of the most unlikely great hits ever. But I never really liked anyything else they did after that too much. But there's a lot of examples like that. I had Smash Mouth's second album also, but I really don't remember it that well. And I never even knew about the meme, but I like it.
Here's one of the albums that seems to be highly rated by only one or two users on the site. Reminiscent of Eels and Alt-Country/ Singer Songwriter stuff of the period, but with a bit more atmosphere on songs like Party Drive and Shiny, Shiny Pimpmobile. When rating an album like this it's important to take the storytelling aspect into account. I don't know much about this guy, but he's got his finger on the pulse of the dreary day to day on this album. Here's a snippet from his wikipedia page which may shed some light on his intimate relationship with the lower class;
F.M. Cornog is an American songwriter, singer, self-taught musician, and home-recordist who records under the name East River Pipe. The New York Times describes Cornog as "the Brian Wilson of home recording."
Cornog was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Summit, New Jersey. After high school, Cornog worked a series of menial jobs before succumbing to alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness, and eventual homelessness, ending up in the Hoboken train station.
During this time he met Astoria, Queens-resident Barbara Powers, and with Powers' support and label (Hell Gate), Cornog released some home-recorded cassettes and 7" singles under the name East River Pipe, which he chose after observing a sewage pipe spewing out raw waste into the East River.[4] These initial 7" singles attracted the attention of UK-based Sarah Records who released his records from 1993 to 1996, making Cornog one of the few American artists ever signed to the label.
While that Brian Wilson bit is a little silly, knowing that this guy was homeless in NYC and then on Sarah Records in a few years is an amazing story. If you're a fan of Sarah Records or the singer-songwriter types, then I'd highly recommend a listen.
This artist, Daniel Vahnke, was once in the Industrial group Vampire Rodents. If you have ever heard of their album Lullaby Land, which is actually at #57 for 1993, then you might be interested in this project. He provided all the samples for that band.
This is really off the radar, but I think that it definitely could find an audience. If you like The Avalanches or other plunderphonics/ sound collage stuff, then give this a check. It drags a little bit at nearly an hour long, but it's incredibly varied for what it is. The samples are unique, and many songs are only one and half to two minutes long, just enough to keep your interest without staying too long.
Cylob is a stage name for Chris Jeffs who is an electronic producer who is most often associated with Aphex Twin. I don't know in what context they worked together I just know that they worked in the same building according to wikipedia. Anyways, any fan of IDM should give this one a listen. The first track is as excited as this album gets. It's mostly pretty laid back. It comes close to reminding of Boards of Canada sans samples. Or maybe it's if Tycho released an album in 1996. The album covers are similar in theme to one of his releases.
Little Beaver should be in the pantheon of preeminent funk guitarists of the 70s. He's got a unique style that fits with the facets of funk and R & B well. Joey was his first studio album after being active as a session guitarist. Here's a song that he plays on from his session work.
If you like early 70s funk and soul, then you know what you're getting into with this one. Soulful guitar playing over a shuffling beat, and the occasional string arrangement.
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