Ball is the eighth studio album released by the Athens, GA based band Widespread Panic. It was released on April 15, 2003 and it was the band's first studio album with George McConnell on lead guitar. McConnell joined the band in 2002 after the death of founding member Michael Houser.
| Ball | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 15, 2003 | |||
| Genre | Rock, southern rock | |||
| Length | 73:27 | |||
| Label | Widespread Records Sanctuary Records | |||
| Producer | John Keane Widespread Panic | |||
| Widespread Panic chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   link |
| Rolling Stone |  link |
This process of recording the album departed from the band's usual methodology. Widespread Panic's previous studio albums had included mostly songs already familiar to the band's fans. Ball, however, included 12 never-before-heard songs written specifically for the album, along with one song, "Time Waits", previously performed only by singer/guitarist John Bell in solo appearances. It was also the first Widespread Panic album which did not feature at least one cover song.
The album reached a peak position of #61 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Track listing
editAll songs by Widespread Panic unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fishing" | 4:58 | |
| 2. | "Thin Air (Smells Like Mississippi)" | 5:14 | |
| 3. | "Tortured Artist" | 5:16 | |
| 4. | "Papa Johnny Road" | 4:57 | |
| 5. | "Sparks Fly" | 2:26 | |
| 6. | "Counting Train Cars" | 2:53 | |
| 7. | "Don't Wanna Lose You" | 4:56 | |
| 8. | "Longer Look" | 4:02 | |
| 9. | "Meeting of the Waters" | 6:01 | |
| 10. | "Nebulous" | 8:13 | |
| 11. | "Monstrosity" | 4:20 | |
| 12. | "Time Waits" | 3:56 | |
| 13. | "Travelin' Man" | Michael Houser | 16:10 |
| Total length: | 73:27 | ||
Personnel
editWidespread Panic
- John Bell – guitar, vocals
- John Hermann – keyboards, vocals
- Todd Nance – drums, Vocals
- Domingo S. Ortiz – percussion
- Dave Schools – bass, vocals
- George McConnell – guitar, vocals
Production
- John Keane – production, mixing, recording
- Billy Field – assistant
- Danny Michael Hilley – engineer
- Ted Jansen – mastering