Pressure Chief is the fifth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on October 5, 2004, pushed back from its original August release date. It was produced by the band and recorded in a converted house in Sacramento. The lead single, "No Phone" peaked at No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The second single "Carbon Monoxide" garnered some airplay but failed to crack the Modern Rock Tracks top 40. The album was the band's second and last record under Columbia Records.
| Pressure Chief | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 5, 2004 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 36:16 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Cake | |||
| Cake chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Pressure Chief | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 52/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Blender | [1] |
| musicOMH | favorable[3] |
| Mojo | [1] |
| Paste | favorable[4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
| Sputnikmusic | [6] |
| Stylus Magazine | B−[7] |
| Tiny Mix Tapes | [8] |
The songs "She'll Hang the Baskets" and "Tougher Than It Is" were both originally written for Cake's 1998 record Prolonging the Magic. A bonus disc, Extra Value, was included in limited pre-orders of Pressure Chief.[9]
On its opening week, Pressure Chief sold about 46,000 copies, debuting and peaking at number 17 on the Billboard 200.[10] However, it fell to No. 55 the following week. By the next month, the album had only sold 91,478 copies.[11]
Critical reception
editPressure Chief was met with "mixed or average" 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 52 based on 8 reviews.[1]
In a review for AllMusic, Johnny Loftus wrote: "Pressure Chief marks Cake's tenth year with a set of sardonic, engaging alternative pop that shows the Sacramento band's economical sound unwilted after all these years."[2] Matt Weir of Tiny Mix Tapes gave a three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling the release the "weakest effort" by the band."[8]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Wheels" | John McCrea, Carlos Forster | 3:18 |
| 2. | "No Phone" | McCrea, Xan McCurdy | 3:52 |
| 3. | "Take It All Away" | McCrea, Forster, Garth Klippert | 3:58 |
| 4. | "Dime" | McCrea | 3:37 |
| 5. | "Carbon Monoxide" | McCrea | 3:10 |
| 6. | "The Guitar Man" | David Gates | 3:54 |
| 7. | "Waiting" | McCrea, Vince DiFiore | 3:56 |
| 8. | "She'll Hang the Baskets" | McCrea | 2:43 |
| 9. | "End of the Movie" | McCrea | 1:50 |
| 10. | "Palm of Your Hand" | McCrea | 2:57 |
| 11. | "Tougher Than It Is" | McCrea, Gabriel Nelson | 3:00 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Carbon Monoxide" (Karaoke Version) | 3:10 |
| 13. | "No Phone" (Karaoke Version) | 3:10 |
| 14. | "Wheels" (Karaoke Version) | 3:17 |
| 15. | "Take It All Away" (Karaoke Version) | 3:57 |
Personnel
edit- Cake
- John McCrea – acoustic guitar, keyboard, percussion, lead vocals, cover design
- Vince DiFiore – trumpet, melodica, keyboard, percussion, background vocals
- Xan McCurdy – electric and acoustic guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, background vocals
- Gabe Nelson – bass, keyboard, drums, electric and acoustic guitar, background vocals
- Additional musicians
- Tyler Pope – additional keyboard, percussion and guitar (on "No Phone", "Dime", "The Guitar Man", and "Palm Of Your Hand")
- Chuck Prophet – electric guitar (on "She'll Hang The Baskets")
- Paulo Baldi – drums (on "No Phone", and "Carbon Monoxide")
- Matt McCord – drums (on "The Guitar Man")
- Todd Roper – drums on (on "She'll Hang The Baskets", and "Tougher Than It Is")
- Greg Vincent – pedal steel guitar (on "She'll Hang The Baskets", and "Palm Of Your Hand")
- Additional personnel
- Cake – Arranger, Producer, Engineer, Mixing
- Craig Long – Engineer, Mixing
- Mark Needham – Engineer, Mixing
- Patrick Olguin – Engineer, Mixing
- Kirt Shearer – Engineer, Mixing
- Don C. Tyler – Mastering
Charts
edit| Chart (2004) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP)[12] | 79 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] | 95 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] | 44 |
| US Billboard 200[15] | 17 |
| US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[16] | 17 |
Singles – Billboard (United States)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | "No Phone" | Modern Rock Tracks | 13 |
Television performances
edit- "No Phone" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Monday, October 4, 2004
- "Wheels" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- "No Phone" on The Late Late Show (with guest host Tom Arnold) on Tuesday, October 5, 2004
Appearances in other media
edit- The song "Wheels" is featured in the soundtrack of the film I Love You, Man.
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Critic Reviews for Pressure Chief". Metacritic. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ a b Loftus, Johnny (2004-10-05). "Pressure Chief – Cake". AllMusic. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ Welsh, David. "Cake – Pressure Chief | album reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- ^ "Cake – Pressure Chief :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste". Paste. 2004-10-01. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- ^ Hoard, Christian (2004-10-28). "Cake: Pressure Chief : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
- ^ "Sputnikmusic Review". Sputnikmusic. October 3, 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ Ross, R. S. (2004-10-05). "Cake – Pressure Chief – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on November 10, 2004. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- ^ a b Weir, Matt. "Cake – Pressure Chief". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 2012-07-29.
- ^ "Cake - Extra Value". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-07-10.
- ^ Grein, Paul (January 19, 2011). "Week Ending Jan. 16, 2011: Albums: Even Lower". Yahoo! News. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
- ^ "Sludge Scans for November 2004 | Metal Sludge". 2014-09-05. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Cake – Pressure Chief". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Cake – Pressure Chief" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Cake – Pressure Chief". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Cake Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ^ "Cake Chart History (Top Album Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
