Dulcinea is an album by Toad the Wet Sprocket released in 1994. It is their fourth studio album with Columbia Records and the follow-up to their popular album Fear, which was released in 1991. Two songs from Dulcinea charted on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts: "Fall Down" and "Something's Always Wrong". Dulcinea was RIAA Certified Gold on September 1, 1994, and Platinum on July 31, 1995.
| Dulcinea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 24, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||
| Studio | The Site (Marin County, California) | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, jangle pop | |||
| Length | 49:39 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Gavin MacKillop | |||
| Toad the Wet Sprocket chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Dulcinea | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Classic Rock |   [2] |
The album's name is a reference to the love interest in Miguel de Cervantes' classic Spanish novel, Don Quixote. At least two songs on the album allude to themes found in the novel. "Crowing" is a song about a person who does not know how to hold on to a lover. "Windmills" is a metaphorical song about how people spend much of their lives chasing absurd or impossible pursuits (the allusion being to a specific scene in Don Quixote where the title character uselessly attacks a windmill). The album's artwork (illustrated by artist Jason Holley) also explores Cervantes' windmill metaphor, depicting the incongruence between the way things are and how people tend to perceive them.
Dulcinea also delves into some spiritual themes. "Fly from Heaven" is sung from the perspective of James, who is portrayed as Jesus's literal brother and is upset by Paul's manipulation of Jesus's word. "Begin" and "Reincarnation Song" each explore questions about death and the afterlife.
Glen Phillips has said that Dulcinea is probably his favorite Toad album because they started to know what they were doing but were not overthinking things yet.[citation needed]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fly from Heaven" | Glen Phillips | 4:33 |
| 2. | "Woodburning" | Todd Nichols, Phillips | 3:59 |
| 3. | "Something's Always Wrong" | Nichols, Phillips | 4:59 |
| 4. | "Stupid" | Phillips | 2:42 |
| 5. | "Crowing" | Phillips | 3:20 |
| 6. | "Listen" | Nichols, Phillips | 4:09 |
| 7. | "Windmills" | Phillips | 3:50 |
| 8. | "Nanci" | Phillips | 3:00 |
| 9. | "Fall Down" | Nichols, Phillips | 3:24 |
| 10. | "Inside" | Nichols, Phillips | 4:19 |
| 11. | "Begin" | Nichols, Phillips | 4:05 |
| 12. | "Reincarnation Song" | Phillips | 4:44 |
| 13. | "Hope" (bonus track on international release) | 3:37 |
Other tracks recorded during the album's 1993 sessions included "Crazy Life" (later released on the Empire Records soundtrack and remixed by Tom Lord-Alge for Coil) as well as an alternate take of "Reincarnation Song" and two tracks, "Hope" and "All Right" which would be released on In Light Syrup the following year.
Personnel
edit- Dean Dinning – bass, keyboards, backing vocals
- Randy Guss – drums, percussion
- Todd Nichols – guitars, backing vocals
- Glen Phillips – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards
Charts
edit| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[3] | 145 |
| US Billboard 200[4] | 34 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[5] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ McCartney, Kelly. "Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2015-09-25.
- ^ Wilding, Philip (March 2012). "Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea/In Light Syrup". Classic Rock (168): 106.
- ^ "Toad the Wet Sprocket ARIA Chart History complete to 2024". ARIA. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
- ^ "Toad the Wet Sprocket Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
- ^ "American album certifications – Toad the Wet Sprocket – Dulcinea". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 19, 2021.