Million Seller is an album by the Welsh band the Pooh Sticks, released in 1993.[2][3] The album was a commercial disappointment, and the band was dropped by Zoo Entertainment after its release.[4][5]
| Million Seller | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1993 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, pop | |||
| Label | Zoo Entertainment/BMG[1] | |||
| Producer | Steve Gregory | |||
| The Pooh Sticks chronology | ||||
| ||||
The album's first single was "The World Is Turning On".[6]
Production
editMillion Seller was produced by Steve Gregory, with some assistance from Jim Rondinelli.[7][8] The album cover depicts frontman Hue Williams floating on a 45 of Elvis Costello's "Accidents Will Happen".[9] As on previous albums, the Pooh Sticks incorporated titles, lyrics, and melodies to popular songs in to Million Seller's 13 tracks.[10][11]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| Chicago Tribune | [9] |
| Robert Christgau |  [13] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [4] |
| The Indianapolis Star | [1] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10[8] |
The Washington Post deemed the album "hopelessly arch, impossibly infectious pop-punk."[14] Trouser Press wrote that, "with [Amelia] Fletcher’s voice sweetly balancing Hue’s, 'Let the Good Times Roll' and 'The World Is Turning On' are fabulous confections, candy-pop mountains of ABBA-rock production and witty/silly lyrics."[15] Robert Christgau considered the album to be "irony-pop gone hermeneutic—with nothing to say."[13] The State likened it to "a '90s version of Sgt. Pepper or Atom Heart Mother."[16]
Spin called the album "a desperately hummable, anxiously erotic masterpiece from a band with enough heart to make your head spin."[17] Stereo Review noted that "these Brit youngsters—rigorous pop formalists with a cutesy streak more than a mile wide—apparently see themselves as the missing link between Neil Young and Edison Lighthouse... Few less auspicious concepts have ever been digitally preserved."[18] The Village Voice labeled Million Seller "Carole King's Tapestry done by self-conscious sugarpop punks trying to rock and roll their way out of self-consciousness."[19]
AllMusic called it "truly a classic pop record," writing: "Too polished and produced to garner alternative credibility, yet not the kind of record destined to get any mainstream exposure, Million Seller slipped between the cracks."[12]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Million Seller" | |
| 2. | "Let the Good Times Roll" | |
| 3. | "The World Is Turning On" | |
| 4. | "Sugar Baby" | |
| 5. | "I Saw the Light" | |
| 6. | "Susan Sleepwalking" | |
| 7. | "When the Girl Wants to Be Free" | |
| 8. | "Baby Wanna Go Round with Me" | |
| 9. | "Sugar Mello" | |
| 10. | "Rainbow Rider" | |
| 11. | "Goodbye Don't Mean I'm Gone" | |
| 12. | "Jelly on a Plate" | |
| 13. | "That Was the Greatest Song" |
References
edit- ^ a b Bacon, Scott (19 February 1993). "The Pooh Sticks 'Million Seller'". The Indianapolis Star. p. B4.
- ^ "The Pooh Sticks Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. 6 December 2003. ISBN 9781858284576.
- ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 589.
- ^ Jenkins, Mark (26 May 1995). "Reworking a Beautiful Thing". Washington City Paper.
- ^ Owens, David (30 November 2011). Cerys, Catatonia and the Rise of Welsh Pop. Random House. ISBN 9781448116362.
- ^ "Album reviews — Million Seller by the Pooh Sticks". Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 7. 13 February 1993. p. 47.
- ^ a b Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 307.
- ^ a b Kot, Greg (14 January 1993). "Rave recordings". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
- ^ Benarde, Scott (7 February 1993). "Millon Seller, by the Pooh Sticks". The Palm Beach Post. p. 3L.
- ^ Pahnelas, Bill (14 February 1993). "The Pooh Sticks, 'Million Seller'". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. J7.
- ^ a b "Million Seller". AllMusic.
- ^ a b "The Pooh Sticks". Robert Christgau.
- ^ Jenkins, Mark (31 December 1993). "The Year in Rewind: Top Recordings". The Washington Post. p. N9.
- ^ "Pooh Sticks". Trouser Press. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
- ^ Miller, Michael (5 February 1993). "New Releases". The State. p. 10D.
- ^ Sheffield, Rob (December 1992). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 8, no. 9. pp. 93–94.
- ^ "Million Seller by the Pooh Sticks". Stereo Review. Vol. 58, no. 5. May 1993. p. 90.
- ^ Levy, Joe (30 March 1993). "World of Pooh". The Village Voice. Vol. 38, no. 13. p. 67.