Powerful Pain Relief is the second album by the American band Love Jones, released in 1995.[2][3] The band was considered part of the mid-1990s "Cocktail Nation" trend of retro cocktail lounge groups.[4]
| Powerful Pain Relief | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Genre | Lounge | |||
| Label | Zoo Entertainment[1] | |||
| Producer | Paul du Gré, Love Jones | |||
| Love Jones chronology | ||||
| ||||
The first single from the album was "The Thing".[5] Love Jones supported Powerful Pain Relief by opening for the Presidents of the United States of America on a North American tour.[6]
Production
editThe album was produced by Paul du Gré and Love Jones.[7] The band downplayed the sillier lyrics of their first album and concentrated more on the groove of the songs.[8] The conga player and vocalist Ben Daughtrey left the band after the completion of Powerful Pain Relief.[9]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
Trouser Press thought that "better songwriting and fatter arrangements carry the ebullient opener, 'The Thing', into sly cuts like 'Vigilante' and the solipsistic 'Me'."[7] CMJ New Music Monthly wrote that the album "shows the band as determinedly campy as ever, playing the kind of richly instrumental, overly opulent '70s jazz-pop that made the Association so famous."[11] The Austin Chronicle concluded that "fans of pink elephants, shag carpeting, and swizzle sticks will sway their velvet-clad booties quite righteously to Powerful Pain Relief; everyone else will miss the point entirely."[12]
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said that "the tacky (not funny enough to be called kitschy) collection includes the title track, a phony-sounding, Dee-Lite-style love song; the insipid Sly Stone-ripoff, 'World of Summer'; and 'Vigilante', a laughable attempt at menacing, blaxploitation-film badness."[13] The Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph deemed the album "a wildly funky brand of lounge music that contains more soul than anything Lawrence Welk ever did."[14]
AllMusic wrote that "the band evolved their loungey sound away from a Combustible Edison bossa nova vibe to more rock but still created a smooth, cocktail mood."[10]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Thing" | 3:36 |
| 2. | "You Don't Know Me" | 3:20 |
| 3. | "World of Summer" | 5:12 |
| 4. | "Help Wanted" | 3:39 |
| 5. | "Peepin'" | 2:34 |
| 6. | "Stars" | 2:33 |
| 7. | "Vigilante" | 3:08 |
| 8. | "Roll-On" | 3:53 |
| 9. | "Me" | 3:03 |
| 10. | "Blue" | 3:59 |
| 11. | "Powerful Pain Relief" | 5:00 |
References
edit- ^ "How to Turn Your Home into a Space-Age Bachelor Pad". Orange County Register. September 17, 1995. p. F15.
- ^ Adams, Kirby. "'Tonight Show' host Jimmy Fallon swoons over Louisville's Love Jones". The Courier-Journal.
- ^ "Livin' Lounge – Swanky Love Jones rides 'retro' trend to success". The Cincinnati Post. September 14, 1995. p. 14A.
- ^ Wener, Ben (September 17, 1995). "Underground Goes Lounge". Orange County Register. p. F14.
- ^ Borzillo, Carrie (Sep 9, 1995). "Lounge Love". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 36. p. 21.
- ^ Maestri, Cathy (January 28, 1996). "Goofy combos, real, unreal". The Press-Enterprise. p. E3.
- ^ a b "Love Jones". Trouser Press. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
- ^ Arnold, Gina (1 Oct 1995). "Love Jones Recycles the Hits". Datebook. San Francisco Examiner. p. 49.
- ^ Clark, Michael D. (February 9, 1996). "Love Jones Preaches the Gospel of Lounge Lizards". Eye. San Jose Mercury News. p. 20.
- ^ a b "Powerful Pain Relief". AllMusic.
- ^ Stewart, Allison (Oct 1995). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 26. p. 38.
- ^ "Music Reviews". The Austin Chronicle.
- ^ Hampel, Paul (22 Nov 1995). "Powerful Pain Relief Love Jones". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 9.
- ^ Simon, Jeremy (February 2, 1996). "Sound Advice". Go!. Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. p. 20.