Three Sheets to the Wind

Three Sheets to the Wind is an album by the American band Idaho, released in 1996.[2][3]

Three Sheets to the Wind
Studio album by
Released1996
StudioPiercing Sound
GenreAlternative rock
LabelCaroline[1]
ProducerMartin Brumbach
Idaho chronology
The Bayonet EP
(1995)
Three Sheets to the Wind
(1996)
The Forbidden EP
(1997)

Idaho promoted the album by touring with Low and Trans Am.[4] It was a commercial disappointment, leading Caroline Records to drop the band.[5]

Production

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The album was produced by Martin Brumbach.[6] Frontman Jeff Martin retained the same musicians who had recorded The Bayonet EP, allowing for more of a “band sound”.[7][8] Martin used a 4-string guitar on the album.[9][5] Three Sheets to the Wind was one of the first albums to employ High Definition Compatible Digital.[10]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [11]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide     [12]

Trouser Press wrote that "Mark Lewis' brushed drumming gives 'If You Dare' a nearly jazzy feel, while 'Catapult' ventures onto classic rock-turf, with Martin’s baritone sacrificing some of its monochromatic intensity in favor of a gritty virility."[7] The Washington Post determined that the band "creates a potent tension within a narrow dynamic range, but Wind isn't trapped in the cocktail lounge... Melding tinkling piano with guitar feedback, the band rightfully serves its own elegant songs rather than mere genre revivalism."[13]

Guitar Player thought that "Martin's and Dan Seta's guitars envelop the mind like mist on a dark, foggy afternoon."[14] The Albuquerque Journal stated that Wind "handles the delicate Idaho sound Martin crafted on the first album and roughs it up a bit, slapping in an off-key vocal here and a screech of feedback there to give Martin's songs a bit of grit to take your ears away from the sad sounds."[15] The Baltimore Sun concluded that the album "dilutes the pop melancholy of Jeff Martin's melodies with artfully deployed bursts of guitar dissonance."[16]

The State listed Three Sheets to the Wind as the fifth best album of 1996.[17] Nashville Scene also considered the album to be one of the best of the year.[18]

AllMusic wrote: "The overall result is a bit less sleepy than previous efforts, though Martin's downtrodden vision, reminiscent of Mark Eitzel, is still firmly in place. His distinct guitar sound—emanating from a four-stringed instrument with odd tunings—is still here also, as are his great chordal instincts."[11]

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."If You Dare" 
2."Catapult" 
3."Pomegranate Bleeding" 
4."Shame" 
5."Stare at the Sky" 
6."No Ones Watching" 
7."Alive Again" 
8."A Sound Awake" 
9."Glass Bottom" 
10."Get You Back" 

References

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  1. ^ Jarman, David (Apr 1996). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 32. p. 36.
  2. ^ Brothers, Stud (Apr 27, 1996). "Albums — Three Sheets to the Wind by Idaho". Melody Maker. Vol. 73, no. 17. p. 73.
  3. ^ Diamond, Allison (Apr 1996). "Street cred — Three Sheets to the Wind by Idaho". Wired. Vol. 4, no. 4. p. 146.
  4. ^ Sherr, Sara (15 Mar 1996). "Low, Idaho, Trans Am". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 13.
  5. ^ a b Duff, S. L. "Private Idaho". Cleveland Scene.
  6. ^ Reighley, Kurt B. (Apr 1996). "Idaho". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 32. p. 14.
  7. ^ a b "Idaho". Trouser Press. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Idaho Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  9. ^ Marshall, Toni (May 4, 1996). "Idaho Launches Three Sheets to the Wind". The Washington Times. p. B1.
  10. ^ "Idaho Members Beat Up by Skinheads". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 7, 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Three Sheets to the Wind". AllMusic.
  12. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 572.
  13. ^ "He Feels Your Pain". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  14. ^ Gill, Chris (Mar 1996). "Picks — Three Sheets to the Wind by Idaho". Guitar Player. Vol. 30, no. 3. p. 115.
  15. ^ Rodriguez, Kenn (19 July 1996). "Idaho, from Calif., Makes Stop in N.M.". Albuquerque Journal. p. E21.
  16. ^ Considine, J.D. (May 2, 1996). "Rock and roll has never made any pretense of being a meritocracy...". MD. Live. The Baltimore Sun. p. 10.
  17. ^ Lambert, Yon (December 20, 1996). "Maybe Not a Stellar Year in Music, but the Columbia Scene Was Hopping". Weekend. The State. p. 4.
  18. ^ Murray, Noel (December 19, 1996). "Schlock of the New – Don't Give Up Yet". Nashville Cream. Nashville Scene.