Wide Swing Tremolo is the third studio album by alternative country band Son Volt.[10][11] It was released in 1998 on Warner Bros. Records.[2][12]

Wide Swing Tremolo
Studio album by
Son Volt
ReleasedOctober 6, 1998
RecordedJajouka Studio
GenreAlternative country
Length45:34
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerSon Volt
Son Volt chronology
Straightaways
(1997)
Wide Swing Tremolo
(1998)
Okemah and the Melody of Riot
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
Los Angeles Times[4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[5]
Pitchfork Media7.3/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Wall of Sound82/100[9]

The album peaked at No. 93 on the Billboard 200.[13]

Production

edit

The album was recorded in Millstadt, Illinois, at the band's rehearsal space.[14] It was produced by the band and engineered by David Barbe.[15]

Critical reception

edit

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "many of the songs ... return to the power and purity of the band’s brilliant 1995 debut, Trace.[3] Trouser Press called the album "genuinely mediocre," writing that "the flourishes that had initially made Son Volt uncanny had transgressed into stale formula."[16] The Tucson Weekly wrote that "the songs retain Farrar's downcast approach, but they're extremely well-written this time around; and the band seems to have been reinvigorated, putting a little more into their performances than the cultivated ennui we've become accustomed to."[17]

Track listing

edit

All songs written by Jay Farrar.

  1. "Straightface" - 3:02
  2. "Driving the View" - 2:57
  3. "Jodel" - 0:41
  4. "Medicine Hat" - 4:12
  5. "Strands" - 5:06
  6. "Flow" - 2:18
  7. "Dead Man's Clothes" - 2:46
  8. "Right on Through" - 3:08
  9. "Chanty" - 1:27
  10. "Carry You Down" - 3:28
  11. "Question" - 4:00
  12. "Streets That Time Walks" - 5:24
  13. "Hanging Blue Side" - 3:41
  14. "Blind Hope" - 3:17

Personnel

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Wide Swing Tremolo - Son Volt | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  2. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 600.
  3. ^ a b "Wide Swing Tremolo". EW.com.
  4. ^ "Album Review / Pop". Los Angeles Times. October 10, 1998.
  5. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1049.
  6. ^ "Son Volt: Wide Swing Tremolo: Pitchfork Record Review". April 27, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-27.
  7. ^ "Wide Swing Tremolo : Son Volt : Review : Rolling Stone". February 24, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-02-24.
  8. ^ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 759.
  9. ^ Durchholz, Daniel. "Wall of Sound Review: Wide Swing Tremolo". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 2001-04-15. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
  10. ^ "Son Volt | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  11. ^ "Son Volt Turn It Up With Tremolo". MTV News.[dead link]
  12. ^ "Distant Rumblings". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network, Inc. November 11, 1998 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ "Son Volt". Billboard.
  14. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (September 25, 1998). "SON VOLT'S RURAL ROCK" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  15. ^ Harris, Michael C. (October 1, 1998). "Americana, No Depression, Whatever". Miami New Times.
  16. ^ "Son Volt". Trouser Press. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Tucson Weekly: Soundbites (October 22 - October 28, 1998)". www.tucsonweekly.com.