All About Chemistry

All About Chemistry is the third and most recent studio album by American rock band Semisonic, released on March 13, 2001 through MCA Records. With this release, the band failed, at least in America, to capitalize on the momentum it had generated with the song "Closing Time" from their previous album, Feeling Strangely Fine. This had a softer edge than Feeling Strangely Fine and was not as popular with the fans. Its poor sales partially led to the band going on an unofficial hiatus. However, it has a five star rating by Q Magazine. The track "Chemistry" was featured on the soundtrack for 40 Days and 40 Nights.

All About Chemistry
Studio album by
Semisonic
ReleasedMarch 13, 2001
StudioSeedy Underbelly Studio, Minneapolis, Minnesota
GenreAlternative rock, power pop
Length51:41
LabelMCA
ProducerSemisonic, Dan Wilson
Semisonic chronology
Feeling Strangely Fine
(1998)		 All About Chemistry
(2001)		 You're Not Alone
(2020)
Singles from All About Chemistry
  1. "Chemistry"
    Released: 2001
  2. "Get a Grip"
    Released: 2001
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The A.V. ClubPositive[3]
Chicago TribuneAverage[4]
Dotmusic[5]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[6]
NME3/10[7]
Q[1]
Rolling Stone[8]
Spin5/10[1]
Wall of Sound60/100[9]

The song "One True Love" was co-written by the band's singer/guitarist, Dan Wilson and music legend Carole King. The song "Get a Grip" is an ode to masturbation. The title track was included on the album "Nolee Mix" which was released to promote the My Scene dolls.

The special edition of the album features cover art with orange (or pink in the UK) fluid in the vials instead of the blue fluid of the original. It includes two bonus tracks, "Girlfriend" and "Ordinary Life"; instead of being tacked onto the end, they appear between "Get a Grip" and "Surprise."

Critical reception

Q listed All About Chemistry as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[10]

Track listing

All songs written by Dan Wilson, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chemistry" 4:08
2."Bed" 4:05
3."Act Naturally" 3:42
4."She's Got My Number" 5:02
5."Follow" 3:44
6."Sunshine & Chocolate" 3:35
7."Who's Stopping You?"John Munson, Wilson3:06
8."I Wish" 7:56
9."One True Love"Wilson, Carole King3:51
10."Get a Grip" 3:35
11."Surprise" 3:48
12."El Matador"Jacob Slichter5:08

Charts
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart 125
U.S. Billboard 200 103

Personnel

Guest musicians

  • Ken Chastain – congas on "Act Naturally", darbuca on "Sunshine & Chocolate", Korg WaveDrum on "I Wish", tabla on "El Matador"
  • Carole King – vocals, electric piano on "One True Love"
  • Matt Wilson – additional vocals, synth on "Bed"
  • John Fields – synths, loops, bass on "Sunshine & Chocolate"
  • Gary Louris – guitar solo on "I Wish"
  • Shane Washington – french horn on "Surprise"
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References
  1. "Critic Reviews for All About Chemistry". Metacritic. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  2. Allmusic review
  3. Rabin, Nathan (February 13, 2001). "Semisonic: All About Chemistry". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  4. Kot, Greg (April 15, 2001). "Train Drops of Jupiter (Columbia); Semisonic All About Chemistry (MCA)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  5. Browne, Nichola (March 1, 2001). "Semisonic - 'All About Chemistry' (MCA)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on June 27, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  6. Tucker, Ken (March 16, 2001). "All About Chemistry Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  7. Segal, Victoria (March 6, 2001). "NME Album Reviews - Semisonic : All About Chemistry". NME. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  8. Moon, Tom (March 16, 2001). "Semisonic: All About Chemistry". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.
  9. Wright, Anders. "All About Chemistry". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on March 30, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  10. "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q. December 2001. pp. 60–65.
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