Magnapop (album)

Magnapop is the debut album by Magnapop, released in 1992 and re-released with bonus tracks on July 29, 1997.

Magnapop
Cover to the re-released of the album, with blue lettering instead of yellow
Demo album by
Magnapop
ReleasedOctober 16, 1992 (1992-10-16)
RecordedDecember 1990 (John Keane Studio) and March 1992 (Furies Studio)
Studio
GenrePop punk, pop rock, power pop
Length24:07
LanguageEnglish
LabelCaroline
Producer
CompilerMagnapop
Magnapop chronology
Sugarland
(1992)		 Magnapop
(1992)		 Hot Boxing
(1994)
Singles from Magnapop
  1. "Merry"/"Complicated"
    Released: 1992

Recording and release

Four of the tracks—"Favorite Writer", "Chemical", "Complicated", and "Merry"—were recorded in John Keane Studio, Athens, Georgia in December 1990 with Linda Hopper's friend Michael Stipe producing.[1] (The band also recorded the song "Texas", but subsequently re-recorded it for their first proper studio album, Hot Boxing.) The rest were self-recorded through March 1992 at Furies Studio in Atlanta suburb Marietta. The album produced one single—"Merry"/"Complicated"—released as a 7" on Solid Records (catalogue number 527.9013.40); a music video for the song was created in 1992.

The song "Favorite Writer" would later be covered by R.E.M. for their 2003 single "Bad Day" and during their 2003 tour to support In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003. On September 13, 2011, Creative Loafing announced that Mulvaney had attempted to re-form the original line-up of Magnapop to perform a benefit concert for local independent music store Criminal Records.[2] The benefit was later scheduled for October 15, and the band announced that they would be performing their self-titled debut album in its entirety.[3]

The original cover to the album features the band's name in pale blue, with the re-release lettering in golden yellow.

Two songs from this session would end up on the 2019 release The Circle Is Round.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
Pitchfork Media6.4/10[5]

The album received a positive review from Allmusic,[4] with reviewer Heather Phares labeling their cover version of Big Star's "Thirteen" "a welcome addition to this good beginning." Pitchfork Media's review was more ambivalent,[5] characterizing the album as "some impressive work for so early in their career" but hampered by minimal production and the price of a full-length album for only 25 minutes of music.

Track listing

All songs written by Linda Hopper and Ruthie Morris, except where noted.

Side one
  1. "Garden" – 2:21
  2. "Guess" – 2:53
  3. "Ear" (Ernest Noyes Brookings, Linda Hopper, and Ruthie Morris) – 2:21
  4. "13" (Chris Bell and Alex Chilton of Big Star) – 2:42
  5. "Spill It" – 2:48
Side two
  1. "Chemical" – 3:31
  2. "Favorite Writer" – 2:56
  3. "Complicated" – 1:52
  4. "Merry" – 3:04
Re-release bonus tracks
  1. "Snake" (Demo) (Hopper, Morris, Shannon Mulvaney) – 5:45
  2. "Skinburns" (Demo) – 4:03

Personnel
Magnapop
Technical staff
  • Ed Burdell – engineering on "Garden", "Guess", "Ear", "13", and "Spill It"
  • Magnapop – production on "Garden", "Guess", "Ear", "13", "Spill It", "Snake", and "Skinburns"
  • Michael Stipe – production on "Chemical", "Favorite Writer", "Complicated", and "Merry"

Release history

The album was initially released on Caroline Records in the United States and Play It Again Sam/Priority Records in the United Kingdom, with later editions published by Solid (The Netherlands) and King (Japan); the re-release with bonus tracks was published in the United States by Never.

Region Date Label Format Catalog
United States October 16, 1992 Caroline Compact Disc BIAS 220-2
United Kingdom Play It Again Sam/Priority Records Compact Disc 450.0220.21 - BIAS 220 CD
cassette tape 450.0220.53 - BIAS 220 MC
The Netherlands LP 450.0220.11 - BIAS 220
Solid Compact Disc 527.9017.20
Japan 1992 King Compact Disc KICP-407
United States 1997 Never Compact Disc NR2202†

†Re-release with bonus tracks

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References
  1. Gray, Marcus (1997). It Crawled from the South (Paperback) (2nd ed.). Da Capo Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-306-80751-3.
  2. Radford, Chad (2011-09-13). "Countdown for Criminal Records". Creative Loafing. Retrieved 2011-09-14.
  3. Kane, Tyler (2011-09-21). "Benefit Announced For Atlanta's Criminal Records". Paste. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  4. Phares, Heather. "Magnapop on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  5. Wisdom, James P. (1999-12-31). "Album Review - Magnapop: Magnapop". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
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