signed to Warner Brothers in 1992; part of a frenzied mass-signing of American indie bands by major-labels looking for the next . By 1998, they had failed to deliver a worthy successor to their lone crossover hit She Dont Use Jelly and were in danger of being dropped by Warners. Their previous effort, the bloated & grandiose 4-part multitrack full-length was nearly the last straw. Guitar virtuoso Ronald Jones had recently quit the band, and rather than try to replace him, the remaining band members (along with producer of ) instead decided to go a different direction, ditching the slacker rock formula and filling the void of guitars with dense layers of piano, synth, samples and drum machines. Its the bands most earnest and eye-watering effort to date, and the somber tone (the original working title was The Soft Bullet In) permeating tracks like Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, The Spiderbite Song and Sleeping On The Roof is said to stem from s grief from the imminent death of his terminally ill father. But the album is front-loaded with lasers-and-confetti bliss; opener Race For The Prize is a pre-emptive victory lap, followed by pyrotechnics-laden A Spoonful Weighs A Ton and jazz-funk-prog masterclass The Spark That Bled (check out the 808 Mafia hi-hats predating Hard In Da Paint by more than a decade). This is the watershed moment that drew a distinction between what was previously just a quirky Oklahoma slacker guitar band, and one of the worlds foremost stadium rock acts, who would further advance the lush aesthetic established on The Soft Bulletin with and At War With The Mystics and go on to collaborate with the likes of Ke$ha and Miley Cyrus. Its been called the Flaming Lips , and if you appreciate s forward-thinking baroque-pop arrangements, and Wayne Coynes voice doesnt totally annoy you, you probably love this record already. Recommended.
- 25th anniversary edition
- zoetropic picture disc double vinyl pressing
- indie exclusive
- limited edition
- original release year: 1999
- music label: Warner Records 2024
