Summary
For Your Own Special Sweetheart is the third album by Washington D.C. post-hardcore band, Jawbox. It was produced by Ted Niceley, best known for his work with Fugazi. This would be the band's major label debut, as they had left Dischord Records to sign with Atlantic Records. It is also the first album to feature Zachary Barocas on drums, as he replaced original drummer Adam Wade two years prior. The album was not much of a commercial success, despite being well received by critics.
| For Your Own Special Sweetheart | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 8, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | August–September 1993 | |||
| Studio | OZ Studio (Baltimore, Maryland) | |||
| Genre | Post-hardcore[1] | |||
| Length | 41:42 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Ted Niceley, Jawbox | |||
| Jawbox chronology | ||||
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| Singles from For Your Own Special Sweetheart | ||||
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"Savory" was the album's first single, followed by "Cooling Card". "Motorist" and "Jackpot Plus!" had previously been released on a Dischord single and were newly recorded for this album. The album was remastered and reissued by DeSoto in 2009 with three bonus tracks (b-sides from the "Savory" single) and new cover art.
Reception edit
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The A.V. Club | A[3] |
| Chicago Tribune | [4] |
| Drowned in Sound | 9/10[5] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[6] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [7] |
| NME | 7/10[8] |
| Pitchfork | 9.3/10[9] |
| Record Collector | [10] |
| Spin | 7/10[11] |
The album received very positive reviews upon release. Greg Kot called the album "the quartet's punchiest record yet, surpassing in blowtorch clarity the group's earlier releases on Fugazi's Dischord label." He praised Ted Niceley's production, writing that it "puts a vicious gleam on Jawbox's rhythm section, particularly Kim Coletta's power-tool bass." He concluded by calling it "music of intelligence and intensity, superbly recorded."[4]
Retrospective reviews (published mostly upon the album's reissue) have been even more positive. Jason Heller called it "the group’s crowning achievement" and "one of that decade’s most lasting, magnificent discs."[3] Andy Kellman called the album "their peak, a thrilling collision of vibrant guitar-generated noise and off-center melodic hooks over a rhythm section that swings as easily as it pummels." "Inside or outside its D.C. epicenter," he writes, "this is one of post-hardcore’s most exceptional releases, second to whatever Fugazi album gives you the biggest charge."[12] Matt LeMay wrote that the album "has aged exceedingly well [...] precisely because it did not pander to the aesthetic fads of its time-- mainstream or underground. Instead, Jawbox honed their sound, maximized the resources at their disposal, and made a record that hides behind no extraneous instruments, sounds, or ideologies."[9]
"Savory" was covered by Sacramento rock band Deftones with alternative rock group Far on Deftones' B-Sides and Rarities album.
Accolades edit
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Alternative Press | The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s | 38[13] |
| Pitchfork | Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (1999) | 19[14] |
| Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s (2003) | 70[15] | |
| LAS Magazine | 90 Albums of the 90s | 15[citation needed] |
| Magnet | Top 60 Albums 1993-2003 | 49[citation needed] |
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "FF=66" | 2:41 |
| 2. | "Savory" | 4:39 |
| 3. | "Breathe" | 2:47 |
| 4. | "Motorist" | 3:43 |
| 5. | "LS/MFT" | 2:50 |
| 6. | "Cooling Card" | 2:51 |
| 7. | "Green Glass" | 3:26 |
| 8. | "Cruel Swing" | 2:16 |
| 9. | "Jackpot Plus!" | 2:34 |
| 10. | "Chicago Piano" | 3:30 |
| 11. | "Reel" | 3:39 |
| 12. | "U-Trau" | 3:10/3:01 |
| 13. | "Whitney Walks" | 3:57 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Lil' Shaver" | 2:10 |
| 15. | "68" | 3:17 |
| 16. | "Sound on Sound" (Big Boys cover) | 4:06 |
| Total length: | 51:15 | |
Personnel edit
All personnel as per AllMusic.[12]
- Jawbox
- J. Robbins – vocals, electric guitar
- Bill Barbot – electric guitar, vocals
- Kim Coletta – bass guitar
- Zachary Barocas – "traps" (drums)
- Production
- Ted Niceley – production, engineering, mixing
- Tim Gregory – engineering (assistant)
- Drew Mazurek – engineering
- Geoff Turner – engineering, mixing
- Jim Saah – photography
- Shawn Scallen – photography
- Katherine Davis – photography
- Jason Farrell – art direction, graphic design
References edit
- ^ Jeff Terich. August 30, 2012. 10 Essential ’90s Post-Hardcore Albums. treblezine.com
- ^ Kellman, Andy. "For Your Own Special Sweetheart – Jawbox". AllMusic. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Heller, Jason (November 24, 2009). "Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
- ^ a b Kot, Greg (March 10, 1994). "Aural Feast". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ Perry, Tom (March 29, 2010). "Album Review: Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart (reissue)". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
- ^ Brod, Doug (March 11, 1994). "For Your Own Special Sweetheart". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
- ^ Levine, Robert (February 13, 1994). "Jawbox, 'For Your Own Special Sweetheart,' Atlantic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ "Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart". NME. April 9, 1994. p. 41.
- ^ a b LeMay, Matt (November 24, 2009). "Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
- ^ Pearlman, Mischa (May 2010). "Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart". Record Collector. No. 375. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ Hultkrans, Andrew (December 2009). "Reissues". Spin. Vol. 25, no. 12. p. 82. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- ^ a b "For Your Own Special Sweetheart – Jawbox (Credits)". AllMusic. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
- ^ "Rocklist.net..Alternative Press." www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
- ^ Heard, Jaron (2018-11-05). "Pitchfork's Best Albums of the 1990s: changes from 1999 to 2003". Medium. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2019-03-12.