Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is the second studio album by American indie rock band Pavement. The album, released on February 2, 1994,[1] saw the band move on towards a more accessible rock sound than that of their more lo-fi debut Slanted and Enchanted and achieve moderate success with the single "Cut Your Hair". The album also saw original drummer Gary Young replaced by Steve West. It was a UK Top 20 hit upon release, although it was not so successful in the US charts. As of 2009, the album had sold about 500,000 copies.[2]

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Studio album by
Pavement
ReleasedFebruary 2, 1994 (1994-02-02)
RecordedAugust–September 1993
Studio
  • Random Falls Studios
  • (New York City, New York)
GenreIndie rock, alternative rock
Length42:16
LabelMatador
ProducerPavement
Pavement chronology
Westing (By Musket and Sextant)
(1993)		 Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
(1994)		 Wowee Zowee
(1995)
Singles from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
  1. "Cut Your Hair"
    Released: February 1994
  2. "Gold Soundz"
    Released: June 1994
  3. "Range Life"
    Released: January 1995

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Sun-Times[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
NME8/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Select4/5[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[11]
The Village VoiceA[12]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave Crooked Rain a perfect 5-star rating, describing it as "the Reckoning to Slanted & Enchanted's Murmur". He concluded that the album was "a vibrant, dynamic, emotionally resonant album that stands as a touchstone of underground rock in the '90s and one of the great albums of its decade."[3] Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album an A grade, describing it as "a tour de force melodywise".[12] Entertainment Weekly's David Browne gave the album a B+, writing that "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is just a bunch of guys dwelling on topics like skateboarding, plane crashes, girls, and mocking Stone Temple Pilots. When they set those sentiments to bumpy-road drones or a bit of a country lilt...the result has a subtle, ingratiating beauty."[5] Los Angeles Times critic Richard Cromelin gave the album 3.5 out of 4 stars. Cromelin wrote that the album contains "some of the Meat Puppets' loopiness, a Stones/Burritos folk-country resonance, and a chirpy pop tunefulness--along with enough contrary abrasiveness to keep you from getting too comfortable with them."[6]

Legacy

In 2003, the album was ranked number 210 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 212 in a 2012 revised list.[13] In the 2020 update of the list, the album's rank dropped to number 434.[14] It was also ranked number 10 on their best albums of the Nineties.[15] In 2003, it was ranked number 8 on Pitchfork's list Top 100 Albums of the 1990s,[16] and in 2010, the song "Gold Soundz" was listed as number one on Pitchfork's 200 Greatest Songs of the 1990s.[17] In July 2014, Guitar World ranked Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain at number 21 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[18] The photo in the middle of the cover was taken from the March 1978 issue of National Geographic Magazine. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19]

Reissue

The album was reissued on October 26, 2004 by Matador Records under the name Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins. The re-released version contains two discs: the first is the original album as well as B-sides and compilation tracks from that era. The second disc is a collection of previously unreleased tracks featuring former drummer Gary Young and live BBC Sessions. The collection features forty-nine tracks, culled from various previous recordings, including the original album, the single "Cut Your Hair", "Range Life", "Gold Soundz", the "Gold Soundz" Australia-N.Z. French Micronesia Tour '94 EP, the "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" bonus 7", and other recording sessions at Random Falls, NY, Louder Than You Think in Stockton, CA, and Waterworks, NY over the course of 1993.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stephen Malkmus unless noted.

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Silence Kid" 3:01
2."Elevate Me Later" 2:51
3."Stop Breathin" 4:28
4."Cut Your Hair" 3:07
5."Newark Wilder" 3:53
6."Unfair" 2:33
7."Gold Soundz" 2:41
8."5-4=Unity" 2:09
9."Range Life" 4:54
10."Heaven Is a Truck" 2:30
11."Hit the Plane Down"Scott Kannberg3:36
12."Fillmore Jive" 6:38
  • - Due to an ink splodge on the back of the original artwork, the song "Silence Kid" has become erroneously known as "Silence Kit". This misnomer persisted when designer Mark Ohe printed it onto the back of the reissue Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins, despite the interior artwork showing the correct name in print several times, including written in Stephen Malkmus' own handwriting.[20][21] Since its original naming, however, it appears the band also refers to the song as "Silence Kit" in set listings, too.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[22]

Pavement

Technical

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 86
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 77
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 41
UK Albums (OCC)[26] 15
US Billboard 200[27] 121
US Billboard Heatseekers Albums[27] 2
Chart (2004) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[27] 164
US Billboard Independent Albums[27] 14

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions
US Mod
[27]		 UK
[28]
"Cut Your Hair" 1994 1052
"Gold Soundz" —94
"Range Life" 1995 —79
"—" denotes a release that did not chart.

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Silver 60,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "Matador Records - Pavement". Matador Records. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  2. "The Over/Under: Pavement". Magnet Magazine. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain – Pavement". AllMusic. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  4. DeRogatis, Jim (March 13, 1994). "Pavement Leads Stylish Sing-Along". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  5. Browne, David (March 11, 1994). "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  6. Cromelin, Richard (February 13, 1994). "Pavement 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain' Matador". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  7. "Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". NME. February 12, 1994. p. 39.
  8. Diehl, Matt (February 24, 1994). "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  9. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Pavement". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 624–25. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  10. Cusack, Elaine (March 1994). "Pavement: Crooked Rain". Select. No. 45. p. 75.
  11. Weisbard, Eric (1995). "Pavement". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. p. 290. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  12. Christgau, Robert (April 5, 1994). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  13. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  14. url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/pavement-crooked-rain-crooked-rain-3-1062799/
  15. "100 Best Albums of the Nineties". Rolling Stone. 10: Pavement, 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  16. "Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. 17 November 2003. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2009-03-17.
  17. "Staff Lists: The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s". Pitchfork. September 3, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  18. "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  19. Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  20. "Silence Kit???". Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  21. "Crooked Rain Crooked Rain cover".
  22. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (CD). Pavement. Matador Records. 1994. LC 11552.CS1 maint: others (link)
  23. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  24. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pavement – Crooked Rain Crooked Rain" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  25. "charts.nz – Pavement – Crooked Rain Crooked Rain". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  26. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  27. "Pavement Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  28. "Chart Log UK: Rodney P. – The Pussycat Dolls". zobbel.de. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  29. "British album certifications – Pavement – Crooked Rain Crooked Rain". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 13, 2020. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Crooked Rain Crooked Rain in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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