Mosquitos (album)

Mosquitos is the second solo album by Stan Ridgway. Released in 1989 on Geffen Records.

Mosquitos
Studio album by
Stan Ridgway
Released1989
GenreRock
Length40:53
LabelGeffen Records
ProducerStan Ridgway, Joe Chiccarelli
Stan Ridgway chronology
The Big Heat
(1986)		 Mosquitos
(1989)		 Partyball
(1991)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB[2]

In a review of the album Mark Demming wrote for All Music Guide "allmusic ((( Mosquitos > Review )))" “If Raymond Chandler and Raymond Carver had somehow fused their literary sensibilities and branched out into songwriting, they might have conjured a lyrical voice something like Stan Ridgway's, a man with an uncanny knack for capturing the nooks and crannies of life among the lost and lowly in Los Angeles, telling their stories with genuine understanding but no illusions. Mosquitos was Ridgway's second solo album after leaving Wall of Voodoo, and it was a far grander and more ambitious work than anything he'd made up to that point. Produced by Ridgway and Joe Chiccarelli, Mosquitos has a rich, expansive sound compared to the claustrophobic tension generated by Wall of Voodoo, and in the instrumental fanfare "Heat Takes a Walk," the proto-ska strut of "Calling Out to Carol," the cinematic atmospherics of "A Mission in Life," the woozy horns that weave their way through "The Last Honest Man," and the Norteño-gone-psychedelic arrangement of "Newspapers," this album gave Ridgway a broader and more colorful musical canvas than he'd been able to work with before. At the same time, the rhythms were as edgy and insistent as Wall of Voodoo, and these postcards of lives in the balance had more shadings than his previous work, but their bitter emotional impact was as sharp as ever, from the doomed romantic triangle of "Peg and Pete and Me" and the disillusioned barkeep of "A Mission in Life" to the physically and emotionally broken protagonist of "Can't Complain." Mosquitos may have been a bit too subtle and moody for the audience that discovered Ridgway through Wall of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio," but at its best, this feels like the soundtrack to the best, most harrowing, and most heartbreaking film ever made about Los Angeles. “ Mark Demming / All Music Guide "allmusic ((( Mosquitos > Review )))"

Track listing
  1. "Heat Takes a Walk" - 2:43
  2. "Lonely Town" - 4:09
  3. "Goin' Southbound" - 4:42
  4. "Dogs" - 4:05
  5. "Can't Complain" - 3:49
  6. "Peg and Pete and Me" - 4:41
  7. "Newspapers" - 2:41
  8. "Calling Out to Carol" - 4:04
  9. "The Last Honest Man" - 4:01
  10. "A Mission in Life" - 5:53

Personnel

Adapted from the Mosquitos liner notes.[3]

Accolades
Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
1989BestFrance "Albums of the Year"8[4]
"*" denotes an unordered list.

Chart positions

Singles
Year Title Peak Chart positions
US
Mod [5]		 BE [6] NLD [7] UK [8]
1989 "Calling Out to Carol" 13192391
"Goin' Southbound" 8———
"—" denotes singles that were released but did not chart.

References
  1. Ruhlmann, William. "allmusic ((( Mosquitos > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  2. Christgau, Robert. "Stan Ridgway". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved on December 7, 2009.
  3. Mosquitos (booklet). Stan Ridgway. Los Angeles, California: Geffen Records. 1989.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. "Best - Albums of the Year". Best. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  5. "Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Stan Ridgway". Nielsen Company, Billboard. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  6. "Stan Ridgway Discography". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  7. "Stan Ridgway Discography". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
  8. "Stan Ridgway – full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
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