Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)

Red House Painters (also known as Rollercoaster or Red House Painters I to distinguish it from the second eponymous album, known as Bridge or Red House Painters II) is the second album by the group Red House Painters, released on May 24, 1993 by 4AD. A double album, Red House Painters features fourteen songs culled from bandleader Mark Kozelek's back-catalog, and received highly positive reviews from critics upon release.

Red House Painters
Studio album by Red House Painters
Released	May 24, 1993
Recorded	Summer 1992 – spring 1993
Studio	Undisclosed recording studio on Divisadero Street, San Francisco[1]
Genre	Slowcore, dream pop, folk rock
Length	75:38
Language	English
Label	4AD
Producer	Mark Kozelek
Red House Painters chronology
Down Colorful Hill (1992) Red House Painters (1993) Red House Painters (1993)

Background

The album follows Red House Painters' 1992 debut Down Colorful Hill, and the recording sessions spawned twenty-three songs culled from leader/producer Mark Kozelek's back-catalog, fourteen of which comprised the Rollercoaster album.[1] Eight songs left over from the recording sessions would make up the band's second self-titled album. Kozelek's lyrics focus on themes of pain, desolation and loss, while musically the album runs from the folk-pop of "Grace Cathedral Park" to the shoegaze of "Mistress" to the stark "New Jersey" and onto the soundscapes of "Funhouse" and "Mother". Kozelek said of the recording sessions, "It was a nightmare, because the initial excitement of recording twenty-three songs became, 'one down, twenty-two to go' ... And I was nervous that people were now paying attention, but Ivo [Watts-Russell, 4AD label owner] made helpful suggestions and never demanded anything. If we went over budget, we went over budget." Watts-Russell also suggested the album be a double album, and compiled the track listing himself.[1]

Kozelek discussed his views of the album in the foreword of the 2002 and revised 2008 editions of his book of lyrics, Nights of Passed Over: "... I know the Rollercoaster album is many people's favorite. But for me, it is and will always be the most difficult to get through. I hadn't heard it in years, and though there are some beautiful things I had forgotten about -- a delicate piano in "Things Mean a Lot", the way the band brings life to "Brown Eyes" midway through, and the chorus of "Strawberry Hill", which was sung by a group of strangers we gathered from outside the Divisadero Street studio where we were recording—what I remembered most, even when I look at the album's cover, is nine months of worry."

The album cover is a sepia-toned picture of the now-demolished Thunderbolt roller coaster at Coney Island.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork	9.0/10[3]
Q	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[6]
Uncut	8/10[7]

In a contemporary review, James Greer (writer) of Spin wrote that Red House Painters "rewards patient listening with a rare and sublime ecstasy."[8] The album peaked at number 63 upon its initial release on the UK Albums Chart in 1993.[9]

Marc Hawthorne of The A.V. Club later cited Red House Painters as Mark Kozelek's "crowning achievement in a discography that has placed him alongside the greatest songwriters of all time".[10] In a 5-star review, Jason Ankeny of AllMusic hailed the album as a "sprawling, remarkable set distinguished by Mark Kozelek's continuing maturation as a songwriter" and concluded that "the songs resonate with depth and poignancy, and rank as Kozelek's most fully realized collection of compositions."[2] In September 2010, Pitchfork included "Katy Song" at number 162 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Kozelek, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Grace Cathedral Park"		3:51
2.	"Down Through"		2:38
3.	"Katy Song"		8:22
4.	"Mistress"		4:05
5.	"Things Mean a Lot"		3:23
6.	"Funhouse"		9:18
7.	"Take Me Out"		4:48
8.	"Rollercoaster"		4:17
9.	"New Jersey"		3:58
10.	"Dragonflies"	Kozelek, Robyn Riel-Nail	3:58
11.	"Mistress" (Piano Version)		4:32
12.	"Mother"		13:06
13.	"Strawberry Hill"		7:34
14.	"Brown Eyes"		1:47

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue #	Notes
United Kingdom	May 24, 1993	4AD	CD	DAD 3008 CD
			Double LP	DAD 3008
	July 6, 1998		CD (reissue)	GAD 3008 CD
United States	May 25, 1993	Warner Bros. Records	CD	9 45256-2
	November 2, 1999	4AD	CD (reissue)	GAD 3008 CD
Worldwide	April 18, 2015		Double LP	CAD 3409	Bronze-coloured vinyl, as part of the Red House Painters box set
	August 14, 2015				Black vinyl, released individually

Credits

• Images by W.K.V.L.

Though no other credits are printed on the release, the following is a de facto list of the performers on the album:

• Mark Kozelek – vocals, guitar, piano
• Gorden Mack – guitar
• Jerry Vessel – bass
• Anthony Koutsos – drums

"Mistress" single

Although no commercial singles were ever released from the album, a promotional-only CD was issued for "Mistress" in the US in 1993. The single features a different mix of "Mistress" as well as the piano version, along with the album version of "Grace Cathedral Park". While the sleeve lists "Strawberry Hill" as the album version, it is in fact an edit, which removes roughly 50 seconds of guitar noise in the beginning of the song.

Warner Bros./4AD, PRO-CD-6108:

1. "Mistress" (Remix) – 4:03
2. "Grace Cathedral Park" – 3:51
3. "Strawberry Hill" [Edit] – 6:44
4. "Mistress" (Piano Version) – 4:31

References

1. Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD, by Martin Aston. Page 416. Published by The Friday Project, 2013.
2. Ankeny, Jason. "Red House Painters (Roller-Coaster) – Red House Painters". AllMusic. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
3. Stosuy, Brandon (May 6, 2015). "Red Hot Painters: Box Set". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
4. Mason, Matt (September 2015). "Master Strokes". Q (350): 118–19.
5. O'Connor, Rob (November 25, 1993). "Red House Painters: Red House Painters I / Red House Painters II". Rolling Stone: 120. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
6. Seward, Scott (2004). "Red House Painters". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 682. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
7. Snapes, Laura. "How to Buy... Mark Kozelek". Uncut. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
8. http://www.sunkilmoon.com/rhp_press/rhppress04.html
9. "Red House Painters". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
10. Hawthorne, Marc (September 25, 2007). "Permanent Records, The A.V. Club's Hall Of Fame: Red House Painters "Rollercoaster"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 22, 2015.