Traffic and Weather
| Traffic and Weather | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Fountains of Wayne | ||||
| Released | April 3, 2007 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 47:27 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Adam Schlesinger | |||
| Fountains of Wayne chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (68/100)[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+)[3] |
| Pitchfork Media | (3.0/10)[4] |
| PopMatters | (8/10)[5] |
| Robert Christgau | (A)[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| USA Today | (?)[8] |
Traffic and Weather is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released on Virgin Records in April 2007.
Release
The album was met with moderate commercial success and favorable reviews. It reached #97 on the Billboard 200 albums chart,[9] and the song "I-95" was named #54 in Rolling Stone's's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007.[10] Blender described the album as having "more witty tales of confused young people caught between destinations".[11]
Details
According to an interview on New York's WCBS-AM, the band claimed the title of the album, which was mixed by Michael Brauer and John Holbrook, was inspired by the news station's "traffic and weather together on the eights".
The song "Someone to Love" includes backing vocals from former Smashing Pumpkins and Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur,[12] "Fire in the Canyon" contains backing vocals from the Candy Butchers' Mike Viola, "Seatbacks and Traytables" features former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, and "Strapped for Cash" features trumpeters Ronnie Buttacavoli and Scott Wendholt; the former trumpeter also plays on "Yolanda Hayes".
The song "Traffic & Weather" is featured on KYW-TV/WPSG in Philadelphia during its morning traffic and weather segments.
Track listing
All tracks written by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Someone to Love" | 3:53 |
| 2. | "'92 Subaru" | 3:13 |
| 3. | "Yolanda Hayes" | 4:01 |
| 4. | "Traffic and Weather" | 3:37 |
| 5. | "Fire in the Canyon" | 2:47 |
| 6. | "This Better Be Good" | 3:04 |
| 7. | "Revolving Dora" | 2:42 |
| 8. | "Michael and Heather at the Baggage Claim" | 3:42 |
| 9. | "Strapped for Cash" | 3:31 |
| 10. | "I-95" | 3:08 |
| 11. | "Hotel Majestic" | 3:28 |
| 12. | "Planet of Weed" | 2:46 |
| 13. | "New Routine" | 4:14 |
| 14. | "Seatbacks and Traytables" | 3:31 |
| 15. | "Sense Into You" (Japan bonus track) | 3:30 |
| 16. | "You Gotta Go" (Japan "Tour Edition" bonus track) | 2:06 |
Personnel
- Chris Collingwood – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Adam Schlesinger – bass, keyboards, backing vocals
- Jody Porter – lead guitar, backing vocals
- Brian Young – drums
Quotes about the album
All quotes from Adam Schlesinger.
General
- "I don't think anybody is counting on us for another one [Stacy's Mom Standard Hit] of those. I hope not."[11]
- "As usual, there are a lot of songs about transportation and travel."[11]
- "Our goal is 12 units, then if we hit 13, it looks like a runaway success."[11]
- "(Billy Corgan) was busy putting that other Smashing Pumpkins reunion together while we were working on this Smashing Pumpkins reunion on our record."[13]
Songs
- "Someone to Love": "a little bit 'Eleanor Rigby'-esque, in that it's about these two lonely people living in New York. It has a disco-y beat, which is something we don't do a lot of. Melissa Auf der Maur sings backing vocals, and that's the first female vocal we've had since Dominique Durand from Ivy on the first album."[14]
- "'92 Subaru": "It kind of sounds like The Doobie Brothers or Little Feat or something."[14]
- "Yolanda Hayes": "About a woman who works at the DMV"[14]
Recording
- "We had these grand ambitions to change our process, we went up to Woodstock and jammed, but in the end, only one thing from that session, 'Strapped for Cash,' turned into an actual song. For the rest of it, we went back to our usual method of writing on our own and bringing in a song to be arranged by everyone. Woodstock was good to get back together and loosen up, but I guess we're pretty set in our ways."[14]
References
- ↑ Metacritic score
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
- ↑ Pitchfork Media review
- ↑ PopMatters review
- ↑ Robert Christgau review
- ↑ Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived April 7, 2007)
- ↑ USA Today review
- ↑ "Traffic and Weather: Charts & Awards". allmusic.
- ↑ "The 100 Best Songs of 2007". Rolling Stone. 2007-12-11.
- 1 2 3 4 "25 Reasons to Love '07". Blender. January–February 2007.
- ↑ "Fountains Of Wayne ready new album". NME Online. 2007-01-19.
- ↑ Pais, Matt (2007-08-31). "'Smart, cool people like it' | Metromix Chicago". Chicago.metromix.com. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
- 1 2 3 4 Cohen, Jonathan (2007-01-18). "Fountains Of Wayne Untangle 'Traffic' Jams". Billboard.
External links
- Traffic and Weather at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
- Traffic and Weather at Metacritic