People
Studio album by
Babe the Blue Ox
Released1996
GenreAlternative rock
LabelRCA Records[1]
ProducerEd Stasium
Babe the Blue Ox chronology
Color Me Babe
(1994)		 People
(1996)		 The Way We Were
(1998)

People is an album by the American alternative rock trio Babe the Blue Ox, released in 1996.[2][3] Like the band's other releases, the album title shares a name with a Barbra Streisand record.[4]

The album's first single was "Stand by Your Man".[5] Babe promoted People by touring with Cibo Matto.[6]

Production

Babe's singer and guitar player Tim Thomas employed at least 15 different guitars during the making of the album.[7] People was produced by Ed Stasium.[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[10]
The San Diego Union-Tribune[11]

Trouser Press wrote that "if People attracts new fans who won’t care much for the band’s trickier back catalogue, it’s clear that the same wry intelligence and highly individual musical ambition is at work both here and there."[12] The Salt Lake Tribune considered it "edgy, yet filled with melodic, funky and odd rhythms."[5] The San Diego Union-Tribune called it "a bit too artsy for its own good."[11]

The Dayton Daily News deemed the album a "collection of fractured pop and funk-inspired punk that is bound by a certain sense of controlled experimentation."[13] Guitar Player thought that "Babe delivers complex arrangements, saturated guitar riffs and odd-meter grooves with an organic yet menacing feel."[14] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch opined that "the best moments on the album are when the songs shift from experimental to infectious; on 'Stand by Your Man' when relentless drumming and driving guitar stop building tension and swizzle in and out of a soothing melody."[15]

In a retrospective article, The Village Voice called the album "gritty but glistening," writing that Babe "specialized in booming noise-pop rants awe-inspiring in both girth and mirth—1996’s 'Fuck This Song', a delirious, profane anthem delivered in a crisp 1:41, sums their range up excellently, the whispers to the unhinged screams, the cacophonic riffs to the subtle pop sensibilities."[16]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Can't Stand Up" 
2."Stand by Your Man" 
3."Rube Goldberg" 
4."Beat You to It" 
5."Fuck This Song" 
6."Breathe" 
7."Family Picnic" 
8."Resume" 
9."I'm Wrong" 
10."Shunpiking" 
11."Just Checking" 
12."Memphis" 

Personnel

  • Hanna Fox - drums
  • Tim Thomas - vocals, guitar
  • Rose Thomson - bass

References

  1. ↑ "Perfect Sound Forever: Babe The Blue Ox". www.furious.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  2. ↑ "Babe the Blue Ox Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  3. ↑ Blush, Steven (October 4, 2016). "New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB". St. Martin's Publishing Group. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved September 22, 2021 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Manes, Billy. "Pop trio follows heard instinct". Orlando Weekly. Archived from the original on 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  5. 1 2 Renzhoffer, Martin (17 May 1996). "Babe the Blue Ox Finds Happiness As Small Band With a Large Label". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. E12.
  6. ↑ Rodriguez, Kenn (24 May 1996). "N.Y.C.-BASED BOX DESERVES RESPECT, TOO". Albuquerque Journal. p. E21.
  7. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (Nov 1996). "Babe the Blue Ox: 6-string smorgasgored". Guitar Player. 30 (11): 23.
  8. ↑ Masley, Ed (March 20, 1997). "BABE THE BLUE OX HAVING A BLAST". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. F3.
  9. ↑ "People - Babe the Blue Ox | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2021-09-22 – via www.allmusic.com.
  10. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 57.
  11. 1 2 Niesel, Jeff (June 20, 1996). "ALBUM REVIEWS". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Entertainment. p. 15.
  12. ↑ "Babe the Blue Ox". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  13. ↑ Simmons, Carol (21 Mar 1997). "MUSIC IS THEIR BUSINESS". Dayton Daily News. Go!. p. 18.
  14. ↑ Gore, Joe; Rotondi, James (Oct 1996). "Babe the Blue Ox, People, RCA". Guitar Player. 30 (10): 109.
  15. ↑ Shapiro, Samantha M. (11 July 1996). "MUSIC - ALBUM REVIEWS". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Get Out. p. 8.
  16. ↑ "The Main Event". The Village Voice. May 22, 2007. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
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