| Ghost Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 10, 2015 (2015-7-10) | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 54:48 | |||
| Label | El Camino Records | |||
| Producer | Brad Wood | |||
| Veruca Salt chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Ghost Notes | ||||
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Ghost Notes is the fifth full-length studio album by American rock bandVeruca Salt, released on July 10, 2015, through El Camino Records. It is the first to feature the band's original lineup since their second album,Eight Arms to Hold You (1997).[2]
Following the band's 1997 releaseEight Arms to Hold You, drummerJim Shapiro quit. Shortly after, in 1998,Nina Gordon and bassist Steve Lack also left, leavingLouise Post to release two new Veruca Salt albums with other musicians,Resolver in 2000, andIV in 2006. Gordon toldThe Los Angeles Times that after seeing the reception fromMazzy Star's 2012 reunion she got the desire to make music with Post again. The two met up for the first time in 14 years and began writing music that would becomeGhost Notes.[3]
ForGhost Notes, the four original band members collaborated more on songwriting than they had before. The lyrics focused on their shared experiences, with Gordon saying, "I think a lot of the content in the new songs is about our feelings surrounding the breakup, regrets about the breakup, the thrill of getting back together. It's really not so much about our individual lives the way it used to be."[4]
Ghost Notes was released on July 10, 2015. It was produced byBrad Wood, who also produced Veruca Salt's debutAmerican Thighs.[2] Two of the songs had previously been released. "The Museum of Broken Relationships" was on the band's 2014Record Store Day releaseMMXIV,[5] and "Black and Blonde" is a new recording (with a new chorus and revised lyrics) of a song originally recorded by Gordon for her first solo album,Tonight and the Rest of My Life (2000).[3]
The double-LPvinyl edition released by El Camino in January 2016 features a revised track listing with three additional selections.[6]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 78/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| The A.V. Club | B+[9] |
| Consequence of Sound | B[10] |
| Now Magazine | [11] |
| Paste | 9.1/10[12] |
| Spin | 7/10[13] |
| Under the Radar | 7/10[14] |
| Pitchfork | 7.0/10[15] |
Ghost Notes received mostly positive reviews from music critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has anaverage score of 78 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 12 reviews.[7]
Writing forConsequence of Sound and rating the album a "B", Nina Corcoran said, "Veruca Salt are still writing catchy, raging songs, but the naivety of their intent and its two-decade-old edits are miles away here."[10] Matt Williams ofNow Magazine rated the album four stars out of five and stated, "Gordon and Post haven't missed a beat. In fact, they might be better than ever."[11]The A.V. Club's Alex McCown calledGhost Notes "a potent and affecting record, with a deep well of emotional resonance Veruca Salt never really had before."[9]
| Publication | Rank | List |
|---|---|---|
| AllMusic | N/A | Best Rock Albums of 2015[16] |
All tracks are written by Veruca Salt
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Gospel According to Saint Me" | 3:49 |
| 2. | "Black and Blonde" | 4:07 |
| 3. | "Eyes on You" | 3:17 |
| 4. | "Prince of Wales" | 5:35 |
| 5. | "The Sound of Leaving" | 3:32 |
| 6. | "Love You Less" | 3:09 |
| 7. | "Laughing in the Sugar Bowl" | 2:16 |
| 8. | "Empty Bottle" | 5:53 |
| 9. | "Come Clean, Dark Thing" | 3:22 |
| 10. | "I'm Telling You Now" | 3:29 |
| 11. | "Triage" | 3:36 |
| 12. | "Lost to Me" | 4:10 |
| 13. | "The Museum of Broken Relationships" | 2:35 |
| 14. | "Alternica" | 5:58 |
| Total length: | 54:48 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prelude to Zeus" | 1:28 |
| 2. | "The Gospel According to Saint Me" | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Black and Blonde" | 4:07 |
| 4. | "Eyes on You" | 3:17 |
| 5. | "Prince of Wales" | 5:35 |
| 6. | "The Sound of Leaving" | 3:32 |
| 7. | "Love You Less" | 3:09 |
| 8. | "Laughing in the Sugar Bowl" | 2:16 |
| 9. | "Empty Bottle" | 5:53 |
| 10. | "Come Clean, Dark Thing" | 3:22 |
| 11. | "I'm Telling You Now" | 3:29 |
| 12. | "Triage" | 3:36 |
| 13. | "Lost to Me" | 4:10 |
| 14. | "Into the Sun" | 0:34 |
| 15. | "The Museum of Broken Relationships" | 2:35 |
| 16. | "Alternica" | 5:58 |
| 17. | "Coda" | 1:56 |
| Total length: | 58:46 | |
Credits adapted fromAllMusic.[18]
Veruca Salt[edit]
Additional musicians[edit]
| Production[edit]
|
| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard 200[19] | 159 |
| USTop Alternative Albums (Billboard)[20] | 11 |
| USTop Rock Albums (Billboard)[21] | 15 |
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | July 10, 2015 |
| El Camino |
| Australia | July 10, 2015 |
| Warner Bros Records |
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label |
| United States | January 2016 | El Camino |
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