| Product Summary | | Label: Welk Music Group | | UPC: 00015707982726 | | Release Date: 8/14/2007 | | Buy.com Sku: 204883672 | | Item#: M3NWFM | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 24555 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Car Crash ~ Matt Nathanson |  | | 2. Come On Get Higher ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 3. Heartbreak World ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 4. Gone ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 5. Wedding Dress ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 6. Bulletproof Weeks ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 7. To The Beat Of Our Noisy Hearts ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 8. Still ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 9. Detroit Waves ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 10. Falling Apart ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 11. Sooner Surrender ~ Matt Nathanson | | | 12. All We Are ~ Matt Nathanson | |
| | Matt Nathanson doesn't waste any time setting the tone for his transfixing new album, Some Mad Hope. Diving headlong into a sea of chiming guitars, the San Francisco-based singer-songwriter breathlessly declares "I'm wide awake and so alive" -- the opening lines of "Car Crash" serving as a statement of emotional clarity that permeates the disc's every groove. Some Mad Hope, Nathanson's sixth studio album (and first for Vanguard), is in many ways his most fully realized work to date. Recorded over the past two and a half years, the 12-song set displays a sonic depth that dovetails perfectly with what he admits is a newfound songwriting confidence. "Every time I make a record, I think 'this is it!'" Nathanson says with a laugh. "But I don't think I really understood how to make a record until this one. The process and the result had much more of a dynamic to it -- we weren't just presenting songs -- it felt like the longest childbirth in the history of childbirths, but by the end, we really got it."
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Matt Nathanson (acoustic guitar); Michael Chavez (guitar); Mark Weinberg, Aaron Tap (electric guitar); Ben West (keyboards); John Thomasson (electric bass); Jason McGerr, Jason McKenzie (drums); Jim McGroman, Marshall Altman, Suzie Mcneil (background vocals). | | Matt Nathanson occupies that grassy, unevenly mown field between indie and stadium rock, delivering intelligent and anthemic guitar-driven pop with a shrugging, just-folks attitude. The jittery, glittering songs share both the earnestness and the fireworks of bands like U2, and the quieter ballads (played often on a 12-string acoustic guitar) chime like prime Elliott Smith. This sixth full-length by the San Francisco-based artist was his best-selling one to date, appearing on the Billboard Top 200 in 2007. |
Producer: Mark Weinberg; Marshall Altman |
Engineer: Doug Tyo; Mike Laza; Brian Scheubele; Karl Egsieker; Marcus Samperio; Ryan Williams; Eric Robinson |
| | Artist Overview | | While there was no shortage of earnest young folk-influenced pop singer-songwriters as the 21st century dawned, Matt Nathanson separated himself from the pack with a balance of complex songwriting, modern rock edge, and smooth pop knowhow. Nathanson grew up in the Boston area, but made his name toting his guitar around the coffeehouses of San Francisco in the 1990s, selling self-distributed CDs out of his van. By the mid-00s he had a major-label deal and a sturdy cult with a selection of heartfelt originals spiked with a trademark array of arresting covers from James to Bon Jovi. |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 08/21/2007 | | Original Release Date : 2007 | | Catalog ID : 798272 | | Label : Vanguard Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Runtime : 43m : 35s | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00015707982726 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | No Depression (p.108)
- "Nathanson is a skillful lyricist with a keen ear for melody, which saves even the most heartbreaking tunes from disappearing under their own weight." |
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| | Bio | | | Matt Nathanson At the core of Nathanson's music are his lyrics -- deft turns of phrase that can alternately cut deep into the heart or heal it. That's evident throughout Some Mad Hope, a song cycle of sorts that chronicles the search for a genuine connection, touching on the sensually electric moments as well as the darker frustrations of sifting through the wreckage -- in hopes of finding redemption at the end of the day. "I definitely think of the album as capturing the arc of a relationship," says the Boston native. "It starts out on a positive note and it goes to some really dark places. But after touching bottom, there's a sense of optimism in the end. Maybe coming from a realization that two people can be a team, not just two individuals who happen to be together." From the gentle string washes that lap the edges of "Heartbreak World" (a song that balances wistful backward glances with gingerly-held hope of better things to come) to the insistent rhythmic pulse that drives the wind-at-the-back anthem "Detroit Waves," Nathanson demonstrates a mesmerizing attention to detail. Each of Some Mad Hope's dozen songs exudes a distinct personality -- a dynamic that can't help but draw the listener in. "In a lot of ways, the album is about learning what a relationship really can be," he says. "Some people deal with that when they're 20, some people deal with it in their thirties and some people never do -- writing and recording these songs genuinely left me with the feeling that, 'wow, this is a real step forward for me, both as an artist and as a person.'"
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