Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo


Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, released on May 2, 2000. The album is notable for the fact that Mann was initially without a record company and sold the album through her website, but the album went on to gain a worldwide release and achieve respectable sales. This was aided by the success of the Magnolia soundtrack, for the film of the same name by Paul Thomas Anderson, with which the album shares material.
The first release was a limited-run 7-song preview EP which was sold at concerts and via her website.
The full album was slated for a release through Interscope, but they did not think the material had commercial appeal. Mann purchased back the rights for "six figures", and began selling the album online. It was one of the first albums to be successful with only online sales, eventually selling 25,000 copies from Mann's website. After attracting attention, a distribution deal to traditional retail channels led to sales topping 200,000. As of 2008, sales in the United States have exceeded 230,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The Japanese version of the album contains bonus material, the European version has a different track listing and slightly different material. The album was remastered and released in 2004 by the audiophile record label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab as a hybrid stereo SACD and as an LP on 180-gram virgin vinyl.

Reception

Review aggregator website Metacritic states that the album received "universal acclaim" upon its release, giving it a score of 89 out of 100 based on 13 reviews. The same website placed the album at number 28 on their list of the best received album of the decade 2000–2009, and number 9 on their list of the best Indie/Alternative albums of the decade.
Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo placed on Slant Magazine list of best albums of the 2000s at number 100.

Track listing

All songs by Aimee Mann, except where noted.

US and Japan releases

  1. "How Am I Different" – 5:03
  2. "Nothing Is Good Enough" – 3:10
  3. "Red Vines" – 3:44
  4. "The Fall of the World's Own Optimist" – 3:06
  5. "Satellite" – 4:10
  6. "Deathly" – 5:37
  7. "Ghost World" – 3:30
  8. "Calling It Quits" – 4:09
  9. "Driving Sideways" – 3:49
  10. "Just Like Anyone" – 1:22
  11. "Susan" – 3:51
  12. "It Takes All Kinds" – 4:06
  13. "You Do" – 3:43
  14. "Save Me" – 4:35
  15. "Save Me"

    European release

The E.U. Edition of the Bachelor No. 2 CD on V2 Records has a rearranged track listing that removes "Driving Sideways" and adds a new track "Backfire". The Japanese bonus tracks are included.
  1. "How Am I Different" – 5:03
  2. "Nothing Is Good Enough" – 3:10
  3. "Red Vines" – 3:44
  4. "The Fall of the World's Own Optimist" – 3:06
  5. "Satellite" – 4:10
  6. "Deathly" – 5:37
  7. "Ghost World" – 3:30
  8. "Calling It Quits" – 4:09
  9. "Susan" – 3:51
  10. "Backfire" – 3:25
  11. "It Takes All Kinds" – 4:06
  12. "Save Me" – 4:35
  13. "Just Like Anyone" – 1:22
  14. "You Do" – 3:43
  15. "Save Me"

    MFSL release

The MFSL SACD and LP releases feature the same track list as the 13 track US CD release.

Personnel

Musicians