Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is the second studio album by American indie rock band Pavement. The album, released on February 2, 1994, saw the bandmove on towards a more accessible rock sound than that of their more lo-fi debut Slanted and Enchanted and achieve moderate success with the single "Cut Your Hair". The album also saw original drummer Gary Young replaced by Steve West. It was a UK Top 20 hit upon release, although it was not so successful in the US charts. As of 2009, the album had sold about 500,000 copies.
Critical reception
's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave Crooked Rain a perfect 5-star rating, describing it as "the Reckoning to Slanted & Enchanteds Murmur". He concluded that the album was "a vibrant, dynamic, emotionally resonant album that stands as a touchstone of underground rock in the '90s and one of the great albums of its decade." Robert Christgau of the Village Voice gave the album an A grade, describing it as "a tour de force melodywise". Entertainment WeeklyDavid Browne gave the album a B+, writing that "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is just a bunch of guys dwelling on topics like skateboarding, plane crashes, girls, and mocking Stone Temple Pilots. When they set those sentiments to bumpy-road drones or a bit of a country lilt...the result has a subtle, ingratiating beauty." Los Angeles Times critic Richard Cromelin gave the album 3.5 out of 4 stars. Cromelin wrote that the album contains "some of the Meat Puppets' loopiness, a Stones/Burritos folk-country resonance, and a chirpy pop tunefulness--along with enough contrary abrasiveness to keep you from getting too comfortable with them."
Legacy
In 2003, the album was ranked number 210 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 212 in a 2012 revised list. It was also ranked number 10 on their best albums of the Nineties. In 2003, it was ranked number 8 on Pitchforks list Top 100 Albums of the 1990s, and in 2010, the song "Gold Soundz" was listed as number one on Pitchforks 200 Greatest Songs of the 1990s. In July 2014, Guitar World ranked Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain at number 21 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. The photo in the middle of the cover was taken from the March 1978 issue of National Geographic Magazine. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Reissue
The album was reissued on October 26, 2004 by Matador Records under the name . The re-released version contains two discs: the first is the original album as well as B-sides and compilation tracks from that era. The second disc is a collection of previously unreleased tracks featuring former drummer Gary Young and live BBC Sessions. The collection features forty-nine tracks, culled from various previous recordings, including the original album, the single "Cut Your Hair", "Range Life", "Gold Soundz", the "Gold Soundz" Australia-N.Z. French Micronesia Tour '94 EP, the "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" bonus 7", and other recording sessions at Random Falls, NY, Louder Than You Think in Stockton, CA, and Waterworks, NY over the course of 1993.
Track listing
- Due to an ink splodge on the back of the original artwork, the song "Silence Kid" has become erroneously known as "Silence Kit". This misnomer persisted when designer Mark Ohe printed it onto the back of the reissue Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins, despite the interior artwork showing the correct name in print several times, including written in Stephen Malkmus' own handwriting. Since its original naming, however, it appears the band also refers to the song as "Silence Kit" in set listings, too.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Pavement
Stephen Malkmus – vocals, guitar, bass
Scott Kannberg – guitar, vocals, organ, percussion
