Sixteen Stone
Sixteen Stone is the debut studio album by English rock band Bush, released on 6 December 1994 by Trauma and Interscope Records. It became the band's most popular album, peaking at number four on the US "Billboard" 200 and boasting numerous successful singles. "Comedown" and "Glycerine" remain two of Bush's biggest hits to date, each reaching number one on the US "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Comedown", "Machinehead", and "Glycerine" were the three songs from the album to enter the US "Billboard" Hot 100, reaching number thirty, number forty-three, and number twenty-eight, respectively. The  album was certified 6x Platinum in the United States by the RIAA on April 16, 1997. To mark its twentieth anniversary, a remastered edition of the album was released on 14 October 2014. Recording and background. "Sixteen Stone" was recorded in January 1994 at Westway Records in London, and produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. In 1999, Gavin Rossdale explained that the decision to have Langer produce the record was brought about by Langer simply being English, and by his work co-writing the song "Shipbuilding" with Elvis Costello. Rossdale initially wanted Steve Albini, who produced the 1996 follow -up "Razorblade Suitcase", to work on "Sixteen Stone". David Carson designed the album artwork and packaging for the album. Guitarist Nigel Pulsford's father and Rossdale's stepfather died around the time the album was recorded. "Sixteen Stone" is dedicated to both. Some time prior to release, the band, known previously as Future Primitive, became known as Bush after Carson convinced the band that a shortened name would be more suitable for a CD. "Sixteen Stone" was delivered to Trauma Records in early April 1994, and released on 6 December that year through the label. Rossdale has stated that the  reason "Sixteen Stone"'s release through Trauma was delayed was the label's distributor, Hollywood Records, opining that the record contained "no singles" and "no album tracks". Content. Style and influences. The music of "Sixteen Stone" has been characterized variously as grunge, hard rock, and post-grunge, and has been compared with the music of 90s Seattle-based bands including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden; the song "Bomb" in particular invited a description of "Nirvana-approximating" from "Stereogum". Styles displayed on the record include the balladry of "Glycerine", the Ramones-indebted punk rock of "X-Girlfriend", and  what "Stereogum" proclaimed as "groove-grunge" on "Comedown" and "Body". Drummer Robin Goodridge told the publication "Modern Drummer" in 1996 that "Sixteen Stone" features percussion informed by the styles John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Billy Cobham and Keith Moon of The Who. Lyrics. The lyrical content of "Sixteen Stone" revolved around a variety of themes. "Testosterone" conveyed a take-down of machismo, while "Stereogum" analyzed "Monkey" to be a "sardonic statement about rock stardom" and to "attack the British sellout angle". "Bomb" is an anti-war song; Rossdale told "American Songwriter" in 2011 that the song had been "written about  the Irish IRA presence where I grew up". Other songs relayed personal narratives, including "Little Things" which Rossdale claimed was written about "trying to be strong in the face of adversity". Reception. Critical reception. "Sixteen Stone" received mostly positive feedback from music critics. "Q" wrote that Bush "make a carefully honed post-grunge sound that fits perfectly alongside American counterparts like Stone Temple Pilots or Live." In a four-and-a-half stars out of five review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic calls their sound impressive, but states that the band sounds too much like Seattle rockers Nirvana and Pearl  Jam. Robert Christgau was more critical in "The Village Voice", regarding it as a "not altogether unmusical howl of male pain" that glorified "despair". Accolades. In April 2014, "Rolling Stone" placed the album at number thirty-nine on their "1994: The 40 Best Records From Mainstream Alternative's Greatest Year" list. A month later, Loudwire placed "Sixteen Stone" at number eight on its "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list. In July 2014 "Guitar World" placed the album on its "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. Remaster. Around the album's 20th anniversary, a remastered edition of  its original recordings was released. When asked about also remixing the album for the anniversary edition, Rossdale stated "I did attempt to remix ... but it's really, like, you just can't do that. You can't mess with stuff. Those mixes, every single level of those songs is just ingrained in my DNA as it's probably in anybody's DNA who knows it. It just sounds really weird when you mess with it." Track listing. All songs written by Gavin Rossdale. Notes Personnel. Bush Additional musicians Technical personnel Chart performance. "Sixteen Stone" first entered the "Billboard" 200 at  number 187 for week ending 28 January 1995, and eventually peaked at number four. In 2010 the album's US sales passed the six million mark.