Fontanelle (album)

After extensive touring throughout 1991, the band entered the studio to record their major label follow-up to their debut album, Spanking Machine. Bassist Michelle Leon left the group in December 1991, shortly before the recording of Fontanelle began, due to the murder of Joe Cole, her then boyfriend. Maureen Herman was recruited as her replacement.

The album was co-produced by frontwoman and guitarist Kat Bjelland with Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth heading production.{{cite book|chapter=Babes in Toyland|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C&pg=PA21|title=The A to X of Alternative Music|last=Taylor|first=Steve|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2006|isbn=0-8264-8217-1|pages=20–21}} Brian Paulson was also studio engineer and the final product was mixed by Dave Ogilvie. The cover photo — an image of a naked doll held up in front of a mirror — was taken for the album by photographer Cindy Sherman.

The band has explained the album's name as referring to the soft spot on the top of a baby's skull, as well as to a little fountain used by fairies. It is also the name of a magician consulted by Gilles de Rais, the real-life murderer who inspired the fairy tale "Bluebeard".{{cite web|url=http://vampires.monstrous.com/gilles_de_rais_alias_blue_bear.htm |title=Gilles de Rais alias Blue Beard |publisher=Vampires.monstrous.com |date=2007-02-26 |accessdate=2012-02-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219041327/http://vampires.monstrous.com/gilles_de_rais_alias_blue_bear.htm |archive-date=2012-02-19 }}

The process of recording the album is described in the book Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band, by Neal Karlen.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,303328,00.html|title=Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=August 12, 1994|access-date=December 4, 2008|last=Mifflin|first=Margot|author-link=Margot Mifflin|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210230826/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,303328,00.html|archive-date=December 10, 2013|url-status=dead}} Recording took place at Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and at Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios in New York City.

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/fontanelle-mw0000614128|title=Fontanelle – Babes in Toyland|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=March 17, 2010|last=Huey|first=Steve}}

| rev2 = Chicago Tribune

| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1992/10/22/babes-in-toylandfontanelle-reprise-starstarstar-12the-babes/|title=Babes in Toyland: Fontanelle (Reprise)|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=October 22, 1992|access-date=May 18, 2018|last=Herrmann|first=Brenda}}

| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev3score = A−{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/1992/08/28/fontanelle/|title=Fontanelle|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|issue=133|date=August 28, 1992|access-date=March 17, 2010|last=Berger|first=Arion|page=66|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230824161801/https://ew.com/article/1992/08/28/fontanelle/|archive-date=August 24, 2023|url-status=dead}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-08-30-ca-8261-story.html|title=Anger From the Anti-Bangles|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=August 30, 1992|access-date=May 18, 2018|last=Gold|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Gold}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = 9/10{{cite magazine|title=Pieces of Hate|magazine=NME|date=August 22, 1992|last=Cameron|first=Keith|page=33}}

| rev6 = Pitchfork

| rev6score = 9.0/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/babes-in-toyland-fontanelle/|title=Babes in Toyland: Fontanelle|website=Pitchfork|date=February 16, 2025|access-date=February 16, 2025|last=Phillips|first=Amy}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|chapter=Babes in Toyland|last=Abowitz|first=Richard|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor1-link=Nathan Brackett|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|editor2-link=Christian Hoard|publisher=Simon & Schuster|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/32 32]}}

| rev8 = Select

| rev8score = 5/5{{cite magazine|title=Babes in Toyland: Fontanelle|magazine=Select|issue=27|date=September 1992|last=Perry|first=Andrew|page=82}}

| rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev9score = 7/10{{cite book|chapter=Babes in Toyland|last=Huston|first=Johnny|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-link=Eric Weisbard|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|publisher=Vintage Books|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|page=22}}

| rev10 = Vox

| rev10score = 9/10{{cite magazine|title=Membrane Salad Surgery|magazine=Vox|issue=24|date=September 1992|last=Himes|first=Tamara|page=59}}

}}

Fontanelle is Babes in Toyland's most critically and commercially successful album, selling 220,000 copies approximately in the United States alone. Reviews of the album were very positive, with Steve Huey from AllMusic noting:

Measured by any standard, Fontanelle is a frighteningly primal record, one whose sheer ferocity Babes in Toyland never quite captured this convincingly anywhere else.

The album's success also prompted them to tour more and were eventually offered a place on the Lollapalooza tour in 1993,{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978840,00.html|title=Dispatches Latter-Day Grunge|magazine=Time|date=July 12, 1993|access-date=April 26, 2010|last=Farley|first=Christopher John|author-link=Christopher John Farley|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102071258/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,978840,00.html|archive-date=November 2, 2007|url-status=dead}} playing alongside such acts as Tool, Primus, Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr. and Rage Against the Machine. During dates at Lollapalooza, the band released their third and final EP, Painkillers, in June 1993, which consisted of a re-recording of one of their most notable songs "He's My Thing", and outtakes from Fontanelle.

{{Track listing

| total_length = 37:09

| all_writing = Kat Bjelland unless otherwise noted

| title1 = Bruise Violet

| length1 = 2:52

| title2 = Right Now

| length2 = 2:19

| title3 = Bluebell

| length3 = 2:22

| title4 = Handsome and Gretel

| length4 = 1:50

| title5 = Blood

| length5 = 2:44

| title6 = Magick Flute

| writer6 = Lori Barbero

| length6 = 3:02

| title7 = Won't Tell

| length7 = 2:27

| title8 = Quiet Room

| length8 = 2:59

| title9 = Spun

| writer9 = Bjelland, Barbero

| length9 = 3:03

| title10 = Short Song

| length10 = 0:41

| title11 = Jungle Train

| writer11 = Bjelland, Barbero

| length11 = 2:15

| title12 = Pearl

| writer12 = Bjelland, Barbero, Michelle Leon

| length12 = 1:56

| title13 = Real Eyes

| length13 = 2:51

| title14 = Mother

| length14 = 3:13

| title15 = Gone

| length15 = 2:28

}}

All personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes.{{cite AV media notes|title=Fontanelle|title-link=Fontanelle (album)|others=Babes in Toyland|year=1992|type=CD|publisher=Reprise Records|id=LC 0322}}

;Babes in Toyland

• Kat Bjelland – vocals, guitar
• Maureen Herman – bass
• Lori Barbero – drums, vocals (6)

;Technical personnel

• Lee Ranaldo – producer, engineer
• Kat Bjelland – producer
• Brian Paulson – engineer
• John Armstrong – assistant engineer
• John Azelvandre – assistant engineer
• Eric S. Anderson – assistant engineer
• Howie Weinberg – mastering
• Dave Ogilvie – mixing

;Design personnel

• Tom Recchion – art direction, design
• Cindy Sherman – photography (front cover)
• Michael Lavine – photography (inlay)
• Fredrik Nilsen – photography (inlay)

{{Reflist}}

• {{AllMusic}}

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Category:Babes in Toyland (band) albums

Category:1992 albums

Category:Reprise Records albums