Only Life
{{Infobox album
| name = Only Life
| type = studio
| artist = the Feelies
| cover = feeliesonlylife.jpg
| alt =
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 39:17
| label = Coyote/A&M
| producer = Steve Rinkoff, Bill Million, Glenn Mercer
| prev_title = The Good Earth
| prev_year = 1986
| next_title = Time for a Witness
| next_year = 1991
}}
Only Life is the third album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1988.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-feelies-mn0000762177/biography|title=The Feelies | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}{{Cite web|url=https://relix.com/reviews/detail/the_feelies_only_life_time_for_a_witness/|title=The Feelies: Only Life & Time for a Witness|date=June 10, 2016|website=Relix Media}} It was made with the same line-up that appeared on the band's previous album, The Good Earth.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ufUBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA104|title=Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996|first=Andrew|last=Earles|date=September 15, 2014|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=9780760346488|via=Google Books}} The album contains a cover of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".
The album peaked at No. 173 on the Billboard 200.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-feelies/chart-history/tlp/|title=The Feelies|magazine=Billboard}} Jonathan Demme directed the video for "Away".{{Cite web|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/feelies-saying-something|title=FEELIES SAYING SOMETHING - Record Collector Magazine}}
Style
Only Life has been described as an "updated and mature form" of its predecessor, Crazy Rhythms. It features fewer acoustic tracks, with a "greater focus on speedy jangle-strum rockers".{{cite book |last1=Earles |first1=Andrew |title=Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996 |date=September 15, 2014 |publisher=Yoyageur Press |page=104}}
Production
The album was produced by Glenn Mercer, Bill Million, and Steve Rinkoff.{{cite journal |last1=Jenkins |first1=Mark |title=Records: The Feelies And Pere Ubu: Polished Power |journal=The Washington Post |date=14 Sep 1988 |page=C7}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|author=Ned Raggett |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/only-life-mw0000197559 |title=Only Life - The Feelies | Songs, Reviews, Credits |website=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2015-11-10}}
| rev2 = Robert Christgau
|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=3 |page=415}}
|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
|rev4score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=419}}
|rev5 = The Philadelphia Inquirer
|rev5score = {{rating|4|4}}{{cite journal |last1=Moon |first1=Tom |title=A STRONG BAND THAT WINS WITH ITS INSTRUMENTALS |journal=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=9 Oct 1988 |page=G14}}
| rev6 = Pitchfork
| rev6Score =7.6/10{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21666-only-lifetime-for-a-witness/|title=The Feelies: Only Life/Time For A Witness|website=Pitchfork}}
|rev7 = Rolling Stone
|rev7score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thefeelies/albums/album/111234/review/5946864/only_life|title=The Feelies: Only Life : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=November 3, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103074208/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thefeelies/albums/album/111234/review/5946864/only_life|archive-date=2008-11-03}}
|rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev8score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=242}}
|rev9 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
|rev9score = 7/10{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |pages=146–147}}
}}
Magnet wrote that "the songs grapple with apprehension and the longing for comfort, which the music delivers in the form of indelible hooks and transcendent rave-ups."{{Cite web|url=https://magnetmagazine.com/2016/04/17/essential-new-music-the-feelies-only-life-and-time-for-a-witness/|title=Essential New Music: The Feelies' "Only Life" And "Time For A Witness"|date=April 17, 2016}} Rolling Stone wrote: "Driven by the interlocking guitars of Mercer and Bill Million, the band constructs waves of beautiful hypnotic drone, with subtle tempo shifts and percussion accents that ripple through the arrangements." Trouser Press praised the "amazingly exacting sound and performances" and "riveting songs of breathless electricity."{{cite web |title=Feelies |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/feelies/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=15 April 2021}} USA Today listed the album at number nine on its list of the ten best albums of 1988.{{cite journal |last1=Gundersen |first1=Edna |title=The year in music: Only a few stand out in a so-so period for rock: In 1988, pop falls short on substance |journal=USA Today |date=13 Dec 1988 |page=1D}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| all_writing = Glenn Mercer except where noted
| title1 = It's Only Life
| length1 = 3:01
| title2 = Too Much
| length2 = 4:38
| writer2 = Bill Million, Glenn Mercer
| title3 = Deep Fascination
| length3 = 4:07
| title4 = Higher Ground
| length4 = 4:38
| title5 = The Undertow
| length5 = 3:43
| total_length = 20:07
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| title6 = For Awhile
| length6 = 4:05
| title7 = The Final Word
| length7 = 2:23
| writer7 = Million, Mercer
| title8 = Too Far Gone
| length8 = 3:38
| writer8 = Million, Mercer
| title9 = Away
| length9 = 5:27
| title10 = What Goes On
| length10 = 3:37
| writer10 = Lou Reed
| total_length = 19:10
}}
Personnel
- Glenn Mercer – lead, rhythm and slide guitars, lead vocals, keyboards
- Bill Million – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, e-bow
- Brenda Sauter – bass, backing vocals
- Stan Demeski – drums, percussion
- Dave Weckerman – percussion, drums
References
{{Reflist}}
{{The Feelies}}
{{Authority control}}