Seen a Ghost
{{Infobox album
| name = Seen a Ghost
| type = studio
| artist = The Honeydogs
| cover = Seen a Ghost.jpg
| alt =
| released = August 26, 1997{{cite magazine|last=Horak|first=Terri|title=Debris Makes Debut With Rootsy Act Honeydogs|date=July 19, 1997|page=11|magazine=Billboard}}
| recorded = January 19, 1997 - February 12, 1997
| venue =
| studio = Pachyderm (Cannon Falls, Minnesota)
| genre = Alternative rock, roots rock
| length = 47:28
| label = Debris/Mercury Records{{cite web |title=Honeydogs – When the Levys break |url=https://www.nodepression.com/honeydogs-when-the-levys-break/ |website=No Depression |date=September 1997 |access-date=18 November 2021 |archive-date=18 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118235013/https://www.nodepression.com/honeydogs-when-the-levys-break/ |url-status=live }}
| producer = Tom Herbers, Honeydogs
| prev_title = Everything, I Bet You
| prev_year = 1996
| next_title = Here's Luck
| next_year = 2000
}}
Seen a Ghost is an album by the American alternative rock band Honeydogs, released in 1997.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-honeydogs-mn0000075212/biography|title=The Honeydogs Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-11-18|archive-date=2021-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118235024/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-honeydogs-mn0000075212/biography|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-honeydogs/the-honeydogs-1/|title=The Honeydogs|first=Bud|last=Scoppa|date=March 6, 2012|website=pastemagazine.com|access-date=November 18, 2021|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118235010/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/the-honeydogs/the-honeydogs-1/|url-status=live}} It was the band's first album for a major label and their last with guitarist Tommy Borscheid.{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/1998/06/19/honeydogs-rock/|title=Honeydogs Rock|website=EW.com|access-date=2021-11-18|archive-date=2021-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118235010/https://ew.com/article/1998/06/19/honeydogs-rock/|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last=Snyder|first=Bill|title=Their Bassist Survived A Coma and Their Label Deal Flattened, Leaving The Honeydogs Sitting Pretty in the Twin Cities|date=January 2001|magazine=CMJ New Music Montly|page=31}}
The band supported the album by opening for INXS on a North American tour.{{cite magazine |last1=Reece |first1=Doug |title=GHOST SIGHTING |magazine=Billboard |date=Sep 13, 1997 |volume=109 |issue=37 |page=26}}
Production
Recorded at Pachyderm Studios, the album was produced by Tom Herbers and the band, and mixed by Nick DiDia.{{cite news |last1=Groebner |first1=Simon Peter |title=Advance cassettes of The Honeydogs' big-label debut... |work=City Pages |date=May 14, 1997 |location=Music Notes}}{{cite magazine |last1=Horak |first1=Terri |title=Debris makes debut with rootsy act Honeydogs |magazine=Billboard |date=Jul 19, 1997 |volume=109 |issue=29 |pages=11, 101}} Al Kooper contributed Hammond organ.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmMg41BuFnoC&pg=PA317|title=Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards|first=Al|last=Kooper|date=February 1, 2008|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-1-61774-536-2 |via=Google Books|access-date=November 18, 2021|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118235024/https://books.google.com/books?id=bmMg41BuFnoC&pg=PA317|url-status=live}}
Critical reception
{{album ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev2 = Lincoln Journal Star
|rev2score = {{rating|4.5|5}}{{cite news |last1=Moser |first1=Daniel R. |title=There's honey in this rock: Minneapolis-based 'Dogs deliver brilliant, rootsy pop |work=Lincoln Journal Star |date=31 Aug 1997 |page=H6}}
|rev3 = St. Paul Pioneer Press
|rev3score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last1=Gilmer |first1=Vickie |title=HOTWAX |work=St. Paul Pioneer Press |date=August 10, 1997 |page=4E}}
}}
Stereo Review called the album "this decade's freshest-sounding blast of folk-rock neoclassicism."{{cite journal |last1=Puterbaugh |first1=Parke |title=Seen a Ghost |journal=Stereo Review |date=Jan 1998 |volume=63 |issue=1 |page=91}} The Lincoln Journal Star wrote that "this is a pure-pop band, one that cheerfully raids country, rock, r&b and psychedelia." Werner Trieschmann, of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, considered the band one of the first of an inevitable wave of copies of the Wallflowers, writing that "this one won't be the worst, I can guarantee, but that's not an endorsement either."{{cite news |last1=Trieschmann |first1=Werner |title=Honeydogs, Seen a Ghost, Debris |work=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette |date=September 5, 1997 |page=19W}}
The Palm Beach Post deemed Honeydogs "a real rock band," writing that "no frills guitars combine with the gentle purr of a Wurlitzer or the drone of a fiddle for extra flavor."{{cite news |last1=Rivers |first1=Byron |title=BREAK THE USUAL RECORD HABIT |work=The Palm Beach Post |date=12 Dec 1997 |location=TGIF |page=26}} The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel listed Seen a Ghost as the fifth best album of 1997, writing that it "sidles up to an easygoing collection of pop songs and country rockers all of them unassuming, irony-free and irresistible."{{cite news |last1=Maples |first1=Tina |title=The best CDs of a lackluster music year |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date=15 Dec 1997 |location=Cue & Jump |page=1}} The St. Paul Pioneer Press opined: "Refusing to give up on the heartland strains that have fueled the group for so long, the Honeydogs are more secure in its abilities."
AllMusic called the album "a charming collection of Beatlesque pop, demonstrating the group's knack for bright, catchy melodies and ringing guitars."
Track listing
{{tracklist
| all_writing = Adam Levy
| title1 = Rumor Has It
| note1 =
| length1 = 3:14
| title2 = John Brown
| note2 =
| length2 = 3:43
| title3 = Cherub
| note3 =
| length3 = 2:59
| title4 = I Miss You
| note4 =
| length4 = 4:22
| title5 = Those Things Are Hers
| note5 =
| length5 = 4:36
| title6 = Into Thin Air
| note6 =
| length6 = 3:44
| title7 = Your Blue Door
| note7 =
| length7 = 3:19
| title8 = Sans Sucre
| note8 =
| length8 = 3:01
| title9 = Seen a Ghost
| note9 =
| length9 = 4:01
| title10 = Twitch
| note10 =
| length10 = 3:29
| title11 = Cut Me Loose, Napoleon
| note11 =
| length11 = 2:34
| title12 = Donna's 7
| note12 =
| length12 = 3:03
| title13 = Mainline
| note13 =
| length13 = 3:01
| title14 = Sweet Pea
| note14 =
| length14 = 2:22
|total_length = 47:28
}}
Personnel
;The Honeydogs
- Adam Levy - vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Tommy Borscheid - electric guitar, lap steel guitar, vocals
- Trent Norton - bass guitar, vocals
- Noah Levy - drums, percussion, vocals
;Additional musicians
{{div col}}
- John Fields - Wurlitzer on "John Brown", piano on "Cherub"
- Mike "Razz" Russell - fiddle on "John Brown" and "Those Things Are Hers"
- Al Kooper - organ on "John Brown" and "Those Things Are Hers"
- Jon Duncan - organ on "I Miss You", "Your Blue Door", and "Sans Surce"; piano on "I Miss You", "Into Thin Air", "Seen A Ghost", and Donna's 7; accordion on "I Miss You" and "Your Blue Door"
- Bill Goldman - cello on "Into Thin Air", "Mainline", and "Sweet Pea"
- Nanette Goldman - viola on "Into Thin Air", "Mainline", and "Sweet Pea"
- Bruce Allard - violin on "Into Thin Air", "Mainline", and "Sweet Pea"
- Stephanie Arado - violin on "Into Thin Air", "Mainline", and "Sweet Pea"
- Randy Broughten - pedal steel guitar on "Seen A Ghost"
- Jay Perlman - percussion on "Twitch"
- Marc Retish - percussion on "Twitch"
- Richard Werbowenko - percussion on "Twitch"
- Jacob Slichter- string and horn arrangements on "Mainline" and "Sweet Pea"
- James Dungan - backing vocals on "Mainline"
{{div col end}}
;Production
{{div col}}
- Tom Herbers - producing, recording, engineering
- The Honeydogs - producing
- Ed Eckstein - executive producer
- Nick Didia - mixing
- Ryan Williams - mixing
- Stephen Marcussen - mastering
- Bob De Maa - assistant engineering
- Bob Herbers - assistant engineering
- Jed Luhmann - assistant engineering
- Richard Werbowenko - assistant engineering
- Yoomi Chong - design
- Rick Patrick - art design
- James Minchin - photography
{{div col end}}