Time for a Witness
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Time for a Witness
| type = studio
| artist = The Feelies
| cover = Timeforawitness.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1991
| recorded = October 29 – December 19, 1990
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Rock, college rock
| length = {{Duration|m=42|s=04}}
| label = A&M/Coyote
| producer = Bill Million, Gary Smith, Glenn Mercer
| prev_title = Only Life
| prev_year = 1988
| next_title = Here Before
| next_year = 2011
}}
Time for a Witness is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Feelies, released in 1991 on A&M/Coyote.{{cite news |last1=Takiff |first1=Jonathan |title=Down Memory Lane |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=25 Jan 1991 |department=Features |page=46}}{{cite news |last1=Robins |first1=Wayne |title=New Jersey's Great Guitar Hope |work=Newsday |date=20 Feb 1991 |department=Part II |page=53}} The band supported the album with a North American tour.{{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=Bill |title=Pop Review |work=The Globe and Mail |date=9 May 1991 |page=C2}}
Production
Most of the lyrics were written by Glenn Mercer.{{cite news |last1=Schoemer |first1=Karen |title=Record Briefs |work=The New York Times |date=17 Mar 1991 |page=A28}} The album was coproduced by Gary Smith.{{cite news |last1=McLeese |first1=Don |title=Not just for college anymore |work=Austin American-Statesman |date=21 Mar 1991 |department=Onward |page=17}} The band would tape their rehearsals and look for interesting parts in the jams.{{cite news |last1=Macnie |first1=Jim |title=Feelies Get the Pulse Racing |work=Los Angeles Times |date=20 June 1991 |page=F2}} "What She Said" uses harmonica and slide guitar. "Real Cool Time" is a cover of the Stooges song.{{cite news |last1=Sullivan |first1=Jim |title=The Feelies Time for a Witness |work=The Boston Globe |date=4 Apr 1991}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|author=Ned Raggett |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/time-for-a-witness-mw0000262696 |title=Time for a Witness – The Feelies | Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2015-11-10}}
| rev6 = Entertainment Weekly
|rev2 = Calgary Herald
|rev2score = A−{{cite news |last1=Muretich |first1=James |title=Recent Releases |work=Calgary Herald |date=17 Mar 1991 |page=A13}}
|rev3 = Chicago Tribune
|rev3score = {{rating|3|4}}{{cite news |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |title=Recordings |work=Chicago Tribune |date=7 Mar 1991 |department=Tempo |page=9}}
| rev4 = Robert Christgau
|rev5 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=3 |page=415}}
|rev7 = Orlando Sentinel
|rev7score = {{rating|5|5}}{{cite news |last1=Gettelman |first1=Parry |title=The Feelies |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=26 Apr 1991 |department=Calendar |page=28}}
| rev9 = Rolling Stone
| rev8 = Pitchfork
| rev8Score = 7.9/10{{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}}
|rev10 = Spin Alternative Record Guide
|rev10score = 7/10{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |pages=146–147}}
}}
The Chicago Tribune wrote that "guitar lines become modal-jazz arabesques, dissolve into dissonance, then finally return to some vigorous variation of the three-chord strum, while the rhythm section builds a mantra-like momentum." The Calgary Herald deemed the album "melodic mood pieces from the musical children of Lou Reed wrapped in fragile swirls of electric sound and lit by the neon's red glare." The Washington Post concluded: "Such tracks as 'Sooner or Later' and 'Doin' It Again' offer as many twangy thrills as a great Rolling Stones song, but the Feelies don't pretend that their guitars express passion or rage or fear. Their guitars express guitars."{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Mark |title=In the Tradition |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 May 1991 |page=G9}}
The Toronto Star determined that "Mercer and fellow guitarist Bill Million build dense, unrelenting guitar textures shot through with simple solo lines."{{cite news |title=The Feelies Time for a Witness |work=Toronto Star |date=30 Mar 1991 |page=H8}} The New York Times called Time for a Witness "a musically austere record in which the guitars of Mr. Million and Glenn Mercer, the band's lead singer and lyricist, interlock eloquently."{{cite news |last1=Holden |first1=Stephen |title=The Pop Life |work=The New York Times |date=15 May 1991 |page=C13}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline =
| all_writing = Bill Million and Glenn Mercer except where noted
| title1 = Waiting
| length1 = 3:36
| title2 = Time for a Witness
| length2 = 3:34
| title3 = Sooner or Later
| length3 = 2:33
| title4 = Find a Way
| length4 = 7:01
| title5 = Decide
| length5 = 4:51
| title6 = Doin' It Again
| length6 = 2:41
| title7 = Invitation
| length7 = 3:00
| title8 = For Now
| length8 = 4:47
| title9 = What She Said
| length9 = 5:38
| title10 = Real Cool Time
| length10 = 4:23
| writer10 = Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, Iggy Pop
| total_length = 42:04
}}
Personnel
- Glenn Mercer – guitar, vocals
- Bill Million – guitar, vocals
- Dave Weckerman – percussion
- Brenda Sauter – bass, vocals
- Stan Demeski – drums
References
{{Reflist}}
{{The Feelies}}
{{Authority control}}