Fountains of Wayne...what is there is best album?

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I've heard a few songs here and there lately, but not enough to know which album to get?

― yaeger, Saturday, 27 September 2003 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Utopia Parkway is their masterpiece.

― Mister Snrub (MisterSnrub), Saturday, 27 September 2003 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Buy them all. The s/t will always be a sentimental favorite of mine because it's so simple and straightforward. Utopia Parkway is bigger and slicker and generally more-of-everything.

― Nick Mirov (nick), Saturday, 27 September 2003 16:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I used to like them now I hate them. When I liked them I liked the first one.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Saturday, 27 September 2003 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

The most recent one is clearly the best, more musically varied and less "grunge'y" than the other ones.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 27 September 2003 18:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Whichever one has their obnoxiously condescending lyrics the farthest back in the mix.

― dlp9001, Saturday, 27 September 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Ignore Geir. Utopia Parkway is NOT grungey. Buy it, especially especially especially if it has "I Know You Well" as a bonus track on it. UP is damn solid all the way through, except I don't really like the title track that much. The first album has killer singles (Sink To The Bottom and Leave The Biker are not usually mentioned as much as Radiation Vibe, but they are great, oh yes!), but it's not as consistent. Just buy 'em all.

― edward o (edwardo), Saturday, 27 September 2003 19:15 (twenty-two years ago)

The general consensus is "buy them all". The general consensus is right, but with the added proviso of you must find their cover of "Today's Teardrops" which was on the B-side of "Troubled Times", which is still their greatest three minutes.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 27 September 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

is this that band with that crappy ass video about staceys mom on tv!?! holy jesus they are bad.

― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 27 September 2003 20:38 (twenty-two years ago)

B-b-b-but Stacey's mom has got it going on!

― edward o (edwardo), Saturday, 27 September 2003 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I love a lot of the songs off of Welcome Interstate Managers more, but I'll concede that Utopia Parkway is the better album, in the classic sense of rock albums. WIM works as an album too in terms of consistency of lyrics and concept, but it sounds more like a bunch of great singles with their b-sides thrown in.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Saturday, 27 September 2003 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm kind of shocked that someone would like Utopia Parkway a lot, but not the title song - I LOVE that title song! It's easily my favorite song from that record.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Saturday, 27 September 2003 22:01 (twenty-two years ago)

It's good and all, but there are just a dozen better songs on it. The blurpy 80s keyboards after the chorus annoy me, I think.

― edward o (edwardo), Saturday, 27 September 2003 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree that Utopia Parkway is the best, but where were all you guys when it came out? The record got totally overlooked by just about everybody but Amplifier and was, as Jay Milikan said in the Stylus review, seen by the critics as some kind of step backwards from the s/t debut...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Sunday, 28 September 2003 04:13 (twenty-two years ago)

This is a band where you simply MUST start by purchasing the album with their "hit." It would dis them to do otherwise. Proceed (or not) from there.

― Dock Miles (Dock Miles), Sunday, 28 September 2003 04:57 (twenty-two years ago)

nti I remember utopia parkway getting plenty of good press at the time.

I'll stick with the one with the hit that isn't the fucking godawful 'stacy's mom'

― cinniblount (James Blount), Sunday, 28 September 2003 06:33 (twenty-two years ago)

ie. that thing you do ost

― cinniblount (James Blount), Sunday, 28 September 2003 06:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, it doesn't matter which one you start with, because you are going to get them all eventually. Aren't you, yaeger?

Actually, start with the S/T, which does have their hit (Radiation Vibe) on it. If you came to them through the last two, the first one might seem a bit simplistic and limited in scope and range. Which I guess it is, but it's still damn good.

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 28 September 2003 07:40 (twenty-two years ago)

didn't they also write for the josie & the pussycats soundtrack? or possibly i'm thinking of another band..

― billstevejim, Sunday, 28 September 2003 07:43 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, adam schlesinger did -- he also wrote "that thing you do"!

i really like his songwriting on ivy's apartment life.

― Annouschka Magnatech (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 28 September 2003 13:31 (twenty-two years ago)

as cinniblount said upthread (d'oh!)

― Annouschka Magnatech (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 28 September 2003 13:32 (twenty-two years ago)

OK, Blount wins. I seem to remembe utopia parkway being a 9/10 in all reviews album when it came out. Turned up in a few year ends as well, if I recall.

And why the Stacey's Mom hate? It's just Denise v.1.1

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 28 September 2003 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

UP got some good press -- but not much. A lot of it was along the lines of "Too clever for their own good" -- which is totally befuddling when you consider the 2nd record is more or less an extension of the first. The new one, like it or not, is a bigger leap.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Sunday, 28 September 2003 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

"Fountains of Wayne" = high school
"Utopia Parkway" = college
"Welcome Interstate Managers" = work

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 28 September 2003 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

"Welcome Interstate Managers" remain best. For "Halley's Waitress", for "Fire Island", for "Hackensack". And for the great Oasis pastiche that is "Supercollider"

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 28 September 2003 22:10 (twenty-two years ago)

get the new BMX Bandits record instead.

― keith (keithmcl), Sunday, 28 September 2003 22:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Geir's just named the four worst tracks on the album.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 28 September 2003 23:25 (twenty-two years ago)

C'mon, Dom, don't let your Geir-hate get the better of you. You really think "Hackensack" is one of the worst songs on the album? Worse than "Peace and Love"? Granted, I'm with you on "Supercollider"— I have a theory that every time FoW tries to be Oasis an angel gets run over by a Humvee— and "Halley's Waitress" is much more boring than it has any right to be, but let's not dis "Hackensack". Next thing you'll be telling me is that "Valley Winter Song" is a piece of shit.

― Nick Mirov (nick), Monday, 29 September 2003 00:06 (twenty-two years ago)

The only thing even remotely approaching a dud on it is "Peace and Love". But I heart Supercollider AND Halley's Waitress. Valley Winter Song is the best, though.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 29 September 2003 07:07 (twenty-two years ago)

"Peace And Love" is the best thing they have ever done. A beautifully melodic ballad, with none of the grunge-like guitars that there were far too many of on their debut. Never have they sounded more like Jellyfish, which is clearly a sign of quality.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 29 September 2003 07:34 (twenty-two years ago)

"Valley Winter Song" is brilliant, it sounds like the song at the start of South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 29 September 2003 09:17 (twenty-two years ago)

They need to use the word meshuggana on their next album, clearly.

― edward o (edwardo), Monday, 29 September 2003 09:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Fountains of Wayne are the Rick Springfield of 2003. I mean, it's uncanny how similar they are.

― scott m (mcd), Monday, 29 September 2003 13:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Utopia Parkway's the best album. Welcome Interstate Managers has far too many tracks that sound like songs off UP. But WIM is still a great pop record.

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 29 September 2003 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

OTM, scott m. When I saw them a few months ago, I thought the very same thing...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 29 September 2003 15:49 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

I was just wonderin' which one has Staceys Mom on it?

― Emily Alexander, Saturday, 20 December 2003 01:35 (twenty-one years ago)

ok plz someone tell me I'm not exactly the Fountains of Wayne master...

― Emily Alexander, Saturday, 20 December 2003 01:39 (twenty-one years ago)

It's on the new shitty one. The first record is perfect. Utopia Parkway is ok and WIM has a few great songs but way too many awful ones. There's nothing remotely "grunge" about any of their records.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Saturday, 20 December 2003 01:41 (twenty-one years ago)

OH STACEY CAN'T YOU SEE? YOU'RE JUST NOT THE GIRL FOR MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 20 December 2003 01:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Colin, what exactly would you consider an 'awful' song on what I'd easily consider one of the best three records of the year?

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Saturday, 20 December 2003 05:36 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

Yes, im interested in hearing your idea of an awful song as well. I think this cd is one of the best ones out there. And that Fountains of Wayne is one of the greatest bands too. Im seeing to many review saying the cd is too long, but i love the fact that it is 16 songs long, more music for your money.

― Tara loves Chris C, Friday, 16 January 2004 01:54 (twenty-one years ago)

...Cornell?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Carruthers

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Connelly

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Carter

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Columbus

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:44 (twenty-one years ago)

"Peace and Love" is the only really awful one, I guess. But "All Kinds of Time", "Halley's Waitress" and "Supercollider" are painfully mediocre. And besides "Hackensack", which is pretty old anyway, and "Bright Future In Sales" there's nothing that touches anything from the first album or the peaks of UP.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Bullshit, my friend. "All Kinds of Time" is great, and "No Better Place" and "Mexican Wine" are just as good as "Hackensack." As close to a perfect album as I've heard in a long time.

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Ok.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Friday, 16 January 2004 02:51 (twenty-one years ago)

The video for Mexican Wine sounds really great.

― edward o (edwardo), Friday, 16 January 2004 11:29 (twenty-one years ago)

NOTHING touches the s/t album. I haven't heard the new one though,

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Friday, 16 January 2004 11:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Does the video for Mexican Wine really sound great? I read a plot summary and it sounded pretty juvinile. Is there a special twist that I'm missing? The impression I got was of an Anheuser-Busch ad, minus the beer.

― dlp9001, Friday, 16 January 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Juvenile.

― dlp9001, Friday, 16 January 2004 12:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Radiation Vibe is great as is silly comedy track I Want an Alien for Xmas.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Friday, 16 January 2004 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The new one remains ace. I like it when "alternative" powerpop bands stop pretending they are Weezer and start pretending they are Jellyfish instead :-)

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 16 January 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

their sense of humor is very barenaked ladies-ish.

― keith m (keithmcl), Saturday, 17 January 2004 01:19 (twenty-one years ago)

World's most surefire way to make entire room groan when the video is on: "Would you fuck Stacey? You? YOU? Oh I know YOU would, you bastard!"

― Le Coq (DarrenK), Saturday, 17 January 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Colllingwood!!! You know the lead singer????? durrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

― Tara Loves Chris COLLINGWOOD, Sunday, 18 January 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

four weeks pass...

this song rox

― Brandi Bendler, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 19:14 (twenty-one years ago)

First album is and always will be CLASSIC and in fact (xpost) contains many of the obvious yet perfect lyrics from that other thread.

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

CDR 80 "Stacy's Mom Listens To Puff Daddy"

1. Denise
2. The Senator's Daughter
3. Peace and Love
4. Troubled Times
5. Stacey's Mom
6. Joe Rey
7. Mexican Wine
8. You Curse At Girls
9. Amity Gardens
10. I've Got A Flair
11. Go, Hippie
12. Sink To The Bottom
13. Please Don't Rock Me Tonight
14. Radiation Vibe
15. A Fine Day For A Parade
16. Leave the Biker
17. Everything's Ruined
18. Lost In Space
19. Hung Up On You
20. Bought For A Song
21. Laser Show
22. It Must Be Summe
22. Little Red Light
23. Hey Julie

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:51 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

What is the opinion on "Stacey's Mom"? Knowing nothing about FOW before hearing it, it sounds to me like a lost track from "The Blue Album" = good thing.

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 15 March 2004 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Stacey's Mom is not their best song, but it has done its job. Managed to give them a biggish hit, raise their profile, and so more people will buy the album. and hopefully keep them safe from being dropped for a while

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 15 March 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)

A potential albatross though?

― Nick H (Nick H), Monday, 15 March 2004 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess so. But they've had other songs that were far more successful than the band as a whole. Their last proper hit was Sink to the Bottom or Radiation Vibe (can't remember which one) but it was off their first album, so it's at least 7 years old. and they've coped with being known as a band that plays THAT song.

I think they'll cope better than other groups with only a few songs, like Electric 6, because their hits can act as an introduction to the rest of the back catalogue, and listeners will discover that they've written other great songs. While for bands like Electric 6, listeners do just discover that the band has the couple of singles, and then the rest of it is rubbish.

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 15 March 2004 23:57 (twenty-one years ago)

though the echo at the end of EVERY verse line reeks of the formalism that makes Welcome Interstate Managers a pleasant-but-not-knockout listen for me (for at least 2/3s of it), "Stacy's Mom" is definitely my favorite track on the album. Nick's dead-on about them capturing the post-Weezer non-hiphop side of alternapop sound, though they've always been doing that. What gets to me about the song is that the yearning emotion of the middle eigth and chorus resonates as loudly (possibly more so) than the song's "concept." I've been hearing "Mexican Wine" on the radio lately, but I'd be surprised if they knock out another big hit off the album. Nothing else has as much of a lyrical hook as "Stacy'."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

plus they SUCK live (saw them open for the Smashing Pumpkins for their first album and seen 'em hawk Stacy on TV) and they're old, which means these guys are only going to register commercially depending on the novelty value of the song. Just like Randy Newman and Lou Reed.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 00:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the fact that the video's story is told from the point of view of a young kid but the lead singer looks about 55. Old people pretending to young = classic.

― Nick H (Nick H), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 00:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I must respectfully disagree w/Anthony re: the quality of the live show. Apart from the inevitable Cars medley, the proverbial roof was torn off of the sucker. Also, I stole a drumstick, so I'm going to hell

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

it has been five years plus since I saw them (and they were opening for Corgan and Co. at a basketball arena), so my take isn't particularly up-to-date. Plus nobody really sounds good on Leno.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

the echo at the end of EVERY verse line reeks of the formalism that makes Welcome Interstate Managers a pleasant-but-not-knockout listen for me

that's formalism? i just thought that was them being silly. goofy. having fun.

i've seen 'em both acoustic and electric, and they're a damn good live band either way.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 02:45 (twenty-one years ago)

i think we're both right, actually. its just their concept of "fun" strikes me as annoyingly cute. but it's a matter of taste (if they cursed or something like I'd probably like it).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)

death metal Fountains of Wayne \m/

nah. it doesn't quite work... I like Fountains of Wayne exactly because they're cute and play disposable pop. you don't have to pay that much attention to digest and understand their music

― jellybean (jellybean), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 03:01 (twenty-one years ago)

stacy can i come over after schoo-oo-oo-oo-ool?
(fuck school)
we can hang around by the poo-poo-poo-poo-oo-oo-ool
(poo in the pool)

hey you're right, anthony, that would be kind of cool :-)

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 03:04 (twenty-one years ago)

clearly they need Eamon to song doctor for them

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 03:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Made me laugh. But I'm 11.

― m.e.a. (m.e.a.), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 03:05 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck eamon. i thought i was doing a pretty good job myself.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 16 March 2004 03:06 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

New 2CD B-sides and rarities album Out Of States Plates just out

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0009OL808.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Has anyone here got it, or is anyone here sufficiently familiar with the quality of their B-sides to make an informed comment?

I've got the 3 albums and I love 'em - but I'm not completely convinced I love 'em enough to want 30 B-sides and rarities.

However I read a review in the local paper (Dorset Echo) that was raving about it; but I know the writer (Marco Rossi) is a bit of a FoW nut.

Otoh AMG's review's somewhat less glowing.

Oh, but there's a cover of Aztec Camera's "Killermont Street" (not to mention "Trains And Boats And Planes" and.... errr..... ".... Baby One More Time") so that alone makes me lean towards buying it again.

Help me ILM, I'm appealing to your better nature, please, help me out of this wilderness of indecision!

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 07:23 (twenty years ago)

Some of the b-sides I've heard are great (namely: "I know you well"). Others, not so much ("I'll do the driving"). "I want an alien for Xmas" provides fuel for all those who find the band's humor to be smarmy. And the cover of Britney is okay, but better than Travis's verison for what it's worth (it's also available at http://siart.blogspot.com/).

So, um, this may be a little hit and miss? Very helpful, I know. Maybe this is one ofr iTunes track-by-track purchase.

― brittle-lemon, Tuesday, 5 July 2005 07:44 (twenty years ago)

I Know You Well = k-lassic, also a bonus track on some versions of Utopia Parkway.

Generally very well chosen covers, esp "Today's Teardrops". Um, I've got a few of the early singles but I can't even remember the B-sides.

― edward o (edwardo), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 07:46 (twenty years ago)

It's interesting to read that the lyric of one of the two new songs, "The girl I can't forget" includes the line "It was the night I can't remember/
With the girl I can't forget." That's a leeeettle similar to The Magnetic Field's "the night you can't remember, the night I can't forget," isn't it?

― brittle-lemon, Tuesday, 5 July 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

Christgau weighs in

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 16:14 (twenty years ago)

That's a leeeettle similar to The Magnetic Field's "the night you can't remember, the night I can't forget," isn't it?

or elvis costello's "the moments that i can't recall are the moments that you treasure" ... or, oh, 10,000 or so other pop songs through the years. that's fairly standard pop lyric writing.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

"Today's Teardrops" is probably a career high for FoW, "Leave The Biker" excluded and "The Senator's Daughter" excluded.

My favourite thing about the band (and they may be my favourite of the past ten years on balance) is that whereas every other band lazily described by critics as "perfect pop music" are usually happy to sit back and assume the reason that they aren't selling is because the genereal public are idiots, FoW actually said "Right, what the kids obviously want is some sort of The Cars/Bowling for Soup hybrid". If you're gonna be a pop act you need to make concessions to populism.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 16:34 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Dom, OTM. Plus, FOW crib from the right sources. If you're going to write great schlock-pop with hints of real feeling, one can do worse than steal from the Cars and Rick Springfield.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)

Regarding Out-of-State Plates, it's like the liner notes say, Best taken in moderation. Like jellybeans, too much of this is bad for you, but in acceptable doses (like say, a drive to the park) it's perfect for summer time.

Interstate Managers was probably my most-played disc of 2004 and I still can't figure out the chords to Valley Winter Song. bah.

― Viz (Viz), Tuesday, 5 July 2005 18:24 (twenty years ago)

Picked up Out Of State Plates today. I also hesitated because of these being primarily B Sides. I should not have worried this is good stuff, worth the bucks.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

"I'll Do The Driving" is the best FoW track ever.

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 4 June 2007 10:18 (eighteen years ago)

It's like The Hold Steady with a more awkward childhood.

― Dom Passantino, Monday, 4 June 2007 10:19 (eighteen years ago)

Anyway, they are all great, but the debut is considerably weaker than the three others.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 4 June 2007 21:51 (eighteen years ago)

fourteen years pass...

lead us not into penn station :')

― sloop johnnin' skater (geoffreyess), Thursday, 6 January 2022 13:31 (three years ago)

What gets to me about the song is that the yearning emotion of the middle eigth and chorus resonates as loudly (possibly more so) than the song's "concept."
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, March 15, 2004 4:03 PM (seventeen years ago)

the middle eight of Stacy's Mom? does it have a middle eight? is this comment talking about the slightly altered chorus right after the solo? do i not know what a middle eight is?

― alpine static, Thursday, 6 January 2022 17:52 (three years ago)

three years pass...

we have never polled the debut, that i can find?

― alpine static, Monday, 19 May 2025 17:47 (five months ago)

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