...finally
Studio album by
Too Much Joy
Released1996
StudioWater Music, Hoboken, New Jersey
GenreAlternative rock
LabelDiscovery Records/Warner Bros. Records[1]
ProducerWilliam Wittman
Too Much Joy chronology
Mutiny
(1992)		 ...finally
(1996)		 Gods & Sods
(1999)

...finally is an album by the American alternative rock band Too Much Joy, released in 1996.[2][3] Its first single was "The Kids Don't Understand".[4]

Production

The album was produced by William Wittman, who had joined Too Much Joy after producing the band's previous album, Mutiny.[5]

The band used a sample of Alan Arkin remarking "uh, oh, too much joy," from the movie Simon; although both the album and the film were produced for Warner Bros., the corporation charged the band to use the sample.[6][7]

The cover of the album, by artist Doug Allen, depicts a cartoon rendering of a man and woman moments after engaging in sex.[8] A second cover was used to obscure the image for retail.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Boston Herald[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[12]
San Antonio Express-News[13]

Trouser Press thought that "the overpowering, sometimes nearly generic music obscures the progress, but ...finally benefits from an organic focus not found on the others."[14] The Virginian-Pilot called the album "angst-driven rock 'n' roll, but with a catch ... The music is loud, but not angry."[15] The Columbus Dispatch considered that "like most sophomoric acts, Joy flounders when it aims for seriousness ... but the group's Ramones-ish pop/punk carries the day."[16] The San Antonio Express-News stated that "instead of the quirky rock that has served it well, Too Much Joy gives us an entire album's worth of imitation pop-punk in general and Green Day in particular."[13]

The Houston Press determined that "the immediate tone is grumpy and sarcastic, but less typical is the hopelessness often evident underneath."[17] The Delaware County Daily Times concluded that the "subject matter veers from preachy, to political and pointless ... But through it all, the music's rambunctious, deliriously catchy style wins out."[18] The Boston Herald warned: "Too Much Joy is threatening to become the Replacements of the '90s: a group so dedicated to planned adolescence that it just might seal its own doom."[11]

AllMusic wrote that "the group are rejuvenated here, replacing the production gloss of their last couple of albums with the sort of punk-inflected buzzsaw guitar pop that had enlivened 1989's Son of Sam I Am, only with a better sense of melody."[10] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide opined that frontman Tim Quirk "downplays humor for rebellious introspection—like James Taylor fronting a punk band or something."[19]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."You Will" 
2."Weak" 
3."Poison Your Mind" 
4."Mrs. Now" 
5."The Kids Don't Understand" 
6."Different Galaxies" 
7."I Believe in Something" 
8."How to Be Happy" 
9."Half Life" 
10."I'm Your Wallet" 
11."Skyline" 
12."A New England" 
13."Underneath a Jersey Sky" 

References

  1. ↑ Stewart, Allison (Apr 1996). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly (32): 44.
  2. ↑ "Too Much Joy Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Borzillo, Carrie (Jan 20, 1996). "Discovery Records finds alternative". Billboard. 108 (3): 1.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Jim (25 Mar 1996). "Joy: prickly punk pop even a mom could love". The Boston Globe. ARTS & FILM. p. 45.
  5. ↑ Marsh, Steven P. (3 May 1996). "JOY, NUDITY, AND NEWT". The Record. LIFESTYLE/PREVIEWS. p. 4.
  6. ↑ Young, James O. (June 11, 2020). "Radically Rethinking Copyright in the Arts: A Philosophical Approach". Routledge – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ McLeod, Kembrew (December 27, 2007). "Freedom of Expression: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property". U of Minnesota Press – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Dickinson, Chris (25 Apr 1996). "TOO MUCH TO BE LEGAL: PUNK GROUP ROCKS THE BOUNDARIES OF SOUND -- AND OBSCENITY LAWS". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Get Out. p. 7.
  9. ↑ Rollins, Ron (5 May 1996). "TOO MUCH: THE JOY OF THIS BAND IS THAT IT DEFIES CATEGORIZATION". Dayton Daily News. p. 3C.
  10. 1 2 "Finally - Too Much Joy | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  11. 1 2 Johnson, Dean (March 22, 1996). "Discs". Boston Herald. p. S6.
  12. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 212.
  13. 1 2 Johnson, Robert (March 24, 1996). "...finally Too Much Joy". San Antonio Express-News. Records.
  14. ↑ "Too Much Joy". Trouser Press. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  15. ↑ Harper, John (May 19, 1996). "TOO MUCH JOY HAS NEWT GINGRICH AS A FAN". The Virginia Pilot. Carolina Coast. p. 20.
  16. ↑ "Joyous WWCD fest". The Columbus Dispatch. Weekender. April 4, 1996. p. 8.
  17. ↑ Rowland, Hobart (April 18, 1996). "Having Some Nasty Fun - Too Much Joy cowers in the mouth of adulthood". Houston Press. Music.
  18. ↑ D'Addono, Beth (May 17, 1996). "Rock fans can't have Too Much Joy". Delaware County Daily Times. News.
  19. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1156.
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