Lex Hives
Studio album by
The Hives
Released1 June 2012
Studio
  • Hive Manor (Fagersta)
  • Riksmixningsverket (Stockholm)
  • Atlantis (Stockholm)
  • Decibel (Stockholm)
  • Megaton (Stockholm)
  • Svenska Grammofon (Göteborg)
  • Hansa (Berlin)
  • Pink Duck (Burbank)
Genre
Length31:14
Label
Producer
The Hives chronology
Tarred and Feathered
(2010)		 Lex Hives
(2012)		 The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons
(2023)
Singles from Lex Hives
  1. "Go Right Ahead"
    Released: 3 April 2012
  2. "Wait a Minute"
    Released: August 2012

Lex Hives is the fifth studio album by Swedish rock band The Hives, released on 1 June 2012 through Disques Hives, Universal Music, and Columbia Records. It was self-produced by The Hives and mixed by Andrew Scheps, with two additional tracks mixed by Dave Sardy and Joe Zook. The deluxe version features bonus tracks (digital download only) produced by Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme.[1] It became the last album from the band to feature bassist Dr. Matt Destruction as he left due to health reasons in late 2013 and was replaced by Randy bassist Johan Gustafsson, who adopted the stage name "The Johan and Only."[2]

The term "Lex Hives" is a phrase derived from the ancient Roman practice of enacting a system or body of laws and accepting them as a standard.[3]

Background

After recording two albums (Tyrannosaurus Hives, The Black and White Album) for the Universal Music Group's Interscope label, the band did not want to extend the deal, and so the band found themselves as free agents. The Hives responded by going independent for their fifth album. Lex Hives was self-funded and self-produced, and has been issued on the band's own Disques Hives imprint.[4]

As for why the band took five years between albums, frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist noted the group toured for nearly three years after The Black and White Album, but added that self-producing an album with a five-piece band is not the quickest of ways to reach a consensus. "We thought it would be faster if we produced it ourselves as opposed to scheduling it with someone who’s busy 24-7, 365 days per year," Almqvist said. "Rather than squeeze in some studio time, we could go into the studio whenever we wanted. It turns out that having five producers who have an equal say of everything isn’t that fast. You’d think we could have guessed that in advance."[4][5]

For promotion, The Hives initiated a contest on social networking website Facebook on 23 March 2012. A news update on their official website revealed the song titles on 12 tracks however they were purposely jumbled up. Fans had to post their guesses as to what they thought the tracks were called on the band's official Facebook page. It stated that the first person to unscramble all the song titles correctly would "receive a phone call from The Hives."[6] The band announced the grand prize winner and 17 runners-up on their Facebook page on 6 April 2012.

Reception

The album debuted at number 7 on the Swedish chart, 20 on the Swiss chart, 38 on the Austrian chart, 38 on the Australian chart and 53 on the Canadian Albums Chart.[7][8][9][10]

The album received generally favorable reviews from critics.[11]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
Consequence of SoundC–[12]
Pitchfork4.8/10[13]
Punknews.org[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Spin7/10[16]
NME[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Randy Fitzsimmons except 13 and 14

No.TitleLength
1."Come On!"1:09
2."Go Right Ahead"3:06
3."1000 Answers"2:07
4."I Want More"2:52
5."Wait a Minute"3:02
6."Patrolling Days"4:01
7."Take Back the Toys"2:54
8."Without the Money"1:54
9."These Spectacles Reveal the Nostalgics"1:57
10."My Time Is Coming"2:34
11."If I Had a Cent"2:01
12."Midnight Shifter"3:37
Total length:31:14
Deluxe Edition
No.TitleLength
13."High School Shuffle" (Alex Carole and The Crush cover)3:02
14."Insane" (The Dragtones cover)2:47
Total length:37:03

Notes

1. ^ Both bonus tracks (13, 14) are cover songs, but are directly related to one of The Hives' members in some way. "High School Shuffle" is a cover of an Alex Carole and The Crush song that was produced by Chris Dangerous (drums). "Insane" is a cover of The Dragtones' original, and Vigilante Carlstroem (guitar) is a member of that band.[18]
2. ^ "Go Right Ahead" has songwriting also credited to Jeff Lynne as the band got permission to include a similar riff to Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down".[19][20][21]

Personnel

The Hives

Additional musicians and personnel[22]

  • Gustav Bendt – saxophone
  • Per Ruskträsk Johansson – saxophone
  • Jonas Kullhammar – saxophone
  • Henrik Alsér engineer
  • Michael Ilbert – engineer
  • Karl Larsson – engineer
  • Dagge Lundquist – engineer
  • Johan Gustavsson – engineer
  • Kalle Gustavsson – engineer
  • Justin Smith – engineer
  • Janne Hansson – engineer
  • Linn Fijal – assistant engineer
  • Jeff Lynne – composer
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Andrew Scheps – mixing
  • Joe Zook – mixing
  • Josh Homme – producer (13–14)

Charts

Chart performance for Lex Hives
Chart (2012) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[23] 38
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[24] 38
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 126
French Albums (SNEP)[26] 47
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 25
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 7
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 71
US Billboard 200[31] 84

Notes

  1. ↑ Tracks 13 and 14

References

  1. ↑ "The Hives Return With New Album Lex Hives on June 5th". The Audio Perv. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  2. ↑ Gustafsson replaces Bernvall in 2013 as Bernvall leaves for health reasons rollingstone.com Retrieved:2014-03-29
  3. ↑ "The Hives Return With 'Lex Hives' Album in June". Diffuser.fm. 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  4. 1 2 "The Hives promise to be as Hives as humanly possible". LA Times. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "The Law of The Hives". FMQB. 3 April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "The Hives Broadcasting Service". Archived from the original on 2012-05-12. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  7. ↑ "The Hives - Lex Hives". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  8. ↑ "The Hives - Lex Hives". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  9. ↑ "The Hives - Lex Hives". austriancharts.at. 2012-06-15. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  10. ↑ "CANOE - JAM! Music - SoundScan Charts". Jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  11. 1 2 "Lex Hives by The Hives". Metacritic. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  12. ↑ LeBlanc, Gilles (2012-06-06). "Album Review: The Hives – Lex Hives". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  13. ↑ Minsker, Evan (2012-06-07). "The Hives: Lex Hives Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  14. ↑ Greg (2012-06-15). "The Hives - Lex Hives". Punknews.org. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  15. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (2012-06-05). "Lex Hives". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  16. ↑ Martins, Chris (2012-06-01). "The Hives, 'Lex Hives' (Disques Hives)". Spin. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  17. ↑ MacBain, Hamish (2012-06-01). "Lex Hives". NME. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  18. ↑ "Song Premiere: The Hives, 'Insane' | Music News". Rolling Stone. 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  19. ↑ "JUICEOnline.com » The Hives: Law of the Hives". Msn.juiceonline.com. 2012-05-07. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  20. ↑ "Wahnsinn mit Methode - Interviews - Musik - 1LIVE". Einslive.de. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  21. ↑ "The Current Interview with Howlin' Pelle Almqvist of the Hives!". The Current. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  22. ↑ Phares, Heather (2012-06-05). "Lex Hives - The Hives : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  23. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Hives – Lex Hives". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  24. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – The Hives – Lex Hives" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Hives – Lex Hives" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  26. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Hives – Lex Hives". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Hives – Lex Hives" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  28. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – The Hives – Lex Hives". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  29. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Hives – Lex Hives". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  30. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  31. ↑ "The Hives Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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