The Night
Studio album by
Morphine
ReleasedFebruary 1, 2000
Recorded1998–1999
Studio
GenreAlternative rock
LabelDreamWorks
Producer
Morphine chronology
Like Swimming
(1997)		 The Night
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau(choice cut)[2]
Des Moines Register[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Orlando Sentinel[6]
Pitchfork Media5.7/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Spin8/10[9]

The Night is the fifth and final studio album by the alternative rock band Morphine, released in 2000 via DreamWorks.[4][10] The album expands the band's sound beyond their usual arrangements of previous albums (bass, saxophone and drums), introducing acoustic guitars, organs, strings and female backing vocals.[11]

The album peaked at No. 137 on the Billboard 200.[12]

Production

Jerome Deupree, the band's original drummer, who had previously quit due to health problems, rejoined as a guest playing alongside Billy Conway, according to credits listed in the CD booklet,[13] thus making The Night Morphine's first album recorded as a quartet rather than a trio.[14][15] Recording sessions for the album were completed shortly before the sudden July 1999 death of bass player and lead singer Mark Sandman; Conway and saxophonist Dana Colley oversaw the final mixing process.[16] The band spent two years working on the album[15] in Sandman's Cambridge home studio.[11][17]

Critical reception

The Pitch wrote that "it’s not a romantic exaggeration to say that this album is the trio’s most sensuous, satisfying recording, finally delivering on the diverting-but-two-dimensional original notion of what Sandman termed 'low rock' ... The Night is the first time in ages a posthumous release has made noise from beyond the grave that doesn’t sound like a cash register."[18] Trouser Press wrote that "the tone may be dour due to the singer’s sudden death, but the music is the most fully realized and finely textured Morphine ever mustered."[16] Exclaim! called the album "a slow, grinding burlesque that hovers tentatively between testifying to above and wallowing down below."[19]

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Sandman.

  1. "The Night" – 4:50
  2. "So Many Ways" – 4:01
  3. "Souvenir" – 4:40
  4. "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer" – 5:44
  5. "Like a Mirror" – 5:26
  6. "A Good Woman Is Hard to Find" – 4:14
  7. "Rope on Fire" – 5:36
  8. "I'm Yours, You're Mine" – 3:46
  9. "The Way We Met" – 2:59
  10. "Slow Numbers" – 3:58
  11. "Take Me with You" – 4:54

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.[13]

Morphine

  • Mark Sandman – vocals, 2-string slide bass, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, trombone, tritar
  • Dana Colley – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, piano, backing vocals,
  • Billy Conway – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • Jerome Deupree – drums (1–8, 10, 11)
  • Jane Scarpantoni – cello (1, 7, 11)
  • Mike Rivard – double bass (7, 11)
  • John Medeski – organ (4, 8)
  • Billy Beard – hand drum (7)
  • Brahim Fribgane – oud, frame drum (7)
  • Joseph Kessler – viola (7, 11)
  • Carolyn Kaylor – backing vocals (2, 4)
  • Linda Viens – backing vocals (2, 4)
  • Ramona Clifton – backing vocals (4)
  • Margaret Garrett – backing vocals (5)
  • Tara McManus – backing vocals (5)

Technical

  • Mark Sandman – producer, engineer (Hi-N-Dry)
  • Morphine – producer, art direction
  • Brian Dunton – engineer (Hi-N-Dry)
  • Matthew Ellard – engineer (Hi-N-Dry)
  • Juan Garcia – engineer (Magic Shop)
  • Reto Peter – engineer (Magic Shop)
  • Dave Kay – engineer (Super Sonic)
  • Toby Mountain – mastering
  • Robert Fisher – design

Charts

Chart (2000) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 137

References

  1. ↑ Prato, Greg. The Night at AllMusic. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert (2000-03-28). "Consumer Guide". Village Voice.
  3. ↑ Munson, Kyle (10 Feb 2000). "Morphine's Sandman brings listeners a dream". Des Moines Register: D11.
  4. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 903.
  5. ↑ Hochman, Steve (6 Feb 2000). "Record Rack". Los Angeles Times: 1.
  6. ↑ Gettelman, Parry (11 Feb 2000). "A NICE SEND-OFF FOR MORPHINE'S SANDMAN". Orlando Sentinel: 9.
  7. ↑ Sage Rockermann, Kristin. "Morphine: The Night: Pitchfork review". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on November 23, 2001. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  8. ↑ Kot, Greg (March 2, 2000). "Morphine: The Night: Music review". Rolling Stone. No. RS 835. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Reviews". Spin. 16 (3): 147–148. Mar 2000.
  10. ↑ "Morphine | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  11. 1 2 "Morphine Widen Sound On Final Album With Guitar, Organ, Strings". MTV News.
  12. ↑ "Morphine". Billboard.
  13. 1 2 The Night (CD liner notes). Morphine. DreamWorks. 2000. 0044-50056-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ↑ "Morphine - My part of the puzzle". jeromedeupree.com. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  15. 1 2 "Morphine on Twitter". Twitter. August 30, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  16. 1 2 "Morphine". Trouser Press. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  17. ↑ "Sharps & Flats". Salon. February 3, 2000.
  18. ↑ "MORPHINE". February 24, 2000.
  19. ↑ "Morphine The Night". exclaim.ca.
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