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The B-52's (album)

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The B-52's
Studio album by
the B-52's
ReleasedJuly 6, 1979
Recorded1978–1979
StudioCompass Point (Nassau)
Genre
Length39:14
LabelWarner Bros. (US, Canada and Australia), Island (EU and Japan)
ProducerChris Blackwell
The B-52's chronology
The B-52's
(1979) 		Wild Planet
(1980)
Singles from The B-52's
  1. "Rock Lobster / 52 Girls"
    Released: 1979
  2. "52 Girls / 6060-842"
    Released: 1979 (Netherlands and Germany)
  3. "6060-842 / Hero Worship"
    Released: 1979 (U.K.)
  4. "Planet Claire / There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)"
    Released: July 6, 1979
  5. "Dance This Mess Around / Lava"
    Released: 1979 (Japan and Colombia)

The B-52's is the debut album by American new wave band the B-52's. The kitschy lyrics and mood, and the hook-laden harmonies helped establish a fanbase for the band, who went on to release several chart-topping singles. The album cover was designed by Tony Wright (credited as Sue Ab Surd).

The B-52's peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200, and "Rock Lobster" reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100. Shortly before his death, John Lennon said he enjoyed the album.[5] In 2003, the television network VH1 named The B-52's the 99th greatest album of all time. In 2020, The B-52's was ranked number 198 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Critical reception

[edit]
Original professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Smash Hits5/10[6]
Christgau's Record GuideA[7]
Retrospective professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Pitchfork9.0/10[8]
PopMatters10/10[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Select4/5[12]
Slant Magazine[13]
Spin Alternative Record Guide10/10[14]
Stylus Magazine8.8/10[15]

Critical reception for The B-52's was generally favorable; critics praised the album's kitschy lyrics and party atmosphere.[1][16] In his "Consumer Guide" column for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau remarked on his fondness "for the pop junk they recycle—with love and panache," while also noting that he was "more delighted with their rhythms, which show off their Georgia roots by adapting the innovations of early funk (a decade late, just like the Stones and Chicago blues) to an endlessly danceable forcebeat format."[17]

In a retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "Unabashed kitsch mavens at a time when their peers were either vulgar or stylish, the Athens quintet celebrated all the silliest aspects of pre-Beatles pop culture – bad hairdos, sci-fi nightmares, dance crazes, pastels, and anything else that sprung into their minds – to a skewed fusion of pop, surf, avant-garde, amateurish punk, and white funk."[1] Rolling Stone writer Pat Blashill concluded that "On The B-52's, the best little dance band from Athens proved that rock & roll still matters if it's about sex and hair and moving your body. Even if you have to shake-bake shake-bake it like a Shy Tuna."[10] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani stated that "(l)ike any over-the-top act, the B-52's wears thin, but the band successfully positioned themselves as pop-culture icons—not unlike the musical antiquities they emulated."[13]

The B-52's was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18] In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked The B-52's number 152 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time,[19] maintaining the ranking in a 2012 update of the list[20] and dropping it to number 198 in a 2020 update.[21] In 2003, VH1 named it the 99th greatest album of all time.[22] In 2013, The B-52's was ranked number 452 on New Musical Express magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[23]

In 1995, The B-52's was named number 42 on the top 100 alternative albums list of all time by the Spin Alternative Record Guide.[24] Rolling Stone ranked the album number 28 on its 2013 list of 100 best debut albums of all time, dropping it to number 43 in a 2022 update.[25][26] In 2023, Paste magazine's staff placed The B-52's at number 86 on their list of the 100 greatest debut albums of all time.[27] PopMatters magazine named it number 40 on its 2024 list of the 50 best post-punk albums ever.[28]

In the 1979 Pazz & Jop year-end critics poll, The B-52's album was ranked number 7.[29] New Musical Express ranked it number 12 on their critics' list of the best albums of 1979.[30]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Planet Claire"
4:35
2."52 Girls"
3:34
3."Dance This Mess Around"
  • R. Wilson
  • Schneider
  • Strickland
  • Pierson
  • C. Wilson
4:36
4."Rock Lobster"
  • R. Wilson
  • Schneider
6:49
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Lava"
  • R. Wilson
  • Schneider
  • Strickland
  • Pierson
  • C. Wilson
4:54
6."There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)"
  • R. Wilson
  • Schneider
  • Strickland
  • Pierson
  • C. Wilson
4:54
7."Hero Worship"
  • R. Wilson
  • Robert Waldrop
4:07
8."6060-842"
  • R. Wilson
  • Schneider
  • Strickland
  • Pierson
2:48
9."Downtown"Tony Hatch2:57
Total length:39:14

Personnel

[edit]

The B-52's

Technical

Charts

[edit]

Weekly charts

[edit]
Chart (1979/80) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[32] 7
U.S. Billboard 200[33] 59

Year-end charts

[edit]
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[34] 13
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[35] 8

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[36] 2× Platinum 140,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[37] Platinum 15,000^
United States (RIAA)[38] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The B-52's – The B-52s". AllMusic. Retrieved March 22, 2004.
  2. ^ Hermes, Will (October 2005). "The Definitive Guide to: Dance Rock". Spin. Vol. 21, no. 10. p. 141. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  3. ^ Catlin, Roger (1998). "The B-52's/Fred Schneider". In Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 56-57.
  4. ^ Pitchfork Staff (September 10, 2018). "The 200 Best Albums of the 1980s". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 21, 2023. After the manic perfection of their 1979 debut put them...in the realm of college rock...
  5. ^ Deming, Mark. "The B-52s Biography". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Starr, Red. "Albums". Smash Hits (August 9–22, 1979): 25.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "The B-52's: The B-52's". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor and Fields. p. 46. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved March 31, 2006.
  8. ^ Shepard, Susan Elizabeth (October 14, 2018). "The B-52's: The B-52's". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  9. ^ Wilhelm, Rich (May 3, 2022). "Ranking the B-52s Albums". PopMatters. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Blashill, Pat (October 16, 2003). "The B-52's: The B-52s". Rolling Stone. No. 933. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved March 22, 2004.
  11. ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "The B-52's". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 67–68. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  12. ^ Cavanagh, David (July 1990). "Flip Your Wig". Select. No. 1. p. 121.
  13. ^ a b Cinquemani, Sal (October 11, 2003). "Review: The B-52's, The B-52's". Slant Magazine. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  14. ^ Huston, Johnny (1995). "B-52's". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  15. ^ Smith, Chris. "The B-52's – The B-52's". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on January 27, 2003. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  16. ^ Carson, Tom (September 20, 1979). "The B-52's: The B-52s". Rolling Stone. No. 300. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  17. ^ Christgau, Robert (September 3, 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  18. ^ Nichols, David (2006). "The B-52's: The B-52's". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 427. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.
  19. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time: The B-52's – The B-52's". Rolling Stone. No. 937. December 11, 2003. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  20. ^ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  21. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  22. ^ Hoye, Jacob, ed. (2003). VH1: 100 greatest albums. New York: Pocket Books. p. x. ISBN 978-0-7434-4876-5.
  23. ^ Barker, Emily (October 21, 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 500-401". NME. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  24. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 453–454. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  25. ^ "The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. March 22, 2013.
  26. ^ "100 Best Debut Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. July 1, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  27. ^ "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums of All Time". Paste. November 6, 2023.
  28. ^ Fitzgerald, Colin (2 February 2024). "The 50 Best Post-Punk Albums Ever". PopMatters.
  29. ^ Christgau, Robert (January 28, 1980). "The 1979 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice.
  30. ^ "NME's best albums and tracks of 1979". New Musical Express. December 1979.
  31. ^ Mancini is credited as a co-author of "Planet Claire" on reissues of the album due to the song's use of the bass line from Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme."
  32. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  33. ^ "The B-52s Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  34. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 432. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  35. ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1980 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music New Zealand. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  36. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1996 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  37. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – The B-52's – The B-52_s". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 16, 2019.[dead link]
  38. ^ "American album certifications – The B-52's – The B-52_s". Recording Industry Association of America.
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