New Times (album)

New Times
Studio album by
Violent Femmes
ReleasedMay 17, 1994 (1994-05-17)
StudioDV's Perversion Room, Milwaukee, WI
GenreRock
Length50:20
LabelElektra
ProducerBrian Ritchie, Gordon Gano
Violent Femmes chronology
Add It Up (1981-1993)
(1993) 		New Times
(1994) 		Rock!!!!!
(1995)
Singles from New Times
  1. "Machine"
    Released: 1994
  2. "Breakin' Up"
    Released: 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

New Times is the sixth studio album released by Violent Femmes in 1994, and the first to not feature original drummer Victor DeLorenzo on drums, who'd been replaced by Guy Hoffman. "Breakin' Up," a song lead singer Gordon Gano had written years before, was the lead single. Its video received minor airplay on MTV and appears on the band's DVD, Permanent Record - Live & Otherwise. The album did not sell well, but featured many of the Femmes' most musically complex and lyrically inventive songs, including "4 Seasons," and concert staple "I'm Nothing," which appeared in the movie Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gordon Gano, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Don't Start Me on the Liquor" 4:08
2."New Times"Walter Mehring, tr. Henry Marx, Gano4:07
3."Breakin' Up" 4:00
4."Key of 2" 3:31
5."4 Seasons" 3:06
6."Machine"Gano, Brian Ritchie4:39
7."I'm Nothing" 2:35
8."When Everybody's Happy"Gano, Ritchie3:35
9."Agamemnon"Walter Mehring, tr. Henry Marx, Gano2:56
10."This Island Life" 5:31
11."I Saw You in the Crowd" 4:07
12."Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)" 4:30
13."Jesus of Rio" 3:35

Personnel

Violent Femmes
  • Gordon Gano – vocals (1–13), electric and acoustic guitars (1–5, 7–12), violin (8, 10), organ (13), baglama (12)
  • Brian Ritchie – electric bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 9, 11), acoustic bass guitar (3, 5), upright bass (6, 8, 10, 12, 13), electric guitar (3), acoustic piano (4), electric piano (11), organ (9), reed organ (3, 12), electric sitar (2, 10), nose flute (4), theremin (6), keyboards (2, 6), electronics (6), baglama (12), vocals (1–5, 9, 12)
  • Guy Hoffman – drums and percussion (1–5, 8–13), vocals (1–5, 8, 9, 11, 12)
  • Luisa Mann – vocals (10)

Charts

Chart performance for New Times
Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 60
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[6] 95
US Billboard 200[7] 90

References

  1. ^ New Times at AllMusic
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 2000. ISBN 9780857125958.
  3. ^ Gordinier, Jeff (1994-05-20). "New Times". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
  4. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David, eds. (2004). "Violent Femmes". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698.
  5. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 295.
  6. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Violent Femmes – New Times" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel; Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955–1996; p. 819. ISBN 0898201179