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1965 (The Afghan Whigs album)

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1965
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 27, 1998
StudioKingsway Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana
GenreAlternative rock
Length41:35
LabelColumbia
ProducerGreg Dulli
The Afghan Whigs chronology
Black Love
(1996)
1965
(1998)
Unbreakable: A Retrospective 1990–2006
(2007)
Singles from 1965
  1. "Somethin' Hot"
    Released: October 13, 1998
  2. "66"
    Released: March 30, 1999

1965 is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Afghan Whigs. It was released on October 27, 1998, by Columbia Records.[1]

Writing and recording

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The album was written and recorded after Greg Dulli, the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist, underwent treatment for clinical depression.[2] The Afghan Whigs recorded primarily at Daniel Lanois' Kingsway Studios in New Orleans,[3] with additional recording done at Ocean Way and Larrabee North in Los Angeles, The American Sector in New Orleans, and London Bridge in Seattle.[4] Dulli produced the album and wrote most of its songs.[4] For the cover, a photograph was used showing astronaut Ed White on the first American space walk as part of the Gemini 4 flight which took place in June 1965.[5]

Music and lyrics

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The album incorporates jazz,[6] R&B, and soul music influences in its mainly rock sound.[7] The lyrics feature erotic narratives and paeans to sexuality.[8][9] Music journalist David Stubbs writes that the album's subject matter "reconciles lust for women with respect for women", abandoning the "ironic self-loathing" of the band's 1993 album Gentlemen (1993) and the "down in the dumps" lyrics of Black Love (1996).[9]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA[8]
The Guardian[11]
Houston Chronicle[12]
Los Angeles Times[13]
NME9/10[9]
Pitchfork7.5/10[14]
Q[15]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[2]
Spin7/10[16]

Reviewing for the Los Angeles Times in November 1998, Marc Weingarten regarded songs like "Somethin' Hot" and "Neglekted" as "the ugliest sort of come-ons, full of innuendo and whispered imprecations", but concluded that "Dulli's velvety vocals and the band's sharp, punchy melodies win you over every time."[13] Entertainment Weekly reviewer Matt Diehl called Dulli "one of rock’s finest lyricists: His noir vignettes read like a Jim Thompson novel, their erotic narratives expertly skewering the male psyche."[8] Stubbs, in NME, hailed 1965 as "a triumph against the grain of post-grunge",[9] while Jason Ankeny of AllMusic called it "the gritty soul record just always out of The Afghan Whigs' reach—seamlessly integrating the R&B aspirations which have textured the band's sound since the beginning".[10]

Some reviewers were less receptive. Robert Christgau assigned 1965 a "neither" ((neither)) grade in Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s (2000), indicating an album that "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."[17] In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Joe Gross considered the album's upbeat tone and healthier thoughts on sexual relationships to be "a mild letdown from the previous trilogy's relentlessness".[2]

Track listing

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All tracks written by Greg Dulli except where noted.[4]

  1. "Somethin' Hot" – 2:58
  2. "Crazy" – 4:04
  3. "Uptown Again" – 3:11
  4. "Sweet Son of a Bitch" – 0:23
  5. "66" – 3:23
  6. "Citi Soleil" – 5:06
  7. "John the Baptist" – 5:34
  8. "The Slide Song" (Dulli, McCollum) – 3:54
  9. "Neglekted" (Dulli, McCollum) – 4:01
  10. "Omertà" (Dulli, McCollum) – 5:40
  11. "The Vampire Lanois" (Dulli, McCollum, Horrigan, Curley) – 3:21

Notes

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“Somethin’ Hot” was used in the 2001 film American Pie 2, but did not appear in the soundtrack.

Personnel

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Credits for 1965 adapted from liner notes.[4]

Charts

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Chart (1998) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[18] 38
US Billboard 200[19] 176

References

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  1. ^ Musician, Issues 242-245, p. 17.
  2. ^ a b c Gross, Joe (2004). "Afghan Whigs". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  3. ^ Hughes, Kim (November 5, 1998). "Afghan Whigs discover their soul in N'Awlins". NOW. Toronto: Now Communications. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  4. ^ a b c d 1965 (CD liner). The Afghan Whigs. Columbia Records. 1998. CK 69450.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ "JSC Digital Image Collection". Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
  6. ^ Jackson, Chris (September 27, 2005). "The Afghan Whigs - 1965 (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  7. ^ Helms, Chris (November 1998). "Review: 1965". CMJ. College Media: 19.
  8. ^ a b c Diehl, Matt (November 6, 1998). "1965". Entertainment Weekly. No. 457. New York. p. 88. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  9. ^ a b c d Stubbs, David (September 22, 1998). "The Afghan Whigs – 1965". NME. London. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  10. ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "1965 – The Afghan Whigs". AllMusic. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  11. ^ Cox, Tom (October 23, 1998). "The Afghan Whigs: 1965 (Columbia)". The Guardian. London.
  12. ^ Vaziri, Aidin (October 25, 1998). "Afghan Whigs, 1965, Columbia". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  13. ^ a b Weingarten, Marc (November 21, 1998). "Afghan Whigs, '1965,' Columbia". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  14. ^ Fowler, Shan (1998). "Afghan Whigs: 1965". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 1, 2003. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  15. ^ "The Afghan Whigs: 1965". Q. No. 147. London. December 1998. p. 114.
  16. ^ Lim, Dennis (November 1998). "The Afghan Whigs: 1965". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 11. New York. p. 140. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
  17. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the 90s. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. xvi, 2. ISBN 0312245602.
  18. ^ "The Afghan Whigs - 1965". ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  19. ^ "1965 - The Afghan Whigs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
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