Sixteen Stone

Sixteen Stone
Studio album by Bush
Released	December 6, 1994
Recorded	January 1994 at Westside Studios, London, England
Genre	Post-grunge, grunge
Length	52:38
Label	Trauma/Interscope/Atlantic
Producer	Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley & Bush
Professional reviews
Allmusic [1] Robert Christgau (B-)[2] Q [3]
Bush chronology
Sixteen Stone (1994) Razorblade Suitcase (1996)

Sixteen Stone is the debut album of British rock band Bush. Released in 1994 through Trauma Records, it boasted numerous successful singles and is widely regarded as the band's most popular album.

On the Billboard Music Charts (North America), Sixteen Stone peaked at #4 on the Heatseekers and Billboard 200 charts. The album spawned two Top 40 singles. After about a half of year of promotion for Sixteen Stone, the album began to sell wildly, once "Comedown" and "Glycerine" struck America. When the band became popular, many critics and audiences across the globe criticized the band for sounding too much like Seattle rockers Nirvana and Pearl Jam. In later years Bush would distance themselves from the familiar grunge sounds with experimental releases such as The Science of Things, and Deconstructed.

Background

In the UK, a stone is a unit of weight that equals 14 pounds. Therefore, sixteen stone means 224 pounds or about 102 kilograms. When asked why lead singer Gavin Rossdale chose the name "Sixteen Stone" for the name of their album, he said: "Once upon a time there was a lonely man... my friend, who called a phone number advertising a '21 year Scandinavian beauty, new in town.' When she arrived, she was forty years old and sixteen stone..."

In the booklet of Sixteen Stone, there is a heart and a dedication to Rupert and Julie, two of Gavin's friends who died in a boating accident along the Thames in England.

The CD and case have a picture of what looks like a bush or mop head flying through the air. This is actually Gavin's dog named Winston. A Puli, a breed of dog with dreadlock-like cords, that has been tossed in the air or is jumping. Beck used the same effect in 1996 with a Komondor, a nearly identical looking dog, on his album Odelay which looks like a mop jumping a hurdle.

Track listing

All tracks written by Gavin Rossdale.

1. "Everything Zen" - 4:38
2. "Swim" - 4:56
3. "Bomb" - 3:23
4. "Little Things" - 4:24
5. "Comedown" - 5:27
6. "Body" - 5:43
7. "Machinehead" - 4:16
8. "Testosterone" - 4:20
9. "Monkey" - 4:01
10. "Glycerine" - 4:27
11. "Alien" - 6:34
12. "X-Girlfriend" - 0:45

Early pressings of the album do not list "Alien" on the back cover (there is a blank space where the title should be). "Monkey" is also missing from the inside cover, but both songs have lyrics printed and appear on the album.

Subsequent pressings also include an acoustic version of "Comedown" and a second CD of live tracks, "Swim," "Alien," "Bomb," and "Little Things." Rather than actually being acoustic, the bonus "comedown" track is actually Rossdale singing and playing guitar with more effects. This version is also slower paced, has violins added and has no drums or bass guitar.

Personnel

• Clive Langer – Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Paul Cohen – Photography, Cover Photo
• Caroline Dale – Cello
• Robin Goodridge – drums
• David J. Holman – Mixing
• Paul Palmer – Mixing
• Danton Supple – Assistant Engineer
• Robert Vosgien – Mastering
• Alan Winstanley – Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Winston – Vocals
• Gavyn Wright – Violin, Viola
• Bush – Producer, Engineer
• Dave Parsons – Bass
• Vincas Bundza – Harmonica
• Jasmine Lewis – Vocals
• Nigel Pulsford – Guitar, String Arrangements
• Gavin Rossdale – Guitar, Vocals
• Alessandro Vittorio Tateo – Vocals
• Mark Lebon – Photography
• Debra Burley – Coordination
• Jackie Holland – Coordination
• Gillian Spitchuk – Paintings

Charting singles

Billboard Music Charts (North America)

References