In the Pursuit of Leisure
| In the Pursuit of Leisure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 3, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
| Studio | Henson Studios, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Pop rock[1] | |||
| Length | 41:06 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | David Kahne | |||
| Sugar Ray chronology | ||||
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| Singles from In the Pursuit of Leisure | ||||
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In the Pursuit of Leisure is the fifth studio album by American rock band Sugar Ray, released in 2003. Singer-songwriter Esthero and reggae singer Shaggy both make guest appearances.
It features the single "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)", a song which includes samples from both Sweet's hit "Love Is Like Oxygen" and Midnight Star's hit "No Parking (On the Dance Floor)." That track was a success and reached the #20 spot on Billboard's Adult Top 40. A cover of Joe Jackson's new wave song "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" was released as the second single. It had similar success and reached the #29 spot on Billboard's Adult Top 40.[2]
Commercial response
[edit]The album sold 135,000 copies, far less than the band's prior self-titled release, which had gone platinum.[3] The album's commercial failure led to a six-year gap in releasing their next album, Music for Cougars.[3] In 2004, McGrath got a role as host of entertainment news program Extra, and the band started only playing a few shows a year up until their comeback with Music for Cougars. McGrath reflected in 2009 that the pop music scene was starting to shift at that time, saying "the Ushers and Lil Jons were moving in and I'm like, 'you know what, man? You've had a great run this first wave; let's see what else is going on'."[4]
Reception
[edit]| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 68/100[5] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B−[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "another winning record by a band who has proven to be far more resilient than anybody could have guessed when 'Fly' flew to the top of the charts in 1997."[2] Entertainment Weekly gave it a B− rating, saying that "nothing on this album is good for you, but you may find its saccharine charms difficult to resist."[6]
Rolling Stone's Pat Blashill had a more negative review, saying that "Sugar Ray are a synthesis of everything that's dumb about pop music; like Prell shampoo, they make you feel bouncy, resilient and full of pep." Blashill also labelled the single "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)" as "a metal-pop song with a gratuitously silly rap chorus."[7] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine also had a negative review in 2003, saying that "Sugar Ray’s 1999 album 14:59 was such a blatant, no-apologies capitalist cash-in it was difficult not to admire it. But after their carbon copy self-titled follow-up, and now In the Pursuit of Leisure, their fifth album, Sugar Ray just seem downright lazy." He added that, "Sugar Ray has built an entire career out of creating summer anthems and now it seems they’re just treading pool water. The album, perhaps more appropriately titled In the Pursuit of Absolutely Nothing, is breezy and inviting but utterly unchallenging—for both the band and its audience."[8]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Note | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Chasin' You Around" | 3:38 | |
| 2. | "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" | Joe Jackson cover, from the album Look Sharp! | 3:48 |
| 3. | "Heaven" | 4:26 | |
| 4. | "Bring Me the Head of..." | 0:42 | |
| 5. | "Mr. Bartender (It's So Easy)" | 3:30 | |
| 6. | "Can't Start" | 3:42 | |
| 7. | "Photograph of You" | 3:48 | |
| 8. | "56 Hope Road" | 3:51 | |
| 9. | "Whatever We Are" | 3:41 | |
| 10. | "She's Different" | 3:30 | |
| 11. | "In Through the Doggie Door" | 3:09 | |
| 12. | "Blues from a Gun" | 3:25 |
Credits
[edit]Sugar Ray
[edit]- Sugar Ray – songwriting (1, 3–11)
- Mark McGrath – lead vocals
- Rodney Sheppard – guitar, backing vocals
- Murphy Karges – bass, backing vocals
- DJ Homicide – turntables, samples, programming; keyboards, backing vocals
- Stan Frazier – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Additional personnel
[edit]
Songwriting on "Is She Really Going Out with Him?"[edit]
|
Guest vocalists[edit]
|
References
[edit]- ^ Greer, Jim (2003-06-06). "In the Pursuit of Leisure". Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ a b c In the Pursuit of Leisure at AllMusic
- ^ a b Appleford, Steve (July 21, 2009). "Mark McGrath on the Ugly Truth About Sugar Ray (And Why Their New Album Still Rocks)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 10, 2011.
- ^ http://www.popentertainment.com/mcgrath.htm
- ^ "In the Pursuit of Leisure Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ a b Greer, Jim (2003-06-06). "In the Pursuit of Leisure". Retrieved September 6, 2022.
- ^ a b Blashill, Pat (2003-05-20). "Sugar Ray: In The Pursuit of Leisure : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
- ^ <https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/sugar-ray-in-the-pursuit-of-leisure/
