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The Night (Morphine album)

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2000 studio album by Morphine
The Night
Studio album by Morphine
ReleasedFebruary 1, 2000
Recorded1998–1999
Studio
GenreAlternative rock
LabelDreamWorks
Producer
Morphine chronology
Like Swimming
(1997) 		The Night
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau(choice cut)
Des Moines Register
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Los Angeles Times
Orlando Sentinel
Pitchfork Media5.7/10
Rolling Stone
Spin8/10

The Night is the fifth and final studio album by the alternative rock band Morphine, released in 2000 via DreamWorks. The album expands the band's sound beyond their usual arrangements of previous albums (bass, saxophone and drums), introducing acoustic guitars, organs, strings and female backing vocals.

The album peaked at No. 137 on the Billboard 200.

Production

Jerome Deupree, the band's original drummer, who had previously quit due to health problems, rejoined as a guest playing alongside Billy Conway, according to credits listed in the CD booklet, thus making The Night Morphine's first album recorded as a quartet rather than a trio. Recording sessions for the album were completed shortly before the sudden July 1999 death of bass player and lead singer Mark Sandman; Conway and saxophonist Dana Colley oversaw the final mixing process. The band spent two years working on the album in Sandman's Cambridge home studio.

Critical reception

The Pitch wrote that "it’s not a romantic exaggeration to say that this album is the trio’s most sensuous, satisfying recording, finally delivering on the diverting-but-two-dimensional original notion of what Sandman termed 'low rock' ... The Night is the first time in ages a posthumous release has made noise from beyond the grave that doesn’t sound like a cash register." Trouser Press wrote that "the tone may be dour due to the singer’s sudden death, but the music is the most fully realized and finely textured Morphine ever mustered." Exclaim! called the album "a slow, grinding burlesque that hovers tentatively between testifying to above and wallowing down below."

Track listing

All songs written by Mark Sandman.

  1. "The Night" – 4:50
  2. "So Many Ways" – 4:01
  3. "Souvenir" – 4:40
  4. "Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer" – 5:44
  5. "Like a Mirror" – 5:26
  6. "A Good Woman Is Hard to Find" – 4:14
  7. "Rope on Fire" – 5:36
  8. "I'm Yours, You're Mine" – 3:46
  9. "The Way We Met" – 2:59
  10. "Slow Numbers" – 3:58
  11. "Take Me with You" – 4:54

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.

Morphine

  • Mark Sandman – vocals, 2-string slide bass, acoustic guitar, piano, organ, trombone, tritar
  • Dana Colley – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, piano, backing vocals,
  • Billy Conway – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • Jerome Deupree – drums (1–8, 10, 11)
  • Jane Scarpantoni – cello (1, 7, 11)
  • Mike Rivard – double bass (7, 11)
  • John Medeski – organ (4, 8)
  • Billy Beard – hand drum (7)
  • Brahim Fribgane – oud, frame drum (7)
  • Joseph Kessler – viola (7, 11)
  • Carolyn Kaylor – backing vocals (2, 4)
  • Linda Viens – backing vocals (2, 4)
  • Ramona Clifton – backing vocals (4)
  • Margaret Garrett – backing vocals (5)
  • Tara McManus – backing vocals (5)

Technical

  • Mark Sandman – producer, engineer (Hi-N-Dry)
  • Morphine – producer, art direction
  • Brian Dunton – engineer (Hi-N-Dry)
  • Matthew Ellard – engineer (Hi-N-Dry)
  • Juan Garcia – engineer (Magic Shop)
  • Reto Peter – engineer (Magic Shop)
  • Dave Kay – engineer (Super Sonic)
  • Toby Mountain – mastering
  • Robert Fisher – design

Charts

Chart (2000) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 137

References

  1. Prato, Greg. The Night at AllMusic. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  2. Christgau, Robert (2000-03-28). "Consumer Guide". Village Voice.
  3. Munson, Kyle (10 Feb 2000). "Morphine's Sandman brings listeners a dream". Des Moines Register: D11.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 903.
  5. Hochman, Steve (6 Feb 2000). "Record Rack". Los Angeles Times: 1.
  6. Gettelman, Parry (11 Feb 2000). "A NICE SEND-OFF FOR MORPHINE'S SANDMAN". Orlando Sentinel: 9.
  7. Sage Rockermann, Kristin. "Morphine: The Night: Pitchfork review". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on November 23, 2001. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  8. Kot, Greg (March 2, 2000). "Morphine: The Night: Music review". Rolling Stone. No. RS 835. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  9. "Reviews". Spin. 16 (3): 147–148. Mar 2000.
  10. "Morphine | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  11. ^ "Morphine Widen Sound On Final Album With Guitar, Organ, Strings". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021.
  12. "Morphine". Billboard.
  13. ^ The Night (CD liner notes). Morphine. DreamWorks. 2000. 0044-50056-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. "Morphine - My part of the puzzle". jeromedeupree.com. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  15. ^ "Morphine on Twitter". Twitter. August 30, 2022. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  16. ^ "Morphine". Trouser Press. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  17. "Sharps & Flats". Salon. February 3, 2000.
  18. "MORPHINE". February 24, 2000.
  19. "Morphine The Night". exclaim.ca.
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