1965 | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 27, 1998 | |||
Studio | Kingsway Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 41:35 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Greg Dulli | |||
The Afghan Whigs chronology | ||||
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Singles from 1965 | ||||
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1965 is the sixth studio album by American rock band The Afghan Whigs. It was released on October 27, 1998, by Columbia Records. [1]
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]
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]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [8] |
The Guardian | [11] |
Houston Chronicle | [12] |
Los Angeles Times | [13] |
NME | 9/10 [9] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 [14] |
Q | [15] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [2] |
Spin | 7/10 [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" ( ) 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]
All tracks written by Greg Dulli except where noted. [4]
“Somethin’ Hot” was used in the 2001 film American Pie 2, but did not appear in the soundtrack.
Credits for 1965 adapted from liner notes. [4]
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Chart (1998) | Peak position |
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Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) [18] | 38 |
US Billboard 200 [19] | 176 |
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