University is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band Throwing Muses, released in 1995.[3][4] It contains the single "Bright Yellow Gun", the band's first national hit.

University
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 16, 1995 (1995-01-16)
RecordedOctober 1993–October 1994, Kingsway Studio, New Orleans, LA
GenreAlternative rock
Length48:32
Label4AD[1]
Sire/Reprise[2]
ProducerThrowing Muses
Throwing Muses chronology
Red Heaven
(1992)
University
(1995)
Limbo
(1996)

The album peaked at No. 10 on the UK Albums Chart; it peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart.[5][6] Sales were too low for Sire, and the band was dropped from its roster, ending the Muses' major label years.

Production

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The album was recorded in the fall of 1993, right before lead Muse Kristin Hersh recorded her first solo album, Hips and Makers. 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell convinced Hersh to release the solo album first, in early 1994; University was delayed until 1995. The band's former roadie, Bernard Georges, played bass on the album.[7]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music     [1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[9]
Knoxville News Sentinel     [10]
Rolling Stone     [11]

The Independent called University "a gorgeous album in parts: it's the most tuneful, coherent and least witchy music Hersh has yet delivered in her Muses hat."[12] The Knoxville News Sentinel deemed "Bright Yellow Gun" a "too-traditional rocker."[10] The Boston Globe determined that the album "finds the band and Hersh in good, raw form, mixing up formally inventive songs with sidelong hooks and expressionistic lyrics."[13]

Track listing

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All songs by Kristin Hersh.

  1. "Bright Yellow Gun" – 3:43
  2. "Start" – 2:47
  3. "Hazing" – 3:14
  4. "Shimmer" – 3:14
  5. "Calm Down, Come Down" – 1:48
  6. "Crabtown" – 4:20
  7. "No Way in Hell" – 4:44
  8. "Surf Cowboy" – 2:45
  9. "That's All You Wanted" – 3:26
  10. "Teller" – 2:52
  11. "University" – 2:12
  12. "Snakeface" – 3:29
  13. "Flood" – 3:14
  14. "Fever Few" – 6:44

References

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  1. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (May 27, 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Throwing Muses". Trouser Press. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "Throwing Muses Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  4. ^ "Throwing Muses". NPR.
  5. ^ "THROWING MUSES". Official Charts. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  6. ^ "Heatseekers". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 5. February 4, 1995. p. 26.
  7. ^ Segretto, Mike (July 15, 2022). 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Minute: A Critical Trip Through the Rock LP Era, 1955–1999. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-6460-1 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ "Throwing Muses – University Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  9. ^ "University". EW.com.
  10. ^ a b Campbell, Chuck (January 13, 1995). "Hersh finds her old muse on 'University'". Detours. Knoxville News Sentinel. p. 3.
  11. ^ Throwing Muses: University : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone
  12. ^ Coleman, Nick (January 13, 1995). "Kristin Hersh hoiks her songs from the closets of her unconscious". MUSIC/POP. The Independent. p. 24.
  13. ^ Gilbert, Matthew (January 19, 1995). "THROWING MUSES UNIVERSITY". Calendar. The Boston Globe. p. 16.