Rubberneck (album)

Rubberneck is the debut studio album by American rock band Toadies. It was released in August 1994 on Interscope Records and attained RIAA gold and platinum status in December 1995 and December 1996 respectively. The album produced the band's most popular single, "Possum Kingdom".

Rubberneck
Studio album by Toadies
Released	August 23, 1994
Recorded	September 18 – October 7, 1993[1]
Studio	Record Two Mendocino, Comptche, California The Sound Factory, Hollywood, California
Genre	Grunge[2][3] hard rock[4][5] punk rock[5]
Length	36:21
Label	Interscope
Producer	Tom Rothrock Rob Schnapf
Toadies chronology
Pleather (1993) Rubberneck (1994) Hell Below/Stars Above (2001)
Singles from Rubberneck
"Mister Love" Released: 1994 "Possum Kingdom" Released: August 30, 1994 "Away" Released: 1995 "Tyler" Released: 1996 "Backslider" Released: 1996

In 2014, in honor of the album's 20th anniversary, Kirtland Records re-released the album on CD and vinyl on April 1.^[6] The album was remastered and also includes five bonus tracks.^[7] Three of the bonus tracks are previously unreleased songs from the original album's sessions, including "Run in with Dad" and a cover of Pylon's "Stop It", both of which were previously recorded for Velvet, and "Rockfish", an early version of "Waterfall", a song later recorded for Feeler, the intended follow-up to Rubberneck. The other two bonus tracks are early live versions of "Possum Kingdom" and "Tyler", recorded at Trees Dallas on December 5, 1991. The vinyl only features the original 11 album tracks, and includes a download of the five bonus tracks.

Also in honor of the album's 20th anniversary, current band member Clark Vogeler made Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck, a 23-minute documentary about the album, featuring original behind-the-scenes footage recorded by Lisa Umbarger as well as newly recorded interviews.^[8] It was debuted on March 10, 2014, at the Kessler Theater, in Dallas, Texas. The documentary was then posted on the internet two days later.^[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
CMJ	(favorable)[10]
Detroit Free Press	[11]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[12]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram	[13]

The New York Times opined that "Todd Lewis's voice comes across somewhere between Robert Plant and Eddie Vedder."^[14] The Village Voice noted that the band's "shrewd mixture of black-metal thematics, punk aggression, and grunge melancholia contains a seed of genuine revelation that rewards anyone who isn't scared off by the whiff of brimstone and scandal that clings to their work."^[15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Mexican Hairless" (Lewis, Darrel Herbert)	1:48
2.	"Mister Love"	2:51
3.	"Backslider"	2:30
4.	"Possum Kingdom"	5:09
5.	"Quitter" (Lewis, Herbert)	3:33
6.	"Away"	4:34
7.	"I Come from the Water"	2:46
8.	"Tyler"	4:13
9.	"Happy Face" (Lewis, Herbert)	2:58
10.	"Velvet"	2:30
11.	"I Burn"	3:33

All tracks are written by Vaden Todd Lewis (except where noted)

20th anniversary bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Run in with Dad"	2:07
13.	"Stop It" (Randall Bewley, Curtis Crowe, Vanessa Briscoe Hay, Michael Lachowski)	2:54
14.	"Rockfish"	2:42
15.	"Possum Kingdom (Live)"	4:31
16.	"Tyler (Live)"	4:06

Personnel

• Vaden Todd Lewis - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
• Darrel Herbert - Lead Guitar
• Lisa Umbarger - Bass, Baritone Guitar
• Mark Reznicek - Drums, Percussion
• Sally Browder - Engineer
• Tom Rothrock - Producer, Engineer
• Rob Schnapf - Producer, Engineer
• Andy Wallace - Mixing
• Howie Weinberg - Mastering
• Eric White - Mixing, Mixing Assistant
• Michael Lavine - Photography

Chart positions

Weekly charts Chart (1995) Peak position US Billboard 200[16] 56 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[17] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1996) Position US Billboard 200[18] 134

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1995	"Possum Kingdom"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	9
		Modern Rock Tracks	4
1996	"Away"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	23
		Modern Rock Tracks	28

References

1. "Clark Vogeler's "Dark Secrets - The Stories of Rubberneck"". YouTube.com.
2. Siriwatt, Art (March 22, 2014). "Texas band Toadies ready for anniversary tour". The Daily Californian. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
3. "50 Greatest Grunge Albums". Rolling Stone. April 1, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Rubberneck - Toadies | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
5. Mayhew, Malcolm (August 29, 2019). "Rubberneck Revisited". Fort Worth Magazine. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
6. "Rubberneck 20th Anniversary". thetoadies.com. January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
7. "Toadies Announce Rubberneck 20-Year Anniversary Edition". Glide Magazine. January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
8. "Clark Vogeler's "Dark Secrets - The Stories of Rubberneck"". YouTube.com.
9. Wilonsky, Robert (March 12, 2014). "Exclusive video: The Toadies documentary 'Dark Secrets: The Stories of Rubberneck'". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
10. Glenn, Jenni (November 10, 2000). "TOADIES: RUBBERNECK". CMJ. Archived from the original on June 28, 2008. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
11. Martelle, Scott (August 20, 1994). "Recordings". Detroit Free Press. p. 26D.
12. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2006). "Toadies". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8 (4th ed.). MUZE. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-0-19-531373-4.
13. Mayhew, Malcolm (August 26, 1994). "A killer major-label debut: Toad you so". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. E2.
14. Pareles, Jon (May 27, 1995). "Never Far from Punk, and 31 Songs to a Set". The New York Times. p. A15.
15. Cooper, Carol (January 9, 1996). "Swamp Thing". The Village Voice. Vol. 41, no. 2. p. 42.
16. "Toadies Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
17. "Toadies Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
18. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1996". Billboard. Retrieved November 9, 2020.