Matchbox 20 Yourself or Someone Like You released

Yourself or Someone Like You Matchbox 20

Released: October 1, 1996 Peak: 5 US, 50 UK, 11 CN, 16 AU Sales (in millions): 12.4 US, 0.1 UK, 15.10 world (includes US and UK) Genre: mainstream rock/adult alternative

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Real World (4/4/97, 38 BB, 9 BA, 3 RR, 3 A40, 4 AA, 17 AR, 13 MR, 92 UK, 5 CN, 40 AU, 16 DF) Long Day (10/19/96, 8 AR, 43 CN, 83 AU, 15 DF) 3 A.M. (10/18/97, 3 BA, 3 RR, 25 AC, 1 A40, a AA, 2 AR, 3 MR, 64 UK, 1 CN, 31 AU, 10 DF) Push (3/15/97, 5 BA, 2 RR, 6 A40, 2 AA, 4 AR, 1 MR, 38 UK, 6 CN, 8 AU, 9 DF) Girl Like That Back 2 Good (10/9/98, 24 BB, 19 BA, 8 RR, 4 A40, 11 AA, 11 CN, 17 DF) Damn Argue Kody Busted Shame Hang Total Running Time: 46:43 The Players: Rob Thomas (vocals, guitar) Kyle Cook (guitar, backing vocals) Adam Gaynor (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) Brian Yale (bass) Paul Doucette (drums)

Rating: 3.832 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings) Quotable: ”The standard-bearer for post-alternative rock” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic.com Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: In the early ‘90s, grunge exploded. While the phenomena had faded by the mid-‘90s, it spawned a slew of guitar-based, multi-platinum albums from new groups like Hootie & the Blowfish, Counting Crows, the Wallflowers and Matchbox 20 that played equally well at mainstream, alternative, and pop radio. Matchbox 20’s “Yourself or Someone Like You turned out to be the standard-bearer for post-alternative rock because it has a ‘90s sheen in its production, but, for all the world, its core sounds like classic rock. Lead singer/songwriter Rob Thomas adopted some of Eddie Vedder’s vocal mannerisms, but they were smoothed out, lacking the angst and pain that were Vedder’s hallmark.” AM Matchbox 20 shared “Pearl Jam’s fascination for album rock” AM but Someone Like You “is much more straightforward than most alt-rock albums.” AB It “wound up being the point where mainstream American rock stopped being willfully eccentric and returned to being unassuming and kind of ordinary.” AM “Thomas delivers a clutch of confident, well-crafted, frill-free songs” AB with “fairly strong hooks.” AB The songs benefit from “Thomas’ distinctive bravado” AM and “his sturdy delivery.” AB “Monosyllabic titles like Push, Damn, and Argue emphasize the no-mess approach” AB as the group tackles “troubled love, unrealized dreams, and urban confusion.” AB The “music is not flashy” AM but is “solid, American rock, reminiscent of a blend of Petty and Pearl Jam.” AM There are also shades of “R.E.M., early Van Morrison – even a hint of The Velvet Underground.” AB

Resources: AM Allmusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine AB Michael Spilling (editor) (2015). Best-Selling Albums: From Vinyl Records to Digital Downloads. Amber Books Ltd.: London, United Kingdom. Related DMDB Links: First posted 4/17/2008; last updated 11/27/2024.