Get Born

Making of the album

Jet entered the Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with Dave Sardy to produce their debut album Get Born. Sardy had previously produced records for Marilyn Manson and The Dandy Warhols. The band left the recording studios halfway through recording the album to fly back to support the Rolling Stones on their 2003 Australian tour.

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl", from this album, was voted number one in the 2003 Triple J Hottest 100. Get Born also has a song, "Timothy", dedicated to guitarist Cameron Muncey's brother, who died when he was a baby (the song has also been remixed for American rapper Timbaland's 2009 album Shock Value II). The track "Radio Song" was written about when they were an unsigned band in Melbourne seeking attention, and "Rollover DJ" was written about the difficulty they encountered when trying to play gigs because of the takeover of dance music.

The album's name was derived from a lyric to the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues".

Critical reception

Get Born received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 15 reviews. Alternative Press gave it a rave review and found Jet's songs "catchy" and their appeal "diverse". Q magazine said that the album's raw immediacy "belies its dated influences." Uncut called it "an efficient if fairly joyless hybrid of the Stones, AC/DC and Oasis." In a negative review, Pitchfork Media wrote that Jet sounds like "everyone's favorite old rock bands" and have "insipid lyrics", including interjections such as "Come On!" and "Oh Yeah!" sung "every five seconds". Robert Christgau of The Village Voice cited "Rollover D.J." and "Look What You've Done" as highlights and remarked that the band has "the juice and talent to make their retro happen without the brains or vision to run with it". He gave the album a two-star honorable mention, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy." In October 2010, Get Born was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.

Lead single

The album's lead single, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", was often singled out due to distinct similarities to Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life". The song featured a near-identical guitar riff, as well as a drum pattern markedly similar to that of Pop's well-known song. The band argued that "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" had more in common with '60s Motown, however - namely songs such as "I'm Ready for Love" by Martha And The Vandellas and "You Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes. In an Allmusic review of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", the song was praised for its commercial appeal despite its resemblance to "Lust for Life", saying "Whether 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl?' (sic) is creatively bankrupt, or just an extreme example of how all music is influenced by what came before it, is up for debate... Either way, the song is impossible to ignore.

Chris Cester addressed the media speculation in a Jared story interview for Uptown Magazine Online, stating: "It's funny because I asked him point blank about that. He said I was crazy. He said that when he and David Bowie were writing 'Lust for Life', they were ripping off Motown's beat. It's funny that he said that to me because we also thought we were ripping off Motown more than 'Lust for Life'. To be honest with you that kind of annoyed me a lot, because I always thought it was really lazy. People just go well 'Lust for Life' is more well-known so that's what they go for, but if you listen to a song like 'You Can't Hurry Love' (The Supremes) I think you'll find it's closer to 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' than 'Lust for Life' ever was. And that's what Iggy said as well."

Track listing

All songs written by Nic Cester and Chris Cester, except where mentioned.

B-sides

1. "Hold On" – featured on the soundtrack for the movie Spider-Man 2
2. "Hey Kids" – B-side to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"; also featured on the soundtrack to the movie Elektra. A re-recorded version appeared on the North American version of Shine On.
3. "You Were Right" – B-side to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
4. "Everlovin Man" – B-side to "Cold Hard Bitch"
5. "Aint That a Lotta Love" – B-side to "Cold Hard Bitch"
6. "You Don't Look the Same" – B-side to "Cold Hard Bitch"
7. "Bruises" – B-side to "Look What You've Done"
8. "Cigarettes and Cola" – B-side to "Look What You've Done"
9. "Backdoor Santa" – B-side to "Rollover DJ"
10. "Sgt. Major" – B-side to "Rollover DJ", Bonus track in limited editions of Get Born
11. "That's All Right Mama" – Featured on bonus disc in limited editions of Get Born

Note: Live versions of "Cold Hard Bitch", "Move On", "Are You Gonna Be My Girl", "Get Me Outta Here" and "Last Chance" are featured on a bonus DVD or CD on limited editions of Get Born

Personnel

Additional musicians

Producer: Dave Sardy

Charting positions

Get Born debuted at #3 and peaked at #1 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart as of May 2004 (so far being certified 8X Platinum), #17 on the UK Albums Chart (#14 after a re-entry in June 2004), and has peaked at #26 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart (and being certified Platinum).

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" also peaked at #20 and certified gold on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, #23 on the UK Singles Chart in September 2003 (#16 after a re-release in May 2004), and #29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The second single, "Rollover DJ", was released in Australia and the UK, and peaked at #31 and #34 respectively.

The third single released in Australia and the UK was "Look What You've Done", which peaked at #14 and #28 respectively. It was also released as the third single in the U.S. in January 2005, and reached #37 as of March 2005.

In the U.S., "Cold Hard Bitch" has been released as the second single reaching number one on the Billboard Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts and number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 as of May 2004. In Australia, it was released as the fourth single in July 2004, and has reached #33 in August 2004, and in the UK, it reached #34 in September 2004.

A fifth single also charted in the UK, this being "Get Me Outta Here", reaching #37 in December 2004.

In the week ending 11 September 2006, Get Born re-entered at a position of #46 on the ARIA Charts, presumably due to the fact that Jet had "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is", the lead single from their second album, Shine On.