Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too

Background and recording

Prior to forming The New Radicals, lead singer Gregg Alexander released two solo albums, Michigan Rain (1989) and Intoxifornication (1992). Both albums were flops, generating no charting singles and receiving lukewarm reviews from critics. Before signing to MCA Records in 1997, Alexander had been dropped by two record labels: A&M and Epic Records. In 1997, Alexander signed to MCA Records in 1997 and allegedly received a $600,000 advance.

When recording "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too," Alexander stated that he "'completely ripped up' the 'rules that applied to (his) first two records.'" While the album was credited to The New Radicals, it is often considered to be a Gregg Alexander album, as he wrote and produced all songs (only the two singles were co-written with other artists), played several instruments on it and is the only constant member of the band. In reference to the wide variety of musicians he recruited to record the album, Alexander stated "Most of that record was me pulling favors with studios or musicians that had played on earlier records and were like, 'Oh, Gregg's down on his luck — let's go play on his demo for the hell of it, we'll have a good laugh, have a couple of beers and maybe smoke a jay or whatever.'"

Musical style

The lyrical and musical content of Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too was compared to a variety of artists. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music likened The New Radicals' politically-oriented lyrics to British rock band Chumbawamba. Entertainment Weekly compared the album's music to that of Hanson. The Los Angeles Times likened The New Radicals to the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. Alexander's vocal performance drew frequent comparisons to Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, while a review by AllMusic commented that his vocals resembled Mick Jagger's. Consequence of Sound commented that the album "made Gregg Alexander the 90's answer to Phil Spector, without the bad rap of murdering people." Music critic Robert Christgau felt that Todd Rundgren and Hall & Oates were clear influences to Alexander, also comparing the lyrics to Bob Dylan and Meat Loaf.

Critical reception

The album was met with positive reviews from music critics upon its release. A review for AllMusic, written by Alex Henderson, awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars and commented that although Gregg Alexander clearly has a "left-wing point of view," the album "doesn't beat listeners over the head with a sociopolitical agenda," going on to praise the album's 1970's sound and Alexander's vocals and concluding that "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" was "one of the most promising" albums released in 1998. Lily Collins' review for the Encyclopedia of Popular Music called the album "an uplifting combination of sweeping melodies, aggressive harmonies and large dollops of stream-of-consciousness soul," likening the album to those of Chumbawamba and praising Alexander's vocal range. Entertainment Weekly's review called the album "filler-free" and praised the album's positive messages, awarding the album an "A-". Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album an "A-" and commented that "Gregg Alexander comes across so brash, so skillful, so not-as-smart-as-he-thinks it's downright touching. As the tunes wind down in that CD way, even the lesser ones grow lovable in all their plethora of words and paucity of meaning, evoking the pathos of the fame game for anyone with a sense of biz mechanics."

In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" at number 23 on their list of "40 Greatest One-Album Wonders," reflecting that "A bubbling stew of influences that had glossier production and more pointed lyrics about corporate America than its alt-rock-radio brethren, 'Brainwashed' could have been the beginning of a new pop order."

Commercial performance

On the Billboard 200, the album reached #41, also achieved Platinum status (1,000,000 copies sold) in the United States less than a year after its release. On the UK Albums Chart, the album reached a peak of #10. It placed at #126 on the year-end Billboard 200 in 1998. The album also charted in Austria, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.

The New Radicals' debut single, "You Get What You Give," was released on November 13, 1998, garnering highly positive reviews from music critics and breaking the Top 40 in countries around the world, reaching number 1 in Canada and the Top 5 in the United Kingdom. "Someday We'll Know" was slated as the album's second single, but the group disbanded before its official release, and the song was far less successful than its predecessor, charting in several European countries. "Mother We Just Can't Get Enough" was planned to be the album's third single, but was never commercially released.

Track listing

All songs written by Gregg Alexander, except where noted.

1. "Mother We Just Can't Get Enough" – 5:46
2. "You Get What You Give" (Alexander, Richard Nowels) – 5:02
3. "I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending" – 6:37
4. "I Don't Wanna Die Anymore" – 4:16
5. "Jehovah Made This Whole Joint for You" – 4:11
6. "Someday We'll Know" (Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Debra Holland) – 3:39
7. "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" (Alexander, Andy Partridge) – 5:21
8. "In Need of a Miracle" – 3:43
9. "Gotta Stay High" – 3:06
10. "Technicolor Lover" – 3:42
11. "Flowers" – 3:52
12. "Crying Like a Church on Monday" – 5:02

B-sides and outtakes

Two additional tracks were recorded during the sessions and released as B Sides: "To Think I Thought", which was a bonus track on the Japanese version of the album and on the "You Get What You Give" CD single; and "The Decency League", featured on the "Someday We'll Know" CD single. A 2003 song released by Alexander, "A Love Like That," is supposedly an outtake because some of its lyrics appear in the booklet for the album.

Alternate mixes of single tracks were also released on singles—the radio edit of "You Get What You Give" is on its parent single, the instrumental cut of "Someday We'll Know" is included on some pressings of its parent single, and the radio edit of "Mother We Just Can't Get Enough" appears on its parent single (which was never officially made available for sale due to the band's split).

Personnel

Adapted from "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" album booklet and Allmusic.