Shame (Brad album)

Overview

Brad formed officially in 1992, although the band members had been playing together for a long time before that. The band originally wanted to go by the name Shame, however the band found that the name was already taken by a band featuring musician Brad Wilson. Instead, the band took the name Brad and decided to name its debut album Shame. The album was recorded in October 1992 in roughly 20 days at Avast Recording Co. in Seattle, Washington. Many tracks are taken from in-studio jam sessions. The band members produced the album themselves. The album was mixed by Brendan O'Brien. The album's cover art was provided by Seattle's Crocodile Cafe. Shame, featuring a raw sound and an eclectic mix of styles, was released to mixed reviews and moderate sales. The track "20th Century" was a minor hit in the UK. The album charted at number 14 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart. Deborah Frost of Entertainment Weekly said that "Brad, a grunge-lite foursome Gossard tossed together during the odd fortnight off from his main gig, sounds as if he merely wanted to sharpen his riffing tools (and give some more locals a break) before plunging into Pearl Jam's second effort." Music videos were made for the songs "Buttercup" and "20th Century". In 2014, the album placed sixth on the Alternative Nation site's "Top 10 Underrated 90’s Alternative Rock Albums" list.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Shawn Smith, except where noted; all music composed by Stone Gossard, Regan Hagar, Smith, and Jeremy Toback, except where noted.