Welcome to the Monkey House (album)

Welcome to the Monkey House is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Dandy Warhols. The album was recorded between September 2001 and December 2002, and released on May 5, 2003 through record label Capitol.

Welcome to the Monkey House
Studio album by
The Dandy Warhols
ReleasedMay 5, 2003
RecordedSeptember 11, 2001 – December 2, 2002
GenreNew wave[1]
Length48:27
LabelCapitol
Producer
The Dandy Warhols chronology
Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
(2000)		 Welcome to the Monkey House
(2003)		 The Black Album/Come On Feel The Dandy Warhols
(2004)
Singles from Welcome to the Monkey House
  1. "We Used to Be Friends"
    Released: April 23, 2003
  2. "You Were the Last High"
    Released: July 28, 2003
  3. "Plan A"
    Released: November 24, 2003

The album was originally mixed by Grammy Award-winning soul music engineer Russell Elevado, but Capitol Records were unhappy with releasing it, instead opting for a more polished, synthpop-influenced mix by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. The original mix of the album was later released as The Dandy Warhols Are Sound in 2009.

The album's lead single "We Used to Be Friends" was the theme song to the popular TV series Veronica Mars as well as its subsequent film adaptation. Two further singles were released from the album: "You Were the Last High" and "Plan A".

Background and recording

Welcome to the Monkey House was recorded between studios in Portland, Oregon, London and New York between September 11, 2001 and December 2, 2002.[2]

The album features musical and production collaborations with Nick Rhodes, Tony Visconti, Nile Rodgers and Evan Dando.[2]

Content

The album's title was inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's short story of the same name.[3]

The musical style of Welcome to the Monkey House was described by XRay Magazine as a "belligerent, snotty-nosed, speed-fueled romp through sinister electro punk, slightly corrupt melodic rock and skew-whiff handle of 80s glam-sodden pop, albeit refracted through a knowing noughties thrift store cool."[4] Courtney Taylor-Taylor cited The Faint as a musical influence during the production of the album.[5]

The album's cover features a painting by Ron English,[6] and is a prime example of the artist's signature mash-up style, featuring a banana half-exposed by a zipper down its peel in a reference to the iconic Andy Warhol album cover for The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico.

Mix

The album was originally mixed by Grammy Award-winning soul music engineer Russell Elevado, but the band's label at the time, Capitol Records, were unhappy with releasing it,[7] and instead released a more polished, new wave-inspired mix by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.[7]

The Elevado mix was released as The Dandy Warhols Are Sound on the band's own Beat the World record label in 2009. In the same year, guitarist Peter Holmström stated the Nick Rhodes mix "was not the version I wanted released".[8]

Release

Three singles were released from the album: "We Used to Be Friends" on April 23, 2003, "You Were the Last High" on July 28, and "Plan A" on November 24.[9] "We Used to Be Friends" went on to become the theme music for the popular TV series Veronica Mars and its subsequent film adaptation.

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. Clubfavorable[11]
Robert ChristgauA−[12]
Drowned in Sound[13]
Entertainment WeeklyB[14]
Kludge6/10[15]
Pitchfork3.3/10[16]
PopMattersfavorable[17]
Q[18]
Uncut[19]

The album was generally well-received critically. AllMusic wrote, "With their fifth album [...] the band capitalizes on their pop sensibilities and even manages to turn their prior weaknesses into strengths, resulting in a collection of gloriously blank, cleverly stupid neo-new wave songs."[1] Robert Christgau gave the album an A– rating, calling it "clever and droll but also hypnotic and mysterious".[12]

A negative review came from Pitchfork, which gave the album a low 3.3/10 rating and wrote "these songs highlight the poseur mentality and insincerity that paradoxically plagues and blesses The Dandy Warhols".[16] Sunday Herald wrote "Sometimes over-indulgence can be fun, but Welcome to the Monkey House is simply too much."[20]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Alternate titleLength
1."Welcome to the Monkey House" (intro)  1:04
2."We Used to Be Friends"Taylor-Taylor, Grant Nicholas, Bjorn Thorsrud 3:20
3."Plan A"  4:01
4."Wonderful You" "The Dope (Wonderful You)"4:37
5."Scientist"Taylor-Taylor, David Bowie"I Am a Scientist"3:13
6."I Am Over It"  3:50
7."The Dandy Warhols Love Almost Everyone"  1:54
8."Insincere" "Insincere Because I"3:49
9."You Were the Last High"Evan Dando, Taylor-Taylor"The Last High"4:46
10."Heavenly"  3:36
11."I Am Sound"  4:00
12."Rock Bottom" "Hit Rock Bottom"2:53
13."(You Come In) Burned" "You Come In Burned"7:24

The alternate titles listed above are the song titles as printed on the back cover, disc and in the liner notes of non-U.S. editions of the album, apart from "The Last High", which was the credited title of "You Were the Last High" on U.S. pressings (despite maintaining the full title when released as a single).

Enhanced CD content

The enhanced CD contains the short film The End of the Old as We Know It, written and directed by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, and a link to The Odditorium, a no-longer-active website where fans could "see band web casts, play games and download exclusive music and mayhem".

Personnel

The Dandy Warhols

Additional musicians

  • Sally Boyden – backing vocals on "We Used to Be Friends"
  • Sam Dodds – backing vocals on "We Used to Be Friends"
  • Adam Flick – bass guitar on "Plan A" and "I Am Sound"
  • Jamie Jackson – electric piano on "I Am Sound"
  • Simon Le Bon – backing vocals on "Plan A"
  • Yoad Nevo – additional guitar on "We Used to Be Friends", "Plan A", "Heavenly" and "I Am Sound"
  • Parker Posey – mandolin on "I Am Sound"
  • Nick Rhodes – additional synthesizer on tracks 2, 3 and 5–11
  • Nile Rodgers – rhythm guitar on "I Am a Scientist"
  • Cloudia Tinley – "giggles" on "We Used to Be Friends"
  • Mark Tinley – additional guitar on "I Am Over It"
  • Tony Visconti – bass guitar on "The Dope (Wonderful You)", bass guitar and backing vocals on "Hit Rock Bottom"

Production

  • Steven Birch – sleeve design
  • Brian Coates – engineering on tracks 1–4 and 6–13
  • Brian Gardner – mastering
  • Ron English – album cover painting
  • Nick Friend – recording assistance
  • Yoad Nevo – additional programming on tracks 2, 3 and 5–11
  • Daniel Porter – mixing assistance
  • Nick Rhodes – production on tracks 2, 3 and 5–11
  • Bjorn Thorsrud – engineering on tracks 2–7, 9, 10, 12 and 13, additional production on track 2
  • Mark Tinley – engineering and programming on tracks 2, 3 and 5–11
  • Tony Visconti – production on "Hit Rock Bottom"
  • Jeremy Wheatley – mixing, additional production on tracks 2 and 9, additional programming on tracks 2, 3 and 5–11

Charts
Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 46
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 22
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 62
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 75
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] 19
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] 69
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[28] 31
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[29] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 83
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 20
US Billboard 200[32] 118

References
  1. Phares, Heather. "Welcome to the Monkey House - The Dandy Warhols : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  2. Peisner, David (April 16, 2003). "Dandys Monkey with Duran". Rolling Stone.
  3. Walker, CS. "Courtney Love?". Bang. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  4. Butler, Jim. "Who's the Dandy Now?". XRay Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  5. Lindsay, Cam (January 25, 2019). "The Dandy Warhols' Courtney Taylor-Taylor Passionately Ranks the Band's LPs". Vice. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  6. "Welcome to the Monkey House « The Dandy Warhols | The Official Site". dandywarhols.com. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  7. Hoffman, K Ross. "The Dandy Warhols Are Sound - The Dandy Warhols : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  8. Smyers, Daryl (September 3, 2009). "Peter Holmstrom and The Rest of the Dandy Warhols are Men of Their Words". Dallas Observer. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  9. "Dandy Guest Star!". nme.com. October 13, 2003. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  10. "Critic Reviews for Welcome to the Monkey House". Metacritic. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  11. Phipps, Keith (September 8, 2003). "The Dandy Warhols: Welcome to the Monkey House". avclub.com. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  12. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: The Dandy Warhols". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  13. Adam, Sean (May 12, 2003). "Welcome to the Monkey House". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  14. Willman, Chris. "Welcome to the Monkey House Review". ew.com (August 22, 2003). Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  15. Newman, Adam. "The Dandy Warhols: Welcome to the Monkey House". Kludge. Archived from the original on December 5, 2003. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
  16. Bryant, Andrew (July 16, 2003). "The Dandy Warhols: Welcome to the Monkey House". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  17. Gairola, Rahul (October 3, 2003). "The Dandy Warhols: Welcome to the Monkey House". PopMatters. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  18. Fearn, Rob. "[Welcome to the Monkey House review]". Q.
  19. "The Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House - Review". uncut.co.uk. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  20. Virtue, Graeme (May 11, 2003). "[Welcome to the Monkey House review]". Sunday Herald.
  21. "Australiancharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  22. "Ultratop.be – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  23. "Ultratop.be – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  24. "Lescharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  26. "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Dandy Warhols". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  27. "Italiancharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  28. "Charts.nz – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  29. "Norwegiancharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  30. "Swisscharts.com – The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  31. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  32. "The Dandy Warhols Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 12, 2020.


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