Yourself or Someone Like You

Yourself or Someone Like You is the debut studio album by American rock band Matchbox 20, released in 1996.

Yourself or Someone Like You
Studio album by
Matchbox 20
ReleasedOctober 1, 1996[1]
RecordedJune 1996
StudioTriclops Recording, Atlanta, Georgia
Genre
Length46:43
Label
ProducerMatt Serletic
Matchbox 20 chronology
Yourself or Someone Like You
(1996)		 Mad Season
(2000)
Singles from Yourself or Someone Like You
  1. "Long Day"
    Released: October 8, 1996
  2. "Push"
    Released: May 27, 1997
  3. "3AM"
    Released: November 23, 1997
  4. "Real World"
    Released: June 23, 1998
  5. "Back 2 Good"
    Released: October 6, 1998
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]

Composition and Release

The album features a sound similar to traditional rock and post-grunge.[5] The album features themes of adolescence, adultery, loneliness, domestic violence, psychological abuse, humiliation, depression, anger, and alcoholism.

According to Rob Thomas, the album's title was originally to be Woodshed Diaries. However, that changed when Thomas and Paul Doucette were at a woman's musical performance at Café Largo when the singer said "this song is for you, or someone like you". They loved the phrase so much that they insisted on changing the album's title, despite the fact that 3,500 copies of the album with that title had already been made. Their labels agreed, however the name change resulted in the album's release being delayed.[6]

The album sold a mere 610 copies in its first week, but eventually went on to sell several million copies in the United States. Yourself or Someone Like You became one of the few albums to achieve the prestigious Diamond certification, and it was also certified multi-platinum in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. To date, the album has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.[7]

Artwork lawsuit

In 2005, almost a decade after the album's release, the band was sued by Frank Torres, the man on the album's cover. Torres claimed the band never asked for his permission to use his image on the sleeve. In the litigation, Torres claimed the photo was taken as he was walking down the street after being asked to pose. He also claimed the photo had caused him mental anguish. Torres justified the delay in suing Matchbox 20 by claiming he had first seen the album photo within two years of the litigation.[8] Torres died of heart failure in 2016 at the age of 73.[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Rob Thomas except where noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Real World"3:50
2."Long Day"3:45
3."3AM" (writers: John Leslie Goff, John Joseph Stanley, Thomas, Brian Yale)3:46
4."Push" (writers: Matt Serletic, Thomas)3:59
5."Girl Like That"3:45
6."Back 2 Good" (writers: Serletic, Thomas)5:40
7."Damn"3:20
8."Argue"2:58
9."Kody"4:03
10."Busted"4:15
11."Shame"3:35
12."Hang"3:47
Total length:46:43
Australian limited edition bonus CD
No.TitleLength
1."Girl Like That" (live)3:57
2."Kody" (live)4:01
3."Damn" (live)3:32
4."Mercy, Mercy Me" (live)3:01
5."Push" (acoustic)4:12
6."3AM" (acoustic)3:56

Personnel

Adapted credits from the liner notes of Yourself or Someone Like You.[10]

Production

  • Matt Serletic – producer, mixing engineer
  • Jeff Tomei – engineer
  • Travis McGehee - engineer/mixing engineer
  • John Nielsen – assistant engineer
  • Greg Archilla – mixing engineer
  • Malcolm Springer – assistant mixing engineer
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering engineer
  • Don C. Tyler – digital editing
  • Tony Adams – drum tech
  • Craig Poole – guitar tech
  • Jan Smith – vocal coach
  • Valerie Wagner – art direction, graphic design
  • Katrin Thomas – photography
  • Chris Cuffaro – band photo

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1996–1998) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[12] 11
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[13] 50
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[14] 21
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 46
UK Albums (OCC)[17] 50
US Billboard 200[18] 5

Decade-end charts
Chart (1990–1999) Position
US Billboard 200[19] 28

Singles
Title Year US
[20]		 US
Mod. Rock
[20]		 US
Main. Rock
[20]		 US
Adult Top 40
[20]		 US
Top 40
[20]		 AUS
[21]		 CAN
[22]		 CAN
Alt.
[22]		 UK
[23]
"Long Day" 1996 — — 8 — — 83 43 18 —
"Push" 1997 —[upper-alpha 1] 1 4 6 3 8 6 4 38
"3AM" —[upper-alpha 2] 3 2 1 2 31 1 1 64
"Real World" 1998 38 13 17 3 4 40 5 8 119
"Back 2 Good" 24 — — 4 8 — 11 — —

Certifications
Country Providers Certification Sales or
Shipments
Australia ARIA 10× Platinum[24] 700,000[25]
Canada CRIA 8× Platinum[26] 800,000[25]
New Zealand RMNZ 5× Platinum[27] 75,000[25]
United Kingdom BPI Gold[28] 100,000[25]
United States RIAA Diamond[29] 12,000,000[29]

See also

Notes
  1. "Push" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 due to chart rules at the time requiring singles have a physical release in order to chart, but peaked at number five on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.[20]
  2. "3AM" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 due to chart rules at the time requiring singles have a physical release in order to chart, but peaked at number three on the Hot 100 Airplay chart.[20]

References
  1. https://music.avclub.com/rob-thomas-reflects-on-matchbox-twenty-s-debut-album-20-1798250451
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Yourself or Someone Like You – Matchbox Twenty". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
  3. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Matchbox 20: Yourself or Someone Like You". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  4. Harris, Keith (2004). "Matchbox Twenty". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 519. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  5. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/matchbox-twenty-mn0000383889
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPkLcsDoxCk
  7. "Bio". Matchbox Twenty. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  8. "Matchbox Twenty sued over album cover". Archived from the original on 2005-05-27.
  9. https://www.reddenfuneralhome.net/book-of-memories/2370250/Torres-Frank/obituary.php
  10. Yourself or Someone Like You (liner notes). Matchbox 20. Lava. 1996. CD 92721.CS1 maint: others (link)
  11. "Australiancharts.com – Matchbox 20 – Yourself or Someone Like You". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  12. "Matchbox Twenty Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  13. "Dutchcharts.nl – Matchbox 20 – Yourself or Someone Like You" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  14. "Offiziellecharts.de – Matchbox 20 – Yourself or Someone Like You" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  15. "Charts.nz – Matchbox 20 – Yourself or Someone Like You". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  16. "Swisscharts.com – Matchbox 20 – Yourself or Someone Like You". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  17. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  18. "Matchbox Twenty Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  19. Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  20. "Matchbox Twenty Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  21. "Discography Matchbox Twenty". australian-charts.com. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  22. "Search: RPM – Library and Archives Canada". RPM. Retrieved September 2, 2020 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  23. "Chart Log UK: M – My Vitriol". zobbel.de. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  24. "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2000 Albums". Aria.com.au. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  25. Various (2005). "Standard for Certifying Awards of Countries" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-06-17. Retrieved July 13, 2009.
  26. "Gold and Platinum". Cria.ca. 2011-11-01. Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  27. "Press Releases- Newsroom". Time Warner. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  28. "Certified Awards Search". BPI. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  29. "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
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