Name: LP
Brand: East/West Records
SKU: 311247
Price: 12.78 USD
Availability: InStock

Performer Notes

The Rembrandts: Phil Solem (vocals, guitar); Danny Wilde (vocals, bass, guitar).
Additional personnel: Geri Sutyak (cello); Michael Ramos (Hammond organ, piano, synthesizer); Michael Skloff (Hammond B-3 organ); Benmont Tench, Billy Payne (Hammond organ); John Strawberry Fields (Farfisa organ, Wurlitzer piano); John Pierce (bass); Pat Mastelotto, Jon Niefeld (drums); Phil Jones (percussion).
Producers: Don Smith (tracks 1-2, 5, 7, 9, 12-14); Danny Wilde, Phil Solem (tracks 3-4, 6, 8, 10-11); Gavin MacKillop (track 15).
Engineers: Greg Goldman, Don Smith (tracks 1-2, 5, 7, 9, 12-14); John Strawberry Fields (tracks 3-4, 6, 8, 10-11); Gavin MacKillop (track 15).
Recorded at Rumbo Studios, Canoga Park, California; A&M Studios, Hollywood, California; Master Control, Burbank California; Funkytown Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
All songs written or co-written by Phil Solem and Danny Wilde.
"I'll Be There For You (Theme From Friends)" was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal.
Poor Phil Solem and Danny Wilde. They spend their lives perfecting the baroque pop aesthetic of the Beatles, Crowded House and all the crafty popsmiths that came in between, and they end up being known as the guys who did the theme to that TV show. But, hey, there's a fine tradition of crafty popsmiths doing TV--from Sonny Curtis, who wrote both "I Fought The Law" for the Bobby Fuller Four and "Love Is All Around" for Mary Tyler Moore, to John Sebastian, who went from the Lovin' Spoonful to "Welcome Back Kotter." As for The Rembrandts, they probably wrote "I'll Be There For You," the jangly theme from FRIENDS, in about fifteen minutes, and it'll keep them in residuals for the rest of their lives. This will free them to make the kind of swell pop songs--driven by deceptively catchy chord changes, inventive arrangements and brotherly harmonies--that fill up the remainder of their third album.
The first sound on LP is of a needle dropping gently on old vinyl, and that is followed by "End Of The Beginning," a brooding bit of psychedelic pop with dark cello lines and backward guitar parts that bring to mind the Beatles of REVOLVER and MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. "This House Is Not A Home" has those big suspended guitar chords that fans of the Byrds and Tom Petty will instantly recognize, and "Easy To Forget," "April 29" and "As Long As I Am Breathing" (love songs all) are stocked with pop bridges that seemingly come out of nowhere, then sound like they've been there all along. Which is the exact effect most Rembrandts songs will have on you.
Personnel: Danny Wilde (vocals, guitar, bass guitar); Phil Solem (vocals, guitar); Gerri Sutyak (cello); John Fields (piano, organ, Farfisa); Michael Ramos (piano, organ, synthesizer); Michael Skloff, Benmont Tench, Bill Payne (organ); Jon Niefeld, Pat Mastelotto (drums); Phil Jones (percussion).
Recording information: A&M Studios, Hollywood, CA; Funkytown Studios, Minneapolis, MN; Master Control, Burbank, CA; Rumbo Recorders, Canoga Park, CA.
Photographer: Caroline Greyshock.
Arrangers: Danny Wilde; Phil Solem.
Most of the merits of the Rembrandts' third album, LP, were overshadowed by the massive success of "I'll Be There for You," the infectious theme from the hit Generation X sitcom Friends. Included on LP at the last minute -- the first pressings didn't list the song on the album cover -- "I'll Be There for You" received saturation radio airplay, topping the adult contemporary charts, yet it was never released as a single, forcing fans to buy the entire album to own the song. While the Monkees guitar riffs and layered harmonies are not entirely representative of the Rembrandts -- it makes them out to be a bubblegum band -- the record is filled with smart, hook-laden guitar pop that won't disappoint old Rembrandts fans or listeners attracted by the hit. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Professional Reviews

Entertainment Weekly (6/16/95, p.60) - "The Beatles/Squeeze/Crowded House influences still haunt Phil Solem and Danny Wilde, whose voices blend with Everly Brothers ease. Their third album bursts with chewable confections..." - Rating: B-

Album: LP
#	Song Title	Time
1)	End of the Beginning
2)	Easy to Forget
3)	My Own Way
4)	Don't Hide Your Love
5)	Drowning in Your Tears
6)	This House Is Not a Home
7)	April 29
8)	Lovin' Me Insane
9)	There Goes Lucy
10)	As Long as I Am Breathing
11)	Call Me
12)	Comin' Home
13)	What Will It Take
14)	Other Side of Night, The
15)	I'll Be There for You

Album: LP
#	Song Title	Time
1)	End of the Beginning
2)	Easy to Forget
3)	My Own Way
4)	Don't Hide Your Love
5)	Drowning in Your Tears
6)	This House Is Not a Home
7)	April 29
8)	Lovin' Me Insane
9)	There Goes Lucy
10)	As Long as I Am Breathing
11)	Call Me
12)	Comin' Home
13)	What Will It Take
14)	Other Side of Night, The
15)	I'll Be There for You