All About Chemistry

All About Chemistry
Studio album by Semisonic
Released	March 13, 2001
Genre	Alternative rock, power pop
Length	51:41
Label	MCA
Producer	Semisonic, Dan Wilson
Semisonic chronology
Feeling Strangely Fine (1998) All About Chemistry (2001)
Singles from All About Chemistry
"Chemistry" Released: 2001 "Get a Grip" Released: 2001

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(69/100)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	(positive)[3]
Chicago Tribune	(average)[4]
Dotmusic	[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[6]
NME	(3/10)[7]
Q	[1]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin	(5/10)[1]
Wall of Sound	(60/100)[9]

All About Chemistry is the title of Semisonic's third and final studio album, released on March 13, 2001 through MCA Records. With this release, the band failed, at least in America, to capitalize on the momentum it had generated with the song "Closing Time" from their previous album, Feeling Strangely Fine. This had a softer edge than Feeling Strangely Fine and was not as popular with the fans. Its poor sales led to the band going on an unofficial hiatus. However, it has a five star rating by Q Magazine. The track "Chemistry" was featured on the soundtrack for 40 Days and 40 Nights.

The song "One True Love" was co-written by the band's singer/guitarist, Dan Wilson, and music legend Carole King. The song "Get a Grip" is an ode to masturbation.

The special edition of the album features cover art with orange (or pink in the UK) fluid in the vials instead of the blue fluid of the original. It includes two bonus tracks, "Girlfriend" and "Ordinary Life"; instead of being tacked onto the end, they appear between "Get a Grip" and "Surprise."

Track listing

All songs written by Dan Wilson, except where noted.

1. "Chemistry" - 4:08
2. "Bed" – 4:05
3. "Act Naturally" – 3:42
4. "She's Got My Number" – 5:02
5. "Follow" – 3:44
6. "Sunshine & Chocolate" – 3:35
7. "Who's Stopping You?" (John Munson, Wilson) – 3:06
8. "I Wish" – 7:56
9. "One True Love" (Wilson, Carole King) – 3:51
10. "Get a Grip" – 3:35
11. "Surprise" – 3:48
12. "El Matador" (Jacob Slichter) – 5:08
13. "Over My Head" Japanese bonus track

Personnel

• Dan Wilson – Vocals, Guitars
• John Munson – Bass guitar, Trombone
• Jacob Slichter – Drums

with

• Ken Chastain – Congas on "Act Naturally", Darbuca on "Sunshine & Chocolate", Korg WaveDrum on "I Wish", Tabla on "El Matador"
• Carole King – Vocals, Electric piano on "One True Love"
• Matt Wilson – Additional vocals, Synth on "Bed"
• John Fields – Synths, Loops, Bass on "Sunshine & Chocolate"
• Gary Louris – Guitar solo on "I Wish"
• Shane Washington – French horn on "Surprise"

Reception

Q listed All About Chemistry as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.^[10]

Notes

1. "Critic Reviews for All About Chemistry". Metacritic. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
2. Allmusic review
3. Rabin, Nathan (February 13, 2001). "Semisonic: All About Chemistry". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
4. Kot, Greg (April 15, 2001). "Train Drops of Jupiter (Columbia); Semisonic All About Chemistry (MCA)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
5. Browne, Nichola (March 1, 2001). "Semisonic - 'All About Chemistry' (MCA)". Dotmusic. Archived from the original on June 27, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
6. Tucker, Ken (March 16, 2001). "All About Chemistry Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
7. Segal, Victoria (March 6, 2001). "NME Album Reviews - Semisonic : All About Chemistry". NME. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
8. Moon, Tom (March 16, 2001). "Semisonic: All About Chemistry". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008.
9. Wright, Anders. "All About Chemistry". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on March 30, 2001. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
10. "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q. December 2001. pp. 60–65.

External links

• All About Chemistry at Metacritic