Hitting the Ground

Hitting the Ground
Studio album by Gordon Gano
Released	August 13, 2002
Recorded	Various studios, 2002
Genre	Rock
Label	Instinct Records
Producer	Warren Bruleigh

Hitting the Ground is Violent Femmes member Gordon Gano's first solo album. It was produced by Warren Bruleigh and released in 2002. Gano wrote the songs for a film of the same name.

Each song was performed by a different artist. Gano says that the songs were written with no particular performer in mind, but he is very happy that each performer made his or her song his or her own. Lou Reed rewrote some of the lyrics, and was given partial writing credit for "Catch 'Em In the Act." Gordon's sister Cynthia Gayneau sang "Merry Christmas Brother" after Joan Baez turned it down. They Might Be Giants performed and produced their song, "Darlin' Allison," by themselves. John Cale recorded "Don't Pretend," solo on piano and vocals.

Critical reception

Hitting the Ground received mostly favorable reviews from critics.^[1] Some critics, however, did give it mixed reviews, such as Eric Carr, who wrote in Pitchfork that "none of these tracks are all that interesting beyond a listen or two."^[2]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(63%)[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Pitchfork Media	(4.9/10)[2]
The Guardian	[4]
Robert Christgau	[5]

Track listing

All songs written by Gordon Gano, except "Catch 'Em In the Act" by Gano and Lou Reed.

1. "Hitting the Ground"
   • PJ Harvey - vocals and guitar solo
2. "Oh Wonder"
   • Mary Lou Lord - acoustic guitar and vocals
3. "Make It Happen"
   • Gordon Gano - vocals
4. "Don't Pretend"
   • John Cale - piano and vocals
5. "Catch 'Em In the Act"
   • Lou Reed - vocals and guitar right
6. "So It Goes"
   • Linda Perry - vocals
7. "Run"
   • Frank Black - vocals
8. "Darlin' Allison"
   • They Might Be Giants - vocals and all instruments
9. "Merry Christmas Brother"
   • Cynthia Gayneaux - vocals
10. "It's Money"
    • Gordon Gano - vocals, Martha Wainwright - vocals
11. "Hitting the Ground"
    • Gordon Gano - vocals, PJ Harvey - guitar solo

Personnel

Musicians, in addition to the above:

• Frank Ferrer - drums (all tracks except 4, 8)
• Lonnie Hilyer - bass (tracks 2, 6)
• Melora Creager - cello (track 2)
• Brendan Ryan - keyboards (track 10)
• P.J. O'Connor - background vocals (track 10)
• Hope Debates - background vocals (track 10)

Production

• Producer - Warren Bruleigh (all songs except "Darlin' Allison," produced by They Might Be Giants)
• Engineers - Michael White, Irwin Autique, Martin Brass, Larry Mah, John Goodmanson, Warren Bruleigh, Steve Rosenthal, Alex Reed, Machael Douglass, Nicola Stemmer, Oliver Strauss, Rob Lewis
• Cover photo - Dave Heath

References

1. Hitting the Ground, Metacritic
2. Carr, Eric (16 September 2002). "Hitting the Ground". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
3. Wilson, Mackenzie. "Hitting the Ground Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
4. Clarke, Betty (30 August 2002). "Gordon Gano: Hitting the Ground". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
5. Christgau, Robert. "Gordon Gano Reviews". Retrieved 7 December 2014.

External links

• Hitting the Ground at the Internet Movie Database