Sound of Lies

Sound of Lies
Studio album by Jayhawks
Released	April 22, 1997
Genre	Alt-Rock, Alt-Country
Length	55:44
Label	American
Producer	Brian Paulson, The Jayhawks
Jayhawks chronology
Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995) Sound of Lies (1997) Smile (2000)

Sound of Lies is a 1997 album released by Minneapolis music group Jayhawks. It peaked at #112 on the Billboard 200.

With the departure of Mark Olson, Gary Louris becomes the principal songwriter for Sound of Lies with an occasional co-write with bassist Marc Perlman. New drummer Tim O'Reagan also contributes "Bottomless Cup".

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	[2]
Crawdaddy	(favorable) [3]
Entertainment Weekly	B− [4]

In his review for Allmusic, critic Thom Owen praised the album and wrote " The lyrics have a naked, emotional honesty which would have been more affecting if the music echoed its sentiment, yet the record still has a subtle grace and power, proving that the Jayhawks remain a distinctive band without Olson."^[1] Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a 'bomb' rating^[2] while David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a 'B-' rating and contrasted the Jayhawks with Uncle Tupelo. He wrote the album "is caught between two worlds — it's a little bit wimpy country, a little bit wimpy rock & roll — and ends up lacking the power of either."^[4]

Track listing

All songs by Gary Louris unless otherwise noted.

1. "The Man Who Loved Life" – 5:00
2. "Think About It" (Louris, Perlman) – 5:37
3. "Trouble" (Louris, Perlman) – 4:50
4. "It's Up to You" – 3:38
5. "Stick in the Mud" – 3:34
6. "Big Star" – 4:25
7. "Poor Little Fish" – 3:56
8. "Sixteen Down" – 5:23
9. "Haywire" – 5:21
10. "Dying on the Vine" (Louris, Perlman) – 5:52
11. "Bottomless Cup" (Tim O'Reagan) – 4:14
12. "Sound of Lies" – 3:56
13. "I Hear You Cry" – 3:48 (Perlman) [Bonus track on European CD]

2014 expanded reissue track listing

All songs by Gary Louris unless otherwise noted.

1. "The Man Who Loved Life" – 5:00
2. "Think About It" (Louris, Perlman) – 5:37
3. "Trouble" (Louris, Perlman) – 4:50
4. "It's Up to You" – 3:38
5. "Stick in the Mud" – 3:34
6. "Big Star" – 4:25
7. "Poor Little Fish" – 3:56
8. "Sixteen Down" – 5:23
9. "Haywire" – 5:21
10. "Dying on the Vine" (Louris, Perlman) – 5:52
11. "Bottomless Cup" (Tim O'Reagan) – 4:14
12. "Sound of Lies" – 3:56
13. "I Hear You Cry" - 3:48 (Perlman) (bonus track on European version)
14. "Sleepyhead" - 3:29 (b-side "Big Star" single)
15. "Kirby's Tune" - 5:34 (Johnson, Louris, Perlman, Grotberg, O'Reagan) (studio outtake - previously unreleased)
16. "It's Up to You" - 3:37 (alternate version - previously unreleased)
17. "Sound of Lies" - 4:24 (rough mix - previously unreleased)

Personnel

• Gary Louris – guitar, vocals
• Marc Perlman – bass, guitar, vocals
• Karen Grotberg – organ, piano, keyboards, Wurlitzer, vocals
• Tim O'Reagan – drums, vocals
• Kraig Johnson – guitar, E-Bow
• Jessy Greene – violin, viola, cello

Additional musicians:

• Matthew Sweet – vocals
• Pauli Ryan – percussion

Production notes

• Brian Paulson – producer, mixing
• George Drakoulias – mixing
• Mark Haines – engineer
• Victor Janacua – engineer
• Brian Jenkins – engineer
• Jim Scott – mixing
• Stephen Marcussen – mastering
• Allen Sanderson – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Mike Scotella – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Joe Zook – assistant engineer
• Dan Corrigan – photography

References

1. Owens, Thom. "Sound of Lies > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
2. Christgau, Robert. "Sound of Lies > Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
3. Westhoff, Ben (July 2008). "Sound of Lies > Review". Crawdaddy. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
4. Browne, David (February 1995). "Sound of Lies > Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 15, 2011.

External links

• Jayhawks fan site discography.