Irresistible Bliss

Irresistible Bliss
Studio album by
Soul Coughing
ReleasedJuly 9, 1996
Recorded1995
StudioPower Station, New York City
Genre
Length45:19
LabelSlash/Warner Bros. Records
46175
ProducerDavid Kahne, Soul Coughing, Steve Fisk
Soul Coughing chronology
Ruby Vroom
(1994) 		Irresistible Bliss
(1996) 		El Oso
(1998)
Singles from Irresistible Bliss
  1. "Soundtrack to Mary"
    Released: 1996
  2. "Super Bon Bon"
    Released: 1996
  3. "Soft Serve"
    Released: 1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
Los Angeles Times[4]
NME7/10[5]
Spin7/10[7]

Irresistible Bliss is the second studio album by the American electronic music group Soul Coughing, released in 1996. The band initially planned for Tchad Blake, producer of their first album Ruby Vroom, to produce the album, but the death of a family member in a car accident caused Blake to take a hiatus. Over the objections of his bandmates and his record label, Slash Records/Warner Bros., frontman Mike Doughty (then billed as "M. Doughty") hired producer David Kahne (Fishbone, The Bangles, Sublime, Tony Bennett, Sugar Ray, The Strokes); he was intent on following up the wild sonics of Ruby Vroom with a tightly wound, trembly, New Wave–inspired record.

The tracking, at Manhattan's Power Station recording studio, was complete in eleven days, and Doughty was jubilant at the results. Doughty tapped Steve Fisk to produce the tune "Unmarked Helicopters" for The X-Files soundtrack Songs in the Key of X.

All of Irresistible Bliss's songs were produced by Kahne, except tracks 2 and 6 (by Fisk) and track 12 by the band themselves.[8] The mixing process split the tracks between three mixers: Kahne, Chris Shaw, and Ruby producer Tchad Blake, who intervened when bass player Sebastian Steinberg briefly quit the band.

Irresistible Bliss yielded a hit single for Soul Coughing, "Super Bon Bon." "Soft Serve" and "Soundtrack to Mary" also received some selective radio airplay.

  1. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r237383
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Irresistible Bliss". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Sinclair, Tom (1996-07-19). "Irresistible Bliss". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
  4. ^ Hochman, Steve (1996-09-01). "In Brief". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  5. ^ "Soul Coughing: Irresistible Bliss". NME. Archived from the original on 2000-08-17.
  6. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Soul Coughing". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (June 1996). "Records". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 112–3.
  8. ^ "Irresistible Bliss credits/track listing". Archived from the original on 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2008-05-24.