Normal as the Next Guy

Normal as the Next Guy
Studio album by
the Knack
ReleasedSeptember 25, 2001
GenrePop, power pop
LabelSmile Records
ProducerRichard Bosworth
The Knack chronology
Zoom
(1998) 		Normal as the Next Guy
(2001) 		Re-Zoom
(2003)
Singles from Normal as the Next Guy
  1. "Les Girls"
    Released: 2001
  2. "Normal as the Next Guy"
    Released: 2002
  3. "The Man on the Beach"
    Released: 2024
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Normal as the Next Guy is the sixth and final studio album by American rock band the Knack, released in 2001. It marks the fourth comeback attempt by the band after its second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand, failed to achieve the success of the band's début album.[2] AllMusic critic Mark Deming noted that the album finds songwriter and lead singer Doug Fieger having resolved his issues with women, but has not "found a subject that appears to compel him nearly as much as the treacheries of girls once did."[2] Therefore, Deming feels that compared to older songs by the band, the songs on Normal as the Next Guy "may be more pleasant, but they're not as interesting."[2] The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album a 3 star rating, as high as the group's début Get The Knack, and higher than any other Knack studio album.[3]

Normal as the Next Guy was the Knack's first release on Smile Records.[3][4] Pat Torpey and David Henderson play drums on Normal as the Next Guy, instead of original Knack drummer Bruce Gary.[5] Fieger has described the album as "us doing whatever we want."[6]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ a b c Deming, M. "Normal as the Next Guy". allmusic. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  3. ^ a b Brackett, N. & Hoard, C. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 462–463. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
  4. ^ "Get the Knack". Billboard Magazine. January 19, 2002. p. 10.
  5. ^ "The Knack". Smile Records. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  6. ^ Michaels, R. (2005). Flashbacks to Happiness: Eighties Music Revisited. iUniverse. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-595-37007-8.