Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Pocket Full of Kryptonite
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 20, 1991 (1991-08-20)
RecordedJuly–December 1990
Studio
Genre
Length50:30
LabelEpic
Producer
Spin Doctors chronology
Up for Grabs...Live
(1991)
Pocket Full of Kryptonite
(1991)
Homebelly Groove...Live
(1992)
Singles from Pocket Full of Kryptonite
  1. "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"
    Released: 1992
  2. "Two Princes"
    Released: 1992
  3. "Jimmy Olsen's Blues"
    Released: 1993
  4. "What Time Is It?"
    Released: 1993
  5. "How Could You Want Him (When You Know You Could Have Me?)"
    Released: 1993[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Calgary HeraldB[3]
Chicago Tribune[4]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(1-star Honorable Mention)[5]
Music Week[6]
Q[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Pocket Full of Kryptonite is the debut studio album by the American rock band Spin Doctors, released in August 1991. The album initially sold a respectable 60,000 copies in late 1991 due to its growing hardcore fanbase, before several radio stations (including WEQX in Vermont) started playing the single "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" in mid-1992.[9] The combined strength of the single along with the follow-up "Two Princes" led to the album's peak at Nos. 1 and 3 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers and Billboard 200 albums charts, respectively. It is currently the band's best selling album, and was certified 5× Platinum by the RIAA.[10]

It was remastered and reissued in 2011 as a 20th-anniversary edition, with a bonus track added to the original album and a second disc of demos previously released only on cassette, plus two live tracks.

The album's title is a quote from the opening track, "Jimmy Olsen's Blues", a humorous song sung from the point of view of Jimmy Olsen, a character in the Superman comic book series. In the song, Jimmy Olsen tries to woo Lois Lane away from Superman, stating "I got a pocket full of Kryptonite," referring to a fictional substance that weakens Superman. The album cover, showing a phone booth, refers to Clark Kent frequently ducking into a nearby phone booth to change into his Superman attire.

  1. ^ "Spin Doctors - How Could You Want Him (When You Know You Can Have Me)". YouTube.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pocket Full of Kryptonite – Spin Doctors". AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  3. ^ Alberts, Sheldon (October 6, 1991). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald.
  4. ^ May, Mitchell (October 31, 1991). "Spin Doctors: Pocket Full of Kryptonite (Epic)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "The Spin Doctors: Pocket Full of Kryptonite". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  6. ^ Jones, Alan (March 13, 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums" (PDF). Music Week. p. 20. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  7. ^ "Spin Doctors: Pocket Full of Kryptonite". Q (79): 88. April 1993.
  8. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Spin Doctors". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 768. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. ^ "Spin Doctors: Miracle Cure". Rolling Stone. January 7, 1993.
  10. ^ "RIAA searchable certification database". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 27, 2010.