A Place in the Sun (Lit album)

A Place in the Sun
Studio album by
Lit
ReleasedFebruary 23, 1999
Recorded1998
StudioNRG Studios, North Hollywood, California
Genre
Length45:16
LabelRCA • Dirty Martini
Producer
  • Lit
  • Don Gilmore
Lit chronology
Tripping the Light Fantastic
(1997) 		A Place in the Sun
(1999) 		Atomic
(2001)
Singles from A Place in the Sun
  1. "My Own Worst Enemy"
    Released: February 8, 1999
  2. "Zip-Lock"
    Released: September 28, 1999
  3. "Miserable"
    Released: January 2000

A Place in the Sun is the second studio album by the American rock band Lit, released on February 23, 1999.[3]

Release

Produced by Don Gilmore, the album was released on February 23, 1999 by Dirty Martini and RCA Records. It was the band's first release through a major label. The song "No Big Thing", which originally appeared on their previous album Tripping the Light Fantastic, was re-recorded for this album, and eventually appeared on the auto racing video game Jarrett & Labonte Stock Car Racing.

On December 9, 2013, the band announced on its Facebook page that it would perform a special 15th anniversary show for A Place in the Sun, when the band would play the entire album from start to finish on February 28, 2014, at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California.[4]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
College Music Journalfavorable March 29, 1999 (p. 25)
Robert ChristgauC[5]
Melodic [6]
NME(4/10)[7]
Wall of Sound72/100[8]

The album peaked at #31 on the US Billboard 200, Singles from the album were "My Own Worst Enemy", which reached #1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart for eleven weeks, "Zip-Lock" and "Miserable". A Place in the Sun has been certified platinum by in sales by the RIAA, in the United States.

A Place in the Sun received mixed reviews. Leslie Matthew in AllMusic described it as "an album that is sonically more focused, but it also unfortunately makes the band sound like replicas of a dozen of their post-grunge contemporaries: neither Better Than Ezra or Less Than Jake".[1] At NME, the songs "My Own Worst Enemy" and "No Big Thing" were described as having "a hook as sharp and persistent as a leech". It went on to say, "Gonzoid trash fun maybe, but how we got from The Dead Kennedys to here remains a mystery."[7] NME listed the album as one of "20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic".[2]

The album was a massive influence on Eve 6's Horrorscope (2000), Good Charlotte's Good Charlotte (2000), American Hi-Fi's American Hi-Fi (2001), The All-American Rejects' Move Along (2005) and Zebrahead's Broadcast to the World (2006).[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by A. Jay Popoff and Jeremy Popoff, except where noted

No.TitleLength
0."Hidden intro track"1:38
1."Four"3:21
2."My Own Worst Enemy"2:49
3."Down"3:43
4."Miserable"4:16
5."No Big Thing" (J. Popoff)2:32
6."Zip-Lock"3:32
7."Lovely Day"4:06
8."Perfect One"4:09
9."Quicksand"3:18
10."Happy"2:50
11."The Best Is Yet to Come Undone" (Danny Peck, A. Popoff, J. Popoff)4:30
12."A Place in the Sun"4:20
Total length:45:16
B-sides
  1. "Bitter"
  2. "Money"
  3. "Down” (acoustic)
  4. "Snowblind"

Personnel

Charts

Singles

Year Song Chart Position
1999 Miserable US Modern Rock Tracks 3
My Own Worst Enemy US Adult Top 40 30
US Mainstream Rock Tracks 6
US Modern Rock Tracks 1
US Billboard Hot 100 51
US Top 40 Mainstream 31
Zip-Lock US Mainstream Rock Tracks 34
US Modern Rock Tracks 11
2000 Miserable US Mainstream Rock Tracks 29

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[14] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[15] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

Citations
  1. ^ a b c "A Place in the Sun - Lit". AllMusic.
  2. ^ a b "20 Pop Punk Albums Which Will Make You Nostalgic". NME.com. June 9, 2014. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "Billboard". May 8, 1999.
  4. ^ "Lit". Facebook. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  5. ^ "CG: Lit". Robert Christgau. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  6. ^ Wippsson, Johan. "Lit - A Place in the Sun". Melodic. Retrieved July 18, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ a b "Album Reviews - A Place In The Sun". NME. June 26, 1999. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  8. ^ Remstein, Bob. "Review: A Place in the Sun". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on April 6, 2001. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  9. ^ Sayce 2014, p. 36
  10. ^ "Lit, TLP". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  11. ^ "Lit, TLN". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1999". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Lit". Music Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "British album certifications – Lit – A Place in the Sun". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "American album certifications – Lit – A Place in the Sun". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
Sources
  • Sayce, Rob (June 2014). Bird, Ryan (ed.). "Hall of Fame: A Place in the Sun". Rock Sound (187). London: Freeway Press Inc. ISSN 1465-0185.