Bitchin'

Bitchin'
Studio album by
The Donnas
ReleasedSeptember 18, 2007
RecordedClear Lake Audio, North Hollywood, CA
Length44:47
Label
ProducerJay Ruston, The Donnas
The Donnas chronology
Gold Medal
(2004) 		Bitchin'
(2007) 		Greatest Hits Vol. 16
(2009)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic54/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
musicOMH[3]
Now[4]
The Phoenix[5]
Pitchfork4/10[6]
PopMatters4/10[7]
Robert Christgau(dud)[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Spin4/10[10]
Stylus MagazineD[11]

Bitchin' is the seventh and final studio album by the American hard rock band The Donnas, released in 2007 on their own label Purple Feather and released through RedEye.[12] It is their first album since leaving Atlantic Records. The record was produced by Jay Ruston (Polyphonic Spree, Metal Skool, Meat Loaf) and The Donnas. Two of the tracks, "Wasted" and "Here for the Party", were co-written with songwriter Holly Knight ("Love Is a Battlefield", "Obsession", "The Warrior").

The iTunes bonus track, "New Kid in School", is featured in the game Rock Band 2.

The album was made available on CD, a double-purple vinyl, and as a digital download.

Critical reception

Bitchin' was met with "mixed or average" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 54 based on 14 reviews.[1]

In a review for AllMusic, critic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "The Donnas once rocked as if they were tanked to the gills but they now sound like they're playing with ferocious hangovers they just can't shake."[2] At Billboard, Wes Orshoski noted the songs on the album are "too light on hooks" and "fail to balance irony, nasty shredding and big choruses."[13] Evan Davies of Now said: "The foursome tend to write the same songs over and over again, this time thinly veiled in arena - and hair-metal swagger, but still too similar structurally to sound like they've challenged themselves."[4]

Writing for Pitchfork, David Raposa said the release "sounds like a half-hearted compromise between what the group was and what the group wants to become."[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by The Donnas, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Bitchin'"2:09
2."Don't Wait Up for Me"3:27
3."Wasted" (The Donnas, Holly Knight)3:29
4."What Do I Have to Do"3:07
5."Save Me"3:14
6."Like an Animal"2:42
7."Here for the Party" (The Donnas, Knight)2:54
8."Better off Dancing"3:21
9."Love You Till It Hurts"3:32
10."Smoke You Out"3:22
11."Girl Talk"3:14
12."Give Me What I Want"3:13
13."Tonight's Alright"3:16
14."When the Show Is Over"3:43
Total length:44:40
Bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
15."Randi" (Wal-Mart downloadable bonus track)2:39
16."The Safety Dance" (Ivan Doroschuk - vinyl bonus track)2:26
17."We Own the Night" (UK bonus track)2:49
18."Can't Keep It a Secret" (Japanese bonus track)2:52
19."New Kid in School" (iTunes bonus track)3:36
20."She's Out of Control" (unreleased track)2:33

Singles

  • "Don't Wait Up For Me", released in August 2007.[12]

Charts

Chart performance for Bitchin'
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[14] 249
US Billboard 200[15] 89
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[16] 9

Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Jones, Neil (October 1, 2007). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Davies, Evan. "Now Review". Now. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "The Donnas - CD Reviews". The Phoenix. October 1, 2007. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Raposa, David (October 8, 2007). "Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Begrand, Adrien (November 15, 2007). "PopMatters Review". PopMatters. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  8. ^ "Robert Christgau Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  9. ^ Hoard, Christian (September 5, 2007). "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  10. ^ Wood, Mikael (October 17, 2007). "Spin review". Spin. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  11. ^ Weber, Theon (September 25, 2009). "Stylus Magazine Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Hasty, Katie (July 23, 2007). "The Donnas Prep 'Bitchin' New Album". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  13. ^ Orshoski, Wes. "Billboard Magazine Review". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 17, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  14. ^ "The Donnas - Bitchin'". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  15. ^ "The Donnas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  16. ^ "The Donnas Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 23, 2021.