Inside (Matthew Sweet album)

Inside
Studio album by Matthew Sweet
Released	1986
Studio	The Power Station, RPM Studios, Unique Recording Studios, Right Track Recording, Soundworks, The Hit Factory (New York City, New York); The Sound Factory (Hollywood, California); Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, California); Park Avenue Sound (Massachusetts); RG Jones, Good Earth Studios, Marquee Studios, Westside Studios, Advision Studios, Air Studios, Mayfair Studios and Battery Studios, (London, UK).
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	41:22
Label	Columbia
Producer	Matthew Sweet, David Kahne, François Kevorkian, Stephen Hague, Ron Saint Germain, Don Dixon, David M. Allen, Alan Tarney[1]
Matthew Sweet chronology
Inside (1986) Earth (1989)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[1]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[4]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	5/10[5]

Inside is the debut album by alternative rock musician Matthew Sweet.[6][7] It was released on Columbia Records in 1986.[8][9] Sweet was dropped from the label after the album's release, and would not put out another record for three years.[10]

Production

The album was recorded in multiple studios with a large number of producers and musicians, including Bernie Worrell, Chris Stamey, Scott Litt, Don Dixon, and Aimee Mann, among others.[11]

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the album "a bit like R.E.M. and early dB’s doing sincere power-pop with keyboards."[11] The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote that the songs "come across like the snappy work of a brainy Tommy James."[4] The Spin Alternative Record Guide called Inside "notable only because it features ten different producers, none of whom have a clue what to do with Sweet's music."[5] The Chicago Reader called it "tuneful and pleasant but ... sunk by the electropop, machine-driven production Sweet was pursuing."[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Quiet Her"	Matthew Sweet	Scott Litt	3:27
2.	"Blue Fools"	Sweet	David Kahne	3:43
3.	"We Lose Another Day"	Sweet Pal Shazar	Stephen Hague	3:11
4.	"Catch Your Breath"	Sweet	David M. Allen Matthew Sweet	4:00
5.	"Half Asleep"	Sweet	Simon Hanhart	4:26
6.	"This Above All"	Sweet	Litt Don Dixon	3:50
7.	"Save Time for Me"	Sweet Jules Shear	Alan Tarney	4:14
8.	"By Herself"	Sweet Adele Bertei	François Kevorkian Ron St. Germain	3:47
9.	"Brotherhood"	Sweet Shazar	Allen Sweet	3:31
10.	"Love I Trusted"	Sweet	Kevorkian St. Germain	4:15
11.	"Watch You Walking"	Sweet Shazar	Hague	2:57

Personnel

• Matthew Sweet – vocals, lead guitar (1), rhythm guitars (1), bass (1-3, 9, 11), acoustic guitar (3, 6, 8, 11), guitars (3, 7-9, 11), all instruments (4), keyboard figures (7), keyboards (8-10)
• Bernie Worrell – Yamaha DX7 (1), organ (1)
• Howard Benson – keyboards (2), programming (2), sequencing (2)
• David Kahne – keyboards (2), acoustic guitar (2)
• Rob Fisher – keyboards (5)
• Tommy Mandel – keyboards (6)
• Rob Sabino – keyboards (6)
• Alan Tarney – keyboards (7), acoustic piano (7), LinnDrum programming (7)
• John Mahoney – Synclavier programming (8)
• Jim Telfir – keyboards (9)
• David M. Allen – programming (9), sequencing (9)
• Jody Harris – rhythm guitars (1)
• Rusty Anderson – guitars (2)
• Steve Bolton – guitars (5)
• Keith Mack – guitars (6)
• John McCurry – guitar solo (8)
• John McGeoch – guitar solo (9)
• Mike Campbell – guitars (10)
• Chris Stamey – bass (1)
• Phil Spalding – bass (5)
• Gerry Thomas – keyboard bass (8), keyboards (10), keyboard solo (10), bass (10)
• Anton Fier – drums (1, 2, 6)
• Fred Maher – drum programming (3, 10, 11), keyboard programming (8), drums (8, 10), percussion (8)
• Tony Beard – drums (5)
• Debbi Peterson – backing vocals (2)
• Vicki Peterson – backing vocals (2)
• Eddie – backing vocals (4)
• Don Dixon – backing vocals (6)
• Aimee Mann – backing vocals (6)
• Adele Bertei – backing vocals (8)
• Valerie Simpson – backing vocals (8)
• Sara Sweet – backing vocals (9)

Production

• Steve Rallbovsky – executive producer
• Scott Litt – producer (1, 6), engineer (1, 6), mixing (2, 4, 9)
• David Kahne – producer (2)
• Stephen Hague – producer (3, 11)
• David M. Allen – producer (4, 9)
• Matthew Sweet – producer (4)
• Simon Hanhart – producer (5), engineer (5)
• Don Dixon – producer (6)
• Alan Tarney – producer (7)
• François Kervorkian – producer (8, 10)
• Ron St. Germain – producer (8, 10), recording (8, 10), mixing (8, 10)
• Tchad Blake – engineer (2)
• David Jacob – mixing (3, 11)
• Gordon Futter – engineer (4)
• Gerry Kitchenham – engineer (7)
• John Hudson – mixing (7)
• Mark Saunders – engineer (9)
• Jon Goldenberger – assistant engineer (1, 6)
• Jay Healy – assistant engineer (1), mix assistant (4)
• Mike Krowiak – assistant engineer (6)
• Noel Rafferty – assistant engineer (7)
• Acar Key – recording assistant (8, 10)
• Billy Miranda – recording assistant (8)
• Dennis Mitchell – mix assistant (8), recording assistant (10)
• Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY)
• Stephen Byram – design
• Harris Savides – photography
• Tony Meilandt and AGM Management – management

References

1. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1115.
2. Inside at AllMusic
3. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 879.
4. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 687.
5. Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 391.
6. "Matthew Sweet | Biography & History". AllMusic.
7. "Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Cover the Eighties". The New Yorker.
8. "Matthew Sweet's got a thing for felines". The San Francisco Examiner. January 13, 2021.
9. "Matthew Sweet". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 9, 2021.
10. The Rough Guide to Rock (2nd ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. 1999. p. 978.
11. "Matthew Sweet". Trouser Press. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
12. Wyman, Bill. "Divine Intervention: How they made Matthew sound so sweet". Chicago Reader.