Ain't Love Grand!

Ain't Love Grand is the fifth studio album by American rock band X, released in July 1985 by Elektra Records. The album was their first not produced by Ray Manzarek. It was reissued with four bonus tracks by Rhino Records in 2002. The album included the minor radio hit "Burning House of Love", which the band performed on American Bandstand in September 1985, their largest television exposure to date.[4][5] The album also includes a cover of the Small Faces song "All or Nothing". Lead guitarist Billy Zoom left the band after this album but he later returned to the group in 1998 during a tour and the original line-up released their next full-length studio album in 2020 with Alphabetland.

Ain't Love Grand
Studio album by
X
ReleasedJuly 1985
Recorded1985
StudioAmigo Studios, North Hollywood, California
GenreRock
Length42:11
LabelElektra
ProducerMichael Wagener
X chronology
More Fun in the New World
(1983)		 Ain't Love Grand
(1985)		 See How We Are
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB[2]
Rolling Stonefavorable[3]

Details

At the time of release, Zoom said, "I think it's the best songs we've ever done, and the best-produced record, and the best-engineered, and the best-sounding record we've made. It's the first one I'm really happy with. The others were always kind of hit-and-miss." Doe said, "Sonically, it's designed to fit into radio airplay. We're waving a typical... somewhat typical sounding carrot under radio listeners' noses. Then they've got the opportunity to see that there’s more going on."[6]

Reception

Bart Bull at Spin said the band's record company, "found a new producer for them, Michael Wagener, who's given them a bigger sound, a crunchier sound, a real 'rock' sound. He's given them a laughably homogenized sound that succeeds — X now sounds like everything else on AOR radio.[6] Christgau said, "they appease their major mentors and keep Billy in the band by taking X to the same producer as Christian heavy metal boys Stryper. Michael Wagener can't make John and Exene sound commercial enough to convert anyone."[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Doe and Exene Cervenka, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Burning House of Love"3:54
2."Love Shack"3:06
3."My Soul Cries Your Name"3:37
4."My Goodness"4:40
5."Around My Heart"4:43
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."What's Wrong with Me" 3:43
2."All or Nothing"
3:08
3."Watch the Sun Go Down" 3:50
4."I'll Stand Up for You" 4:00
5."Little Honey"
3:43
6."Supercharged" 3:47
Total length:42:11
2002 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Wild Thing" (Long Version)Chip Taylor6:19
12."I Will Dare" (Demo)Paul Westerberg3:18
13."My Goodness" (Demo) 5:08
14."All or Nothing"
  • Marriott
  • Lane
4:52
Total length:58:40
  • "All or Nothing" is listed as a bonus track on the 2002 reissue

Personnel
X

Charts
Sales chart performance for Ain't Love Grand!
Chart Position Date Duration
The Billboard 200[7] 89 September 13, 1985 14 weeks
Sales chart performance for singles from Ain't Love Grand!
Song Chart Peak Date
"Burning House of Love"[8] Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 27 September 13, 1985

References
  1. Ain't Love Grand! at AllMusic
  2. "Robert Christgau: CG: x". www.robertchristgau.com.
  3. "X: Ain't Love Grand : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
  4. Woodhead, Adam. "X, LA's kings of punk-noir-Americana, play two back-to-back shows". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  5. "X on "American Bandstand", Sept. 7, 1985". Youtube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  6. Bart Bull (November 1985). "X marks the spot". Spin. No. 6. p. 39.
  7. "X". Billboard. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  8. "Mainstream Rock Songs Chart". Billboard. September 13, 1985. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
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