Lemon Parade

Lemon Parade is the debut album of American rock band Tonic, released on July 16, 1996, by Polydor Records. The album has sold 1,300,000 copies to date and reached platinum status in the United States. Lemon Parade featured three singles. "If You Could Only See" was a hit single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, reaching number one, and it also reached number 11 on the Billboard Airplay Hot 100, spending 63 weeks on the chart.

Lemon Parade
Studio album by
Tonic
ReleasedJuly 16, 1996 (1996-07-16)
Studio
Genre
Length50:55
LabelPolydor
ProducerJack Joseph Puig
Tonic chronology
Lemon Parade
(1996)		 Sugar
(1999)
Singles from Lemon Parade
  1. "Open Up Your Eyes"
    Released: June 1996
  2. "Casual Affair"
    Released: January 31, 1997[1]
  3. "If You Could Only See"
    Released: March 18, 1997

Based on the success of Lemon Parade, in March 1999, Tonic released a live EP with enhanced material entitled Live and Enhanced.

In 2016, Tonic released an all-acoustic version of Lemon Parade entitled Lemon Parade Revisited. This celebrated the album's 20th anniversary and utilized direct funding from fans.

Production

After Emerson Hart and Jeff Russo founded the band in 1993, the additions of bass guitar player Dan Rothchild and drummer Kevin Shepard solidified the band prior to signing their record deal in 1995. Producer Jack Joseph Puig worked with Tonic to produce the resulting album, Lemon Parade. While members of the band have traditionally been hesitant to discuss the meaning behind their songs, Hart did elaborate on some of the songs from this album. For instance, on the title track "Lemon Parade", Hart explained the song came from a dream he had.[2] "I had a dream about this girl. I was riding this big Schwinn Sting Ray, and I rode by her working in a lemonade stand. She looked ugly and sad because kids were throwing lemons at her. Then later on, I saw her after high school and was crazy about her. They couldn't see how beautiful she really was."[2]

Promotion and release

Four unique music videos were produced as part of the album's promotion, including two different versions of "Open Up Your Eyes", one of which was directed by Tonic and Niels Alpert that featured the band on roller skates and a cameo appearance by Mick Fleetwood.[3] In terms of singles from the record, "If You Could Only See" reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, and also reached number 11 on the Billboard Airplay Hot 100, where it spent 63 weeks on the chart. Lemon Parade reached number 28 on the Billboard 200,[4] number 12 in Australia,[5] and number 34 on the Canadian Albums Chart.[6] In the ensuing years the popularity of "If You Could Only See" continued with its part in the video games Karaoke Revolution Party and Band Hero.[7]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Melodic[9]

The record as a whole is full of the heavy, distortion-laden Tonic sound, and guitars that make them who they are. Although the recordings are murky at times, like shoes splashing through muddy puddles of water, the record's highlights -- such as the uplifting acoustic track "Mountain" and the rawness of "Wicked Soldier" -- are still full of rich musical creativity.

Music critic Shawn M. Haney reviews Lemon Parade[10]

Critical response to Lemon Parade was mixed. Music critic Shawn M. Haney rated the album two and a half out of five stars, saying, "The record as a whole is full of the heavy, distortion-laden Tonic sound, and guitars that make them who they are. Although the recordings are murky at times, like shoes splashing through muddy puddles of water, the record's highlights -- such as the uplifting acoustic track 'Mountain' and the rawness of 'Wicked Soldier'—are still full of rich musical creativity."[10]

Track listing

All songs by Emerson Hart except where noted.

  1. "Open Up Your Eyes" − 3:40
  2. "Casual Affair" (Tonic) − 3:43
  3. "If You Could Only See" − 4:21
  4. "Soldier's Daughter" − 5:03
  5. "Lemon Parade" (Hart, Jeff Russo) − 3:42
  6. "Mountain" − 4:38
  7. "Thick" − 4:21
  8. "Wicked Soldier" (Tonic) − 4:31
  9. "Mr. Golden Deal" − 4:55
  10. "Bigot Sunshine" − 2:53
  11. "Celtic Aggression" (Hart, Dan Rothchild, Russo) − 3:26
  12. "My Old Man" − 5:52

Personnel

Tonic

  • Emerson Hart: vocals, guitar, slide guitar, percussion
  • Jeff Russo: lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, slide guitar, percussion, drums on "My Old Man"
  • Dan Rothchild: bass guitar, backing vocals, slide guitar
  • Kevin Shepard: drums

Additional personnel

  • Lenny Castro: percussion on "My Old Man", "If You Could Only See", "Mr. Golden Deal", "Celtic Aggression", "Soldier's Daughter", and "Casual Affair"

Production

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15] Platinum 70,000^
United States (RIAA)[16] Platinum 1,300,000[17]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. "National Radio Formats: Added This Week". Radio & Records. No. 1182. January 31, 1997. p. 14.
  2. Hosbond, Kevin (April 20, 1998). "Tonic explains songwriting and 'trying to get chicks'". Iowa State Daily Publication Board, Inc. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  3. "Open Up Your Eyes - Tonic". Vevo. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  4. "Lemon Parade - Tonic". Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  5. "Tonic - Lemon Parade (Album)". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  6. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 65, No. 26, September 01 1997". RPM. October 1, 2004. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  7. Magrino, Tom (October 19, 2009). "Band Hero full setlist revealed". CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  8. Allmusic review
  9. Melodic Net review Archived September 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  10. Haney, Shawn M. "Lemon Parade Overview". Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  11. "Australiancharts.com – Tonic – Lemon Parade". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  12. "Tonic Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  13. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1997". Billboard. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  14. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1998". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  15. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1998 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved December 27, 2021.
  16. "American album certifications – Tonic – Lemon Parade". Recording Industry Association of America.
  17. Ault, Susanne (February 22, 2003). Tonic Opts for Acoustic Jams. Billboard. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
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