The Burdens of Being Upright

The Burdens of Being Upright is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Tracy Bonham, released on March 19, 1996 by Island Records.[6][7]

The Burdens of Being Upright
Studio album by
Tracy Bonham
ReleasedMarch 19, 1996 (1996-03-19)
RecordedSummer 1995
StudioFort Apache Studios,
Cambridge, MA
Genre
Length35:28
LabelIsland
Producer
Tracy Bonham chronology
Liverpool Sessions EP
(1995)		 The Burdens of Being Upright
(1996)		 Down Here
(2000)
Singles from The Burdens of Being Upright
  1. "Mother Mother"
    Released: March 12, 1996[1]
  2. "Sharks Can't Sleep"
    Released: 1996
  3. "The One"
    Released: 1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA[3]
NME7/10[4]
Seventeen[5]

Content

The Burdens of Being Upright was recorded in the summer of 1995 at Fort Apache Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[8] Referencing this album, in 2015 Bonham said,

That whole album was my experiment with getting a guitar. I was rebelling. It was just raw. I was like, ‘Just get out and do it; get behind a microphone and just scream.’ Twenty years ago I had more doubts; I thought, ‘I can’t just stand there and do that’ — which is when I knew I had to do it.[9]

The album cover (a reference to German photographer August Sander's work "The Bricklayer") was photographed by George DuBose, who was the in-house photographer at the hip hop label Cold Chillin' Records.

Commercial performance

The Burdens of Being Upright debuted at number 136 on the Billboard 200 chart dated April 27, 1996,[10] and later reached its peak position of number 54 on the chart on June 15, 1996.[11] It remained on the chart for 25 weeks.[12] On November 12, 1996, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying the shipment of 500,000 copies of the album.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tracy Bonham

No.TitleLength
1."Mother Mother"3:00
2."Navy Bean"2:49
3."Tell It to the Sky"4:05
4."Kisses"2:20
5."Brain Crack"1:05
6."The One"3:26
7."One Hit Wonder"3:01
8."Sharks Can't Sleep"4:33
9."Bulldog"2:07
10."Every Breath"2:33
11."30 Seconds"3:14
12."The Real"3:16

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[14]

Charts
Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[15] 31
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 26
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[15] 27
New Zealand Album (RMNZ)[15] 46
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 48
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[16] 9
US Billboard 200[11] 54

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[17] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Awards

Grammy Award Nominations

Year Nominee Category
1996 "Mother Mother" Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
1996 The Burdens of Being Upright Best Alternative Album

References
  1. "Tracy Bonham: Mother Mother" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1136. March 8, 1996. p. 78. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  2. AllMusic Review
  3. Flaherty, Mike (March 15, 1996). "The Burdens of Being Upright". EW.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  4. Morgan, Emma (June 7, 1996). "NME.COM - TRACY BONHAM - The Burdens Of Being Upright - 6/7/1996". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  5. Anon. (April 1996). "Music Reviews". Seventeen: 128 – via WayBack Machine.
  6. Dawn, Randee (April 1996). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly. CMJ Network, Inc. (32): 28. ISSN 1074-6978.
  7. Borzillo, Carrie (May 11, 1996). "Island's Bonham Hits". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 19. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 1, 74. ISSN 0006-2510.
  8. Fritz, J. (March 2, 1996). "Tracy Bonham – The Burdens of Being Upright – Interview | Lollipop Magazine". Lollipop. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  9. Laban, Linda (August 27, 2015). "Tracy Bonham: From 'Mother, Mother' to Exploring Motherhood on 'Wax and Gold'". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  10. Anon. (April 27, 1996). "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 97. ISSN 0006-2510.
  11. Anon. (June 15, 1996). "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 24. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 92. ISSN 0006-2510.
  12. Chinen, Nate (July 11, 2010). "Foot in the City and Cowboy Boot In the Country". The New York Times: AR19 – via ProQuest.
  13. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  14. The Burdens of Being Upright (booklet). Tracy Bonham. Island. 1996. 314-524 187-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. "norwegiancharts.com - Tracy Bonham - The Burdens Of Being Upright". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  16. Anon. (April 27, 1996). "Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 18.
  17. "American album certifications – Tracy Bonham – The Burdens of Being Upright". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
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