''American Pearl'' is the sole studio album by the American hard rock band of the same name. Released on August 22, 2000, it features the singles "If We Were Kings" and "Free Your Mind". The track "Automatic" was featured on the ''Scream 3'' soundtrack. Along with "Free Your Mind", it also appeared in the

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

dub of the animated movie '' Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug'' in 2001. The tracks "Seven Years" and "Revelation" appeared in '' Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge'' the following year. After signing with

Wind-up Records Wind-up Entertainment was an American independent record label founded by Alan and Diana Meltzer in 1997. It was based in New York City and was distributed by BMG Distribution. Wind-up's best-selling artists worldwide were Creed and Evanesce ...

in 1999, the band opened concerts for

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, '' Buckcherry'' (1999) and '' Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album ''Buckcherry'' was DreamWorks first ...

and

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury' ...

and even acquired a spot on

Woodstock '99 Woodstock '99 (also called Woodstock 1999) was a music festival held from July 22 to July 25, 1999, in Rome, New York. After Woodstock '94, it was the second large-scale music festival that attempted to emulate the original 1969 Woodstock fe ...

. In promotion of their debut album, American Pearl toured extensively through North America and Japan, as a headliner and as support act for

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, Creed, 3 Doors Down, and

Days of the New Days of the New is an American rock band from Charlestown, Indiana, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians. They are best known for the hit singles "Touch, Peel and Stand", " ...

. Stylistically, ''American Pearl'' differs from the popular

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

scene of the era and follows more in the vein classic hard rock acts and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

-laced LA bands of the 1980s. Indeed, the album was produced by Steve Jones of Sex Pistols fame and Mudrock. However, ''American Pearl'' has also been categorized as

post-grunge Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush, Candlebox and Collective Soul that emulated th ...

Reception

MacKenzie Wilson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and noted, "If it were the heyday of '70s

arena rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...

, L.A.-based hard rock outfit American Pearl would be just as cool as Foreigner, Survivor,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

, and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

" and that the band "captures such memories and maintains a gnarling edge." However, Wilson also claimed that American Pearl's style "pinpoints" them as "just another alternative rock band".

CANOE A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

's Darryl Sterdan gave a favorable albeit brief review of the album. He described the band as having the " sleaze-rock punch of Guns N' Roses and Mötley Crüe" and " Sunset Strip sensibility" of

. Sterdan summed up by stating "Thankfully, American Pearl are as talented with a

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

as Quinn must be with that needle."

Track listing

#"California" 3:31 #"Automatic" 3:24 #"Giveaway" 3:03 #"Underground" 4:56 #"Free Your Mind" 3:24 #"Truth" 3:36 #"Bleed" 4:08 #"Seven Years" 4:28 #"Revelation" 3:08 #"Amphetamine Girl" 3:43 #"If We Were Kings" 3:56

References

External links

"If We Were Kings"
– music video on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:American Pearl (Album) 2000 debut albums American Pearl albums Wind-up Records albums