''Arizona Bay'' is an album by American

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-196 ...

Bill Hicks William Melvin Hicks (December 16, 1961 – February 26, 1994) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material—encompassing a wide range of social issues including religion, politics, and philosophy—wa ...

, posthumously released in 1997. Both this album and a similar album of new material, '' Rant in E-Minor'', were released posthumously by

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

on February 25, 1997, marking three years since Hicks' death. The album's title refers to the hope that

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

will one day fall into the ocean due to a major earthquake. Hicks contends that the world will be better off in L.A.'s absence: On April 28, 2015, Comedy Dynamics released a new version of the album in the digital format called ''Arizona Bay Extended'', featuring "a raw and uncut show that comprised the original ''Arizona Bay'' album."

Musical content

Several of Hicks's albums are unique in that they feature background music, meant to enhance the album's mood. Such additions were made well after the initial recordings and are the product of Hicks's own musicianship. According to Kevin Booth, in the BBC documentary ''Dark Poet'', it was during the early recording sessions for ''Arizona Bay'', around Christmas 1992, that Hicks first started suffering from the pains in his side, which would later be diagnosed as pancreatic cancer. Upon learning that he had developed cancer, Hicks used his time to mix music into '' Rant in E-Minor'' and ''Arizona Bay'', calling it his ''

Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of t ...

''.

Legacy

In 1996, one year prior to the release of Hicks' ''Arizona Bay'' album, American rock band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

released the album ''

Ænima ''Ænima'' ( ) is the second studio album by American rock band Tool. It was released in vinyl format on September 17, 1996, and in compact disc format on October 1, 1996, through Zoo Entertainment. The album was recorded and cut at Ocean Wa ...

'', which contains several references to Hicks. The

title song A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

of the album echoes the theme of Los Angeles being submerged in the ocean and includes the lyrics, "Learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay." Additionally, there is artwork inside the album booklet showing a map of California before and after the earthquake, as well as a caricature of Hicks himself, cited as "another dead hero". The song "Third Eye" also contains references to several Hicks routines: :Who's that talking at the start of "Third Eye"? - That would be the aforementioned Bill Hicks; those are snips of comedy routines of his, from "The War on Drugs" (off his CD ''

Dangerous Dangerous may refer to: Film and television * ''Dangerous'' (1935 film), an American film starring Bette Davis * '' Dangerous: The Short Films'', a 1993 collection of music videos by Michael Jackson * ''Dangerous'' (2021 film), a Canadian-Ameri ...

'') and "Drugs Have Done Good Things" (off ''

Relentless Relentless may refer to: Film * ''Relentless'' (1948 film), an American film directed by George Sherman * ''Relentless'', a 1977 American television film starring Will Sampson * ''Relentless'' (1989 film), an American crime film starring Jud ...

''). In fact, on his CD ''Rant in E-Minor'', he refers to the power that heavy doses of hallucinogens have to "squeegee his third eye."Tool FAQ
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Track listing

All music composed by

''Arizona Bay Extended''

Personnel

* Bill Hicks - guitar, vocals *

Kevin Booth Kevin Booth (born October 2, 1961) is an American film director, producer, lecturer and musician. He was known for his documentary film series '' American Drug War''. Booth worked with comedian Bill Hicks, until the time of his death on Febr ...

- bass, keyboards, percussion, producer

References

{{Authority control Bill Hicks albums 1997 live albums Live albums published posthumously 1990s comedy albums Live comedy albums Spoken word albums by American artists Live spoken word albums Rykodisc albums Stand-up comedy albums