''Avalanche'' is the first solo album by Canadian artist

Matthew Good Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the Matthew Good Band, one of the most successful alternative rock bands in Canada during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the ...

. Released in 2003, the album marked a creative departure from his earlier work with the

Matthew Good Band Matthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Coquitlam, British Columbia in 1995. The band consisted of singer-songwriter/guitarist Matthew Good, guitarist/keyboardist Dave Genn, drummer Ian Browne and bassist Geoff Lloyd. Ll ...

, and featured accompaniment by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on several tracks. The album had three singles: "

Weapon A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...

", " In a World Called Catastrophe" and "Near Fantastica", although "Near Fantastica" was released only to radio in a substantially shorter edit. The music video for "

" won a Juno Award, which was shared between Good and co-director Ante Kovac (Good refused to accept the award, however, as he boycotts the Juno Awards). Producer

Warne Livesey Warne Livesey (born 12 February 1959) is an English/Canadian music producer, mixing engineer, songwriter and musician. He has produced Midnight Oil, The The, Matthew Good Band and Deacon Blue. Life and career Warne Livesey started his career in ...

, who previously worked with Good on the massively successful ''

Beautiful Midnight ''Beautiful Midnight'' is the third album released by the Matthew Good Band. It is the band's most commercially successful album. The album won the award for "Best Rock Album" at the 2000 Juno Awards. The album produced four successful single ...

'', received a Juno Award nomination for his work on ''Avalanche''.

Reception and commercial performance

The album received high praise from both music critics and fans of Good alike. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 16,800 copies in its first week. The album was

certified Gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

on May 8, 2003.

Track listing

Composition

*"Near Fantastica" is perhaps the oldest song from ''Avalanche''. Written in 1996, "Near Fantastica" was originally stated by Good to have been musically similar to "Suburbia" (from ''

'') and vocally similar to "Every Name Is My Name" (from ''

Last of the Ghetto Astronauts ''Last of the Ghetto Astronauts'' is the debut album of the Matthew Good Band. It was released independently in 1995 on a budget of roughly $5,000 CAD. With the singles "Alabama Motel Room" and "Symbolistic White Walls", the album achieved pop ...

'') On ''Avalanche'' the lyrics were altered slightly from those Good posted online in 1999. The music, too, was changed to incorporate aspects of another song "Villain of the Year", which Good had become disenchanted with during the recording of ''Avalanche''. The original version, which is a mere 4:23, was dubbed the 'radio edit' of the song and released as the record's third single. The 8-minute version on the album was altered from the original version during the mixing of ''Avalanche'' as he preferred it to the "simple verse, chorus, structure of the original."
*"A Long Way Down" was one of the last songs written for ''Avalanche''. The song is based around a drum track that was taken from another song, "Comfortable Criminals", which was later cut from the album and released as a b-side.

Personnel

– vocals, guitar, art direction *Christian Thor Valdson – guitar *

Pat Steward Pat Steward (born May 4, 1962) is a Canadian drummer and singer who is a member of the band Odds, and has recorded and toured with Bryan Adams and Matthew Good, among many others. Early life Steward was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Br ...

– drums, percussion * Rich Priske – bass guitar

References

{{Authority control 2003 debut albums Matthew Good albums Universal Music Canada albums Albums produced by Warne Livesey