''Because They Can'' is the second album from American rock group

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, released by

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

in 1995. The album had a shaky production history as a result of creative differences between brothers

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

and Gunnar Nelson and the Geffen Records executives, the latter led by

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. He went on to be a photographer for v ...

. After the success of their debut album, '' After the Rain'', the band recorded the heavier and darker follow-up ''

Imaginator ''Imaginator'' is the third album from American rock group Nelson. It was released in Japan through Victor Entertainment in 1996, and later in the US through Fuel 2000 in 1998. The album is notable for being the second album recorded by the band, ...

''. When Kalodner and other Geffen executives were displeased with it, Nelson was told to record a lighter album. After more than a year of writing and recording, Nelson came up with ''Because They Can''. The band left Geffen shortly after the release of the album.

Background and recording

After the success of their first album, '' After the Rain'', and years of touring, Nelson returned to the studio to record their second album. They came up with a darker and harder, concept album titled ''

''. However, when they presented the album to producer

and the executives at

, they weren't pleased. They then gave the band the choice to either record another album, more according to what they were expecting, or they would be released from their contract. The band decided to return to the studio and began working on a more acoustic-oriented album which was, according to Gunnar, "180 degrees in the opposite direction of ''Imaginator''". ''Because They Can'' was recorded at various studios such as Sound City, Studio F, Nichols Canyon Studios, Caravell Studios, Granny's House, Capitol Studios, Cactus Studios and Quarkbrain Studio. It featured original band members

Brett Garsed Brett Edward Garsed (born 20 April 1963) is an Australian musician and songwriter, best known for his work as a guitarist with John Farnham and T. J. Helmerich, as well as being a former member of the American band Nelson. Garsed was feature ...

Paul Mirkovich Paul Mirkovich (born March 20, 1963) is an American musician from Los Angeles. He has been the band leader, keyboardist and duet singing partner for Cher for the last 16 years. He has also been the band director for Janet Jackson and Anastacia a ...

, Joey Cathcart and

Bobby Rock Nitro was an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California. Formed in 1988, the group originally featured vocalist Jim Gillette, guitarist Michael Angelo Batio, bassist T. J. Racer and drummer Bobby Rock. Nitro released its debut album '' ...

on most of the songs, and it featured guest musicians such as

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...

Don Felder Donald William Felder (born September 21, 1947) is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Eagles from 1974 until his termination from the band in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with th ...

Steve Porcaro Steven Maxwell Porcaro (born September 2, 1957) is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and film composer, known as one of the founding members of the rock band Toto and the last surviving Porcaro brother (after the deaths of Jeff in 1992 and M ...

and others. The album was mixed at Conway Studios. 'Because They Can'' booklet/ref> "Won't Walk Away" was originally demoed in 1985 and an early version was performed during their 1986

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

appearance. Nelson reworked the song with

Jack Ponti Jack Ponti (born February 16, 1958) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant. Career Ponti is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant who ...

and recorded the song as studio track for this album.

Reception

''Because They Can'' was released in 1995, five years after the release of Nelson's first album. According to Gunnar Nelson, Geffen was not "going to put any money into promoting it". The album went mostly unnoticed and did not appear on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts. "(You Got Me) All Shook Up" was released to radio and video outlets, and peaked at #30 on the Radio & Records Pop chart. On another interview, Gunnar said about the album "I’m really proud of t but our fanbase had gone away. Everybody had changed their musical tastes, and it was really kind of a drag". Gunnar has also noted that ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'' gave them the "best bad review in the history of rock 'n' roll" for ''Because They Can'' writing only "Maybe they shouldn’t". He has argued that a lot of the negative reviews they had were just based on their legacy and not in the actual music.

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Matthew Nelson – lead and back-up vocals, bass, 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, and rhythm guitars * Gunnar Nelson – lead and back-up vocals, 6-string guitars, rhythm guitars, gut-string acoustic guitar,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

and other percussion *

– 12 and 6-string electric guitar, high-string acoustic guitar, rhythm and lead guitars *Joey Cathcart – acoustic and electric guitar, rhythm and slide guitar *

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, piano,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

, and

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

– drums (5, 7, 11, 12, 13) *

– drums (1, 2, 3) *

Michael Botts Michael Gene Botts (December 8, 1944 – December 9, 2005) was an American drummer, best known for his work with 1970s soft rock band Bread, and as a session musician. During his career, he recorded with Linda Ronstadt, Karla Bonoff, Andrew Gold ...

– drums (4) *

, Kenneth Blackwell – additional mandolins *

– keyboard (3) *

Jeff Baxter Jeffrey Allen "Skunk" Baxter (born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, known for his stints in the rock bands Steely Dan and The Doobie Brothers during the 1970s and Spirit in the 1980s. More recently, he has worked as a defense consu ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

(4) * Eliott Easton – solo guitar (7 and 13) *Sid Sharp – concertmaster (10 and 13) Production *

– producer * John Boylan – producer *David J. Holman – producer, mixer and engineer (7, 11, and 13) *Guy DeFazio – engineer *Paul Grupp – engineer, mixer *Frank Wolf – engineer *Jeff Sheehan – recording assistant *Barry Taylor – recording assistant *Bjorn Thorsrud – recording assistant (7 and 13) *Tom Gordon – recording assistant (7 and 13) *Pete Doell – recording assistant (10) *Chris Henderson – recording assistant (11) *Andrew Gold – recording assistant (12) *Mick Guzauski – mixer *Marnie Riley – assistant mixer *George Marino – mastering Art *Robin Sloane – art direction *William Wegman – photography *Teri Weigel and John Boylan – additional photography

References

{{Authority control 1995 albums Nelson (band) albums Albums produced by John Boylan (record producer) Geffen Records albums