''Forest for the Trees'' is the debut studio album by
Forest for the Trees. It was released through
DreamWorks Records on September 9, 1997.
It peaked at number 190 on the
''Billboard'' 200 chart
[ and number 16 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.][ "Dream" was released as a single, peaking at number 72 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart]
Background
Forest for the Trees' Carl Stephenson co-wrote and co-produced Beck's 1993 song " Loser".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 ...
at that time, Stephenson submitted an entire album of songs.[ After recording the album, Stephenson was hospitalized with a mental illness.][ Stephenson, his family and the label thought it best not to release the album at the time.][ However, his health condition improved afterward and they thought that releasing the album would help him deal financially and emotionally with the healing process.][
]
Release
The album was released through DreamWorks Records, Geffen Records' sister label, on September 9, 1997.[ Prior to the release of the album, "Dream" was released as a single.][ ]Kevin Godley
Kevin Michael Godley (born 7 October 1945) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and music video director. He is known as the singer and drummer of the art rock band 10cc and later as part of collaboration duo Godley & Creme with Lol Creme ...
directed the music video for the song.[ In the music video, Stephenson was seen briefly in a still photograph.][
]
Critical reception
Kembrew McLeod 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 ...
says, "Forest for the Trees tries to be everything at once and ends up being nothing at all, pleasing only those who favor 'interesting in theory' collage-oriented music over some semblance of catchy songs."[ Meanwhile, James Lien of '']CMJ New Music Report
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
'' called Carl Stephenson "one of the key architects of the zeitgeist of the times."[
]
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.
* Carl Stephenson – production, arrangement, recording, engineering, mixing
* John "Coz" Acosta – production, drum programming, guitar, vocals, engineering, mixing
* Bob Ludwig – mastering
* Melissa Komorsky – executive production, management
* Adam Katz – management assistance
* Tony Berg – A&R direction
* Thunk! – art direction
* Eleonora Ghioldi – photography
* Mark Schultz – front cover collage
* Mark Peterson – back cover painting
Charts
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1997 albums
DreamWorks Records albums