''Fontanelle'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American punk rock band Babes in Toyland, released on August 11, 1992 by

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

. It was the band's first release on a major label, and their first recording to feature

Maureen Herman Maureen Herman (born July 25, 1966) is an American writer and a musician known as the bassist for the Minneapolis-based band Babes in Toyland from 1992 until 1996 and from 2014 until August 2015. Biography 1966–1991: Early life and education ...

on bass.

Recording

After extensive touring throughout 1991, the band entered the studio to record their major label follow-up to their debut album, ''

Spanking Machine ''Spanking Machine'' is the debut album by American punk rock band Babes in Toyland, released in 1990. Background and production The working title of the album was ''Swamp Pussy'', which later ended up becoming the opening song on the album. T ...

''. Bassist

Michelle Leon Babes in Toyland was an American alternative rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 1987. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Kat Bjelland, along with drummer Lori Barbero and bassist Michelle Leon, who was later replaced by ...

left the group in December 1991, shortly before the recording of ''Fontanelle'' began, due to the

murder of Joe Cole Joseph Dennis Cole (April 10, 1961 – December 19, 1991) was an American actor, writer and roadie for Black Flag and Rollins Band, who was shot and killed in an armed robbery on December 19, 1991. Early life Cole was the son of actor Dennis ...

, her then boyfriend.

was recruited as her replacement. The album was co-produced by frontwoman and guitarist

Kat Bjelland Katherine Lynne Bjelland (born December 9, 1963) is an American musician. She rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1987. ...

with

Lee Ranaldo Lee Mark Ranaldo (born February 3, 1956) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, visual artist and record producer, best known as a co-founder of the alternative rock band Sonic Youth (guitar and vocals). In 2004, ''Rolling ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

heading production. Brian Paulson was also studio engineer and the final product was mixed by Dave Ogilvie. The cover photo — an image of a naked doll held up in front of a mirror — was taken for the album by photographer

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

. The band has explained the album's name as referring to the soft spot on the top of a baby's skull, as well as to a little fountain used by fairies. It is also the name of a magician consulted by

Gilles de Rais Gilles de Rais (c. 1405 – 26 October 1440), Baron de Rais (), was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later convi ...

, the real-life murderer who inspired the fairy tale "

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...

". The process of recording the album is described in the book ''Babes in Toyland: The Making and Selling of a Rock and Roll Band'', by Neal Karlen. Recording took place at

Pachyderm Studio Pachyderm Recording Studio is a residential music recording studio located in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, United States, 35.8 mi (57.6 km) southeast of Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. It is located in a secluded old-growth ...

Cannon Falls, Minnesota Cannon Falls is a city in Goodhue County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,083 at the 2010 census. Located along U.S. Route 52, southeast of the Twin Cities, Cannon Falls is the home of Pachyderm Studio, where many famous musici ...

, and at Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Reception

''Fontanelle'' is Babes in Toyland's most critically and commercially successful album, selling 220,000 copies approximately in the United States alone. Reviews of the album were very positive, with Steve Huey from

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 databas ...

noting:

Measured by any standard, ''Fontanelle'' is a frighteningly primal record, one whose sheer ferocity Babes in Toyland never quite captured this convincingly anywhere else.

The album's success also prompted them to tour more and were eventually offered a place on the

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

tour in 1993, playing alongside such acts as

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 ...

, Primus,

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...

and

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

. During dates at Lollapalooza, the band released their third and final EP, ''

Painkillers An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

'', in June 1993, which consisted of a re-recording of one of their most notable songs "He's My Thing", and outtakes from ''Fontanelle''.

Track listing

Personnel

All personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;Babes in Toyland *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

- bass *

Lori Barbero Lori Anne Barbero (born November 27, 1961) is an American musician and singer who rose to notoriety as the drummer of the Minneapolis-based punk rock band Babes in Toyland, which she joined in 1987. After the dissolution of Babes in Toyland in ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(6) ;Technical personnel *

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

– producer *

Brian Paulson Brian Paulson is an American musician, record producer and audio engineer from Minnesota, best known for recording albums by Slint, Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, Superchunk and Wilco. Paulson grew up in Bemidji, Minnesota, but moved about 200 miles so ...

– engineer *John Armstrong – assistant engineer *John Azelvandre – assistant engineer *Eric S. Anderson – assistant engineer *

Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...

– mastering *

Dave Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician. The former member of bands Skinny Puppy and Jakalope started his recording career in Vancouver working as an engineer at Mushroom Studios. He has been described by ...

– mixing ;Design personnel *Tom Recchion –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

, design *

– photography (front cover) *

Michael Lavine Michael Lavine (born October 13, 1963, San Francisco) is a portrait photographer based in New York City. He grew up in Denver, and graduated from Denver's South High School in 1981. After graduating high school, Lavine headed to the Pacific Northw ...

– photography (inlay) *Fredrik Nilsen – photography (inlay)

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontanelle (Album) Babes in Toyland (band) albums 1992 albums Reprise Records albums