''Give Yourself a Hand'' is the fourth album by

Crash Test Dummies Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts (vocals, guitar) and his distinctive bass-baritone voice. The band members have fluctuated over the years, but its best kno ...

, released in 1999 through

ViK. Recordings In 1998, ViK. Recordings was established as a Canadian record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publish ...

. It is their final album for BMG. The album spawned a quirky hit " Keep a Lid on Things".

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

review of the album described it as "the best music of their career...an album of rare wit and vitality."

Background

For their third album '' A Worm's Life'', Crash Test Dummies were given a lot of creative freedom, thanks to the success of ''

God Shuffled His Feet ''God Shuffled His Feet'' is the second album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1993. It features their most popular single, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". The cover art superimposes the band members' faces over the figures of Titian's paintin ...

''. However, the album was considered a disappointment, and the band's label, BMG, pressured the band to immediately write a follow-up. During initial song-writing the band wrote and recorded 35 demos, all of which were rejected by BMG. The demos from these sessions would be shelved until 2011 when a selection of them were released on the compilation album '' Demo-litions''. In 1998, the band proceeded to write and record the new album. In October of that year the band shared on their website that the album would be named ''Keep a Lid on Things''. Within two weeks, it was reported by the band that the title had been changed to ''Give Yourself a Hand''. At the time,

Brad Roberts Bradley Kenneth Roberts (born January 10, 1964) is the lead singer and guitarist for the Canadian folk-rock band Crash Test Dummies. He sings in the bass-baritone range. The band is best known internationally for their 1993 album God Shuff ...

had moved to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

and was influenced by the local music. He began writing an album inspired by soul and hip-hop beats, and recorded some vocal parts in falsetto for the first time. The style of the album can also be attributed to the contributions from co-writer/producer

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

. The band's keyboardist

Ellen Reid Ellen Lorraine Reid (born 14 July 1966) is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies. Early life and education Reid was born and grew up in Selkirk, Manito ...

is featured on lead vocals on several tracks, including the album's second single, " Get You in the Morning".

Track listing

Personnel

Crash Test Dummies

– lead vocals,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and rhythm guitars *

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, lead vocals on "Just Chillin'", "Get You in The Morning" and "A Little Something" *

Benjamin Darvill Benjamin Darvill (born January 4, 1967), known by his stage name Son of Dave, is a Canadian musician and singer–songwriter, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Grammy award-nominated, Juno award-winning folk rock band Crash Test ...

– harmonica, rhythm guitar * Dan Roberts –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Mitch Dorge – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, programming

Guests/production

–

, programming * David K –

on "Playing Dead" *

David Piltch David Piltch (born January 29, 1960) is a Canadian bassist and session musician. Biography Piltch grew up in an artistic family. His father Bernie Piltch was a noted studio and stage saxophonist, clarinetist and flutist in Toronto from the ...

–

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

on "Just Chillin"

Reception

The album received mixed reviews.

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 ...

writer Paul Pearson gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and states that ''Give Yourself a Hand'' redefines the Dummies sound with lightly applied techno strokes, not far off from

Everything but the Girl Everything but the Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Wat ...

's classic

Walking Wounded In first aid and triage, the walking wounded are injured persons who are of a relatively low priority. These patients are conscious and breathing and will often have only relatively minor injuries; thus they are capable of walking. Depending on t ...

. Some textures here are stunning, with electric piano flourishes and hip-hop drumbeat samples that sound tunefully great. The Dummies exhibit an unexpected knack for drum'n'bass shadings in "Pissed with Me" and "A Little Something." Unfortunately, the beauty of the surroundings can't compensate for Roberts' singularly strange lyrical ''talents''." However, he goes on to state that "the songs sung by Ellen Reid fare much better, especially the beautiful "A Little Something," which at least gives voice to vulnerability."

Charts

Weekly

Year-end

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Give Yourself a Hand 1999 albums Crash Test Dummies albums Albums produced by Greg Wells ViK. Recordings albums