''Libido Speedway'' is an album by

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such a ...

, released in 1997 on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. It won a

Boston Music Award Founded in 1987, the Boston Music Awards are a set of music awards given annually that showcase talent in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. Past shows have featured such notable talent as Aerosmith, Paula Cole, Esperanza Spalding, Boston, Ruby ...

, for the best debut album of 1997. The album's first single was "Medicine", which was a modern rock radio hit; the band had considered rewriting it after determining that it sounded too much like

the Pixies Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Loverin ...

. Orbit supported the album by playing the second stage on select 1997

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. Mus ...

dates.

Production

The album was produced by

Ben Grosse Ben Grosse is an American record producer and mixer, known for his signature sound involving metal and hard rock music. Grosse has mixed and produced numerous albums for popular artists such as Dream Theater, Marilyn Manson, Sevendust, Distur ...

and the band. Many of the songs were written by coming up with the bass line first.

Critical reception

The ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' called "Medicine" a "memorable car-radio rocker." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' thought that "echo tracks and excessive vocal layering clutter an otherwise peppy, involving record." The ''

Daily Breeze The ''Daily Breeze'' is a 57,000-circulation daily newspaper published in Hermosa Beach, California, United States. It serves the South Bay cities of Los Angeles County. Its slogan is "LAX to LA Harbor". Early history The paper was founded ...

'' determined that "Orbit has the rare ability to juxtapose a ferocious instrumental attack with buzzing melodies and make it work." The ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper c ...

'' deemed the album "crunchy, stripped-down rock that has a melodic aftertaste."

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 dat ...

called the album "an entertaining collection of punk-pop and post-grunge power-pop, driven by fizzy melodies and fuzzy guitar riffs."

Track listing

All songs written by Jeff Lowe Robbins, except where stated. #"Yeah" – 2:35 #"Bicycle Song" – 5:33 #"Wake Up" – 3:50 #"Amp" – 2:43 #"Medicine" – 3:56 #"Rockets" – 4:17 (Buckley / Robbins) #"Motorama" – 3:01 #"Nocturnal Autodrive" – 4:21 #"Why You Won't" – 3:46 (Brookner / Buckley / Robbins) #"Carnival" – 3:25 #"Chapel Hill" – 1:41 (Brookner / Buckley / Robbins) #"Paper Bag" – 4:44 (Buckley / Robbins) #"Gazer" – 1:42 #"Untitled (Hidden Track)" – 3:04

Credits

* Jeff Lowe Robbins – vocals, guitars * Paul Buckley – drums, vocals *

Wally Gagel Wally Gagel is an American, multi platinum, award-winning record producer, audio engineer, mixer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. His current work with Blondfire, Zella Day, Best Coast, Hunter Hunted, The Mowglis and Redlight King has garne ...

– bass, vocals * Produced by Ben Grosse (except "Motorama", produced by Orbit) * Engineered by Grosse and Gagel (except "Motorama", engineered by Gagel) * Mixed by Grosse (except "Motorama", mixed by Gagel) * Mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Quee ...

References

{{Authority control Orbit (band) albums 1997 albums