''Motel California'' is the third album by the American rock band

Ugly Kid Joe Ugly Kid Joe is an American hard rock band from Isla Vista, California, formed in 1989. The band's name spoofs the glam metal band Pretty Boy Floyd's name. To date, Ugly Kid Joe have released five full-length albums, two compilation albums and ...

, and released on October 22, 1996. ''Motel California'' was the last full-length studio album until 2015. The group disbanded in January 1997 and reformed in 13 years later in January 2010. The album received lukewarm reviews and was a commercial failure. The title is a parody of the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

' album, ''

Hotel California "Hotel California" is the title track from the Eagles' album of the same name and was released as a single in February 1977. Writing credits for the song are shared by Don Felder (music), Don Henley, and Glenn Frey (lyrics). Joe Walsh came up ...

''. The song "Rage Against the Answering Machine" is a pun on the name of the Los Angeles rock band

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 ...

Production

The album was recorded with the

Butcher Bros. The Butcher Bros. is an American music production team made up of brothers Phil and Joe Nicolo, originally based out of Philadelphia in the mid-to-late '80s. Together and individually, the brothers have produced albums for a wide variety of ban ...

, in Philadelphia.

Critical reception

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 ...

wrote that Ugly Kid Joe "return to their roots, bashing out grungy metal in their garage and recording it for posterity ... ''Motel California'' works a lot better than it should, sounding fiercer and more committed."

Track listing

Lineup

Whitfield Crane William Whitfield Crane IV (born January 19, 1968) is an American singer and founding member and lead vocalist of the rock band Ugly Kid Joe, which was formed in 1989. He has also worked in music outside his band, from performing guest vocals on ...

– vocals *

Dave Fortman Dave Fortman (born July 11, 1967) is an American record producer and musician. He is the guitarist for rock band Ugly Kid Joe, and has worked with bands such as Superjoint Ritual, Snot, Atomship, Eyehategod, Mudvayne, Otep, Slipknot (on thei ...

– guitar *

Klaus Eichstadt Ugly Kid Joe is an American hard rock band from Isla Vista, California, formed in 1989. The band's name spoofs the glam metal band Pretty Boy Floyd's name. To date, Ugly Kid Joe have released five full-length albums, two compilation albums an ...

– guitar *

Cordell Crockett Cordell Crockett (born January 21, 1965) is an American rock musician. Crockett is a multi-instrument artist known for playing bass guitar and singing backing vocals for the band Ugly Kid Joe from 1991 until they disbanded in 1997, and again sin ...

– bass *

Shannon Larkin James Shannon Larkin (born April 24, 1967) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of rock band Godsmack. He replaced the previous drummer Tommy Stewart in June 2002. Prior to Godsmack, he was a member of Amen, Candlebox, Ugly Kid Joe ...

– drums *

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...

- guest backing vocals on "Little Red Man"

References

1996 albums Ugly Kid Joe albums {{1990s-hard-rock-album-stub