''Prolonging the Magic'' is the third

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 American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

. It was released on October 6, 1998, on

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio foun ...

. The sole successful single was "

Never There "Never There" is the first single released from American alternative rock band Cake's third studio album, ''Prolonging the Magic'' (1998). The song was commercially successful, topping the US ''Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart and appearing on ...

". The album was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement. On its opening week, ''Prolonging the Magic'' sold about 44,000 copies, debuting at No. 33 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. On 28 September 1999 the album was certified platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

for shipments of one million copies. The album was given a

parental advisory Advisory (abbreviated PAL) is a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profan ...

sticker not because of profanity but for Satanic-themed lyrics. Some copies do not feature a sticker, with the only difference being that the song "Satan Is My Motor" has been retitled "Motor". The song "Hem of Your Garment" was featured in the film ''

Me, Myself & Irene ''Me, Myself & Irene'' is a 2000 American slapstick black comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, and starring Jim Carrey and Renée Zellweger. Chris Cooper, Robert Forster, Richard Jenkins, Daniel Greene, Anthony Anderson, Jerod Mixon an ...

''.

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, "Supposedly their attempt to make a smugness- and irony-free album, Cake's third release does hold back the barbs a bit more than usual. And the strain shows. In these guys' hands, love songs without smirks and pop tunes straight up come out forced."

Track listing

Personnel

;Cake * John McCrea – vocals, guitar, piano, organ, Moog, producing, arranging and design * Vince DiFiore - trumpet, background vocals and arranging * Gabe Nelson - bass, mandolin, guitar, piano and arranging * Todd Roper - drums, percussion, background vocals and arranging ;Additional musicians * Xan McCurdy – electric guitar on track 9 * Rusty Miller – electric guitar on track 3 * Tyler Pope – arranging and electric guitar on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10 *

Chuck Prophet Charles William Prophet (born June 28, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and record producer. A Californian, Prophet first achieved notice in the American psychedelic/desert rock group Green on Red, with whom he toured and rec ...

- arranging and electric guitar on tracks 4, 7 and 12 *

Jim Campilongo Jim Campilongo (born July 8, 1958) is a New York roots rock guitarist, known for recording a series of mostly instrumental albums. He is also known for being a member of The Little Willies with Norah Jones. Campilongo primarily plays Fender Tele ...

- arranging and electric guitar on tracks 4, 6 and 11 * Ben Morss - arranging and piano on track 5 * David Palmer - keyboards on track 9 * Greg Vincent -

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

on tracks 2, 6 and 9 * Mark Needham - additional percussion, engineering, and mixing * Richard Lyman - musical saw on track 4 ; Additional personnel * Joe Johnston - engineering * Jay Bowman - engineering * Gabriel Shepard - engineering * Justin Phelps - engineering * Scott Reams - engineering * Rafael Serrano - engineering * Kirt Shearer - engineering and mixing * Craig Long - engineering and mixing * Greg Brown - arranging * Keara Fallon - design * Don C. Tyler - mastering

Charts

Album -

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

References

External links