''The Bathroom Wall'' is the debut studio album by American comedian
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The Ton ...
, released on August 27, 2002. The first five tracks of the album consists of studio songs, with the remainder of the album consisting of stand-up comedy material. The album is most notable for the song "Idiot Boyfriend" and its music video, in which actress and singer/songwriter
Zooey Deschanel appears in the music video in the uncredited role of Fallon's girlfriend.
Track listing
Personnel
* Jimmy Fallon -
guitar,
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
,
vocals, background vocals
* Gerard Bradford -
guitar, background vocals
*
Mark Ronson -
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
,
keyboards, background vocals
*
Justin Stanley -
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 ...
,
keyboards, background vocals
* Peter Iselin -
keyboard on "Drinking In The Woods"
* Nadia Dajani - background vocals on "(I Can't Play) Basketball"
Production
* Producer: The Soundhustlers
* Engineers: Ben Arons, Dan Milazzo, and Kevin Scott
* Assistant engineers: Aaron Kaplan, Doug Sanderson, Antony Zeller
* Mixing: Mark Ronson, Justin Stanley, Marie C, and Gabe Chiesa
* Mastering: Brian Gardner
* Set Design: Michael DeNaire
* Design: Kyledidthis
* Photography: Mick Rock
Reception
Reviews
Allmusic described it as Fallon's "
mix tape of high school fights, bad athletic performances, and collegiate experimentation combined with a dose of rock & roll mayhem"; two of the songs ("Idiot Boyfriend" and "Road Rage") were AMG "Track Picks", as were two of the
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
routines ("Troll Doll Jingles" and "Hammertime").
The ''
Rolling Stone'' liked the "fifteen minutes' worth of songs" and called "Idiot Boyfriend" the "second-best
Prince parody ever, after
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
's '
Debra'"; the rest of the album was said to be "padded out with lame stand-up on college life (the fridges are small!), celebrity impressions and
troll dolls."
Awards
''The Bathroom Wall'' was nominated for a
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
as the
Best Spoken Comedy Album.
Jimmy Fallon
from the Geffen Records website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bathroom Wall, The
Jimmy Fallon albums
2002 debut albums
2002 live albums
DreamWorks Records live albums
2000s comedy albums