''Treehouse'' is the second album by the Canadian band

the Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

, released in 1987 on

Nettwerk Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

. "Peace of Mind" was the band's first single to reach the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' singles charts in Canada, peaking at No. 56.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''.

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

. . "Backward Town" and "O Lucky Man" were also released as singles.

Production

The album was produced by

Tom Cochrane Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music ...

. However, he departed the project slightly before it was finished, after conflicting with engineer Ric Arboit over "Peace of Mind"; Cochrane disliked the song and wanted to stop working on it before Arboit or the band thought it was finished. Arboit and

Dave Ogilvie Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer, mixer, songwriter and musician. The former member of bands Skinny Puppy and Jakalope started his recording career in Vancouver working as an engineer at Mushroom Studios. He has been described by ...

finished the final mixes. Cochrane encouraged the band to use pedal steel and keyboards.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that the album "represents a nifty balancing act between harder-edged rock 'n' roll (courtesy of the Hooper brothers on bass and drums) and a more reflective and breezy folksiness." ''

The Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postmedia. It has ...

'' noted that "the instrumental introduction to 'So Many Times' ends up taking up most of the song, but it's a wonderful blend of piano, organ and drums." The ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bo ...

'' called the album "peppy pop music reminiscent of the Mamas and the Papas and other late-'60s bands that blended folk and rock." The ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' deemed "Peace of Mind" "one of the cleanest, freshest songs of the year."

Track listing

# "O Lucky Man" (3:26) # "Backward Town" (4:06) # "How Long" (3:04) # "Very Special Day" (4:00) # "Try" (3:30) # "At Your Soul" (3:39) # "Peace of Mind" (3:41) # "Amused" (0:30) # "Amused" (4:44) # "So Many Times" (4:13) # "Jewel in the Hand" (3:13) # "Completely Lost" (4:33) # "Run You Down" (2:41) # "Seems Like Fate" (4:36)

References

{{Authority control The Grapes of Wrath (band) albums 1987 albums Nettwerk Records albums