''Underdogs'' is the second full-length

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 the Canadian

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 ...

group

Matthew Good Band Matthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Coquitlam, British Columbia in 1995. The band consisted of singer-songwriter/guitarist Matthew Good, guitarist/keyboardist Dave Genn, drummer Ian Browne and bassist Geoff Lloyd. Ll ...

, released in 1997. In a 2000 poll by music magazine ''

Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

'', ''Underdogs'' was voted the 18th Greatest Canadian album of all time.

Background

In December 1996, Matthew Good Band signed a two-album deal with

Private Music Private Music was an American independent record label founded in 1984 by musician Peter Baumann as a "home for instrumental music". Baumann signed Ravi Shankar, Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and his former ...

. In mid-January, on the first day of pre-production for ''Underdogs'', the group was notified that BMG Entertainment North America was merging Private Music into

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

High Street Records High Street Records was a subsidiary label of Windham Hill Records from about 1990 to 1997. Notable acts who recorded for the label include John Gorka, Pierce Pettis, Patty Larkin, The Subdudes, Downy Mildew, and Dots Will Echo. Several singer ...

, putting a halt to the production of the album. In mid-March, after negotiations, Windham Hill/High Street released the group from its contract. Good was paid what he was owed for the two albums, and the group decided to record the new album regardless of label support, using the money received from the divorce of their contract with Windham Hill/High Street to fund it. According to Good, the album cost $100,000 to produce. The group then agreed to release the album under a distribution agreement with

PolyGram Group Canada PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be ...

Commercial performance

''Underdogs'' was the band's most successful album yet, being certified Platinum in Canada and being nominated for "Best Rock Album" at the 1999 Juno Awards. By March 2003, the album had sold 200,000 units in Canada, achieving Double Platinum status.

Track listing

All words by Matthew Good, all music by Good and Dave Genn, except where noted.

Personnel

Matthew Good Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the Matthew Good Band, one of the most successful alternative rock bands in Canada during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, cover concept ** Ian Browne -

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 ...

**Geoff Lloyd -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Dave Genn David Robert Madison Genn is a Canadian musician, producer, and songwriter. He is a member of the rock group 54-40, and a former member of the Matthew Good Band. Early life Genn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 2 March 1969. He is the ...

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

::Note:

Todd Kerns Todd "Dammit" Kerns is a Canadian musician who has worked with several Canadian bands, most notably The Age of Electric. Kerns is currently the bass guitarist and back up vocalist for Slash in the band Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The ...

performs backing vocals on "Everything Is Automatic" and "Rico" (not part of MGB) ; Production *

Warne Livesey Warne Livesey (born 12 February 1959) is an English/Canadian music producer, mixing engineer, songwriter and musician. He has produced Midnight Oil, The The, Matthew Good Band and Deacon Blue. Life and career Warne Livesey started his career in ...

- Producer, Engineer, Mixer *Frank Weipert - Manager *Dean Maher - Assistant *Zach Blackstone - Engineer *Stephen Marcussen (Precision Mastering,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, CA) - Mastering *Legal: Jonathan Simkin *Accounting: Davidson & Co. *Don C. Tyler - Digital editor *Leanne Petersen - Cover photos *Andrea Marouk - Additional photos *Garnet Armstrong - Album design *Manufacturer: Darktown Records *Distributor:

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 ...

, a division of

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

Inc.

References

{{Authority control 1997 albums Matthew Good albums Mercury Records albums PolyGram albums Albums produced by Warne Livesey Albums recorded at Greenhouse Studios