SACD Matchbox Twenty – Yourself Or Someone Like You

“Push”, “3 AM”, “Real World”, “Back 2 Good”: Matchbox Twenty’s debut Yourself or Someone Like You as a hybrid stereo SACD from the Atlantic 75 Series, mastered by Ryan K. Smith directly from the original master tape. All twelve songs play as one continuous sequence – the whole album behind the radio favourites.

More than the singles you know

Yourself or Someone Like You appeared in 1996 as the first album by Matchbox Twenty, then also styled Matchbox 20. “Push”, “3 AM”, “Real World” and “Back 2 Good” made individual songs from it widely familiar, but on the complete album they belong to a longer sequence. Twelve songs introduce a young band built around guitars, a clearly defined rhythm section and Rob Thomas’s distinctive voice – and it is a particular pleasure to rediscover the whole debut behind the memories of radio favourites.

The album was recorded at Triclops Recording in Atlanta, with Matt Serletic producing and Jeff Tomei as recording engineer. Mixing moved to House of Blues in Memphis, where Greg Archilla and Serletic are credited. The band’s own story leads to Florida: Thomas, Brian Yale and Paul Doucette had played together in Tabitha’s Secret before Kyle Cook and Adam Gaynor completed the line-up that made this record.

Serletic’s role goes beyond the production credit. He is named as keyboard player and percussionist, contributes arrangements and shares the writing of “Push” and “Back 2 Good” with Thomas. The record brings together a working band and a producer taking part directly in the music – a relationship the credits make easy to follow, instead of tying the whole album to its singer alone.

Five musicians and a surprise in the woodwinds

Rob Thomas sings lead, Kyle Cook plays lead guitar and adds vocals, and Adam Gaynor contributes rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Brian Yale plays bass and Paul Doucette drums. Within that framework each song can set its own emphasis. On a return visit, try following the two guitars separately: the interplay between rhythmic support and a melodic reply opens another route through a familiar performance.

The closing song “Hang” is a good reason to look closer at those roles: here Thomas is also credited with acoustic guitar, while Cook adds a vocal part alongside his guitar. Details like these bring the individuals behind the band name into focus – and show why a particular song invites attention to a different partnership within the group.

“Back 2 Good” widens the palette with a documented woodwind group: Elizabeth Burkhardt on bassoon, Amy Porter on flute, Yvonne Powers on oboe, Ted Gurch on clarinet and Douglas Smith on bass clarinet, in an arrangement by Serletic. These credits belong to that one song, not to the album as a whole. For a debut usually associated with guitar rock, the instrumentation is especially revealing: the arrangement reaches beyond what the five-piece stage line-up could do.

Twelve songs in their original order

“Real World” opens the record, followed by “Long Day” and “3 AM”. The last of the three links the debut with the Tabitha’s Secret story: its credits name John Joseph Stanley and John Leslie Goff alongside Thomas and Yale. Songwriters and performers need to be kept apart here – a writing credit does not mean that someone plays on the recording.

“Push” leads into “Girl Like That” and “Back 2 Good”, so the familiar singles can be heard in relation to the songs around them. Instead of waiting for the next chorus, you can follow how an idea is introduced, how long it is held and what opens the way to a new section. That is where Serletic’s contribution becomes audible, because production is also about organising entrances, spaces and extra instrumental colours.

“Damn”, “Argue” and “Kody” lead into the second half, followed by “Busted”, “Shame” and “Hang”. Thomas is the sole writer of nine of the twelve songs; the three exceptions reveal other creative relationships. Heard complete, the debut is more than a time capsule of its biggest hits: it shows a new band building a shared framework and finding room in it for different stories, tempos and song forms.

The Atlantic 75 hybrid stereo SACD

CAPA 031 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. According to the publisher, Ryan K. Smith mastered it directly from the original master tape. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains all twelve songs of the original album in their original order.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.

More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series

Also in another edition: Yourself Or Someone Like You

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.

• Rob Thomaslead vocals, acoustic guitarParticipation: Lead vocals; acoustic guitar on track 12 “Hang”
• Kyle Cooklead guitar, backing vocalsParticipation: Album; also lead vocal in the chorus of track 12 “Hang”
• Adam Gaynorrhythm guitar, backing vocalsParticipation: Album personnel; not a blanket assignment to every track
• Brian YalebassParticipation: Album personnel; not a blanket assignment to every track
• Paul DoucettedrumsParticipation: Album personnel; not a blanket assignment to every track
• Matt Serletickeyboards, percussionParticipation: Album personnel; not a blanket assignment to every track
• Elizabeth BurkhardtbassoonParticipation: track 6
• Amy PorterfluteParticipation: track 6
• Yvonne PowersoboeParticipation: track 6
• Ted GurchclarinetParticipation: track 6
• Douglas Smithbass clarinetParticipation: track 6

Album credits and track assignments are distinguished.