Matchbox Twenty – Yourself Or Someone Like You

A debut with more to offer than its familiar singles

Yourself or Someone Like You appeared in 1996 as the first album by Matchbox Twenty, also styled Matchbox 20 at the time. “Push”, “3 AM”, “Real World” and “Back 2 Good” made individual songs from the record widely familiar. On the complete album, however, those tracks belong to a longer sequence. Twelve selections introduce a young band built around guitars, a clearly defined rhythm section and Rob Thomas’s distinctive voice. For a collection, there is particular pleasure in rediscovering the whole debut behind the memories of radio favourites.

The recording took place at Triclops Recording in Atlanta, with Matt Serletic producing. Jeff Tomei handled the recording engineering. Mixing moved to House of Blues in Memphis, with Greg Archilla and Serletic credited for that stage. Those locations describe the production journey, while the band’s earlier story also leads to Florida: Thomas, Brian Yale and Paul Doucette had previously played together in Tabitha’s Secret. Kyle Cook and Adam Gaynor completed the lineup that made this album.

Serletic’s involvement extends beyond the production credit. He is named as a keyboard player and percussionist, contributes arrangements, and shares the writing of “Push” and “Back 2 Good” with Thomas. The record therefore brings together a working band and a producer participating directly in the music. Reading the credits makes that relationship easier to understand, rather than allowing the entire album to become associated with its singer alone.

Five band members and an unexpected instrumental colour

Rob Thomas takes the lead vocal role, Kyle Cook contributes lead guitar and additional singing, and Adam Gaynor supplies rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Brian Yale plays bass and Paul Doucette drums. That distribution provides a framework within which the songs can place their emphasis differently. On returning to the album, it is worth following the guitars individually: the relationship between rhythmic support and a separate melodic response can offer another route through a familiar performance.

The closing song “Hang” provides a concrete reason to look more closely at those roles. Thomas is also credited with acoustic guitar here, while Cook contributes a vocal part alongside his guitar playing. Such details bring the individuals behind the band name into focus. A short personnel entry can explain why a particular selection invites attention to a different partnership, or suggests a different balance within the ensemble, without reducing the music to a list of instruments.

“Back 2 Good” expands 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. Serletic is responsible for the woodwind arrangement. These credits belong specifically to that song, rather than to the album indiscriminately. For a debut generally associated with guitar rock, the instrumentation is especially revealing. The arrangement reaches beyond the possibilities of the five-piece stage lineup.

Following the complete twelve-song sequence

“Real World” opens the record before “Long Day” and “3 AM”. The last of those three connects the debut with the earlier Tabitha’s Secret story. Its music credits name John Joseph Stanley and John Leslie Goff alongside Thomas and Yale. Songwriters and performing musicians must therefore be kept distinct: a composition credit does not automatically establish that someone appears as a guest on the recording.

“Push” is followed by “Girl Like That” and “Back 2 Good”. This sequence allows the familiar singles to be heard in relation to the songs between them. Instead of simply waiting for the next chorus, a listener can follow how an idea is introduced, how long it is sustained and what creates the opening for a new section. Serletic’s contribution acquires a musical context through that approach. Production also concerns the organisation of entrances, spaces and additional instrumental colours.

“Damn”, “Argue” and “Kody” lead into the second half, followed by “Busted”, “Shame” and “Hang”. Nine of the twelve selections credit Thomas as the sole writer; the three exceptions already mentioned reveal other creative relationships. Heard as a complete record, the debut offers more than a time capsule containing its most successful songs. It shows a new band developing a shared framework and finding room within it for different stories, tempos and song structures.

Twelve selections on two 45 RPM records

The edition offered here, AAPA 031-45, belongs to the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. It presents the stereo album on two 180-gram LPs at 45 RPM. Ryan K. Smith handled the mastering and lacquer cutting at Sterling Sound. The publisher identifies the original master tapes as the source, Quality Record Pressings as the pressing plant and Stoughton as the manufacturer of the tip-on gatefold jacket. Those specifications concern this reissue, rather than the separately issued SACD or an earlier single-LP edition.

Each side contains three selections. The sequence and complete twelve-track programme are retained, while the physical divisions change from those of a single LP. Lyrics reproduced within the gatefold support an approach that considers the words alongside their musical setting. Details about numbered early copies or possible subsequent pressing variants are not turned into an unconditional promise concerning every individual copy available from the shop.

For music lovers, this release brings a familiar nineties album into a clearly identified collector’s edition. The point of reference remains the music itself: the five band members, Serletic’s participation and the guests introduced for a particular arrangement. Listening through all twelve songs in order also restores attention to the parts of the debut that appear less frequently as individual highlights.

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

Also on SACD: Yourself Or Someone Like You

Customer questions: Atlantic 75: which titles are worth buying? · Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Series: Atlantic 75 Series – all 75 albums, time journey and the people behind Atlantic

Musicians

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

• Rob Thomaslead vocals, acoustic guitarParticipation: Lead vocals; acoustic guitar on D3 “Hang”
• Kyle Cooklead guitar, backing vocalsParticipation: Album; also lead vocal in the chorus of D3 “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: B3
• Amy PorterfluteParticipation: B3
• Yvonne PowersoboeParticipation: B3
• Ted GurchclarinetParticipation: B3
• Douglas Smithbass clarinetParticipation: B3

Album credits and track assignments are distinguished.