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II (The Presidents of the United States of America album)

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II
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 5, 1996
RecordedStudio Litho, Seattle, Washington, August 1996
Genre
Length39:47
LabelColumbia
ProducerChris Ballew, Dave Dederer, Jason Finn, Craig Montgomery
The Presidents of the United States of America chronology
The Presidents of the United States of America
(1995)
II
(1996)
Rarities
(1997)
Singles from II
  1. "Mach 5"
    Released: 1996
  2. "Supersonics (Reworked Version of Supermodel)"
    Released: 1996
  3. "Volcano"
    Released: 1997
  4. "Tiki God"
    Released: 1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The A.V. Club(Unfavorable)[6]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[3]
Los Angeles Times[4]
Rolling Stone[5]

II is the second studio album by the American rock band The Presidents of the United States of America. It was released via Columbia Records on November 5, 1996, coinciding with the United States presidential election.

Background

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The album included a few songs that originally appeared on Froggystyle, a self-released cassette that was recorded before their debut album, The Presidents of the United States of America. These songs, which were re-recorded for this album, were "L.I.P", then known as "Little Indian Princess", "Lunatic to Love" and "Puffy Little Shoes". Also, "Twig" was re-recorded, as it was previously recorded as a B-side to a "Lump" single, where it was known as "Twig in the Wind". That version was later released on Rarities as "Twig (Semi Acoustic Version)".

Track listing

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All songs by The Presidents of the United States of America.

  1. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Part 1" – 1:39
  2. "Lunatic to Love" – 2:57
  3. "Volcano" – 2:58
  4. "Mach 5" – 3:15
  5. "Twig" – 2:37
  6. "Bug City" – 3:05
  7. "Bath of Fire" – 2:57
  8. "Tiki God" – 2:58
  9. "L.I.P." – 3:20
  10. "Froggie" – 3:10
  11. "Toob Amplifier" – 1:22
  12. "Supermodel" – 2:49
  13. "Puffy Little Shoes" – 4:59
  14. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Part 2" – 3:03
  15. "Basketball Dream" – 0:55 (hidden track)

"Basketball Dream" features a boy, Tony Ballew (a relative of Chris Ballew), describing a dream he had about Magic Johnson - for this reason, the track is often mislabeled "Magic Johnson Dream". Chris Ballew can be heard faintly whispering the lyrics underneath the boy. The recording of Tony's voice, with a different musical backing, previously appeared on Feel Good, an album by Ballew's pre-PUSA band Egg, in 1987.

Personnel

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The Presidents of the United States of America
Additional personnel
  • Dave Thiele – piano, percussion
  • Tony Ballew – baby voice on "Basketball Dream"
  • Mark Sandmantritar on "Froggie"
  • S. Craig Montgomery – co-producing, engineering
  • Wally Traugott – mastering
  • Lance Mercer – photography
  • Jerry Finn – mixing
  • Doug Erb – art directing
  • Tom Smurdon – assistant engineering

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1996-1997) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 3
Canada Albums (The Record)[8] 5
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 30
French Albums (SNEP)[10] 43
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] 20
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[12] 35
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 29
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 50
US Billboard 200) 31

Year-end charts

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Chart (1996) Position
Australia (ARIA) 37

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[16] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[17] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "II - The Presidents of the United States of America". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  2. ^ Kot, Greg (November 8, 1996). "Presidents of the United States of America II (Columbia)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  3. ^ Browne, David (November 8, 1996). "No. 1 with a Ballot (Page 2)". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  4. ^ Scribner, Sara (December 8, 1996). "Presidents of the United States of America, 'II'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 25, 2013.
  5. ^ Cohen, Jason (November 28, 1996). "Presidents of the United States of America: II : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  6. ^ Thompson, Stephen (March 29, 2002). "The Presidents Of The United States Of America: II". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  7. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  8. ^ "HITS OF THE WORLD". Billboard. March 9, 1996. Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "The Presidents of the United States of America: II" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  10. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  11. ^ "Charts.nz – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  12. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  13. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  14. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  15. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1996 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  16. ^ "Canadian album certifications – The Presidents of the United States of America – II". Music Canada. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  17. ^ "American album certifications – The Presidents of the United States of America – Presidents II". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved September 11, 2022.