The Burdens of Being Upright

1996 studio album by Tracy Bonham

Studio album by

Tracy Bonham

Released

March 19, 1996 (1996-03-19)

Recorded

Summer 1995

Studio

Fort Apache Studios,
Cambridge, MA

Genre

Alternative rock

Length

35:28

Label

Island

Producer

Sean Slade
Paul Q. Kolderie

Tracy Bonham chronology

Liverpool Sessions EP
(1995)

The Burdens of Being Upright
(1996)

Down Here
(2000)

Singles from The Burdens of Being Upright

"Mother Mother"
Released: March 12, 1996^[1]
"Sharks Can't Sleep"
Released: 1996
"The One"
Released: 1996

The Burdens of Being Upright is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Tracy Bonham, released on March 19, 1996, by Island Records.^[2]^[3]

Content

The Burdens of Being Upright was recorded in the summer of 1995 at Fort Apache Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[4] Referencing this album, in 2015 Bonham said,

That whole album was my experiment with getting a guitar. I was rebelling. It was just raw. I was like, ‘Just get out and do it; get behind a microphone and just scream.’ Twenty years ago I had more doubts; I thought, ‘I can’t just stand there and do that’ — which is when I knew I had to do it.^[5]

The album cover (a reference to German photographer August Sander's work "The Bricklayer") was photographed by George DuBose, who was the in-house photographer at the hip hop label Cold Chillin' Records.

Commercial performance

The Burdens of Being Upright debuted at number 136 on the Billboard 200 chart dated April 27, 1996,^[6] and later reached its peak position of number 54 on the chart on June 15, 1996.^[7] It remained on the chart for 25 weeks.^[8] On November 12, 1996, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying the shipment of 500,000 copies of the album.^[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[11]
Entertainment Weekly	A^[12]
Kerrang!	^[13]
MusicHound Rock	^[14]
NME	7/10^[15]
Seventeen	^[16]

Rolling Stone noted that the album "tells a coherent, largely autobiographical story about a girl getting even with the obnoxious people who piss her off and underestimate her... With music ranging from laid-back Liz Phair-style storytelling to hard-edge alternative arena rock, she blasts ex-boyfriends ('Navy Bean', 'The One'), ridicules rock stars ('Kisses') and makes a pre-emptive strike at critics who might be tempted to label her ('One Hit Wonder')."^[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tracy Bonham

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Mother Mother"	3:00
2.	"Navy Bean"	2:49
3.	"Tell It to the Sky"	4:05
4.	"Kisses"	2:20
5.	"Brain Crack"	1:05
6.	"The One"	3:26
7.	"One Hit Wonder"	3:01
8.	"Sharks Can't Sleep"	4:33
9.	"Bulldog"	2:07
10.	"Every Breath"	2:33
11.	"30 Seconds"	3:14
12.	"The Real"	3:16

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[18]

Tracy Bonham – guitar, violin, vocals
Ed Ackerson – guitar
Fred Eltringham – drums
Josh Freese – drums
Drew Parsons – bass guitar
Eric Paul – drums
Sean Slade – organ, production, engineer
Paul Q. Kolderie – production, engineer

Charts

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)^[19]	31
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[19]	26
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[19]	27
New Zealand Album (RMNZ)^[19]	46
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[19]	48
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)^[20]	9
US Billboard 200^[7]	54

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[21]	Gold	500,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Awards

Grammy Award Nominations

Year	Nominee	Category
1996	"Mother Mother"	Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
1996	The Burdens of Being Upright	Best Alternative Album

References

^ "Tracy Bonham: Mother Mother" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1136. March 8, 1996. p. 78. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
^ Dawn, Randee (April 1996). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Monthly (32). CMJ Network, Inc.: 28. ISSN 1074-6978.
^ Borzillo, Carrie (May 11, 1996). "Island's Bonham Hits". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 19. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 1, 74. ISSN 0006-2510.
^ Fritz, J. (March 2, 1996). "Tracy Bonham – The Burdens of Being Upright – Interview | Lollipop Magazine". Lollipop. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ Laban, Linda (August 27, 2015). "Tracy Bonham: From 'Mother, Mother' to Exploring Motherhood on 'Wax and Gold'". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
^ Anon. (April 27, 1996). "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 97. ISSN 0006-2510.
^ ^a ^b Anon. (June 15, 1996). "The Billboard 200". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 24. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 92. ISSN 0006-2510.
^ Chinen, Nate (July 11, 2010). "Foot in the City and Cowboy Boot In the Country". The New York Times: AR19 – via ProQuest.
^ "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ AllMusic Review
^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (1998). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE Inc. p. 658. ISBN 0-333-74134-X.
^ Flaherty, Mike (March 15, 1996). "The Burdens of Being Upright". EW.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
^ Elliott, Paul (June 8, 1996). "Albums". Kerrang!. No. 600. EMAP. p. 45.
^ Knopper, Steve (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. p. 141 – via Internet Archive.
^ Morgan, Emma (June 7, 1996). "NME.COM - TRACY BONHAM - The Burdens Of Being Upright - 6/7/1996". NME. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
^ Anon. (April 1996). "Music Reviews". Seventeen: 128 – via WayBack Machine.
^ Lieb, Kristin (March 21, 1996). "Tracy Bonham enjoys her winning streak: Simply the best". Rolling Stone. No. 730. p. 28.
^ The Burdens of Being Upright (booklet). Tracy Bonham. Island. 1996. 314-524 187-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "norwegiancharts.com - Tracy Bonham - The Burdens Of Being Upright". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
^ Anon. (April 27, 1996). "Billboard's Heatseekers Albums Chart". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 17. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 18.
^ "American album certifications – Tracy Bonham – The Burdens of Being Upright". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 18, 2023.