Gas Food Lodging (album)
1985 studio album by Green on Red
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Gas Food Lodging is an album by the American band Green on Red, released in 1985.[1][2] It was the band's only album for Enigma Records.[3] George Pelecanos references the album in his novel A Firing Offense.[4]
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| Gas Food Lodging | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Enigma | |||
| Producer | Paul B. Cutler | |||
| Green on Red chronology | ||||
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Recording and production
Recorded in five days, Gas Food Lodging was produced by Paul B. Cutler.[5][6] Chuck Prophet joined the band before the recording sessions for the album.[7] The band incorporated a more pronounced country sound on many of the songs.[8] "We Shall Overcome" is a cover of the gospel anthem.[9] "Sixteen Ways" is about an old man who outlives his many children.[10]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| Robert Christgau | B−[12] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [13] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[14] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [6] |
| Martin C. Strong | 8/10[15] |
Robert Palmer, in The New York Times, wrote that, "musically it's perhaps the most distinctive and accomplished of all the recent 60's-rooted albums"; he later listed the album among the best of 1985.[16][17] The Ottawa Citizen determined that "the roughness lends the music a measure of down-homeiness, but its stories do not reflect down-home attitudes... This is a bleak view of the American heartland."[18]
The Sunday Times called the album "clanging road music, the driven sounds of Californian boredom."[19] The Omaha World-Herald noted that "the bleak power of a record like Gas Food Lodging [is] akin to New York art bands like Television or the Velvet Underground."[9]
AllMusic concluded: "Gas Food Lodging is too loose and deliberately ramshackle to support the title of masterpiece, but calling it Green on Red's best album will do nicely."[11] Reviewing a reissue, Entertainment Weekly opined that the music could be labeled "garage Americana."[14] In 2023, Paste listed it among "The 70 Best Alt-Country Albums of All Time", opining that it incorporates elements of country music, jangle pop, and psychedelic pop.[20]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "That's What Dreams" | |
| 2. | "Black River" | |
| 3. | "Hair of the Dog" | |
| 4. | "This I Know" | |
| 5. | "Fading Away" | |
| 6. | "Easy Way Out" | |
| 7. | "Sixteen Ways" | |
| 8. | "The Drifter" | |
| 9. | "Sea of Cortez" | |
| 10. | "We Shall Overcome" |