American Pearl is the eponymous, sole studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by the Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band of the same name

American Pearl

American Pearl was a hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. They released one studio album through Wind-up Records in 2000 and toured internationally before disbanding two years later.-History:...

. Released on August 22, 2000, it featured the singles "If We Were Kings" and "Free Your Mind." The track "Automatic" was featured on the Scream 3

Scream 3

Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series...

soundtrack. Along with "Free Your Mind," it also appeared in the Funimation

Funimation Entertainment

Funimation is an American entertainment company. Originally founded in 1994 by Gen Fukunaga, the company became a subsidiary of Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005...

 dub of the animated movie Dragonball Z: Lord Slug in 2001. The tracks "Seven Years" and "Revelation" also appeared in Dragonball Z: Cooler's Revenge the following year.

After signing with Wind-up Records

Wind-Up Records

Wind-up Entertainment, Inc. is a record label based in New York City. It was formed in 1997 by Alan Meltzer, former owner of CD One Stop, following his 1996 purchase of Grass Records. Wind-up is currently the largest independently-owned record label in the world...

 in 1999, the band opened concerts for Buckcherry

Buckcherry

Buckcherry is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before partially dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album...

 and The Cult

The Cult

The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...

 and even acquired a spot on Woodstock '99. In promotion of their debut album, American Pearl toured extensively through North America and Japan, as a headliner and as support act for KISS

KISS (band)

Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

, Creed

Creed (band)

Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...

, 3 Doors Down

3 Doors Down

3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa formed in 1996. The band consists of Brad Arnold , Matt Roberts , Todd Harrell , Chris Henderson , and Greg Upchurch ....

, and Days of the New

Days of the New

Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...

.

Stylistically, American Pearl differs from the popular alternative metal

Alternative metal

Alternative metal is a genre of alternative rock and heavy metal that gained popularity in the early 1990s. Most notably, alternative metal bands are characterized by heavy guitar riffs and experimental approaches to heavy music.-Origins:...

 scene of the era and follows more in the vein classic hard rock acts and punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

-laced LA bands of the 1980s. Indeed, the album was produced by Steve Jones

Steve Jones (musician)

Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...

 of Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

 fame and Mudrock

Mudrock

Mudrocks are a class of fine grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include: siltstone, claystone, mudstone, slate, and shale. Most of the particles are less than 0.0625 mm and are too small to study readily in the field...

. However, American Pearl has also been categorized as post-grunge

Post-grunge

Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...

.

Track list

1. "California"
2. "Automatic"
3. "Giveaway"
4. "Underground"
5. "Free Your Mind"
6. "Truth"
7. "Bleed"
8. "Seven Years"
9. "Revelation"
10. "Amphetamine Girl"
11. "If We Were Kings"

Reception

MacKenzie Wilson of Allmusic gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and noted "If it were the heyday of '70s arena rock, L.A.-based hard rock outfit American Pearl would be just as cool as Foreigner

Foreigner (band)

Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...

, Survivor

Survivor (band)

Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its AOR sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme...

, Kansas

Kansas (band)

Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...

, and Boston

Boston (band)

Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists...

" and that the band "captures such memories and maintains a gnarling edge." However, Wilson also claimed that American Pearl's style "pinpoints" them as "just another alternative rock band."

CANOE

Canadian Online Explorer

Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...

's Darryl Sterdan gave a favorable albeit brief review of the album. He described the band as having the "sleaze-rock

Glam metal

Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...

 punch of Guns 'N Roses and Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe

Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...

" and "Sunset Strip

Sunset Strip

The Sunset Strip is the name given to the mile-and-a-half stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with Hollywood at Harper Avenue, to its western border with Beverly Hills at Sierra Drive...

 sensibility" of Buckcherry

Buckcherry

Buckcherry is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before partially dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album...

. Sterdan summed up by stating "Thankfully, American Pearl are as talented with a hook

Hook (music)

A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...

 as Quinn must be with that needle."

External links

• "If We Were Kings"