Last of the Ghetto Astronauts was the debut album of the Matthew Good Band

Matthew Good Band

Matthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed by Matthew Good that existed from 1993 to 2002. The band consisted of Good , Dave Genn , Ian Browne and Geoff Lloyd from 1995 to 1999...

. It was released independently in 1995 on a budget of roughly $5,000 CAD. With the singles "Alabama Motel Room", "Symbolistic White Walls", the album achieved incredible popularity, particularly in western Canada. It gained the title of highest-selling independent album in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, a title it holds to this day.

The band was originally going to go with another name ("Snowaxe" and "Gandalf" have been mentioned by Matthew Good), however a radio station in Vancouver played "Alabama Motel Room" and announced the band as the Matthew Good Band

Matthew Good Band

Matthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed by Matthew Good that existed from 1993 to 2002. The band consisted of Good , Dave Genn , Ian Browne and Geoff Lloyd from 1995 to 1999...

, at which point it stuck.

Last of the Ghetto Astronauts has two album covers: the original, independent cover, with cursive writing along the bottom and the band name featured prominently, and the subsequent production company release, which uses block letters and a different text layout. Both albums have the same pictures.

Track listing

All tracks written by Matthew Good, except where noted.

1. "Alabama Motel Room" - 3:18 (Good, Lloyd, Browne)
2. "Symbolistic White Walls" - 4:30
3. "She's Got a New Disguise" - 6:17
4. "Native Son" - 4:52
5. "Vermilion" - 4:49
6. "Every Name Is My Name" - 4:00
7. "Haven't Slept in Years" - 3:23
8. "Radio Bomb" - 3:09
9. "Fearless" - 5:15
10. "The War Is Over" - 7:56 / "Omissions of the Omen" - 4:32

*"Omissions of the Omen" is a bonus track that follows the end of "The War Is Over"

Miscellanea

• The album's title comes from a six-minute song of the same name on Good's 1994 demo 15 Hours on a September Thursday.

• Two of the songs on Last of the Ghetto Astronauts were re-released on the EP
  Extended play
  An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
  
   Raygun
  Raygun (album)
  Raygun was a five-song EP released by the Matthew Good Band in 1996 as a followup to their enormously popular indie release, Last of the Ghetto Astronauts. Distributed by A&M Records on Matthew Good's own imprint, Darktown, it was the first MGB album to include guitarist Dave Genn as a member of...
  
  (1996). Whereas the recording of "Alabama Motel Room" on Raygun is identical to that which appears on Last of the Ghetto Astronauts, the Raygun version of "Haven't Slept in Years" is completely redone (to the satisfaction of many fans).

• Surprisingly, not a single electric guitar was employed in the recording of this album. All guitars heard on the album were either acoustics or acoustics run through Marshall amplifiers. (The difference is fully realized when one listens to the electrified "Haven't Slept in Years" on Raygun.)

Personnel

• Matthew Good Band
  Matthew Good Band
  Matthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed by Matthew Good that existed from 1993 to 2002. The band consisted of Good , Dave Genn , Ian Browne and Geoff Lloyd from 1995 to 1999...
  
  
  • Matthew Good
    Matthew Good
    Matthew Frederick Robert Good is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer for the Matthew Good Band, one of Canada's most successful alternative rock bands in the 1990s, before dissolving the band in 2002...
    
      - vocals
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
    
    , guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
    
    
  • Ian Browne - drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
    
    
  • Geoff Lloyd - Bass Guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
    
    
• Dave Genn
  Dave Genn
  David Robert Madison Genn is a musician and a member of Canadian rock group 54-40. Genn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on 2 March 1969.-Matthew Good Band:...
  
    - Organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  , Rhodes
  Rhodes piano
  The Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
  
  
• Steve Black - Piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
   on track 9
• Judy Renouf - Cello
  Cello
  The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
  
   on track 9
• John Shepp - Producer, mixer, percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
   on track 4

Note: Terry Brown mixed tracks 1 & 2

• George Leger - Mastering
• George Jenkins - Layout & Design
• Recorded at Utopia Parkway Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
  
• Manufacturer: Darktown Records
• Distributor: A&M Records
  A&M Records
  A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
  
  , a division of PolyGram
  PolyGram
  PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
  
  Inc.
• Words and music by Matthew Good

Except "Alabama Motel Room", music by Good/Lloyd/Browne