"Beautiful" is a song by American band

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

from their debut studio album '' Realistic'' (1995). A remixed version of the song was issued as a

promotional single A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...

and distributed as a

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

in 1995 by

Seed Records Seed Records has been the name of multiple record labels. 1970s American label Seed Records was a record label started in 1972 by Paul Clark, a musician involved in the Jesus music movement. The label ran until circa 1981, when he started ...

. It features an acoustic version of the trio's single " Don't Believe a Word" as a bonus track. The track was written by

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

and

Andy Chase Andy Chase is an American musician, record producer, and label owner. He formed the band Ivy with Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne and Dominique Durand, now his wife. Chase owns Unfiltered Records and co-owned Stratosphere Sound studio with ...

, while production was handled by them in addition to Kurt Ralske. Critically, "Beautiful" was regarded as one of the best tracks on ''Realistic''.

Background and composition

In 1994,

formed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

following a meeting between

and French-native Dominique Durand. After acquiring musician

, they recorded several songs which would later appear on their first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP), '' Lately'' (1994). They also recorded the track " Get Enough", which became their debut single and also appeared on their first album. "Beautiful" is taken from '' Realistic'', the trio's debut album which was released through

in 1995. The track was written and produced by Schlesinger and Chase, while production was handled by them in addition to Kurt Ralske. It was recorded in 1994 during sessions for ''Realistic'' held at Zabriskie Point recording studios in New York City. The official remixed version of "Beautiful" was released as a

by Seed Records sometime in 1995. Previously an unreleased version of the song, the remix was distributed on

s along with an acoustic version of the album's second single, " Don't Believe a Word". At the time of its release, the "Beautiful" single was distributed during outings for Ivy's national tour to promote ''Realistic''. During the concerts, they toured with several musicians, including

Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was lead vocalist of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He ...

and

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in 1985, Collins started a so ...

Critical reception

In a retrospective review of Ivy's back catalog, a staff member at the ''Ectophiles' Guide'' recommended the song to its readers as one of the best on ''Realistic'', and listed album tracks "Decay" and "Shallow" as two others.

Track listing

References

Works cited * {{authority control Ivy (band) songs 1995 songs Songs written by Adam Schlesinger Songs written by Andy Chase