''Blue-Sky Research'' is the third major label

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

band

Taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

. It was released on August 15, 2005 internationally and a day later in the

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Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

frontman

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

co-wrote three songs on the album.

Jonah Matranga Jonah Rzadzinski Matranga (born Jonah Sonz Matranga, August 11, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who has released a variety of solo material under his own name and onelinedrawing, and has previously been part of the bands ...

from Far and

Onelinedrawing Jonah Rzadzinski Matranga (born Jonah Sonz Matranga, August 11, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who has released a variety of solo material under his own name and onelinedrawing, and has previously been part of the bands ...

co-wrote "Calling". The band wrote over 80 songs for the effort. " Calling" was released as the first single and reached No. 11 on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

chart, while the second single, "

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", reached No. 39. It is Taproot's last album with Atlantic Records, as both parties had decided to part ways. It has a more melodic sound compared to the band's two previous albums, and sold over 150,000 copies in the U.S.

Critical reception

''Blue-Sky Research'' garnered mixed reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s who admired the genre shift and lush production but found it wasted with angst-filled lyrics. Corey Hoffy of

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to featu ...

praised the album for Wright's stellar production, the band's controlled instrumentation and Richards's lyrics approaching close to political territory, concluding that "this remains their most complex and best album to date." Vik Bansal of

musicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

praised the band for taking a melodic approach to the record along with their standard nu-metal formula, concluding that "Depending on your point of view, ''Blue-Sky Research'' will either come across as hopelessly unfocused or else one of the more ambitious and versatile rock albums to emerge for quite a while. With the consistent strength of the tunes here, I lean towards the latter." Johnny Loftus of

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found the self-deprecating lyrics formulaic at times but found the contributions of Corgan and Matranga to the record a nice addition to the band's improved musicianship, saying that "even without the hired guns ''Blue-Sky Research'' is the most dynamic Taproot album yet (the self-penned "So Eager" proves that), and the album's heightened textures and less predictable turns successfully updates the band's sound." ''

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''s

Christian Hoard Christian David Hoard is an American music journalist and music editor for ''Rolling Stone''. A 2000 graduate of the University of Michigan, he began his career as a music journalist writing for the ''Michigan Daily''. He later moved to New York Ci ...

said that despite the band adding elements of modern rock and electronica to its brand of nu-metal, the album's songs get "dragged down by melodrama and the kind of adenoidal choruses that

Incubus An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many c ...

do much better." Mikael Wood, writing for ''

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'', felt that the band was starting to become a relic of its given genre, saying that "On their third album, their lean Everydude grind—processed guitars stacked atop booming arena-rock drums—probes their feelings of insignificance in an all-too-workmanlike fashion."

Track listing

Notes

* "Calling" was released in late 2005. It was used by the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

as the theme song for their ''

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by David Webb Peoples. It stars Eastwood as William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after ...

'' pay-per-view event in 2005. ** Received radio airplay on June 27, 2005. ** Music video premiered on MTV.com. * Another song titled "Who's to Say" was recorded during the ''Blue-Sky Research'' sessions but was not included because of record politics. Stephen Richards was hoping for it to be a single, but was disappointed that it did not make the final cut. The song was, however, available for download on the band's official MySpace page for a limited time, and would later be included on the band's boxset ''Besides'' in 2018. * "Facepeeler" was supposed to be the band's third single, but because of record politics and poor album sales, it did not make it as a single. However, the band did have a contest for fans to create a music video.

Credits

Credits for ''Blue-Sky Research'' adapted from

. Taproot * Mike DeWolf - Art conception, composer, design direction, guitar * Philip Lipscomb - Bass, composer * Jarrod Montague - Composer, drums * Stephen Richards - Composer, guitar, vocals Production * Keith Armstrong - Assistant engineer * Elliott Blakey - Engineer * Trevor Cole - Guitar technician * Lanre Gaba - Artist coordination * Eric Hackett - Drum technician * Dmitar Krnjaic - Assistant engineer *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...

- Mixing *

Vlado Meller Vlado Meller (born in 1947 in Humenné as ''Vladimír Meller'') is a Slovak audio mastering engineer, currently with Vlado Meller Mastering in Charleston, South Carolina. Meller works across many genres of music, with credits on rock, hip-hop, p ...

- Mastering * Craig Rosen - Artist coordination * Mindy Ryu - Layout design * Mark Santangelo - Assistant * Tom Storms - A&R * Nitin Vadukul - Photography * Mark Wakefield - A&R *

Toby Wright Toby Wright is an American record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, KISS, Sevendust and Korn. Credits Producer * 3rd Strike - '' Lost Angel'' * 8stops7 - ''In Moderation'' *Alice in Ch ...

- Engineer, producer

Charts

Album -

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(North America) Singles - Billboard (North America)

References

{{Authority control 2005 albums Taproot (band) albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Toby Wright