''Broken Toy Shop'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter E (a.k.a. Mark Oliver Everett), released in December 1993 by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

. It was his last record as a solo artist before forming the band

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order (biology), order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 Family (biology), families, 164 genus, genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the earl ...

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

gave the album three stars, finding it to be "more of the same highly crafted

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

that graced his

debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...

; although the overall quality of songs is just a notch lower than his first album, ''Broken Toy Shop'' nevertheless features many delightful pop gems." Michael Zwirn of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' also found it to be inferior to its predecessor, feeling the album "is longer, but less memorable overall, although “The Only Thing I Care About” and “Shine It All On” are finger-snappable pop hits that weren’t."

Track listing

All songs written by E, except where noted. # "Shine It All On" (E,

Parthenon Huxley Richard Willett Miller, professionally known as Parthenon Huxley (born January 19, 1956) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and producer who is known for his solo albums and for his involvement in ELO Part II and The Orchestra, both o ...

) – 4:04 # "Standing at the Gate" – 3:31 # "The Only Thing I Care About" (E, Huxley) – 2:40 # "Manchester Girl" – 3:21 # "L.A. River" (Jennifer Condos, E) – 2:28 # "A Most Unpleasant Man" – 3:18 # "Mass" (Sean Coleman, E) – 3:38
(includes unlisted track "Hello Are You There?") # "Tomorrow I'll Be Nine" – 2:52 # "The Day I Wrote You Off" – 3:30 # "Someone to Break the Spell" (Anderson, Condos, E,

Susanna Hoffs Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. With Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson, she founded the Bangles in 1981. Their debut album, ''All Over the Place (The Bangles album), All Over ...

) – 2:51 # "She Loves a Puppet" (Condos, E) – 2:46 # "My Old Raincoat" (E, Huxley) – 3:57 # "Permanent Broken Heart" – 3:28 # "Eight Lives Left" – 2:52

Personnel

* E – vocals, piano (tracks 1, 4, 6, 9), screaming (1),

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created from rotat ...

(1–3, 6, 8, 9, 14), keyboards (1–3, 6, 9, 12, 13), percussion (1, 8), electric guitar (2, 4, 9, 13, 14), drums (2, 3, 5, 6, 12, 13),

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( ; or , : bells and : play) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a Musical keyboard, keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the v ...

(3, 4),

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

(3, 5, 6, 8–10, 12),

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usu ...

(4, 6, 7a),

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(4), Bit One (4), whistle (5),

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

s (5),

slingshot A slingshot or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two tubes or strips made from either a natural rubber or synthetic elastic material. These are attached to the upper two ends ...

(5),

sleigh bells A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. Th ...

(5), fingersnaps (5), guitar (7b), baby (7b), lead guitar (8), acoustic guitar (14), harmonica (14), accordion (14), celeste (14) ;Additional musicians *

– electric guitar (1, 3, 9, 12), acoustic guitar (1, 3, 12), keyboards (1), background vocals (3), rhythm guitar (9), bass guitar (12), Hammond B-3 (12) * Paul Martinez – bass guitar (1) * Winston Watson – drums (1, 8–10) *

Patrick Warren Patrick Warren (born March 26, 1957) is an American musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Magnolia'', ''Fifty Shades of Grey'', ''Boogie Nights'' and ''Red State'', as well as the television series '' ...

–

Chamberlin The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by the American inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. There are several ...

(1, 5, 7a, 10, 14), keyboards (1) * Chris Solberg – bass guitar (3, 5–7a, 8, 9, 14), organ hi note (3, 8), acoustic guitar (5), electric guitar (5), Hammond B-3 (5, 10), piano (5), fingersnaps (5), glockenspiel (8) * Michael Koppelman – fingersnaps (5), acoustic guitar (14) * Sean Coleman – acoustic guitar (7a), electric guitar (7a), piano (7a) *

Richard Greene Richard Marius Joseph Greene (25 August 1918 – 1 June 1985) was a noted English film and television actor. A matinée idol who appeared in more than 40 films, he was perhaps best known for the lead role in the long-running British TV series ...

– violin (7a) * Jeff Swartz – trombone (7a) *

Rusty Anderson Rusty Anderson is an American musician best known for his work as lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001. He has worked with an extensive list of other artists in addition to his own solo career. Career Anderson became a p ...

– acoustic guitar (10), electric guitar (10) *

Jennifer Condos Jennifer Condos is an American bass guitarist known primarily for her session and live performance work. She has contributed to the recordings and live performances of many well-known artists. Biography Condos was a founding member of the ban ...

– bass guitar (10, 11), background vocals (11) *

Mark Goldenberg Mark Goldenberg (born October 2, 1952) is an American guitarist and songwriter, noted for his session work and composition of successful songs for Linda Ronstadt, the Pointer Sisters, and others. Biography Early career Raised in Chicago, Illi ...

– electric guitars (11), keyboards (11), drums (11),

6 string bass An extended-range bass is an electric bass guitar with a wider frequency range than a standard-tuned four-string bass guitar. Terminology One way that a bass can be considered ''extended-range'' is to use a mechanical detuner, a special machi ...

solo (11) ;Technical * E – co-producer, string co-arrangements (2, 6, 12, 13), orchestral co-arranger (9), inlay painting, shoe photo * Michael Koppelman – co-producer, engineer, mixing; additional recording (1) * Chris Solberg – assistant producer *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and distri ...

– mastering * Parthenon Huxley – co-producer (1) * Mike Fennel – engineer (1) * Mark Goldenberg – co-producer, engineer, mixing (11) * Brian Soucy – assistant engineer (11) * Brandon Harris – assistant engineer (11) *

John Philip Shenale John Philip Shenale (often mentioned as Phil Shenale) is a Canadian composer, arranger, musician and producer based in Los Angeles. Background Shenale was born in Canada in 1951. His family relocated to the United States in the late-1950s. ...

– string co-arranger, co-orchestrator (2, 6, 12, 13) * Scott Smalley – co-orchestrator (2, 6, 12, 13) * John Carter – orchestral engineer (2, 6, 12, 13) *

Paul Buckmaster Paul John Buckmaster (13 June 1946 – 7 November 2017) was a British cellist, arranger, conductor and composer, with a career spanning five decades. He is best known for his orchestral collaborations with David Bowie, Shawn Phillips, Elton Joh ...

– orchestral arranger, conductor (4); orchestral co-arranger, conductor (9) * David Schoeber – orchestral engineer (9) * Marvin Sanders –

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

Mick Haggerty Mick Haggerty is an English graphic designer, illustrator, art director, video director and artist. Haggerty has received four Grammy Award nominations for Best Recording Package for the album Worship and Tribute and in 1980 was jointly awarded, w ...

– art direction, design * Greg Allen – cover photo * Steve Samiof – cover photo manipulation * Terri Phillips – back cover photo *

Hugh Everett III Hugh Everett III (; November 11, 1930 – July 19, 1982) was an American physicist who proposed the relative state interpretation of quantum mechanics. This influential approach later became the basis of the many-worlds interpretation (MWI). Ev ...

– CD photo

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1993 albums Eels (band) albums Polydor Records albums Albums produced by Mark Oliver Everett Albums produced by Parthenon Huxley

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

References

Further reading

External links