''Free-for-All'' is the second album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Penn, released in 1992 on

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. It contains two songs that reached the Top 20 on the

Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

charts: "Long Way Down (Look What the Cat Drug In)" peaked at number 14, while the second single, "Seen the Doctor", reached nine spots higher. The album led to a bitter battle between Penn and his record company, pushing a follow-up album to 1997.

Critical reception

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' stated: "Penn is again working with producer Tony Berg, but this time they provide a rich, subtle blending of instruments, harmonies and textures to create an album that doesn't so much pop out as seep in." In his review for

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 ...

, Stewart Mason wrote that it was the record which proved to critics that Penn was no

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

, calling "Long Way Down" a "dark and pained opening to an album that was hardly pop-star material."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Michael Penn. #"Long Way Down (Look What the Cat Drug In)" – 3:52 #"Free Time" – 4:12 #"Coal" – 3:33 #"Seen the Doctor" – 3:12 #"By the Book" – 3:46 #"Drained" – 3:59 #"Slipping My Mind" – 2:36 #"Strange Season" – 3:51 #"Bunker Hill" – 4:39 #"Now We're Even" – 4:55

Personnel

Musicians

*Michael Penn – vocals, guitars *Chris Hickey, Steven Soles, Glenn Tilbrook, Keith Wilkinson – backing vocals *Bennett Chesne – guitars, backing vocals * Gurf Morlix – pedal steel,

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

, backing vocals * Tony Berg – harmonica, percussion * Patrick Warren – keyboards *Joel Hirsch –

djembe A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...

, udu *

Wendy Melvoin Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band the Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...

– trombone *Ron Leonard – cello *John Pierce – bass * Kenny Aronoff, D.J. Bonebrake,

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

, Ian McHandel Lepine,

Pat Mastelotto Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955) is an American rock drummer and record producer. He has been a member of King Crimson, Stick Men, Mr. Mister and O.R.k., as well as working as a session drummer with XTC, The Pointer Sisters an ...

– drums, percussion

Production

*Arranged by Michael Penn *Produced by Michael Penn and Tony Berg *Engineered by Greg Goldman (also 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 ...

& Susan Rogers, with assistance by Paul Dieter & Ken Jordan *Mixed by Bob Clearmountain *Mastered by

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control Michael Penn albums 1992 albums RCA Records albums Albums produced by Tony Berg