''Rehab Doll'' is the only studio album by the American rock band Green River, released in 1988 through

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

Records.

Overview

Almost immediately following the release of '' Dry As a Bone'', the group re-entered the studio in August 1987 to begin production on its first full-length album, ''Rehab Doll''. The band initially started work on the album with producer Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, however the band switched to producer Bruce Calder and changed its recording location to Steve Lawson Studios in Seattle. Band in-fighting, though, took center stage over the music. A stylistic division developed between bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard on one side, and vocalist Mark Arm on the other. Ament and Gossard wanted to pursue a major-label deal, while Arm wanted to remain independent, viewing the duo as being too

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. On October 31, 1987, Ament, Gossard and guitarist Bruce Fairweather stated their desire to quit the band. Although the band members agreed to complete production of ''Rehab Doll'' during the next three months, Green River had by late October 1987 ceased as a band. The recording sessions for the album were completed in January 1988. The song " Swallow My Pride" originally appeared on the band's debut EP, '' Come on Down'', and the song "Together We'll Never" was previously released as a single through Tasque Force Records in 1986. Both songs were re-recorded for this album. The cassette version of ''Rehab Doll'' also contains a cover of the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

song " Queen Bitch". The album's cover art was photographed by Charles Peterson and a small portion of the Frye Hotel in Seattle is seen in the background. The album was released in May 1988 on

Records. Ned Raggett of

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 ...

called it "a record that sounded caught somewhere between

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

mania and

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/corp rock folly." It was reissued in 1990 as part of the '' Dry as a Bone/Rehab Doll'' compilation album. In 2019, the album was re-released with a new mix by original producer Jack Endino, and 10 bonus tracks.

Track listing

;Cassette bonus track

Personnel

;Green River * Jeff Ament – bass guitar, vocals, assistant production, inner sleeve design * Mark Arm – vocals, assistant production * Bruce Fairweather – guitars * Stone Gossard – guitars, vocals, assistant production * Alex Vincent – drums, percussion ;Additional musicians and production *Bruce Calder – groaning, moaning, screeching on "Porkfist",

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

, production * Jack Endino – pre-production recording *

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

– sonic groan *Linda Owens – jacket design * Charles Peterson –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

*Sharka Stern – background vocals on " Swallow My Pride"

References

{{Authority control 1988 debut albums Green River (band) albums Sub Pop albums