''She Hangs Brightly'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American alternative rock band Mazzy Star. It was released on May 21, 1990, by

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

and re-released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

later in the year. "Blue Flower" was released as a single and reached number 29 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. Four years later, "Halah" reached number 19 on the same chart after the success of " Fade into You". The album cover is a shot of the interior of Hôtel Tassel in Brussels.

Composition

It showcases the band's trademark effect with haunting guitar work and lyrics, and Hope Sandoval's detached vocals.

David Roback David Edward Roback (April 4, 1958 – February 24, 2020) was an American guitarist, songwriter and producer, best known as a founding member of the alternative rock band Mazzy Star. Early life Roback was born on April 4, 1958 and raised in ...

's Robby Krieger-inspired psychedelic blues

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

style can be heard on the song "Free". "Ghost Highway" is another psychedelic rock track, with a fast rhythm. This song dates from the band's days as Opal and was initially slated to be the title track of Opal's second album. While not a commercial success, this album did establish Mazzy Star as a unique band with a unique sound. "Blue Flower" is a Slapp Happy cover from the 1972 album '' Sort Of''.

Critical reception

In a review for '' Rolling Stone'', Gina Arnold praised ''She Hangs Brightly'' as being "coldly beautiful". AllMusic's Jason Ankeny described Hope Sandoval's vocals as "more sultry" than those of Opal's Kendra Smith and praised "Halah" and "Blue Flower" but criticized the album's lack of focus, calling the remaining tunes "unmemorable".

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

of Nirvana listed ''She Hangs Brightly'' in his top fifty albums of all time. In 2018, '' Pitchfork'' ranked the album at number 29 on its list of the 30 best dream pop albums.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for ''She Hangs Brightly'' adapted from album liner notes. Musicians *William Cooper *Suki Ewers *Sylvia Gomez *Keith Mitchell *Paul Olguin *

* Hope Sandoval Technical personnel *David Roback – production *Merlyn Rosenberg – photography *Mazzy Star – cover design

References

{{Authority control Mazzy Star albums 1990 debut albums Capitol Records albums