Golden State is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Bush, released on October 23, 2001 through Atlantic Records. It is the last Bush album to feature Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons on guitar and bass, respectively.
Bush would not release another studio album again until ten years later with The Sea of Memories (2011). The liner notes of Golden State cite the album in memory of Ian Lowery, founder of Folk Devils. In the documentary Making Of Golden State, the title is revealed as being inspired by the Golden State Freeway, which Gavin Rossdale used to use to get home.
Following the raw, Steve Albini, produced Razorblade Suitcase (1996) and the electro-tinged hard rock of The Science of Things (1999), Golden State was considered by Stephen Thomas Erlewine to be a return to the band’s style from 1994, when they released their debut album Sixteen Stone.
The music of Golden State is held to be a resurrection of the sound of the band’s 1994 debut album, Sixteen Stone. Rossdale commented that he felt the band were
“coming back full-circle” with the record, after a near decade together, further proclaiming Golden State to be “a real rock record” with a sound he felt was “very naked” and “empowering and uplifting”.
The album’s original cover featured an outline of a passenger airliner. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the band changed the artwork to something more minimal. The album’s lead single, “The People That We Love”, was originally titled “Speed Kills” (which appeared on advance promo copies and early radio promos advertising the song), but it was renamed for the same reason, after being listed as an inappropriate song by Clear Channel Communications. Regarding the name change, the band posted this message on their website:
Since the song is one of love, appreciation and rising against adversity, we hope that this change will reflect our desire to be part of the soothing that art brings at these times.
The song “Headful of Ghosts” also featured a lyric change when performed live, substituting the word terrorist for maverick, for the same reason.
Upon release, “The People That We Love” saw significant radio play as well as heavy rotation of its music video on MTV2. However, compared to earlier Bush hits, it has since been virtually forgotten on radio.
A follow-up single was not released in the US, making this Bush‘s final American single for 9 years until reunited in 2010 with the single ‘Afterlife’. In the UK, “Inflatable” was released as a single with an accompanying video.
Golden State was released by Atlantic Records, which originally distributed Sixteen Stone. Bush co-hosted the October 22, 2001 edition of Channel One News to promote the album and give away an autographed copy, an act which critics of the educational program derided.
Tracklist:
- Solutions
- Headful of Ghosts
- The People That We Love
- Superman
- Fugitive
- Hurricane
- Inflatable
- Reasons
- Land of the Living
- My Engine Is with You
- Out of This World
- Float
Bush
Gavin Rossdale: lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Nigel Pulsford: lead guitar, backing vocals
Dave Parsons: bass
Robin Goodridge: drums
Additional musicians
Paul Eastman: piano
Jamie Muhoberac: keyboards
Eric Stefani: piano
Technical personnel
Bush: production
Pete Black: photography
Billy Bowers: editing
Greg Fidelman: engineer
Paul Foley: editing
Lorraine Francis: assistant engineer
G: art direction
Bon Harris: programming
Stephen Marcussen: mastering
Dennis Morris: photography
Dave Sardy: mixing, production, sonics
Stewart Whitmore: mastering
