Excellent Italian Greyhound

Excellent Italian Greyhound is Shellac's fourth album, released on June 5, 2007. The album's title is a reference to drummer Todd Trainer's Italian Greyhound, Uffizi, who appears on the album's cover. The album was recorded at Electrical Audio and mastered at Abbey Road by Steve Rooke. The drawings for Excellent Italian Greyhound were created by Jay Ryan from the band Dianogah. As well as a hand screened obi sleeve surrounding the jacket, there are several pictures taken by Joel Larson. As with 1000 Hurts, the vinyl pressing of the album includes an unmarked CD version at no extra charge (CD and LP+CD releases are similarly priced). The band encourages listeners to purchase the vinyl to hear the record as it was intended.

Excellent Italian Greyhound
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 5, 2007
Recorded2006
Genre
Length42:19
LabelTouch & Go
ProducerShellac
Shellac chronology
1000 Hurts
(2000)
Excellent Italian Greyhound
(2007)
Dude Incredible
(2014)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The A.V. ClubB−[3]
The Boston Phoenix[4]
Drowned in Sound7/10[5]
OndaRock7/10[6]
Pitchfork Media7.0/10[7]
Rock Hard9.0/10[8]
Sputnikmusic[9]
Tiny Mix Tapes[10]

In November 2009, NME included the album on their list of "The Top 100 Greatest Albums Of The Decade".[11]

Voice-over artist, Ken Nordine, appears uncredited on the song "Genuine Lulabelle". The introduction to "Spoke" includes a cover version of the "Rotosound Strings" radio commercial from The Who's 1967 album The Who Sell Out.

In the run-out groove, there is a text etching. Side One - "Pronto Prova..." Side Two - "A Isamu Sta Lapa!"

The song "Genuine Lulabelle" features clips of the Homestar Runner character Strong Bad reciting lines from the song.

Track listing

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No.TitleLength
1."The End of Radio"8:27
2."Steady As She Goes"4:06
3."Be Prepared"4:05
4."Elephant"4:24
5."Genuine Lulabelle"9:17
6."Kittypants"1:59
7."Boycott"2:14
8."Paco"5:29
9."Spoke"2:18

Charts

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Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
2007 Top Heatseekers 17
2007 Top Independent Albums 45

References

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  1. ^ "Excellent Italian Greyhound by Shellac". Metacritic.
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ "Shellac: Excellent Italian Greyhound". Music. 12 June 2007.
  4. ^ "The Boston Phoenix July 27-August 02, 2007: Vol 36 Iss 30". Boston Phoenix. 27 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Album Review: Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound". DrownedInSound. Archived from the original on 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  6. ^ Tobia D’Onofrio. "Shellac". OndaRock. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  7. ^ "Shellac: Excellent Italian Greyhound". Pitchfork.
  8. ^ Wolf Rüdiger Mülhmann. "Excellent Italian Greyhound". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  9. ^ "Review: Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound | Sputnikmusic". www.sputnikmusic.com.
  10. ^ "Music Review: Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound". Tiny Mix Tapes.
  11. ^ "The Top 100 Greatest Albums Of The Decade | NME". NME. November 11, 2009.