Eight Arms to Hold You
Eight Arms to Hold You is the second studio album by alternative rock band Veruca Salt. It was released on February 11, 1997, through Outpost/Geffen Records.
| Eight Arms to Hold You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]()  | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 11, 1997 | |||
| Recorded | June 1996 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, grunge | |||
| Length | 51:10 | |||
| Label | Outpost, Geffen Records | |||
| Producer | Bob Rock | |||
| Veruca Salt chronology | ||||
  | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating | 
| AllMusic | |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[3] | 
| NME | 7/10[4] | 
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Spin | 7/10[7] | 
| Wall of Sound | 36/100[8] | 
Release
    
The album was produced by Bob Rock. The title is a reference to the working title for The Beatles' film eventually titled Help!.[9]
Eight Arms to Hold You peaked at number 55 on the Billboard 200. The single "Volcano Girls", written by Nina Gordon, was a rock radio hit. Veruca Salt performed "Shutterbug", written by Louise Post, on Saturday Night Live.[9][10] Besides those two, there were three other singles released from the album: "Benjamin", "The Morning Sad", and "Straight".
This was the last album to feature all of the original band members - Gordon, Post, Steve Lack, and Jim Shapiro - until the 2015 album Ghost Notes.
Track listing
    
All music is composed by Veruca Salt
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Straight" | Louise Post | 2:32 | 
| 2. | "Volcano Girls" | Nina Gordon | 3:18 | 
| 3. | "Don't Make Me Prove It" | Post | 2:29 | 
| 4. | "Awesome" | Gordon | 3:32 | 
| 5. | "One Last Time" | Post | 4:45 | 
| 6. | "With David Bowie" | Gordon | 2:25 | 
| 7. | "Benjamin" | Gordon | 4:05 | 
| 8. | "Shutterbug" | Post | 4:16 | 
| 9. | "The Morning Sad" | Gordon | 3:08 | 
| 10. | "Sound of the Bell" | Post | 3:59 | 
| 11. | "Loneliness Is Worse" | Gordon | 5:00 | 
| 12. | "Stoneface" | Gordon | 2:44 | 
| 13. | "Venus Man Trap" | Post | 3:29 | 
| 14. | "Earthcrosser" | Gordon | 5:28 | 
| Total length: | 51:10 | ||
Personnel
    
Veruca Salt
- Nina Gordon - guitar, vocals
 - Louise Post - guitar, vocals
 - Jim Shapiro - guitar, drums, backing vocals
 - Steve Lack - bass guitar, guitar
 
Additional personnel
- Jim McGillveray - percussion
 - Zach Ingraham - whiteboard
 - Bob Rock - producer
 - Randy Staub - engineer, mixing
 - Brian Dobbs - engineer
 - Mike Cusick - assistant engineer
 - Jim Labinski - assistant engineer
 - Jeff Lane - assistant engineer, mixing assistant
 - Darren Grahn - assistant engineer
 - George Marino - mastering
 - Mike Gilles - digital editing, assistant engineer, digital programming
 
Charts
    
    Album
    
| Chart (1997) | Peak position  | 
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] | 69 | 
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] | 34 | 
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] | 40 | 
| UK Albums (OCC)[14] | 95 | 
| US Billboard 200[15] | 55 | 
Singles
    
- 1997 – "Volcano Girls" – US Modern Rock Tracks - No. 8[15]
 - 1997 – "Volcano Girls" – US Mainstream Rock Tracks - No. 9
 - 1997 – "Volcano Girls" – UK Singles Chart - No. 56[16]
 - 1997 – "Volcano Girls" – Australian ARIA singles chart - No. 47[17]
 - 1997 – "Volcano Girls" – Swedish singles chart - No. 32[13]
 - 1997 – "Shutterbug" – US Mainstream Rock Tracks - No. 39[15]
 - 1997 – "Shutterbug" – Australian ARIA singles chart - No. 114[18]
 - 1997 – "Benjamin" – UK Singles Chart - No. 75[16]
 - 1997 – "Straight" – US Mainstream Rock Tracks - No. 38
 
References
    
- Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Eight Arms to Hold You". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
 - Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Veruca Salt". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
 - Browne, David (1997-02-14). "Eight Arms to Hold You". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
 - Perry, John (1997-01-03). "Eight Arms To Hold You". NME. Archived from the original on 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
 -  O'Connor, Rob (1997-01-30). "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) -  The new Rolling Stone album guide. Internet Archive. New York : Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 849. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - Vowell, Sarah (March 1997). "Records". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. pp. 100–1.
 - Himmelsbach, Erik. "Wall of Sound Review: Eight Arms To Hold You". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 2001-02-11. Retrieved 2023-03-11.
 - Caro, Mark. "Veruca Salt reunites years after explosive breakup". chicagotribune.com. July 3, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
 - Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Veruca Salt". allmusic.com. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
 - Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 294.
 - "Charts.nz – Veruca Salt – Eight Arms to Hold You". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
 - "Swedishcharts.com – Veruca Salt – Eight Arms to Hold You". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
 - "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
 - "Veruca Salt - Chart history". Billboard. 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
 - "Official Charts > Veruca Salt". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
 - "australian-charts.com > Discography Veruca Salt". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
 - "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2015-07-15". Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2015-10-09 – via Imgur.
 
