American Standard is the second studio album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by American post-grunge

Post-grunge

Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...

 band Seven Mary Three

Seven Mary Three

Seven Mary Three, occasionally abbreviated to 7 Mary 3 or 7M3, is an American hard rock band. They have released seven studio albums and one live album, and are best known for their hit singles "Cumbersome", "Water's Edge", "Lucky", and "Wait"....

. It was released on September 5, 1995 on Mammoth Records

Mammoth Records

Founded by Jay Faires in 1989 in Carrboro, North Carolina, Mammoth Records was one of the premiere independent record labels of the 1990s. Its roster featured such diverse talent as Antenna, Blake Babies, Chainsaw Kittens, Dash Rip Rock, Dillon Fence, Far Too Jones, Frente!, Fun-Da-Mental, Fu...

. The album would be Seven Mary Three's breakthrough success, rising to #24 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 and going platinum. Many of the songs were rerecorded versions of tracks off Seven Mary Three's independent debut, Churn

Churn (Seven Mary Three album)

Churn is the debut studio album by American post-grunge band Seven Mary Three. It was independently released and preceded the band's mainstream breakthrough, American Standard. Churn also included two songs that would go on to be among Seven Mary Three's biggest singles. The album was re-released...

.

Overview

The album's biggest hit single was "Cumbersome

Cumbersome

"Cumbersome" is a song by Seven Mary Three and the lead single from their breakthrough album, American Standard. It was originally included on their independently released debut, Churn, in 1994. The single was released in 1996 and became the band's most popular and well known song...

" (#1 on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, #7 on Hot Modern Rock Tracks, and #39 on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

). Other Billboard-charting singles were "Water's Edge

Water's Edge

Waters Edge is the eighth studio album by rock band Sweet, released in 1980.-Track listing:# "Sixties Man" - 4:11...

" (#7 on Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and #37 on Hot Modern Rock Tracks), and "My My" (#19 on Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks).

Additionally, the song "Roderigo" was inspired by the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude , by Gabriel García Márquez, is a novel which tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo, the metaphoric Colombia...

 by Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel García Márquez

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...

.

Future albums by the group would see shifts in musical style and would ultimately fail to match the success of American Standard. "We made American Standard when we were fresh out of college, and it represented that time" said Giti Khalsa in an interview with Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

. Regarding the album's overall style, Jason Ross explained:

"I think there's a basic theme through the whole work. . . Everything that's depicted is a human relationship, but it's all about forgiveness. There is definitely a hint of guilt in many of the songs. Many of our families have gone through divorce, and fidelity is a big issue for this band."

Track listing

All songs written by Jason Ross and Jason Pollock, except where noted.

1. "Water's Edge
   Water's Edge
   Waters Edge is the eighth studio album by rock band Sweet, released in 1980.-Track listing:# "Sixties Man" - 4:11...
   
   " – 3:52
2. "Cumbersome
   Cumbersome
   "Cumbersome" is a song by Seven Mary Three and the lead single from their breakthrough album, American Standard. It was originally included on their independently released debut, Churn, in 1994. The single was released in 1996 and became the band's most popular and well known song...
   
   " – 3:59
3. "Roderigo" – 4:24
4. "Devil Boy" – 4:24
5. "My My" – 2:52
6. "Lame" – 4:52
7. "Headstrong" (Ross/Daniel/Pollock) – 4:46
8. "Anything" – 3:40
9. "Margaret" – 3:42
10. "Punch In Punch Out" (Ross/Khalsa) – 2:48
11. "Favorite Dog" – 6:51

Album credits

• Jason Ross – Lead vocals, guitars
• Jason Pollock – Lead guitars, vocals
• Casey Daniel – Bass
• Giti Khalsa – Drums

Production

• Producers: Jason Ross, Jason Pollock, and Tom Morris
• Engineering: Tom Morris and Brian Benscoter
• Mixing: Tom Morris
• Mastering: Tom Morris
• Art Direction: Lane Wurster and Seven Mary Three
• Graphic Design: Chris Eselgroth
• Photography: Ben Gray
• Additional Photography: Alex Tremi
• Cover Photograph: Suzanne Opton/Swanstock