Lemon Parade is Tonic's

Tonic (band)

Tonic is an American rock band that has earned two Grammy nominations to date. The band was formed in 1993 by Emerson Hart and Jeff Russo. Later members have included Dan Lavery, Kevin Shepard, and Dan Rothchild. Signed to a recording contract in 1995, the band released its debut album Lemon Parade...

 first album, released in 1996. The album has sold 1,300,000 copies to date, and reached platinum status in the United States. Tonic released a live EP with enhanced material called Live and Enhanced based on the success of this album. "If You Could Only See

If You Could Only See

"If You Could Only See" is a song by the American rock band Tonic. The song was released as part of the band's debut album, Lemon Parade. It remains Tonic's highest charting single in the United States, Canada, and Australia...

" was a hit single on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks

Mainstream Rock Tracks

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...

 charts reaching #1, and also reached #11 on the Billboard Airplay Hot 100, where it spent 63 weeks on the chart.

The song "If You Could Only See" is part of the video games Karaoke Revolution Party and Band Hero

Band Hero

Band Hero is a spinoff video game as part of the Guitar Hero series of music video games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles...

.

Production

After Emerson Hart

Emerson Hart

Emerson Hart is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He grew up in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.-Biography:Emerson Hart is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic...

 and Jeff Russo

Jeff Russo

Jeff Russo is a songwriter, composer, guitarist, vocalist and producer.Founding member, lead guitarist, co-songwriter in the American rock band Tonic...

 founded the band in 1993, the additions of bass guitar player Dan Rothchild and drummer Kevin Shepard solidified the band prior to signing their record deal in 1995. Producer Jack Joseph Puig

Jack Joseph Puig

Jack Joseph Puig is a Grammy Award-winning music engineer and producer with a long track record of successful productions, including the mid-1990s production of Tonic. Puig also worked with Hole, Jellyfish, The Black Crowes, John Mayer, Weezer, Fiona Apple, Green Day, The Counting Crows, No Doubt,...

 worked with Tonic to produce the resulting album, Lemon Parade. While members of the band have traditionally been hesitant to discuss the meaning behind their songs, Hart did elaborate on some of the songs from this album. For instance, on the title track Lemon Parade, Hart explained the song came from a dream he had.
"I had a dream about this girl. I was riding this big Schwinn Sting Ray, and I rode by her working in a lemonade stand. She looked ugly and sad because kids were throwing lemons at her. Then later on, I saw her after high school and was crazy about her. They couldn't see how beautiful she really was."

Promotion and Release

Four unique music videos were produced as part of the album's promotion, including two different versions of "Open Up Your Eyes," one of which was directed by Tonic and Niels Alpert that featured the band on roller skates. In terms of singles from the record, "If You Could Only See

If You Could Only See

"If You Could Only See" is a song by the American rock band Tonic. The song was released as part of the band's debut album, Lemon Parade. It remains Tonic's highest charting single in the United States, Canada, and Australia...

" reached #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks

Mainstream Rock Tracks

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...

, and also reached #11 on the Billboard Airplay Hot 100, where it spent 63 weeks on the chart. Lemon Parade as an album reached #28 on the United States charts, #12 in Australia, and #34 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. In the ensuing years the popularity of "If You Could Only See" continued with its part in the video games Karaoke Revolution Party and Band Hero

Band Hero

Band Hero is a spinoff video game as part of the Guitar Hero series of music video games, released by Activision on November 3, 2009, for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS consoles...

.

Reception

Critical response to the album has shown variances. Music critic Shawn M. Haney rated the album two and a half out of five stars, saying, "The record as a whole is full of the heavy, distortion-laden Tonic sound, and guitars that make them who they are. Although the recordings are murky at times, like shoes splashing through muddy puddles of water, the record's highlights -- such as the uplifting acoustic track "Mountain" and the rawness of "Wicked Soldier" -- are still full of rich musical creativity." Contrasting this review is the aggregate non-professional ratings from users of Amazon.com, who in many cases made their reviews years after the album's release. As of the year 2010, Lemon Parade maintained a four and a half out of five star rating across 86 unique user reviews on Amazon.com.

Album

Year	Title	Peak chart positions						Sales	Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds)
		US 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...	AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	AUT Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...	CAN Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	NZ New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...	UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
1996	Lemon Parade Released: July 15, 1996 Label: A&M	28	12	—	34	—	—	1,300,000	US:Platinum

Track listing

All songs by Emerson Hart

Emerson Hart

Emerson Hart is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He grew up in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.-Biography:Emerson Hart is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic...

 except where noted.

1. "Open up Your Eyes" − 3:40
2. "Casual Affair" (Tonic) − 3:43
3. "If You Could Only See
   If You Could Only See
   "If You Could Only See" is a song by the American rock band Tonic. The song was released as part of the band's debut album, Lemon Parade. It remains Tonic's highest charting single in the United States, Canada, and Australia...
   
   " − 4:21
4. "Soldier's Daughter" − 5:03
5. "Lemon Parade" (Hart, Russo) − 3:42
6. "Mountain" − 4:38
7. "Thick" − 4:21
8. "Wicked Soldier" (Tonic) − 4:31
9. "Mr. Golden Deal" − 4:55
10. "Bigot Sunshine" − 2:53
11. "Celtic Aggression" (Hart, Rothchild, Russo) − 3:26
12. "My Old Man" − 5:52

Personnel

Tonic

• Emerson Hart
  Emerson Hart
  Emerson Hart is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He grew up in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.-Biography:Emerson Hart is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic...
  
  : Vocals, Guitar, Slide, Percussion
• Jeff Russo
  Jeff Russo
  Jeff Russo is a songwriter, composer, guitarist, vocalist and producer.Founding member, lead guitarist, co-songwriter in the American rock band Tonic...
  
  : Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals, Slide, Percussion, Drums on "My Old Man"
• Dan Rothchild: Bass guitar, Backing Vocals, Slide
• Kevin Shepard: Drums

Additional personnel

• Lenny Castro: Percussion on "My Old Man", "If You Could Only See", "Mr. Golden Deal", "Celtic Aggression", "Soldier's Daughter", "Casual Affair"

Production

• Jack Joseph Puig: Producer
• Bob Ludwig: Mastering
• Jeri Heiden: Art direction
• Jean Kirkorian: Art Design