The Normal Years is a compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 of singles, live songs, songs on other compilations, and previously unreleased recordings by indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band Built to Spill

Built to Spill

Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released on October 6, 2009.-History:...

. The album consists of songs that were recorded between 1993 and 1995 by various incarnations of the band, although most feature the There's Nothing Wrong with Love lineup. Doug Martsch

Doug Martsch

Doug Martsch is an American musician. Martsch, a native of Boise, Idaho, is best known for his distinctive vocals and guitar style in the band Built to Spill. He has also worked with Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening in The Halo Benders. Martsch's first band was Farm Days, with Andy Capps and Brett...

 is the only person present on all the recordings. The Normal Years was released in 1996 on the K Records

K Records

K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...

 label.

Track listing

All songs by Doug Martsch

Doug Martsch

Doug Martsch is an American musician. Martsch, a native of Boise, Idaho, is best known for his distinctive vocals and guitar style in the band Built to Spill. He has also worked with Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening in The Halo Benders. Martsch's first band was Farm Days, with Andy Capps and Brett...

, except track 4 by Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston

Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....

 and Jad Fair

Jad Fair

Jad Fair is an American singer, guitarist and graphic artist, most famous for being a founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese.-Biography:In 1974, with his brother David, Jad Fair founded the lo-fi group Half Japanese...

Guitar and vocals by Doug Martsch on all tracks

1. "So & So So & So from Wherever Wherever"
   • Originally appeared on a 1995 Saturnine single
     Single (music)
     In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
     
     , recorded by Calvin Johnson.
   • Andy Capps – drums
   • Brett Nelson
     Brett Nelson
     Brett Nelson is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist for the indie rock band Built to Spill....
     
      – bass
2. "Shortcut"
   • Originally appeared on Rotating Tongues, recorded by Todd Dunnigan in late 1992 at Audio Lab in Boise
     Boise, Idaho
     Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
     
     , Idaho
     Idaho
     Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
     
     .
   • Ralph Youtz - drums
3. "Car"
   • Originally appeared on Atlas/Face single, recorded by Calvin Johnson in late 1993
   • Andy Capps – drums
   • Brett Nelson – bass
4. "Some Things Last a Long Time"
   • Cover of a Daniel Johnston
     Daniel Johnston
     Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
     
      song.
   • Supposed to appear on an anti-anti-gay compilation, recorded by Ned Evett in January 1994 at Audio Lab, Boise, Idaho
   • Andy Capps – drums
   • Brett Netson – bass
   • Ned Evett – guitar
5. "Girl"
   • Originally appeared on an Atlas/Face single, recorded by Calvin Johnson in late 1993
   • Andy Capps – drums
   • Brett Nelson – bass
6. "Joyride"
   • Originally appeared on a K Records
     K Records
     K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
     
      single, recorded by Calvin Johnson in late 1993
7. "Some"
   • Recorded live at Chicago Filmmaker in mid-1995, recorded by Aadam Jacobs
   • Andy Capps – drums
   • James Bertram
     James Bertram (musician)
     James Bertram is a bass guitarist and singer, who has played with many indie rock bands from the Pacific Northwest.-Career overview:In 1992, Bertram joined the indie rock band Lync, in which he played bass and sang...
     
      – bass
   • David Schneider
     David Schneider
     David Schneider may refer to:*David Schneider , English actor and comedian*David Schneider , American film writer , director and actor*David Schneider , former pro tennis player...
     
      – drums
8. "Sick & Wrong"
   • Originally appeared on a K Records single, recorded by Calvin Johnson in late 1993
   • Andy Capps – drums
   • Brett Nelson – bass
9. "Still Flat"
   • Originally appeared on Red Hot + Bothered
     Red Hot + Bothered
     Red Hot + Bothered is an anthology of the indie rock scene from the 1990s produced by Paul Heck. It was released as part of the Red Hot AIDS Benefit Series....
     
     featuring Caustic Resin
     Caustic Resin
     Caustic Resin is an indie rock band from Boise, Idaho, who have released several albums for Up Records, Alias Records, and C/Z Records. The band is Brett Netson on guitar and vocals, Tom Romich, Jr. on bass guitar, and either James Dillion or Pat Perkins on drums...
     
     , recorded by Phil Ek
     Phil Ek
     Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington, in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Around this time, Ek was frequently working with...
     
      at Audio Lab, Boise, Idaho in January 1995
   • Tom Romich – bass
   • Brett Netson – guitar
   • James Dillion – drums
   • Todd Dunnigan – trombone
10. "Terrible/Perfect"
    • Originally appeared on a 1995 Saturnine single, recorded by Calvin Johnson.
    • Andy Capps – drums
    • Brett Nelson – bass

Additional personnel

• John McMahon III – "Unrepresented Built to Spill member"
• Erik Payne – Album art
• "the bear" – Inspiration
• Tina Herschelman – Type & layout
• Karena Youtz – Cover photo
• Bart Kline – Roadie
  Road crew
  The road crew are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians...
  
  #1
• James Christenson – Roadie #2