Guide to Better Living

Guide to Better Living is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Grinspoon. It was released in 1998 on Universal Music. The album reached number 12 on the Australian ARIA charts and spent 26 weeks on the national charts. The album went on to achieve double platinum status and generated a number of singles, including "DCX3", "Repeat", and "Don't Go Away".

Album information

The album was named after a Sunbeam booklet of white goods from the 1960s, with the logo on the album cover resembling the Sunbeam logo. Grinspoon insisted on recording the album locally in Byron Bay rather than heading for a big city studio. The album does not have a Parental Advisory sticker in the United States, although the songs "Sickfest", "DCx3" "Railrider", "Repeat", "NBT", "Champion", and "Truk" all contain profanities.

The American version, which omits "Just Ace", "Balding Matters", and "Don't Go Away" due to their soft style, was a commercial failure, despite airplay of "Post Enebriated Anxiety". The song "Champion", however, introduced Grinspoon to the public after being featured in Grand Turismo 3, albeit in an edited version, omitting the profanity during the coda.

The Australian version was released with five bonus tracks including a full live performance at Grudgefest, a music festival hosted by the artists on Grudge Records, the former label of Grinspoon. Videos were made for "Just Ace", "Post Enebriated Anxiety", and "Repeat". The latter two were released as promotional items in America with a live album. The album was voted number 12 in Triple J's Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time list in July 2011.

Track listing

References