The fine fellas over at the Dig Me Out podcast noted in a Facebook post that Veruca Salt’s second album – and the last featuring Nina Gordon – ‘Eight Arms to Hold You’ was released on this day in 1997.
After releasing the Brad Wood-produced ‘American Thighs’ in 1994, Veruca Salt embraced its inner arena rock dreams and hired Bob Rock (Metallica, AC/DC) to produce their sophomore album. The money was well spent as ‘Eight Arms to Hold You’ is a glossy, sparkly, blistering rock album with songs like “Straight”, “Volcano Girls”, “Shutterbug”, and “Venus Man Trap” that were played in arenas (the band spent time on the road following the release playing hockey and basketball arenas opening for Bush).
It stands in stark contrast to the (intentionally?) lo-fi debut but it’s more of the sound Veruca Salt really wanted to make and it still stands out as one of my favorite fist-pumping rockers.
Happy 16th birthday, ‘Eight Arms to Hold You’.