Ranking All the Sugar Ray Studio Albums
Sugar Ray is a popular American rock band formed back in 1986 in Newport Beach, California. The band originally began playing heavy nu-metal theme music and later rose to fame in 1997 after they released their pop-influenced track dubbed Fly. The single Fly was a great success and largely influenced the band’s decision to shift to more radio-friendly pop music with their new releases to come. Their 1999 album 14:59 was a best-selling album and featured great hits like Someday, Every Morning followed by their 2001 self-titled album that featured the track When It’s Over. 10 years after they released their last album in June 2019, the band announced that they would release their seventh music album titled Little Yachty. In this article, we will rank all the incredible Sugar Ray albums.
6. Music for Cougars
The album Music for Cougars is the sixth studio album by Sugar Ray. It was not the band’s best effort, although it peaked at number 80 on the Billboard 200 chart. This was the last album to feature drummer Stan Frazier, bassist Murphy Karges, and turntablist Craig Bullock aka “DJ Homicide,” before their drastic departures from Sugar Ray.
5. In the Pursuit of Leisure
The album In the Pursuit of Leisure is the fifth studio album by Sugar Ray, released in 2003. The album features great singles, including the hit song Mr. Bartender (It’s So Easy) Joe Jackson’s new hit song “Is She Really Going Out With Him?, which peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart. Well-known Hip-hop music artists Shaggy and Esthero are guest stars on the album. Despite this, only 135,000 copies of the album were sold, resulting in commercial failure under the band’s record label Atlantic Records.
4. Lemonade and Brownies
The 1995 studio album Lemonade and Brownies was produced by a friend to the band’s director named Joseph McGinty, aka “McG” Nichol, and executively produced by DJ Lethal. The front cover of the album features the famous actress Nicole Eggert. Generally, this is undoubtedly the right choice if you happen to be at the record store and not sure what to get. The tracks featured in the album are easy to get into, and Mr. McGrath’s stunning vocal qualities add a unique vibe to the music. This is not forgetting Murphy’s bass, which you clearly hear over the hard-edged guitar played by Rodney. Even though the album performed poorly on the music charts and proved to be a devastating critical and commercial failure for Atlantic Records, Sugar Ray continued to record their songs under the record label until they graced the international stage. The guitars heard on Lemonade and Brownies were fully played on drop D tuning.
3. Sugar Ray
The 2001 album Sugar Ray was the fourth studio album released by the American rock band Sugar Ray. The album features several hit singles like Satellites, Words to Me, Disasterpiece, Under the Sun, Answer to the Phone, Waiting, and probably their catchiest song to date When It’s Over. Being quite successful, the album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 music chart. The first track on the album, When it’s Over, went gold as it performed exceptionally well on pop and rock music charts. Sugar Ray generally received positive reviews from fans and critics. Compared to their 2003 album In the Pursuit of Leisure which sold less than 150,000, Sugar Ray sold roughly 1,000,000 copies, being certified platinum.
2. 14:59 (1999)
14:59 was the third studio album by Sugar Ray, released on 12 January 1999. The album’s title is a self-deprecating reference to the “15-mins of fame” that the band claimed to be riding. If you listen to the band’s first album, you will notice that this album is very different from the band’s usual hard tones. This is definitely the ideal album for you if you prefer listening to more pop and relaxed music beats. This 1999 album kicks off with a 45-second heavy-metal single that marks the end of the band’s famous harsher tones. The next two tracks, Every Morning and Falls Apart have a unique underlying metal beat that perfectly blends with Mark McGrath’s amazing non-metal rhythm. The album generally received positive reviews from critics. Paul Person of AllMusic commented,” Sugar Ray’s third studio album displays an alarming shift to a new music approach… from their ordinary metal shellac to melodious, calmer songs.” Moreover, NME called the album a “hellishly difficult album not to love…Not that it is inspirational, but it is the perfect soundtrack for a sun-kissed pool party.” 14:59 rose to the top 20 songs on the Billboard 200 music chart.
1. Floored
Floored was released on 24 June 1997 and features several great hits like Fly, an averagely best-selling single and RPM, and a second version of the hit song Fly featuring a well-known reggae music artist Super Cat. The album peaked at number 12 on the Billboard 200 music chart on 30 August 1997. Later on, in September, approximately 510,000 copies of the album were sold, and by December, the number had risen to 1,200,000. The single Fly featured in the album spent a maximum of 59 weeks on the Radio Songs chart and topped the Alternative Songs Chart and the Pop Songs Chart. In February 1998, the album was certified 2x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after around 2,000,000 of its copies were sold in the United States alone.
Conclusion
Sugar Ray was formed in 1986 in Newport Beach. Their hit single Fly was a great success that ushered them onto the international stage and influenced their decision to shift to a more radio-friendly pop sound with their future releases. Among all the Sugar Ray albums, their 1999 album 14:59 was their best-seller, followed by the 2001 self-titled music album Sugar Ray. The band went to release another album in 2003 titled “In the Pursuit of Leisure” and the 2009 album “Music for Cougars.” In June 2019, the band released their seventh studio album, “Little Yatchy,” as well as the hit single “Make it Easy.”
