Normal as the Next Guy

Normal as the Next Guy
Studio album by The Knack
Released	September 25, 2001
Genre	Power pop, new wave, hard rock
Label	Smile Records
The Knack chronology
Zoom (1998) Normal as the Next Guy (2001) Live from the Rock 'n' Roll Funhouse (2002)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Normal as the Next Guy is an album released by The Knack in 2001. It marks the 4th comeback attempt by the band after its second album, ...But the Little Girls Understand, failed to achieve the success of the band's début album.^[2] Allmusic critic Mark Deming noted that the album finds songwriter and lead singer Doug Fieger having resolved his issues with women, but has not "found a subject that appears to compel him nearly as much as the treacheries of girls once did."^[2] Therefore, Deming feels that compared to older songs by the band, the songs on Normal as the Next Guy "may be more pleasant, but they're not as interesting."^[2] The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album a 3 star rating, as high as the group's début Get The Knack, and higher than any other Knack studio album.^[3]

Normal as the Next Guy was The Knack's first release on Smile Records.^[3][4] Pat Torpey and David Henderson play drums on Normal as the Next Guy, instead of original Knack drummer Bruce Gary.^[5] Fieger has described the album as "us doing whatever we want."^[6]

Track listing

1. "Les Girls" (Doug Fieger) - 3:21
2. "Disillusion Town" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) - 4:14
3. "Girl I Never Lied to You" (Monty Byrom, John Corey) - 3:35
4. "Normal as the Next Guy" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) - 3:21
5. "Spiritual Pursuit" (Doug Fieger) - 2:17
6. "It's Not Me" (John Bossman, Doug Fieger) - 2:57
7. "One Day at a Time" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) - 4:46
8. "Seven Days of Heaven" (Doug Fieger, Mancini, Pobegaijlo) - 4:45
9. "Dance of Romance" (Berton Averre, Doug Fieger) - 3:35
10. "Reason to Live" (John Bossman, Doug Fieger) - 4:20
11. "A World of My Own" (John Bossman, Doug Fieger) - 4:15
12. "The Man on the Beach" (Berton Averre) - 4:14

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Deming, M. "Normal as the Next Guy". allmusic. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
3. Brackett, N. & Hoard, C. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 462–463. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8.
4. "Get the Knack". Billboard Magazine. January 19, 2002. p. 10.
5. "The Knack". Smile Records. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
6. Michaels, R. (2005). Flashbacks to Happiness: Eighties Music Revisited. iUniverse. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-595-37007-8.