Artist bio

Juliana Hatfield began her musical career as one-third of the Blake Babies, but her distinctive voice and songwriting penchant ensured that after the Babies broke up, she would jump most willingly into a solo career, which she has done with a unique style since.

Debut Hey Babe was released on Mammoth in 1992, the same year Hatfield played bass on the Lemonheads' guilty-pleasure pop-fest It's A Shame About Ray. The combo stirred the public's notice of Hatfield enough that her next album, Become What You Are generated two minor hits in "My Sister" and "Spin The Bottle".

But as media fascination came and went, Hatfield kept plugging away at her trade, evolving her songwriting through albums like the lush, melodic Only Everything and the more raw, abrasive Bed. She liked to explore these two sides of her musical palette, going so far as to release the rocking Total System Failure and the muted, introspective Beautiful Creature on the same day in 2000.

Though most would call Hatfield a cult star by now, she has definitely carved out a modest niche for herself in the realm of modern pop with a 16-year-plus career. Oh, and the Blake Babies reunited in 2001 just for kicks and a fourth album.

Albums by this artist

Bed (1998)

Juliana Hatfield

Bed

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» MARK T.R. DONOHUE | STAFF WRITER

Juliana Hatfield Bed Zoe, 1998 RiYL: Belly, Aimee Mann's I'm With Stupid, early Lemonheads

Whether covering the Stooges with her first band, the Blake Babies, or name-checking the Del Fuegos in her 1993 hit "My Sister," Juliana Hatfield has always been quick to admit her influences.

Her fourth solo album, Bed, is full of little fan gestures. Hatfield falls asleep to the Spacemen 3 in "Backseat," borrows a hook and part of the title of "I Want to Want You" from Cheap Trick, and updates John Mellencamp in the chorus to "Swan Song" -- "Dear Jack, I hate you. Love, Diane."

Little borrowings like these make Bed>, a rough collection of tunes recorded after only a week of rehearsals and with no added production, a fun ride the first time through, but few of the songs hold up to repeated listenings. Most of the tracks here ride by on one simple riff, with a skeletal rhythm section struggling to be heard under the frequently over-distorted guitar.

The lyrics in most cases sound like an afterthought, with Hatfield attempting to cram lines like "you buy the pound just to burn it down and watch the sleeping dogs die" into music half the logical length. Some songs sound just plain unfinished, with "ba ba bas" replacing words in unpredictable places.

A few tracks stick out -- the acoustic "Running Out" is particularly compelling, with its simple guitar containing more melody than most of the rest of the record. "Swan Song" is reasonably catchy, and its anthemic "I hate you" chorus is maybe the most indelible moment on Bed, but its fuzzy guitar tone becomes quickly annoying. "Bad Day" has only one riff, but it's a monster, and we also get to hear Juliana explain that she now understands "what makes a boy become a bad man."

Bed isn't a bad album, but it would have needed a little more time put in to make it a good one.

MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.