The Tape of Only Linda is the second full-length album by the Loud Family, released in 1994. The title of the album is a reference to the notorious tape recording of a live performance of "Hey Jude," by Paul McCartney, in which an engineer had isolated Linda McCartney's vocals.

Composition

The Tape of Linda abandons the sound collage aesthetic of the band's debut, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things (1993), in favor of a relatively more conventional approach, boasting twelve fully-formed songs with live-sounding production. Scott Miller's melodic, Beatles- and Big Star-influenced style of songwriting remains, with heavy usage of oblique wordplay.

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote that "the sound is sharp, and the quintet rocks out with an epic mélange of amped-up guitars, odd rhythms and insinuating keyboard riffs, but the disappointing end result is neither particularly inventive nor especially tuneful." Describing the Loud Family as 'art rock with laughs', Stereo Review critic Steve Simels felt that The Tape of Only Linda confirmed the band were "the smartest, most imaginative rock band in America, the closest we Yanks have ever come to a homegrown version of XTC."

Track listing

Personnel

with: