When the Pawn…

When the Pawn...
Studio album by Fiona Apple
Released	November 9, 1999 (U.S.)
Recorded	Andora Studio; Chateau Brion Studio; Nrg; Ocean Way Studio; One On One South; Preasence Studio Westport; Woodwinds
Genre	Jazz fusion, alternative
Length	42:39
Label	Epic/Work Records
Producer	Jon Brion
Fiona Apple chronology
Tidal (1996) When the Pawn... (1999) Extraordinary Machine (2005)
Singles from When the Pawn…
"Fast as You Can" Released: November 20, 1999 "Limp" Released: 2000 "Paper Bag" Released: 2000

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)[2]
Los Angeles Times	[3]
Pitchfork Media	(8.0/10)[4]
PopMatters	(8/10)[5]
Q	[6]
Robert Christgau	(A-)[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Spin	(positive)[9]
Uncut	[10]

When the Pawn… is the second album by American singer-songwriter Fiona Apple, released by Work Records in the United States on November 9, 1999. The full album title contains over 400 characters of text. In 2010, Spin magazine named the album the 106th greatest of the last 25 years.^[11] A year later, Slant Magazine named it the 79th best album of the 90s.^[12]

Background

The album came in special packaging that contained sheer red paper around the inserts. The title was written as a poem over Apple's face on the cover. The title is a poem Apple wrote after reading the readers' letters that appeared in Spin after an article had cast her in a negative light in an earlier issue. The full title reads:

When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king
What he knows throws the blows when he goes to the fight
And he'll win the whole thing 'fore he enters the ring
There's no body to batter when your mind is your might
So when you go solo, you hold your own hand
And remember that depth is the greatest of heights
And if you know where you stand, then you know where to land
And if you fall it won't matter, cause you'll know that you're right

The album's long title has become a source of trivia, and when it was released held the world record for longest album title (previously a record held by one of the volumes in The Best... Album in the World...Ever!. (Rolling Stone magazine made fun of the title/poem, calling it, "When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Oh the Hell With It"^[13].) However, in October 2007 Soulwax released their remix album Most of the Remixes, which has 100 characters more in its title. This was later surpassed in 2008 by the Chumbawamba album The Boy Bands Have Won..., with its full title containing 865 characters of text.

The first single, "Fast as You Can", was fairly popular and received moderate radio and video airplay. It reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and became Apple's first top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up singles, "Limp" and especially "Paper Bag", though it was nominated for a Grammy Award, were less successful. Apple's boyfriend at the time, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson, directed videos for all three singles.

Track listing

All songs written by Fiona Apple

1. "On the Bound" – 5:23
2. "To Your Love" – 3:40
3. "Limp" – 3:31
4. "Love Ridden" – 3:22
5. "Paper Bag" – 3:40
6. "A Mistake" – 4:58
7. "Fast as You Can" – 4:40
8. "The Way Things Are" – 4:18
9. "Get Gone" – 4:10
10. "I Know" – 4:57

Bonus tracks

1. "Across the Universe" (Lennon/McCartney)
2. "Never Is a Promise" [live]

• "Across the Universe" and "Never Is a Promise" appeared as bonus tracks on the Japanese edition, and were not included on other editions.

Personnel

• Fiona Apple - piano, vocals
• John Bainbridge - orchestration
• Robert Becker - viola
• Charlie Bisharat - violin
• Mike Breaux - woodwind
• Denyse Buffman - viola
• Jonathan "Butch" Norton - drums, percussion
• Eve Butler - violin
• Matt Chamberlain - percussion, drums
• Susan Chatman - violin
• Greg Cohen - bass guitar
• Larry Corbett - cello
• Mike Elizondo - bass guitar
• Armen Garabedian - violin
• Berj Garabedian - violin
• Scott Haupert - viola
• Suzie Katayama - cello
• Wendell Kelly - horn
• Jim Keltner - drums
• Peter Kent - violin
• Brain Leonard - violin
• Maria Newman - viola
• Rober Peterson - violin
• Michele Richards - violin
• Edmund Stein - violin
• Patrick Warren - Chamberlin, Wurlitzer
• John Wittenberg - violin

Production

• Producer: Jon Brion
• Engineer: Rich Costey
• Assistant engineers: Tom Banghart, Rob Brill, Greg Collins, Bryan Jackson, Steve Mixdorf, John Tyree
• Mixing: Jon Brion, Rich Costey
• Mastering: Eddy Scheyer
• Production coordination: Valerie Pack
• Programming: Rich Costey
• Arranger: John Bainbridge
• Design: Fiona Apple
• Cover art concept: Fiona Apple

Charts

Album	Chart (1999)	Peak position
	U.S. Billboard 200	13
	U.S. Billboard Top Internet Albums	1
Single	Chart (1999)	Peak position
"Fast as You Can"	U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	29
"Fast as You Can"	U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	20
Single	Chart (1999)	Peak position
"Fast as You Can"	UK Singles Chart	33

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Entertainment Weekly review
3. ^ Los Angeles Times review
4. ^ Pitchfork Media review
5. ^ PopMatters review
6. ^ Q review
7. ^ Robert Christgau review
8. ^ Rolling Stone review
9. ^ Spin review
10. ^ Uncut review
11. ^ 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years | SPIN.com
12. ^ [1]
13. ^ "When the pawn hits the conflicts he thinks like a king" Rolling Stone

External links

• When the Pawn… at MusicBrainz