Absolutely NineDays

Track Listing:

1) So Far Away
2) Absolutely (Story of A Girl)
3) If I Am
4) End Up Alone
5) Sometimes
6) Bob Dylan
7) 257 Weeks
8) Bitter
9) Back To Me
10) Crazy
11) Revolve
12) Wanna Be

More Information: The Madding Crowd spawned two major hit singles, "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" and "If I Am". The Madding Crowd peaked at #67 on the Billboard Top 200. The Madding Crowd was certified Gold within six months of release, despite not peaking inside the top 50 in America.

Why was the album The Madding Crowd named after Thomas Hardy’s novel “Far From the Madding Crowd?”

"I read Far From the Madding Crowd at a time when I was in need of inspiration, and the line “love is a possible strength, in an actual weakness, was the most profound and brilliant line I had ever read," -John Hampson

Song Meanings:

Absolutely (Story of a Girl):  "It's actually kind of funny, [we were] doing a show on Long Island. It was an outdoor show, and there was a big deck that we were playing on, and we got there really early for sound check. I was there with my girlfriend, and as typical, we were annoying each other. She's just aggravating me, so she walked [away] and started talking to somebody on the side of the club. So I'm just sitting there, and I was literally thinking to myself, 'Man, she drives me nuts. She totally drives me crazy.' But as I was thinking this, I was watching her, just looking at her, and she was having a conversation with someone and just started laughing. And I swear I thought to myself, 'Y'know, she totally drives me crazy, but I absolutely love her when she's happy, when she's smiling, I don't know what happened, but it just came out of my head. I started singing that chorus, and I kind of picked up the guitar, and the song kind of wrote itself. Pretty much ten minutes later, it was done. It was one of those things. It was a welcome thing to happen, but it's pretty funny how the slightest thing can just influence you and set you down some road. That's what came out of [that incident]: a three-minute song.” – John Hampson

If I Am: “This is a simple song about being in a relationship and maybe one person is trying to get to one point high” and the other one person is at another point and they are not quite at the same spot. You just have to have some patience; you have to have some faith and if you really care you’re going to make it and you will make the two spots me and everything will work out just fine. It’s that simple and it isn’t but you have to try anyway that’s how it works.” –John Hampson

End Up Alone: “This song is about the wonderful things you can do at the ocean. It’s a about sex a little bit.” –John Hampson

Bitter: “This is a song about a girl who I thought ruined my life, but in a way she kind of saved my life because I wouldn’t be the happy single man I am today. She pissed me off and I wrote this song.” –Brian Desveaux

257 Weeks: The title “257 Weeks” come from the amount of time(a little less than 5 years) the band was together before they finally received their big break and were signed to Epic Records.“This song is just about taking control of your life. Don’t wait for your life to come out to you. You got go out, you got to grab it, you got to bring it into yourself. If you wait around for your life to happen to you, nothings ever going to happen.” –John Hampson

Reviews:

All Music Guide: Nine Days references Thomas Hardy in the title of its major-label debut, The Madding Crowd, but beyond the literary association the group is also making a point about its songs, which are embedded in modern life, not, as in Hardy, far from it. Co-leaders John Hampson (he of the smoother voice and the somewhat perkier attitude) and Brian Desveaux (whose throaty singing usually expresses more desperate feelings) have written an album's worth of songs about personal relationships that are often rocky, but always involved and involving. The "I" who is addressing a "you" most of the time frequently is trying to get back into her good graces, while admitting mistakes, though sometimes "you" isn't in such great shape, either. "If I Am," for example, begins with the line, "So you're standing on a ledge," but pledges, "I will not let you down," an assurance with a double meaning. You don't have to listen for the Hammond organ wail to realize that these guys have been influenced by Bob Dylan, and they erase any doubt in "Bob Dylan," for which they have received permission to sample excerpts from the master's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." But fans of more contemporary rock will be reminded more of Pearl Jam and They Might Be Giants, with the catchy "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" suggesting Barenaked Ladies. The alternating and harmonizing voices of the two lead singers often are reminiscent of BoDeans, though the group's music is usually more complexly arranged. Hampson and Desveaux still need to work on their songwriting, which can get too wordy and occasionally trips over itself ("If I Am," for example, employs the awkward line "Have in me a little faith" for the sake of a near-rhyme), just as their music can be a little dense at times. But The Madding Crowd is a promising debut by talented musicians who are headed in the right direction. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide 

Amazon.com: The Long Island-based Nine Days' major-label debut will most likely be remembered for the track "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)." Prominently showcased on TV's Dawson's Creek, the song's mindless but infectious hook was almost guaranteed to hit its mark in yearning young adults. Even without the visual aid, Nine Days' sound works best when they're going for universal emotion instead of quirky wordplay and, though definitely not original, the songs on The Madding Crowd are well-produced and competently executed. While the band claims Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan among their influences (hence the track "Bob Dylan"), they're not far from Third Eye Blind ("Absolutely") or even Bon Jovi ("Sometimes") thanks to vocalist/guitarist John Hampson's raspy voice. The group's mixture of folk, rock, and essential emotional bombast comes naturally to them, even if it seems like the band could be doing so much more. --Jason Josephes