Frogstomp

Frogstomp is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Silverchair. It was released on 27 March 1995, when the band members were only 15 years of age, by record label Murmur. The album features the band's most commercially successful single, "Tomorrow", which was first released on the band's extended play of the same name six months earlier on 16 September 1994. Music videos were made for the album's four singles: "Tomorrow", "Pure Massacre", "Israel's Son", and "Shade".

According to drummer Ben Gillies and vocalist and guitarist Daniel Johns in 1996, Frogstomp was recorded in nine days. Gillies stated the album took "even less days to mix." Prior to recording Frogstomp, Silverchair were previously named Innocent Criminals and consisted of drummer Ben Gillies and vocalist and guitarist Daniel Johns, with bassist Chris Joannou joining shortly after the band formed in 1992. Second guitarist Tobin Finnane was also in the band, though he later left. Demo versions of the songs "Acid Rain", "Cicada", "Pure Massacre", and "Tomorrow" were recorded by the band at Platinum Sound Studios in early 1994. In December 1995, Johns said about the recording of the demo songs, "It cost about $75. We weren't in there for more than an hour." "Tomorrow" and "Acid Rain" were re-recorded at Triple J Studios in Sydney, Australia for the release of Silverchair's four-track EP Tomorrow in September 1994, which also included the songs "Blind" and "Stoned". Three months after the release of the EP, the band began recording their debut album, Frogstomp, during which "Cicada", "Pure Massacre", and "Tomorrow" were re-recorded. The recording sessions for the album began in late December 1994 and ended in mid-January 1995 at Festival Studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales.

In July 2007, when asked about the grunge sound of Frogstomp and the band's musical influences, Gillies stated "We were definitely influenced by the whole Seattle sound."

In May 2015, when asked if the record was made live in the studio, Johns said:

In August 2020, Gillies said the following about the album:

In January 1996, when asked why the album's name is Frogstomp, Johns said:

Frogstomp was first released in Australia by record label Murmur on 27 March 1995. It reached number 1 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. The album was later released by Epic Records in the United States on 20 June 1995. Frogstomp is the only Silverchair album to receive platinum certification in the United States by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), selling 1,000,000 copies on 19 September 1995, making it the band's best-selling album in the U.S., and it was later certified double platinum on 14 February 1996.

The LP version of the album was sold on a green vinyl with "Blind", from the Tomorrow EP, as a bonus track and limited to 3,000 copies worldwide. A limited cassette edition of the album was also released.

On 27 March 2015, a remastered edition of Frogstomp was released as a two-CD/DVD set to mark the twentieth anniversary of its release. The standard edition of the 20th Anniversary remaster includes a second CD titled "Rarities" with Silverchair's Tomorrow EP, a vocal version of the song "Madman" (from the single "Shade"), and audio of a concert from June 1995 at the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle, Australia. The Deluxe Edition of the 20th Anniversary remaster includes the "Rarities" CD as well as a DVD with video footage of the band's Cambridge Hotel concert, a video recording of "Israel's Son" at the 1995 Sydney Royal Easter Show, and the "Tomorrow", "Pure Massacre", and "Israel's Son" music videos.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote:

Chuck Eddy of Entertainment Weekly wrote in July 1995:

In 1995, ABC Australia wrote that Silverchair provided:

In June 2015, Colm Browne of Soundscape Magazine said the lyrics on Frogstomp "show intelligence" and "a want to question the world, express feelings, get rid of negatives and be positive", saying the album "was and still is mightily impressive." British publication Classic Rock said about the 20th Anniversary remaster, "Frogstomp is as grunge as it gets. So was the world in ’95, which bought 3.5 million copies of the album."

In October 2015, James Rose of the Daily Review wrote of the album

In November 2017, The Amity Affliction member, Ahren Stringer, said of the album "I was obsessed with Frogstomp as a 12-year-old boy. I wanted to be Daniel Johns."

In September 2018, the album was ranked #25 on Double J's list of ‘Top 50 Australian Albums of the '90s‘.

In July 2020, NME said about the album:

In July 2020, Mixdown listed the album as among the seven best Australian grunge albums. In September 2020, the publication said the album had a "hard-edged sound with angsty (yet all too relatable) lyricism" and described Frogstomp as "one of the most definitive grunge records of its era."

In June 2021, American music magazine, Spin wrote about the album in a retrospective piece, saying "Frogstomp was ours, music written by kids our own age speaking to us in a language only we understood."

In December 2021, Frogstomp was listed at no. 6 in Rolling Stone Australia‘s ‘200 Greatest Albums of All Time‘ countdown.

In April 2022, British newspaper publication, The Guardian, included four Frogstomp songs on their ‘The 25 Best Silverchair Songs - Sorted‘ list. "Findaway", "Faultline", "Israel's Son", and "Tomorrow" ranked at #18, #14, #8, and #1, respectively.

In July 2024, Ultimate Guitar ranked Frogstomp at number 7 on their ‘Top 10 Classic Grunge Albums That Didn't Come From Seattle‘ list, saying that Silverchair "managed to write such catchy, dark tunes that perfectly encapsulate the grunge spirit while still sounding fresh and memorable."

•  Daniel Johns – guitar, vocals
•  Chris Joannou – bass guitar
•  Ben Gillies – drums

•  Kevin "Caveman" Shirley – producer, recording, mixing
•  Toby Learmont, Jon Russell – engineering assistant
•  Phil "Astroboy" Munro, Mark Thomas, Matt Witton – recording assistant
•  mixed by Kevin "Caveman" Shirley at Eclipse Studios (Sydney, Australia)
•  original mastering by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) (original 1995 release)
•  remastering by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios (Portland, Maine) (2015 remaster)

•  Tony Stone Images/The Photo Library – original frog image artwork
•  Greg Bennett – design, illustration
•  John O'Donnell, Kevin Wilkins – art direction
•  David Anderson, Adrienne Overall, Susan Robertson, John Watson – photography
•  John O'Donnell, John Watson – A&R

• The song "Israel's Son" was featured in the film Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

^[a] Listed as "Tomorrow (US Explicit) (Remastered)" in the 2015 remaster album booklet.

^[b] Listed as "Tomorrow (Single Version) (Remastered)" in the 2015 remaster album booklet.

^[c] The song "Stoned" is incorrectly listed as "Acid Rain" on the album's track listing.

^[d] The song "Acid Rain" is incorrectly listed as "Blind (live)" on the album's track listing and a portion of the guitar solo near the end of the song is omitted on the 2015 remaster.

^[e] The song "Blind" is incorrectly listed as "Stoned" on the album's track listing.

^[f] The song "Fat Donuts" is played as an introduction to "Pure Massacre" on the DVD, but is not named on the album's track listing nor is the song included on the "Rarities" disc.