Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band MxPx in 1998. The album title was taken from a letter that a fan had written to the band, complaining that the band was changing and was "slowly going the way of the buffalo".
Background Due to the success of MxPx's "Chick Magnet", from their previous album, Life in General, the band signed a multi-album contract with A&M.Reece 1998, p. 18 A&M had previously signed a deal with Tooth & Nail to co-market Life in General. This market deal was "cobbled together in order to sign the band", according to A&M chairman Al Cafaro.
Composition and recording Moving away from the sound of Life in General, the band "dirtied things up a little", according to vocalist and bassist Mike Herrera, for Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo. The band refrained from making the album "sound like it was produced in a lab." Greg Hetson of Bad Religion has guest vocals on "The Downfall of Western Civilization".
Release To generate hype, A&M picked 1,000 of the band's fans and, from April to June 1998, sent them a CD of songs from the album. Despite the band's sizable fan base, the label was not approaching the album with high expectations. The vice president of A&M estimated the album would easily achieve 100,000 in sales. On May 6, "I'm OK, You're OK" was sent to modern rock radio stations. The band supported Bad Religion on their tour of Europe in May. Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo was released on June 16 through A&M. From June 30, for five weeks, the band played on the 1998 edition of Warped Tour. In August, the band supported Blink-182.
Reception
The album charted at number 99 on the Billboard 200 and at number 2 on the Top Contemporary Christian chart. It certified gold in January 2000 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Track listing
Personnel
MxPx Mike Herrera — vocals, bass Tom Wisniewski — guitars, backing vocals Yuri Ruley — drums
Additional musicians Ronnie King — keyboard Greg Hetson — lead guitar on "The Downfall of Western Civilization" Dale Yob — vocals on "I'm OK, You're OK" Jeff Bettger — screams on "Fist vs. Tact" and "The Theme Fiasco"
Production Steve Kravac — producer, mixing Aaron Warner — production assistant Al Lay — mixing assistant Brian "Big Bass" Gardner — mastering
Artwork Marina Chavez — photography Mitch Tobias — photography John Nissen — illustrations Luke W. Midkiff — illustrations/ video direction
Chart positions
Album Chart (1998)PeakpositionU.S. Billboard 20099U.S. Billboard Top Contemporary Christian"Top Contemporary Christian" 1998, p. 372
Certifications CountryCertificationSalesUnited StatesGold500,000+
References
Bibliography