One Chord to Another


One Chord to Another is the third studio album by the Canadian rock band Sloan. The album was released in Canada through Murderecords in 1996 and in the United States through The Enclave in 1997. Like their previous album, One Chord to Another is a Beatles-influenced power pop record.
One Chord to Another was the band's first LP not to be released through Geffen Records. It was also the band's first album to win a Juno Award.

Recording

Sloan began recording One Chord to Another in December, 1995. The album was recorded over a two-week period and cost $10,000 to make, $110,000 less than the cost of their previous album. It was the band's first album to feature trumpets.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at No. 15 on The Record's Canadian Albums Chart. It was certified gold in Canada on November 21, 1996. By February 1997, the album had sold 80,000 units in Canada. It remains Sloan's best-selling album.

Critical acclaim

The album won the award for Best Alternative Album at the 1997 Juno Awards. In a 2000 poll by music magazine Chart, One Chord to Another was voted the ninth greatest Canadian album of all time. It was also ranked 34th in Bob Mersereau's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums.

Track listing

All songs credited to Sloan.
Japanese Bonus Tracks
  • "Stood Up" – 3:50
  • "Same Old Flame" – 3:53
B-sides
  • "Stood Up"
  • "Same Old Flame"
  • "Autobiography"
Note: Prior to the release of One Chord to Another, Sloan released "Same Old Flame" b/w "Stood Up" as a 7" single on murderecords. These songs were re-recorded for the first pressing of One Chord to Another in Japan, released on EMI. While these versions of "Stood Up" are a Chris Murphy original, the song by the same name on Recorded "Live" at a Sloan Party! is a cover of a Matthew Grimson song.

20th anniversary edition box set

;LP1 – Original album
  1. "The Good in Everyone" – 2:17
  2. "Nothing Left to Make Me Want to Stay" – 2:35
  3. "Autobiography" – 3:18
  4. "Junior Panthers" – 2:38
  5. G Turns to D" – 3:24
  6. A Side Wins" – 3:11
  7. "Everything You've Done Wrong" – 3:29
  8. "Anyone Who's Anyone" – 2:48
  9. "The Lines You Amend" – 2:32
  10. "Take the Bench" – 3:50
  11. "Can't Face Up" – 3:53
  12. "400 Metres" – 4:31
;LP2 – The Outtakes
  1. "El Say" – 1:51
  2. "Pictures Now" – 3:00
  3. "Adele" – 3:12
  4. "Baxter" – 3:39
  5. "I'm Gonna Give It a Try" – 2:43
  6. "Song #1" – 1:53
  7. "Learn How to Play Dead" – 3:37
  8. "Imagine All the Songs" – 3:03
  9. "Flexible Flyer" – 2:28
  10. "In My Mind" – 2:28
  11. "Teachers in the Bleachers" – 3:44
;LP3 – Recorded "Live" at a Sloan Party!
  1. "Let's Get the Party Started" – 2:28
  2. "I Can Feel It" – 3:54
  3. "Dignified and Old" – 3:12
  4. "Glitter and Gold" – 3:02
  5. "Over You" – 3:20
  6. "I Am the Cancer" – 3:22
  7. "I Can't Let Go" – 2:35
  8. "Stood Up" – 3:28
  9. "On the Road Again/Transona Five" – 4:42
  10. "I Wouldn't Want to Lose Your Love" – 5:45
;7"
  1. "Mirror Ball"
  2. "John, You Made It On"
;One Chord to Another Demos
  1. "The Good in Everyone"
  2. "Billy Joel"
  3. "Autobiography"
  4. "Mirror Ball"
  5. "John, You Made It On"
  6. "A Side Wins"
  7. "Everything You've Done Wrong"
  8. "Everyone Who's Anyone"
  9. "Found a Way"
  10. "Sing Your Little Heart Out"
  11. "Can't Face Up"
  12. "400 Metres"

    American and Japanese releases

One Chord to Another was not released until 1997 in the United States on the independent label, The Enclave. It was originally released in an LP-style cardboard gatefold jacket rather than a traditional plastic jewel box, and included a 10-track bonus CD of material entitled Recorded Live at a Sloan Party! This bonus CD consisted of cover versions and re-recordings of previous Sloan songs; it was recorded in the studio but was overdubbed with miscellaneous party-type sounds to give the impression of being recorded live at an intimate gathering of friends. To date, the "Sloan Party" CD has not been released in the band's native Canada and has only been available as an American import. In 2016, the "Sloan Party" album was released on vinyl as part of the 20th anniversary One Chord to Another box set, and featuring new album art reminiscent of the Beach Boys' Party! album.
  1. "Let's Get the Party Started" – 2:28
  2. "I Can Feel It" – 3:54
  3. "Dignified and Old" – 3:12
  4. "Glitter and Gold" – 3:02
  5. "Over You" – 3:20
  6. "I Am the Cancer" – 3:22
  7. "I Can't Let Go" – 2:35
  8. "Stood Up" – 3:28
  9. "On the Road Again/Transona Five" – 4:42
  10. "I Wouldn't Want to Lose Your Love" – 5:45
Note: All of track 1 and the last 2:35 of track 10 consist of party sound effects only; track 8 is a cover of a song by Matthew Grimson, not the similarly-titled song released as a 1996 7" single by Sloan. Track 2 is performed by Patrick Pentland and Jennifer Pierce; track 3 is performed by Chris Murphy; track 4 is performed by Andrew Scott; track 5 is performed by Jay Ferguson; track 6 is performed by Chris Murphy; track 7 is performed by Jay Ferguson; track 8 is performed by Chris Murphy; track 9 is performed by Jay Ferguson; track 10 is performed by Patrick Pentland.
One Chord to Another was Sloan's first album to be released in Japan. They secured a distribution deal with EMI, who released the album with new recordings of "Stood Up" and "Same Old Flame". When Navy Blues was released in Canada, however, Sloan's distribution deal with Universal Canada led to new Japanese distribution with Universal Japan. Universal then released Sloan's first three albums in Japan. The new Universal Japan version of One Chord to Another was a one-disc release featuring Recorded Live at a Sloan Party! as bonus tracks, making the original Japanese release on EMI, with its two exclusive tracks, a rarity in the Sloan catalogue.