Good Stuff was created in the wake of the departure of B-52's singer and founding member Cindy Wilson, who left the band after an Earth Day performance in Central Park in 1990.[2] The band were just finishing up 18 months of touring, following the massive success of their 1989 album, Cosmic Thing.[3] Wilson would ultimately be absent from the band from 1990 to 1994, taking a hiatus to raise children, and later stated, "My clock was ticking, so I chose to take some time off."[4] Wilson said that another reason for her departure was that she still missed her brother Ricky Wilson, the band's former guitarist who died in 1985; she also "needed to step back and chill."[4]Fred Schneider recalled, "All of a sudden she just decided she was quitting ... so it was real stressful. It was a real shock."[3] However, the band continued with Wilson's blessing and eventually hired Julee Cruise to tour as a vocalist with the band.[3]
Guitarist Keith Strickland later stated that Good Stuff came about when the band's management pushed them to record a quick follow-up to capitalize on the success of Cosmic Thing, despite them being "burnt out" and "exhausted" from touring.[5] Like Cosmic Thing, Good Stuff was produced jointly by Nile Rodgers and Don Was.[6]
David Browne of Entertainment Weekly felt the album "reduces their sound to a dull formula", and that "their attempts to keep the party going... sound more forced than ever", although he cited "Revolution Earth" as the highlight.[6] Elysa Gardner of Rolling Stone found the work of the two producers "impressively seamless", citing "Dreamland" and "Bad Influence" as highlights, and added that "[Kate] Pierson's richly textured vocals hold up just fine on their own" in light of the absence of Cindy Wilson.[13]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine thought the title track "was a transparent attempt to recapture the good vibes of 'Love Shack'" that "didn't succeed" but "did have the distinction of being the best single pulled from Good Stuff."[9]
Track listing
All tracks written by the B-52's, except where noted.
↑Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1sted.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p.166. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
