The Half-Baked Serenade is the second studio album by the American pop rock band Self, released through Spongebath Records on April 24, 1997. Following the success of Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995), frontman Matt Mahaffey distanced himself from rock music stereotypes, focusing instead on electropop instrumentation for the project. Upon release, the album received favorable reviews for its bold experimentation and ornate compositions. It peaked at number 48 on CMJ's Alternative Radio Airplay chart and number 70 on the CMJ Top 200. The single "KiDdies" received national radio play and topped some local charts.
Background
Following the success of Self's debut album Subliminal Plastic Motives (1995), lead member Matt Mahaffey and his brother Mike recruited keyboardist Chris James, drummer Jason Rawlings, and bassist Tim Nobles to sustain touring as a band. They later found difficulty working with Nobles, leading to his removal from the group and lack of appearance on any album. During the same period, Mahaffey frequently received invitations to strip clubs from radio personalities and other music industry colleagues for his association with Subliminal Plastic Motives. Mahaffey's strong disinterest in this lifestyle led him to drop his guitar usage, citing the stereotypes around rock bands like Eve 6 and Green Day as the reason.
Development and release
thumb|left|175px|Self's logo as seen on the front cover art.
After touring with rock band Cracker for two months, Mahaffey returned home and found a message from a crazed fan in his answering machine. She had developed a parasocial relationship with him, believing his music to be about her and sharing personal information, including an interest in dressing like Marilyn Manson. After removing his name from the city's phone book, Mahaffey incorporated the message into the songs "KiDdies" and "Cinderblocks for Shoes", directly sampling it in the latter. Another song, "Joy, the Mechanical Boy", was stated to be about ecstasy use. The track "Song for Nelson" is an instrumental spy theme inspired by Mahaffey's colleague Nelson, who would gift bags of CDs to him that were discarded by MCA Records.
Using a Discman, In 2014, "Microchip Girl" appeared as part of a live acoustic set by Self.
Reception
The Half-Baked Serenade received favorable reviews upon release. Shan Fowler of Pitchfork gave the album a rating of 7.5/10, highlighting its wit and comparing the electronic instrumentation and lyrical subjects to OK Computer (1997).
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Nominations for The Half-Baked Serenade
|-
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Organization
! scope="col"| Award
! scope="col"| Result
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2"| 1998
| Nashville Music Awards
| Rock Album of the Year
|
|}
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
- Matt Mahaffey – lead vocals, instruments, production, mixing, arrangement
- Tommy Dorsey – mastering engineer
- Chris James – mixing
- Jason Rawlings – mixing (all tracks), drums (2)
- Brian Rogers – guitar (4)
- Mike Mahaffey – guitar (9)
- Brian Bottcher – album design, artwork direction
Charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Weekly chart performance for The Half-Baked Serenade
! scope="col" style="width:16em"| Chart (1997–1998)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
!scope="row"| Alternative Radio Airplay (CMJ)
|48
|-
!scope="row"| CMJ Top 200
|70
|}