Maps of Music

Sweetheart of the Sun (2011)

Where the lyrics of Sweetheart of the Sun take you, and where it was really made.

The album's title comes from a song inspired by a book about Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon, not from the band's own history.

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Do you know where this album was recorded, or where its cover was shot? Tell us and we will add it to the map.

Sweetheart of the Sun: fifth studio album by American pop rock band the Bangles
Released September 27, 2011
Second album since the band's 2003 reunion
Only Bangles album without an official bassist; Michael Steele left the band in 2005
Session musicians hired for bass guitar parts
Twelve songs, co-produced by the Bangles and Matthew Sweet
Ten songs are originals by some combination of the three members; three are credited to the full trio
Some songs drawn from unrecorded material dating back to the early 1990s
Two covers date to the 1960s: a reworking of a 1964 single by the McKinleys and a song from the Nazz

Fifth full-length studio album since the band's inception thirty years earlier
Came eight years after the reunion album Doll Revolution (2003)
Doll Revolution was followed by an extensive tour, after which Michael Steele left and a lengthy readjustment followed
The remaining trio tried new bassists and toured sporadically
They then focused on making a new album on their own, a process that took about two years
Susanna Hoffs attributed the long process to parenting and family responsibilities
The title comes from the song "Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the Sun)"
The song was inspired by Sheila Weller's 2009 triple biography Girls Like Us, about Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon
The song conveys the musicians' influence on the Bangles as role models of independent feminist women

Formed in Los Angeles in 1981 as an all-female pop rock band.
Susanna Hoffs and sisters Vicki and Debbi Peterson came together in December 1980 after responding to classified ads in The Recycler.
Annette Zilinskas joined on bass as the original fourth member.
Began as part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene, influenced by 1960s rock and psychedelic music.
Early work blended jangly guitar melodies with power-pop sensibilities.
Renamed themselves the Bangs shortly after forming, later becoming the Bangles.

Susanna Hoffs: lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano.
Vicki Peterson: lead guitar, backing vocals.
Debbi Peterson: drums, acoustic guitar, percussion, backing vocals.
Annette Zilinskas: original bassist (1981–1983), rejoined in 2018.
Michael Steele: bassist and vocalist from 1983 to 1989 and 1998 to 2005, formerly of the Runaways.

Debut album All Over the Place (1984) on Columbia Records received critical acclaim.
Prince gave them "Manic Monday," originally written for his group Apollonia 6, which reached number two in the US, UK and Germany.
Different Light (1986) reached number two on the Billboard 200, driven by the worldwide number-one hit "Walk Like an Egyptian."
Cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "A Hazy Shade of Winter" (1987) from the film Less than Zero reached number two in February 1988.
Everything (1988) included the top-five hit "In Your Room" and their biggest-selling single "Eternal Flame."
"Eternal Flame" became the biggest single by an all-female band in history.
Disbanded in 1989 after internal friction; reunited in 1998 to record for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
Released Doll Revolution (2003) and Sweetheart of the Sun (2011).
Reunited with founding bassist Annette Zilinskas in 2018, the first time the original four members had played together since 1983.

Many critics saw the album as a successful reinvention of the Bangles' early musical style
Fresh Air's music critic Ken Tucker gave it a wholly favorable review
Tucker judged the album on its own terms and said it did not require prior familiarity with Bangles songs to appreciate its craft
Tucker wrote that good pop rock transcends time and space
No Depression reviewer Julie Wenger Watson praised the album for nodding to the past without wallowing in it
Watson said the album highlights the band's skills as musicians, vocalists, and songwriters
The New York Times critic Jon Caramanica felt much of the album reads as mature takes on youthful ideas
Caramanica linked the album to the Bangles' 1982 EP and the band's earliest days
Blurt's Steve Pick said it sounds remarkably like what might have been expected as a follow-up to All Over the Place

Sheila Weller's book Girls Like Us had a deep impact on Susanna Hoffs, who passed it along to Vicki and Debbi Peterson, who also loved it
Two covers date to the 1960s: a reworking of a 1964 single by the UK girl group the McKinleys, itself a cover of a 1963 single by Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, and a song from Todd Rundgren's early psychedelic band the Nazz
An expanded version was sold exclusively through Barnes & Noble stores, with acoustic versions of Through Your Eyes and What a Life as bonus tracks
Two singles, I'll Never Be Through with You and Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the Sun), promoted the record
The 7-inch single of Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the Sun) included an acoustic studio version of Hazy Shade of Winter and Let It Go