Become What You Are

Become What You Are is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band the Juliana Hatfield Three, released on August 3, 1993, by Mammoth Records. The album includes the hit singles "My Sister" and "Spin the Bottle".

Become What You Are
Studio album by the Juliana Hatfield Three
Released	August 3, 1993
Studio	Holywood Sound in Los Angeles
Genre	Alternative rock, power pop[1]
Length	40:22
Label	Mammoth
Producer	Scott Litt
The Juliana Hatfield Three chronology
Become What You Are (1993) Whatever, My Love (2015)
Juliana Hatfield chronology
Hey Babe (1992) Become What You Are (1993) Only Everything (1995)
Singles from Become What You Are
"My Sister" Released: August 30, 1993[2] "For the Birds" Released: 1993 "Spin the Bottle" Released: 1994

Recording and release

The band's singer and guitarist, Juliana Hatfield, recorded Become What You Are with drummer Todd Philips, formerly of Moving Targets and Bullet LaVolta, and bassist Dean Fisher, who she met during high school in Duxbury, Massachusetts.^[3] Unlike her previous album Hey Babe, which deals with personal topics, Hatfield decided to write songs about other things and make them more universal.^[4] The title of the album was inspired by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, whom Hatfield admired.^[3]

The album was recorded at Hollywood Sound, mixed at Oceanway Studios and mastered at Precision Mastering in Los Angeles.^[5] It was released on August 3, 1993, by Mammoth Records.^[1] The song "Spin the Bottle" is featured on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Reality Bites.^[6] As of February 2010, Become What You Are had sold 267,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[8]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[9]
Los Angeles Times	[10]
NME	7/10[11]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[12]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Select	4/5[15]
USA Today	[16]

Become What You Are received generally favorable reviews. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised Hatfield's honest vocals on "Supermodel," "My Sister," and "Spin the Bottle", stating that "her talents are strong enough to carry the album over the weak spots."^[1] The album was ranked No. 9 in NME's Albums of the Year list for 1993.^[17]

Track listing

All songs written by Juliana Hatfield, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Supermodel"	2:52
2.	"My Sister"	3:22
3.	"This Is the Sound"	3:01
4.	"For the Birds"	4:14
5.	"Mabel"	4:09
6.	"A Dame with a Rod"	2:55
7.	"Addicted"	3:16
8.	"Feelin' Massachusetts"	4:11
9.	"Spin the Bottle"	2:23
10.	"President Garfield"	4:38
11.	"Little Pieces"	3:05
12.	"I Got No Idols" (Hatfield, Dean Fisher, Todd Philips)	2:16
Total length:		40:22

^[5]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[5]

The Juliana Hatfield Three Juliana Hatfield – guitar, vocals Dean Fisher – bass Todd Philips – drums Additional musicians Denny Fongheiser – percussion Peter Holsapple – keyboards

Technical personnel Scott Litt – producer, engineer Ed Brooks – engineer, assistant engineer Martin Schmelzle – assistant engineer Steve Holroyd – mixed assistant Stephen Marcussen – mastering Jean Cronin – design Melanie Nissen – photography

Charts

Chart (1993)	Peak
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[18]	89
US Top Heatseekers	1[19]
Billboard 200	119[19]