Toad the Wet Sprocket was formed in 1986 at San Marcos High School just outside of Santa Barbara, California, when singer-songwriter Glen Phillips was just a 14-year-old freshman, and the other members were 17-year-old juniors. The band drew its name from the Eric Idle monologue "Rock Notes" on Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album from 1980. Their first public appearance was at an open-microphone talent contest in September 1986 (which they lost).
Toad the Wet Sprocket's first album came out in 1989. Named Bread and Circus, it was their first effort for Columbia Records, who had signed them out of high school. The album spawned the singles "Way Away" and "One Little Girl," which made the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, but did not receive much attention.
The follow-up, Pale, was released in 1990 and saw their sound mature. Featuring the singles "Jam" and the Modern Rock Chart hit "Come Back Down," the album was still not a massive success.
The band finally achieved fame with their third album, Fear (released in 1991), which became the band's first RIAA certified platinum album. Also, the singles "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean" reached the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1994, after years of heavy touring, the band released their follow-up to Fear, Dulcinea. This album spawned the hit singles "Fall Down", which reached #1 on the US Modern Rock charts as well as #5 on the Mainstream Rock chart, as well as "Something's Always Wrong", which also charted. This album was also certified platinum by the RIAA.
A compilation album of b-sides and rarities, In Light Syrup, was released in 1995; it included the single "Good Intentions", which was featured on the soundtrack for the television show Friends. Largely due to the strength of the single, this compilation was certified as a gold album in 2001.
The release of Coil in 1997 acted much like a follow up to 1994's Dulcinea. Featuring a more electric, rock sound, it contained the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock hit "Come Down", as well as the radio hit "Crazy Life" (which did not chart). The album, despite the success of "Come Down" as a single, failed to reach any sales benchmarks.
Toad the Wet Sprocket formally broke up in July 1998, citing creative differences. Since breaking up, the band performed together in 2002 at a Rape Crisis Center benefit and opened up for Counting Crows. In 2006 they began touring the United States as a band in small-venue, short-run tours each summer.
In 2009, bassist Dean Dinning said Toad the Wet Sprocket was now something each member considered an active project, and though they had not released a new studio album since 1997 and only did small summer tours, they no longer considered themselves "broken up". In May 2010, the band gathered at a California studio to begin re-recording some of their older hits for licensing reasons. Columbia Records owns the masters to the band's albums. Therefore, the band makes little money from them, so to be able to make a living off their own talent again, they made these re-recordings with the goal of having them used in film and TV.
On December 7, 2010, Toad the Wet Sprocket released their first new studio track in 11 years. The holiday track "It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas", a cover of a Sam Phillips original, was posted on their official site, available via Bandcamp, for free download just in time for the holidays, along with a new message on their site: "We're that band that did 'Walk on the Ocean', 'All I Want', 'Something's Always Wrong', and "Fall Down'. The one with the weird name. We're back from a long slumber and look forward to saying hello some time. Keep in touch…" The band had recently signed a deal with Primary Wave to handle their back catalog and any future releases, and on December 11, 2010, the band mentioned, both on stage and in an offstage YouTube interview, that they are currently writing songs for their first new studio album since 1997's Coil. In addition, they began playing two new songs, "Friendly Fire" and "The Moment", which were being worked on for the new album.
On April 12, 2011, Toad the Wet Sprocket released a new greatest hits album titled All You Want in digital and disc form via their official website. The 11-track CD includes brand new studio versions of their hits. The band does not have access to some of the versions they did for Columbia Records in the '90s. However, they did regain full control of the songs from their first two albums, and they planned to re-release them in remastered form on their own label, Abe's Records, following the release of their upcoming studio album.
On March 22, 2013, it was announced via Toad the Wet Sprocket's Facebook page that recording of the new album had been completed. The album was produced and mixed by Mikal Blue at Revolver Studios in Thousand Oaks, California. On June 5, 2013, the band announced the first new single in 16 years on Rolling Stone's website titled "New Constellation". An album of the same name was released on the band's own Abe's Records on October 15, 2013. The band marketed the new album via the crowdsourcing website Kickstarter. The band initially set a fundraising goal of $50,000, expecting it to take about two months to raise that amount. Instead, fans contributed more than $50,000 in less than 20 hours. When the Kickstarter campaign finally came to a close, they had raised a total of $264,762.
In 2014, Toad the Wet Sprocket resumed touring and opened a number of shows for Counting Crows. They showcased some of the new material from New Constellation, the Kickstarter-funded album, including "California Wasted" and the album's title track while playing a number of their earlier hits. During summer 2015, the band went on tour with fellow '90s acts Smash Mouth and Tonic. The band released an EP called Architect of the Ruin on June 16, 2015.
In 2018, Toad the Wet Sprocket announced that they had reissued their albums fear and Dulcinea on a deluxe remastered vinyl LP available through their online store. The same year, they also released a limited deluxe 5-LP box set of colored vinyl for their albums fear, Dulcinea and Acoustic Dance Party.
In a January 2020 interview with ChicagoNow, Glen Phillips stated that "Toad has started recording again." In addition, he confirmed the band's first official lineup change, and that drummer Guss had left the band on good terms. Previous occasional touring member Josh Daubin replaced Guss.
On September 25, 2020, they released a new song entitled “Starting Now”, followed by another new song "Old Habits Die Hard" on October 23rd, from their upcoming album, set to be released in 2021.
There's another band with the same name:
2. Toad The Wet Sprocket was an NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) band active from the mid-70s to 1982. They released two singles, "Pete's Punk Song" and "Reaching the Sky", before their breakup. Their song, "Blues in A", was included on Metal for Muthas compilation (1980).
Something
Toad The Wet Sprocket Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And you would say nothing's changed at all
And I can't feel much hope for anything
If I won't be there to catch you when you fall
Again
It seems we meet
In the spaces
We always say
It won't take long
But something's always wrong
Another game of putting things aside
As if we'll come back to them sometime
A brace of hope
A pride of innocence
And you would say something has gone wrong
Again
It seems we meet
In the spaces
In between
We always say
It won't take long
But something's always wrong
The lyrics of Toad The Wet Sprocket's song, "Something's Always Wrong," display a theme of failed communication and missed opportunities. The singer describes a cycle of failed attempts to reach out to someone they care about. Even when they do connect, it feels superficial and unsure, with an underlying feeling of distance, as if something has been lost or forgotten. The singer's uncertainty about their ability to support their loved one is palpable, and it seems as though they may have given up on the idea of being there for them altogether.
The chorus of the song illustrates the central message: "Again it seems we meet in the spaces in-between, we always say it won't take long, but something's always wrong." The singer is attempting to reach out to the person they care about, but even when they do connect, it never feels like enough. They always leave feeling like something important has been left unsaid or unacknowledged. The song resonates with the feeling of missed opportunities in relationships, where time and distance seem to conspire against two people who want to be close to each other.
Line by Line Meaning
Another day I call and never speak
I repeatedly call you but I don't communicate, we're drifting apart.
And you would say nothing's changed at all
You say things are the same, but we both know things have changed for the worse.
And I can't feel much hope for anything
I'm losing hope that we can fix things and get back to the way things were.
If I won't be there to catch you when you fall
If I'm not there for you, then what's the point of being together?
Again
This pattern keeps repeating.
It seems we meet
Even though we're supposed to be together, we keep missing each other.
In the spaces
We're physically together, but emotionally apart.
In between
We're always in between being together and being apart.
We always say
We keep making empty promises to each other.
It won't take long
We make it seem like it won't take long to fix things, but it's taking forever.
But something's always wrong
There's always something that's getting in the way of us being happy again.
Lyrics © O/B/O CAPASSO
Written by: DINNING, GUSS, NICHOLS, PHILLIPS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@petersouza6554
[Verse 1]
Another day, I call and never speak
And you would say nothing's changed at all
And I can't feel much hope for anything
If I won't be there to catch you if you fall
Again (We fail)
It seems we meet (To meet and mend)
In the spaces (Spaces safe)
In between (Between intents)
We always say (Say too much)
It won't be long (Long been gone)
Oh, but something's always wrong
[
Another game of putting things aside
As if we'll come back to them some time
A brace of hopes, a pride of innocents
And you would say something has gone wrong
Again (We fail)
It seems we meet (To make amends)
In the spaces (And wend our way)
In between (Between intent)
We always say (Looking back)
It won't be long (Not moving on)
Oh, but something's always wrong
@jrock2264
This song is not just one of Toad's best, it's one of the best songs ever written. Yes, I said that. And I'm an old-school rock/metalhead guy.
@johnumile1800
Agreed 100%. Absolutely love it.
@richarddamico5639
I agree also! The background vocals are what make it for me.
@chriswoosley4991
Great production,as well....this song sounds good on a good stereo system...that was my first impression....how good and clear it was
@That60sGuy
100% agree. I guarantee that I've listened to this song over a 1000 times so far ..
@jesusislord7526
He is a great writer
@Jahadyn
For those who love TWS and talk about your memories of the 90s, these guys still tour regularly. I encourage you to find some small music venue where they are playing near you and go. They remain a wonderful show. Just saw them a couple of months ago with my girlfriend who had never seen them before, and she was blown away. Their drummer is new, but otherwise they are the same band. Support live music at small venues!!!
@ScottAnd
I saw them in New Hampshire back in September. It was a great show
@amandareynolds9644
I was 14 in 1995 and the first time I heard them ,I loved them! I'm 40 now and still listen to their new and old music. TWS has so much imazing talent! I have a very abnormal serious epilepsy ,and cant go or do certain things (even concerts ) I always wanted to see a concert , but love the fact I can atleast see them on TV.
@ponceje2011
I bought tickets for the Greek in L.A. I'm excited. Dulcinea album is one of my favorite albums of all time. :)