Apartment Life by IVY

Apartment Life is the second studio album by American band Ivy, released by Atlantic Records on October 6, 1997. After being dropped from Seed Records following the release of Realistic in 1995, the group signed to Atlantic due to connections that Adam Schlesinger had with the record label. In addition to band members Andy Chase and Schlesinger, the album was produced by Lloyd Cole and Peter Nashel. In contrast to their previous releases, such as Lately (1994) and Realistic, Apartment Life is a pop album with varying forms of production consisting of keyboards, brass, and string instruments. Some of the compositions featured on the record were compared to the works of My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, and the Smiths. To promote the album, Ivy embarked on a series of promotional tours across the United States. Considered an improvement over 1995's Realistic, the album received praise from music critics. A columnist from Billboard would go on to rank Apartment Life as the seventh best album released in 1997. Commercially, its frequent playback from college radio programmers allowed it to enter the airplay charts compiled by CMJ New Music Monthly. "The Best Thing", "I've Got a Feeling", "This Is the Day", and "You Don't Know Anything" were released as the album's four singles. "This Is the Day" drew attention to the group after being featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film There's Something About Mary. It would later be included on various compilation albums. Following their drop from Atlantic Records and transfer to 550 Music, a reissued version of the album was released in 1999. A special release in Japan headed by Epic Records also took place in the same year and features two previously unreleased bonus tracks.