Music for Cougars

Sugar Ray | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 21, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Pulse Recording
• ASIN: B002CPD5NA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,365 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Girls Were Made to Love

2. Boardwalk

3. She's Got The (Woo-Hoo)

4. Love Is the Answer

5. Rainbow

6. Closer

7. When We Were Young

8. Going Nowhere

9. Love 101

10. Last Days

11. Morning Sun

12. Dance Like No One's Watchin'

Editorial Reviews

2009 release from the American Alt-Rock band, their first studio set after a six year hiatus. The best part about the album-by far-is the title. It's called Music For Cougars. It's a hilarious title from a band that left the scene in 2003 when they realized that they weren't selling many records or getting much airplay. It was at that point that Mark McGrath reinvented himself as a host and landed one of the main spots on Extra. After a fun run on the show, McGrath decided it was time to go back to his roots and reunite with the band.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relax, and let yourself enjoy a solid album., July 21, 2009

By 

Emie (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music For Cougars (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) (MP3 Download)

Admittedly, I've never met a Sugar Ray album I didn't like.

Unfortunately, hearing a Sugar Ray fan praise a Sugar Ray album is like hearing a Bon Jovi fan drool over a Bon Jovi album...or a Led Zeppelin fan swoon over IV...or a Miley Cyrus fan fawn over a Hannah Montana soundtrack. It's all hopelessly biased.

So, instead of merely gushing over "Music For Cougars" like a fanboy, I'll try to provide some legitimate reasons why I appreciate this album. Maybe some reasons will resonate with you:

-Variety
Sugar Ray's greatest strength has always been their versatility. This album has tastes of reggae, hip-hop, rock, disco, electronic, and Jack Johnson-esque acoustic vibing.
Unlike some other bands who have been forced into a creative corner (releasing similar song after similar song, year after year), Sugar Ray has managed to cover all their bases.
They've also added a sense of maturity to their song making, as evidenced in songs like "Rainbow". Of course, that doesn't mean the beach party is over, as the album still holds its share of sun-baked, pool side music.

-Collaboration
Sugar Ray always has a collab or two on their albums..."Cougars" is no different with all sorts of duets and guest writers:
Collie Buddz - "Girls Were Made to Love"
Rivers Cuomo from Weezer - "Love is the Answer"
Native Wayne - "Love 101"
Donavon Frankenreiter - "Dance Like No One's Watchin'"

-Vocals
Lead singer Mark McGrath lets loose, and really "sings out" in a number of these tunes ("Rainbow", "Boardwalk", "Love is the Answer"). Plus, it wouldn't be Sugar Ray without those trademark vocal harmonies, would it? (see: "Boardwalk", "Dance Like No One's Watchin'", "Morning Sun")

-Humility
I always find it humorous when people write Sugar Ray off as "1 hit wonders" when, in reality, they are actually 6 hit wonders at the very least (8 hit wonders at best). This is a VERY successful band. And, yet in interviews (and when I met them twice at concerts) they come across as five humble, down-to-earth fellows. If you're going to spend money on a band, it's good to know you're spending it on people who actually respect you. No delusions of grandeur or inflated egos here. Just musicians.

-Intentions
Sugar Ray has taken a lot of criticism from "hardcore" music fans claiming the band "sold out", abandoning the punk rock for the radio-friendly "pop-hop" that earned them platinum and gold. Well, fast forward to 2009 when Sugar Ray's popularity has softened and the hype is gone. Members of the band have stated in interviews that the wild success of previous albums is nearly impossible at this point in their career...and they don't mind at all. According to Sugar Ray, the purpose of "Cougars" was simply to get together and make some music, whether commercially successful or not. So, I guess that makes Sugar Ray more indie than the average indie band.

How ironic that the supposed "pop sell outs" have returned 12 years later to show us what true, heartfelt, non-commercial, AUTHENTIC music making is all about. At the very least, you gotta respect them for that.

PS. The bonus songs are nice remakes. "Someday" is a particlarly clean rendition.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relax, and let yourself enjoy a solid album., July 21, 2009

By 

Emie (Illinois, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music for Cougars (Audio CD)

Admittedly, I've never met a Sugar Ray album I didn't like.

Unfortunately, hearing a Sugar Ray fan praise a Sugar Ray album is like hearing a Bon Jovi fan drool over a Bon Jovi album...or a Led Zeppelin fan swoon over IV...or a Miley Cyrus fan fawn over a Hannah Montana soundtrack. It's all hopelessly biased.

So, instead of merely gushing over "Music For Cougars" like a fanboy, I'll try to provide some legitimate reasons why I appreciate this album. Maybe some reasons will resonate with you:

-Variety
Sugar Ray's greatest strength has always been their versatility. This album has tastes of reggae, hip-hop, rock, disco, electronic, and Jack Johnson-esque acoustic vibing.
Unlike some other bands who have been forced into a creative corner (releasing similar song after similar song, year after year), Sugar Ray has managed to cover all their bases.
They've also added a sense of maturity to their song making, as evidenced in songs like "Rainbow". Of course, that doesn't mean the beach party is over, as the album still holds its share of sun-baked, pool side music.

-Collaboration
Sugar Ray always has a collab or two on their albums..."Cougars" is no different with all sorts of duets and guest writers:
Collie Buddz - "Girls Were Made to Love"
Rivers Cuomo from Weezer - "Love is the Answer"
Native Wayne - "Love 101"
Donavon Frankenreiter - "Dance Like No One's Watchin'"

-Vocals
Lead singer Mark McGrath lets loose, and really "sings out" in a number of these tunes ("Rainbow", "Boardwalk", "Love is the Answer"). Plus, it wouldn't be Sugar Ray without those trademark vocal harmonies, would it? (see: "Boardwalk", "Dance Like No One's Watchin'", "Morning Sun")

-Humility
I always find it humorous when people write Sugar Ray off as "1 hit wonders" when, in reality, they are actually 6 hit wonders at the very least (8 hit wonders at best). This is a VERY successful band. And, yet in interviews (and when I met them twice at concerts) they come across as five humble, down-to-earth fellows. If you're going to spend money on a band, it's good to know you're spending it on people who actually respect you. No delusions of grandeur or inflated egos here. Just musicians.

-Intentions
Sugar Ray has taken a lot of criticism from "hardcore" music fans claiming the band "sold out", abandoning the punk rock for the radio-friendly "pop-hop" that earned them platinum and gold. Well, fast forward to 2009 when Sugar Ray's popularity has softened and the hype is gone. Members of the band have stated in interviews that the wild success of previous albums is nearly impossible at this point in their career...and they don't mind at all. According to Sugar Ray, the purpose of "Cougars" was simply to get together and make some music, whether commercially successful or not. So, I guess that makes Sugar Ray more indie than the average indie band.

How ironic that the supposed "pop sell outs" have returned 12 years later to show us what true, heartfelt, non-commercial music making is all about. At the very least, you gotta respect them for that...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tune I'm Happy to Hear, July 27, 2009

By 

B. J. Sparks - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music For Cougars (Amazon MP3 Exclusive Version) (MP3 Download)

Sugar Ray, after a six year layoff breached only by an unceremonious greatest hits album, is back. Their last release, 2003's In the Pursuit of Leisure, was all-pop-no-pizazz; although it featured that summery theme that they're famous for, it wound-up sounding flat, there was no punch. Music for Cougars is the antithesis to that. This sounds like the band is having fun, and you can really feel that vibe through the music. Mark's lyrics aren't anything special, they never were and he never aims for such to be, the band's musical composition is neither extraordinary, but things feel polished - this is a Sugar Ray that knows their stuff, their audience and how to satisfy them. It hasn't been since '99's 14:59 that they've been downright in-tune, but this is either just as good or perhaps better. It's probably fortunate that they aimed not to outdo themselves, and just make a record for the love of it, because this album - while average in a lot of respects - has heart, a lot of heart.

I'm really happy to be hearing these guys again, it's been a long break for Sugar Ray fans, but the band has once more hit their stride and Music for Cougars promises to impart memories; this is a de facto theme-of-that-summer kind of album, and we'll be enjoying its tunes for a long time to come. Thank you Mark & Guys for putting this one out.