| The Harsh Light of Day | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 19, 2000 | |||
| Studio | A&M Studios, Hollywood | |||
| Genre | Rock, pop rock, power pop | |||
| Length | 42:21 | |||
| Label | Hollywood | |||
| Producer | Julian Raymond, Fastball | |||
| Fastball chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 64/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B−[3] |
| Rolling Stone | [4] |
| Spin | 6/10[1] |
| Wall of Sound | 68/100[5] |
The Harsh Light of Day is the third studio album by pop-rock band Fastball, released in September 2000 by Hollywood Records. It contained the single release "You're an Ocean," which spent eight weeks on the Billboard Bubbling Under chart and peaked at #101 during the fall of 2000.[6] It also reached #25 on Radio & Records.
The album had a distinctly more layered and glossier sound than past albums, and featured guest appearances by Billy Preston, Brian Setzer and Michael Ward. However, despite positive reviews and extensive touring and promotional activity, the album failed to match the success of its predecessor, and would be the band's last studio effort for Hollywood Records.
Miles Zuniga left the band briefly following the completion of promotional duties for The Harsh Light of Day, and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, but re-joined the band soon afterwards.[7]
Fastball appeared on an episode of Charmed, where "You're an Ocean" played at Piper's night club. "You're an Ocean" is also heard in the opening scene of the 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie Motocrossed.
As of January 2004, sales for this album were at 85,000.[8]
The song "Morning Star" is played in the title sequence of the video game Triple Play Baseball.
