Utopia Parkway is the second studio album by the American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It was released by Atlantic Records in April 1999. Background The album was written by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger with the intention of emulating albums with a strong thematic story inspired by its surroundings, such as Muswell Hillbillies by The Kinks and Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. According to Schlesinger, "When we were teenagers, we liked listening to Kinks records because we'd never been to England, and we got a sense of what it was like to live there. We really wanted to make a record that felt whole. We intentionally didn't include a few good songs because once we started picking up on the thematic connections, we wanted to stick with it." Collingwood added, "It had to do with reaching a level of maturity where you realize your own life is worth singing about. We spent so much time glamourizing bands like the Kinks, but what they were singing about was just everyday suburbia in England. There's this realization that you don't have to sing about Kensington for it to be worthwhile." In terms of musical direction, the band opted to evoke songs and bands that had an ubiquitous nature when they were younger. According to Schlesinger, "Musically, the stuff on the record is like picking through all the songs that people our age weren't about to avoid growing up. It could be Loverboy, Steve Miller, the Cars, Journey. You don't even know if you like it or hate it; it just pops into your head. Sometimes when we're arranging a song we all remember something at the same time so we'll throw it in there. It's not even really conscious." Collingwood's songwriting contributions on this album - including "Troubled Times", "A Fine Day for a Parade" and "Amity Gardens" - tended to be more serious than Schlesinger's. According to Collingwood, "I think I was a little panicky after the first record as being perceived as a novelty band. So I was trying to move away from making jokes on this record. That's why my contributions are more dismal." This is also the first Fountains of Wayne album to feature guitarist Jody Porter and drummer Brian Young, who joined the band after Collingwood and Schlesinger had finished recording the debut album almost entirely on their own. According to Collingwood, "The new album