release date: Oct. 1992
format: cd
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,64]
producer: Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth
label: Factory Records - nationality: England, UK
4th and originally final album by Happy Mondays and also the final album on Factory Records. The album follows two years after the acclaimed Pills 'n' Thrills & Bellyaches (Apr. 1990) and is produced by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads. Initially, the album was planned to have Oakenfold and Osborne as producers but as they were unable to find the time, new producers had to be considered. The album is notorious for several reasons. Before the recordings, both Shaun Ryder and Bez were deep into drug addiction, Whelan and Paul Ryder took to alcohol abuse and Paul Davis was both on drugs and alcohol. The manager and managers at Factory brought up the idea to have the band re-located to Barbados in an attempt to prevent substance abuse and secure ideal circumstances. However, in Barbados drugs and substance abuse was out of control, which of course afflicted the recording sessions. Furthermore, Factory were in financial difficulties and with new skyrocketing costs of the album Republic (1993) by New Order together with near-endless growing costs for this very album, the legendary record label declared bankruptcy Nov. 1992.
When reading about the recording sessions, it's probably not without sheer luck that they managed to come up with a new album. But two dynamic producers couldn't prevent the material from suffering. Drugs and alcohol in combination with strained internal relations hasn't exactly helped produce a bunch of great songs. The style has changed and perhaps even inadvertently to something more stringent. It's no longer the huge melting pot of styles but a style heavily built on funk and indie rock, and mostly without the strong traits from acid house and rave beats. Yes, it still maintains some alt. dance but in a subdued manner where guitars and drums dominate. Apparently, Shaun Ryder had been unable to produce the lyrics at the original sessions, which had to be added later back in England and that also reflects the end result. It's music without nerve, without strong hooks and ideas. Only positive thing here is the strong vocal performance by backing vocalist Rowetta, which says a great deal about the album. You can still tell it's Happy Mondays, but Shaun Ryder, who's lost all vitality only represents the rest of a band sounding as if they don't even bother trying. According to Shaun [see below link], the choice of producers was crucial to the failure of the album. He acknowledges Frantz and Weymouth as great artists but believes they directed the music into something more rock-oriented, which didn't fit with the new-found sound of the band, and that also prevented him from coming up with proper lyrics 'cause he needed to be inspired by their new music, which simply wasn't there. An argument, I completely buy because the alt. dance and pop-sound of the '90-album is seriously lacking on this.
The album was met by luke-warm to mostly negative reviews but still charted as high as number #14 on the UK charts. Tracks #1 and #3 were the only songs selected for single releases and didn't reach top-10 in the UK but went number #1 and #5 on the Hot Dance Club Songs list in the US. After the release, Happy Mondays toured with the album in the UK and Europe, and then finished off in Japan early '93. After the collapse of Factory Records the band and manager were in contact with various labels but after internal conflicts about the failure of the new album and the-who-did-what-thing, the band finally disbanded in early '93. Later that year, Shaun Ryder and Bez continued in the quintet Black Grape.
This album is not more than plain mediocre, and at times sounds (disastrously) more like Frantz and Weymouth have taken over (more than) the arrangements - it's clearly the least favourable album by Happy Mondays and not recommended.
[ allmusic.com 1,5 / 5, Select 2 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]
