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Screamadelica

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Untitled

Screamadelica is the third studio album by the British alternative rock group Primal Scream and was their first to be a commercial success. It was released on 23 September 1991 in the UK by Creation Records,[1] and 8 October 1991 in North America by Sire Records.[2] Screamadelica peaked at #8 on the UK Albums Chart upon its initial release.[3] The album was released to widespread critical acclaim, and is frequently acknowledged as one of the best albums of the 1990s. Screamadelica also won the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.[4]

History

The album was a significant departure from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the house music scene (and associated drugs) that was becoming popular at the time of its production. The band enlisted house DJs Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley on producing duties, although the album also contained a wide range of other influences including gospel and dub.

Although the band wrote a track also called Screamadelica, it does not appear on the album. The ten minute dance track was also produced by Andrew Weatherall and sung by Denise Johnson. It appears on the Dixie Narco EP released in 1992, and is featured in the opening credits of the now rare Screamadelica VHS video tape.

The album includes "Loaded", which was a top twenty hit single in the UK. Dance DJ Andrew Weatherall began remixing "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have", from their previous album, and the resulting track disassembled the song, adding a drum loop from an Italian bootleg mix of Edie Brickell's "What I Am" and a sample from the Peter Fonda B-movie The Wild Angels. The single "Movin' on Up" was the band's breakthrough hit in the United States, reaching #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and also making #28 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Album cover

The album cover for Screamadelica was painted by Creation Records' in-house artist Paul Cannell, who died in 2005.[5] Screamadelica was among ten album covers chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.[6][7]

Musicology and samples

  • "Movin' On Up" opens the album in C major and is similar in style to the Rolling Stones. The song features Bobby Gillespie's vocals in the verse section with a gospel chorus, accompanied throughout by acoustic guitar, electric guitar and percussion. The song originally had a slower tempo and was described as a Ballad, the song only featured an piano and Gillespie's vocals the song also borrows from the lyrics to Can's "Yoo Doo Right" with the lyrics are similar to those of Amazing Grace.
  • "Slip Inside This House" is a version of a 1967 song by the 13th Floor Elevators. Primal Scream's version features Sly Stone's laugh from the end of the song "Sex Machine" (from the 1969 album Stand!) and the Amen break.
  • "Don't Fight It, Feel It", in the Italo house style, with vocals by Denise Johnson.
  • "Higher Than the Sun" uses a sample from "Wah Wah Man" by the Young-Holt Unlimited Trio. It also has a recurring spoken word sample from "Get Away Jordan" by Take 6.
  • "Inner Flight" samples the closing sound on Brian Eno's "The Great Pretender" from the album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).
  • "Loaded", in E-flat major, features lines spoken by Peter Fonda's character in the 1966 movie The Wild Angels, as well as a drum loop from an Italian bootleg mix of Edie Brickell's "What I Am". There are brass pedal notes between the sections with vocals. It is a remix of Primal Scream's own "I'm Losing More than I'll Ever Have", off their second album 'Primal Scream'
  • "Damaged", in contrast to the previous track, has a slower tempo and more reflective mood. Sparse percussion, acoustic guitar and piano accompany quiet vocals.
  • "Come Together" is the longest track on the album. On the UK version, the track opens with part of a speech given by Jesse Jackson at the Wattstax concert held in Los Angeles in 1972. About half-way through the track, a repeated female vocal line "Come... together as one" kicks in and repeats for the rest of the track.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[8]
BBC(very positive)[9]
Q[10]

Screamadelica has received widespread acclaim, frequently appearing in critics' lists and audience polls. Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Screamadelica "an album that transcends its time and influence."[8] Pitchfork Media praised the album on their 2003 list of the "Top 100 albums of the '90s," saying: "Screamadelica's atmospheric and imaginative hybrid of past, present and future captured its moment in vivid color and splendor, and it still radiates with a kaleidoscopic glow."[11] In a 2009 review, the BBC hailed the album as "a solid gold classic."[9]

  • It won the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.
  • It was Melody Maker's album of the year in 1991.[12]
  • It was Select's album of the year in 1991.[13]
  • In 1996, Select named it as the #1 album of the 1990s.
  • NME placed it at no. 3 in its "Best Albums of 1991" list.[14]
  • In 2003, NME placed it at no. 23 in its "100 Best Albums Ever" list.[15] In 2006, the magazine also placed it at no. 15 in its "Greatest British Albums Ever" list.[16]
  • In 2000, Q placed the album at #18 on their list of the "100 Greatest British Albums."[17] In 2001, Q placed it at #81 on a list of the "Top 100 Albums of All Time."[18] The album ranked #2 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" list.[19]
  • In 2003, Pitchfork Media placed it at #77 in a list of the "Top 100 Albums of the '90s."[11]
  • It appeared in Channel 4's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time."[20]

"Movin' on Up" was used on the previous Telewest Broadband commercials before Virgin Media bought them out. Subsequently, Bacardi spirits used the song on a UK television ad. The song was also featured in the popular game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on fictional alternative radio station Radio X. A Northern soul version was also recorded by the late Edwin Starr for the cult British surfing film Blue Juice.

Legacy

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of the album, Primal Scream performed the entire album live at The Olympia in West London on 26 and 27 November 2010. The performance included a full gospel choir and horn section.[21] The first of these gigs was broadcast live on BBC 6 Music, presented by Steve Lamacq.[22] These gigs were followed by a UK tour in March 2011, where the band performed the album in full.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, and Robert Young, except "Slip Inside This House" written by Roky Erickson and Tommy Hall

No.TitleNotesLength
1."Movin' on Up" 3:47
2."Slip Inside This House"[A]5:14
3."Don't Fight It, Feel It" 6:51
4."Higher Than the Sun" 3:36
5."Inner Flight" 5:00
6."Come Together"[B]10:21
7."Loaded" 7:01
8."Damaged" 5:37
9."I'm Comin' Down" 5:59
10."Higher Than the Sun [A Dub Symphony in Two Parts]" 7:37
11."Shine Like Stars" 3:45
Notes
  • A ^ The lyrics to "Slip Inside This House" have been truncated and altered in places in comparison to the song's original recording by The 13th Floor Elevators. A notable example of such modification is in the chorus, where "Slip inside this house" was altered to "Trip inside this house".
  • B ^ On the American pressings of the album, the Terry Farley mix of "Come Together" was featured in place of the original UK mix. The Farley mix runs 8:06.

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalogue #
United Kingdom 23 September 1991[1] Creation Records CD CRECD 076
2LP CRELP 076
Japan 1 October 1991[23] Columbia Music CD COCY 7985
United States 8 October 1991[2] Sire Records/WEA CD 9 26714-2

Singles

Song Release date Release info UK

[3]

"Loaded" February 1990 Creation (CRE 070) 16
"Come Together" September 1990 Creation (CRE 078) 26
"Higher Than the Sun" June 1991 Creation (CRE 096) 40
"Don't Fight It, Feel It" August 1991 Creation (CRE 110) 41
"Movin' on Up" (U.S.-only release) October 1991 Sire/Warner Bros. —
Dixie-Narco EP January 1992 Creation (CRE 117) 11
"Damaged" (Japan-only release) August 1992 Columbia (COCY-5181) —

Personnel

Band (uncredited)

Guests

Additional personnel

References

  1. ^ a b Screamadelica: Primal Scream: Amazon.co.uk (this is the first/original Creation issue)
  2. ^ a b Amazon.com: Screamadelica: Primal Scream
  3. ^ a b Chart Stats - Primal Scream
  4. ^ 1992 Shortlist - Barclaycard Mercury Prize
  5. ^ Sloan, Billy (10 January 2010). "Primal Scream star Bobby Gillespie hails artist who [was] behind iconic Screamadelica cover after stamp tribute". Daily Record (Scotland). Retrieved 9 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Classic Album Covers: Issue Date – 7 January 2010". Royal Mail. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  7. ^ Michaels, Sean (8 January 2010). "Coldplay album gets stamp of approval from Royal Mail". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-01-08.
  8. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen. "Screamadelica". Allmusic. Retrieved 9 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |middle= ignored (help)
  9. ^ a b Wade, Ian (11 March 2009). "BBC - Music - Review of Primal Scream - Screamadelica". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  10. ^ Q magazine, August 1999 issue
  11. ^ a b Plagenhoef, Scott. "Pitchfork - Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  12. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/mmlists_p2.htm#1991
  13. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/select.html#1991
  14. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/1991.html
  15. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm
  16. ^ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm#Greatest%20British%20Albums
  17. ^ Q magazine, June 2000 issue
  18. ^ "Radiohead romp home in Q poll". BBC. 2001-09-13. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
  19. ^ Q magazine, October 2001 issue
  20. ^ "Channel4 - 100 Greatest Albums". Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  21. ^ "Primal Scream to play Screamadelica for 20th anniversary". Metro (Associated Metro Limited). 17 February 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "6Music Live Primal Screamdelica". BBC. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  23. ^ Product details Oricon
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