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Vulnerable (Tricky album)

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Vulnerable
Studio album by
Tricky
Released19 May 2003 (2003-05-19)
GenreAvant-pop
LabelEpitaph
ProducerTricky
Tricky chronology
Blowback
(2001) 		Vulnerable
(2003) 		Knowle West Boy
(2008)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Mojo[4]
Pitchfork4.9/10[5]
Q[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
SpinB+[8]
Slant Magazine[9]
Stylus MagazineC−[10]
Uncut[11]

Vulnerable is the sixth album by English trip hop artist Tricky released in 2003 on the Epitaph record label.

Album production

[edit]

The main female collaborator on this album was the Italian singer Costanza Francavilla, a previous fan who approached Tricky at one of his shows and gave him a CD with songs. "On the 17th of December 2001, Tricky, one of Costanza's favourite artists ever, came to play in Rome," Costanza's Official site reads. "Costanza managed to give Tricky's drummer a demo CD (with 3 songs written, performed and produced by her). The day after Tricky called her asking to work with her the collaboration started."

In Spring 2002 she moved to Los Angeles to begin recording Vulnerable. During the summer 2002 her song "My Head" was part of Tricky's Blowback limited re-edition. In summer 2003, Costanza performed live on Tricky's "13" tour all around Europe (including the Glastonbury Festival and the London Meltdown Festival). In fall 2003 the Back to Mine compilation dedicated to Tricky came out featuring Costanza's song "Desire" (written, performed and produced by Costanza).

Critical reception

[edit]

Describing Vulnerable as Tricky's best album in years and a major improvement on Blowback (2001), Uncut said that the album "benefits hugely from two major developments: an appropriate vocal foil in the form of Italian vocalist Constanza Francaville, and a set of 13 avant-pop gems evocative of Pere Ubu and Talking Heads."[12] The reviewer deemed it to be a "varied and effective collection of subtly shaded poptones, with the occasional moment of characteristic grit", and commented that, unlike Tricky's other albums since Pre-Millennium Tension (1996), "highlights reveal themselves instead of forcing the listener to pan for them".[12]

Stylus Magazine's Scott McKeating deemed it "sonically lighter than a lot of previous work, the live sounding electric and acoustic guitars making it slightly more accessible to those not used to hearing the squonks, drones and buzzing fridge effects of usual Tricky productions. Someone would be hard pressed to tell instrumental versions of many of these tracks from any old Max Martin filler track (Backstreet b-sides, early Britney album tracks) as they’re almost flimsily throwaway creations; dull, flat and lifeless." He dismissed the music for being "bleached of its individuality and character", and considered Francavilla to be "a very average milk-and-water vocalist".[13]

Track listing

[edit]
  1. "Stay"
  2. "Antimatter"
  3. "Ice Pick"
  4. "Car Crash"
  5. "Dear God" (XTC cover)
  6. "How High"
  7. "What Is Wrong"
  8. "Hollow"
  9. "Moody"
  10. "Wait for God"
  11. "Where I'm From"
  12. "The Lovecats" (The Cure cover)
  13. "Search, Search, Survive"

Limited edition DVD

  1. Vulnerable movie
  2. "Antimatter" (Jimmy & T Remix)
  3. "Receive Us" (Radagon & Tricky)
  4. "You Don't Wanna" (live in Rome)
  5. Photo gallery

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Vulnerable
Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 86
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 67
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 21
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 28
French Albums (SNEP)[18] 22
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 65
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 66
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 27
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 88

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Vulnerable by Tricky" – via www.metacritic.com.
  2. ^ "Vulnerable - Tricky | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ He's a full-fledged alternative auteur, skipping effortlessly from hypnotic electronics to refracted torch songs to balls-out alt-rock. [Aug 2003, p.134]
  4. ^ Quirky, detail-rich arrangements nodding at dub and death metal. [Jun 2003, p.108]
  5. ^ "Tricky: Vulnerable". Pitchfork.
  6. ^ The year-round sunshine [of new home L.A.] seems to have induced creative lethargy, sapping the adventure that elevated his last album. [Jun 2003, p.106]
  7. ^ "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006.
  8. ^ The Trickster's best record in years. [Aug 2003, p.119]
  9. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (17 June 2003). "Review: Tricky, Vulnerable". Slant Magazine.
  10. ^ "Stylus Magazine". stylusmagazine.com.
  11. ^ 13 avant-pop gems evocative of Pere Ubu and Talking Heads. [Jun 2003, p.96]
  12. ^ a b "Tricky – Vulnerable". Uncut. 1 June 2003. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  13. ^ McKeating, Scott (15 March 2004). "Tricky: An Incredible Weed-Smoking, Trip-Hop Denying, Paranoid, Schizophrenic". Stylus Magazine. p. 3. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  14. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 284.
  15. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Tricky – Vulnerable" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Tricky – Vulnerable" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Ultratop.be – Tricky – Vulnerable" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Lescharts.com – Tricky – Vulnerable". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Tricky – Vulnerable" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Tricky – Vulnerable". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Tricky – Vulnerable". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  22. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
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