Released on 4 June 1990 "Gold Mother" was the third studio album by English rock band James, the origins came since a year before when the band with the addition of drummer David Baynton-Power, violinist/guitarist Saul Davies, and keyboardist Mark Hunter, James released the single "Sit Down"
in June 1989, before going to record their next album. Sessions were
held at Out of the Blue in Manchester, The Windings in Wrexham, Wales,
with three band members and Nick Garside producing a record who wanted to sound as arena and indie rock in the line of U2 and The Waterboys. The album spawned four singles "Come Home", "How Was It For You", "Lose Control" and the iconical "Sit Down".
"Come Home" was released, through Rough Trade Records, as the lead single from Gold Mother in November 1989. Following this, the band switched from Rough Trade to Phonogram sublabel Fontana Records. Then "How Was It for You" appeared as the second single in April 1990; two months later, the band embarked on a UK tour.
Next was a Flood
mix of "Come Home" was released as the album's third single in June
1990, followed by fourth single "Lose Control" in November 1990. The
band ended the year with shows in the United Kingdom and Russia. A
re-recorded version of "Sit Down" was released the album's fifth and
final single in March 1991. Following this, Gold Mother was reissued in May 1991, with the Flood mix of "Come Home", "Lose Control", and "Sit Down" replacing some of the tracks.
Back in September 1988, James released their second album "Strip-Mine" through Sire and Blanco y Negro Records, while making it, two of Sire's popular acts (the Housemartins and the Smiths) had broken up, and were anticipating James to be their next breakthrough artist. The album had been delayed from release by Sire on eight different
occasions, and was remixed at the insistence of the band's managers
Eliot Rashman and Andy Dodd. Sometime later, Rashman and Dodd resigned, and McDonagh, who had managed the band previously, was reinstated. Two months after the album's release, the band left Sire.
James released the live album One Man Clapping in March 1989 as a joint venture between their own label One Man Clapping and Rough Trade Records which was promoted with a UK tour, which saw the live debut of Baynton-Power and Davies. After the tour, the band recorded and released "Sit Down" as a single in June 1989. Armistead had declined to become a full-time member of the band, and suggested they check out Mark Hunter. The latter was brought into the "Sit Down" session to add an improvised
keyboard part to the track, and soon became a member of the band.
Happy with the success of One Man Clapping, Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis agreed to fund the band's next studio album. Following this, the band recorded Gold Mother over the course of two months with frontman Tim Booth, Gott, bassist Jim Glennie, and Nick Garside – who had previously produced on the band's early EPs – serving as producers. Around this time, the Madchester was exploding in popularity, which saw several acts that had supported James in the past – namely, the Happy Mondays, the Stone Roses, and the Inspiral Carpets – become successful. Gott was bitter about the experience: "They were getting the star
treatment", such as big-name producers and working on expensive
recording consoles, while also approaching the band for advice, "you're
up there and look where we are, back with Nick in Out Of the Blue".
They experimented with the Madchester sound, with it directly influencing "Come Home", a track that was written in the studio. Booth wanted to re-record "Sit Down" during the sessions in a faster form, similar to how the band was playing it live. Recording then moved The Windings in Wrexham, Wales, close to
Baynton-Power's house. Vinny Corrigan, who was a big fan of the band,
and trumpeter Andy Diagram of the Diagram Brothers
were brought into the sessions. Though, Corrigan's saxophone did not
work well with the band's material, much to his dismay, they enjoyed
Diagram's contributions.
Musically, the sound of Gold Mother has been described as arena rock, and indie rock, compared to the likes of U2 and the Waterboys. Author Michael Heatley said the band's sound varied too much to consider Gold Mother part of the Madchester sound, in favour of arena rock and influences from folk. "Come Home" was written in an hour, and is based around Booth's separation from McDonagh, with whom he had a son. Booth said they had written the song accidentally, as they were trying to play "Sit Down"; it features a house-esque piano riff. Government Walls" talks about the 1989 secrets act, and the case against Peter Wright. "God Only Knows" is an attack against people that think they are speaking for God, and organised religion as a whole. It opens with sample of a televangelist denouncing rock music as a tool used by the devil; he learned of the sample and later threatened to sue the band. "You Can't Tell How Much Suffering (On a Face That's Always Smiling)" discusses emotional restraint and British stoicism. "Crescendo" is an atmospheric track that was originally called "The Last Whale", with Miles Davies-esque trumpets from Diagram. The Stone Roses-indebted "How Was It for You" talks about consuming alcohol and doing drugs to avoid sexual guilt.
With "Hang On" showcased the band's softer pop side, with its lyrics detailing the disintegration relationship between Booth and McDonagh. The ballad "Walking the Ghost" is driven by Glennie's bass parts, and
is about the ghost of a woman revisiting her former home, akin to the
work of the Triffids. The title-track "Gold Mother" is about women finding courage after child birth, and the birth of his son Ben. The album's closing track, "Top of the World", is a ballad full of country blues guitarwork from Gott, and was reminiscent of Brian Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks circa 1983. The baggy track "Lose Control" was written by Booth at night about an insomniac being burdened by fear and doubt.
Gold Mother was planned for release in February 1990; around this time, the band were in talks with Fontana's owner Phonogram as they had recently relaunched the label. While this was occurring, Rough Trade was struggling with insolvency issues. Gold Mother was eventually released on 4 June 1990, through Fontana Records.
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics,
some of whom noted the album to contain some of James' best tracks. It
initially reached number 16 in the UK; the reissue peaked at number two.
"How Was It for You", the Flood mix of "Come Home", "Lose Control", and
"Sit Down" all reached the top 40 in the UK, with "Sit Down" reaching
the highest at number 2.
Gold Mother original Track List:
1. Come Home
2. Government Walls
3. God Only Knows
4. You Can't Tell How Much Suffering (On A Face That's Always Smiling)
5. Crescendo
6. How Was It For You
7. Hang On
8. Walking The Ghost
9. Gold Mother
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario