Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums:
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Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches
- Artist: Happy Mondays
- Rating:
- Release Date: 1990 04
- Total Time: 43:46
- Genre: Rock
Review
At their peak, the Happy Mondays were hedonism in perpetual motion, a party with no beginning and no end, a party where Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches was continually pumping. The apex of their career (and quite arguably the whole baggy/Madchester movement), Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches pulsates with a garish neon energy, with psychedelic grooves, borrowed hooks, and veiled threats piling upon each other with the logic of a drunken car wreck. As with Bummed, a switch in producers re-focuses and redefines the Mondays, as Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne replace the brittle, assaultive Martin Hannett production with something softer and expansive that is truly dance-club music instead of merely suggestive of it. Where the Stone Roses were proudly pop classicists, styling themselves after the bright pop art of the '60s, the Mondays were aggressively modern, pushing pop into the ecstasy age by leaning hard on hip-hop, substituting outright thievery for sampling. Although it's unrecognizable in sound and attitude, "Step On," the big hit from Pills, is a de facto cover of John Kongos' "He's Gonna Step on You Again," LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" provides the skeleton for "Kinky Afro," but these are the cuts that call attention to themselves; the rest of the record is draped in hooks and sounds from hits of the past, junk culture references, and passing puns, all set to a kaleidoscopic house beat. Oakenfold and Osborne may be responsible for the sound of Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches, certainly more than the band, which almost seems incidental to this meticulously arranged album, but Shaun Ryder is the heart and soul of the album, the one that keeps the Mondays a dirty, filthy rock & roll outfit. Lifting melodies at will, Ryder twists the past to serve his purpose, gleefully diving into the gutter with stories of cheap drugs and threesomes, convinced that god made it easy on him, and blessed with that knowledge, happy to traumatize his girlfriend's kid by telling them that he only went with his mother cause she was dirty. He's a thug and something of a poet, creating a celebratory collage of sex, drugs, and dead-end jobs where there's no despair because only a sucker could think that this party would ever come to an end. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi| Pills & Jackets (2008 Album by Pills & Jackets) | |
| Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches [Japan] (1990 Album by Happy Mondays) |
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Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches
| Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches | ||||
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| Studio album by Happy Mondays | ||||
| Released | 27 November 1990 | |||
| Recorded | 1989/1990 | |||
| Genre | Madchester | |||
| Length | 43:46 | |||
| Label | Factory - FACT 320 | |||
| Producer | Paul Oakenfold, Steve Osborne | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Happy Mondays chronology | ||||
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Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches was the third album by British band Happy Mondays. It was released in 1990 and was produced by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne at Eden Studios in London.
In 2000 Q magazine placed Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches at number 31 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2005, the album was voted the 51st greatest album of all time by Channel 4 viewers.
Cover artwork by Central Station Design. The original album cover consisted of a montage of popular children's sweet wrappers. This was changed following objections from the U.S. manufacturers, resulting in the new, somewhat plainer album cover.
The song "God's Cop" was featured in the Masterpiece Theater production of White Teeth. [1]
In November 2007 the album was rereleased by Rhino records with extra tracks and a DVD of music videos.
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Contents
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Track listing
All tracks written by Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Mark Day, Paul Davis and Gary Whelan except as noted.
- "Kinky Afro" – 3:59
- "God's Cop" – 4:58
- "Donovan" – 4:04
- "Grandbag's Funeral" – 3:20
- "Loose Fit" – 5:07
- "Dennis and Lois" – 4:24
- "Bob's Yer Uncle" (Happy Mondays/Osborne/Oakenfold) – 5:10
- "Step On" (John Kongos, Christos Demetriou) – 5:17
- "Holiday" – 3:28
- "Harmony" – 4:01
2007 collectors edition
Disc 1
- "Kinky Afro"
- "God's Cop"
- "Donovan"
- "Grandbag's Funeral"
- "Loose Fit"
- "Dennis And Lois"
- "Bob's Yer Uncle"
- "Step On"
- "Holiday"
- "Harmony"
- "Step On (Twisting My Melon Mix)"
- "Kinky Afro (7" Euro Mix)"
- "Loose Fit (12" Version)"
- "Bob's Yer Uncle (12" Version)"
- "Tokoloshe Man"
Disc 2 - DVD
- "Tart tart"
- "24 Hour Party People"
- "Lazyitis"
- "Wrote For Luck"
- "Hallelujah"
- "Clap Your Hands"
- "Step On"
- "Kinky Afro"
- "Loose Fit"
- "Judge Fudge"
Singles
- "Step On" (#5 in the UK, April 1990)
- "Kinky Afro" (#5 in the UK, October 1990)
- "Loose Fit" (#17 in the UK, March 1991)
Cover versions
- Step On: originally a single by John Kongos, also featured on his 1972 album Kongos; the full title of Kongos' version is "He's Gonna Step On You Again".
- Tokoloshie Man: also originally a single by John Kongos, Kongos' version is spelled "Tokoloshe Man". The Happy Mondays version was spelled correctly when originally released as a B-side in 1991.
Personnel
- Shaun Ryder – vocals
- Paul Ryder – bass guitar
- Mark Day – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
- Paul Davis – keyboards, programs
- Gary Whelan – drums
Additional personnel
- Rowetta - guest vocals
- Tony Castro - percussion
- Simon Machan – original programming
- Bez – mover and shaker
Technical personnel
- Paul Oakenfold - producer, arranger, mixing engineer
- Ray Blair - recording engineer
- Steve Osborne - producer, arranger, mixing engineer
- Dale Lavi - photographer
References
External links
- Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
- Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (Adobe Flash) at Myspace (streamed copy where licensed)
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Albums
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