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Radiator

 
Album Review: Radiator
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Radiator

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  • Artist: Super Furry Animals
  • Rating: StarStarStarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: August 21, 1997
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Using the psychedelicized prog-punk of Fuzzy Logic as a foundation, Super Furry Animals move even further into left field on their second album, Radiator. As before, the group displays a gift for catchy, deceptively complex melodic hooks, but now its songwriting and arrangements are mind-bogglingly intricate and eclectic. Songs boast intertwining melodies and countermelodies, with guitars and keyboards swirling around the vocals. Similarly, the production is dense and heavy with detail, borrowing heavily from prog rock and psychedelic pop, but pieced together with the invention of techno and played with the energy of punk. It's a heady, impressive kaleidoscope of sounds, but what gives Radiator its weight is the way the sonics complement the songwriting. SFA's songs are melodic, accessible, and utterly original -- melodically, they may borrow from '60s pop, but they rearrange the clichés in fresh ways. Also, Gruff Rhys has a fondness for revolutionary politics and the bizarre that helps give Radiator its intoxicating, otherworldly atmosphere, making it one of the few late-'90s albums that sounds inventive, vibrant, and utterly contemporary. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Furryvision Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (1:26)
The Placid Casual Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (2:49)
The International Language of Screaming Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (2:14)
Demons (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (5:11)
Short Painkiller Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (:38)
She's Got Spies (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (4:43)
Play It Cool (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (3:16)
Hermann Loves Pauline (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (4:43)
Chupacabras (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (1:26)
Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (1:54)
Bass Tuned to D.E.A.D Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (3:20)
Down a Different River (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (5:37)
Download (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (3:19)
Mountain People (Lyrics) Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals (6:18)

Credits

How Sunford (Vocals), Gruff Rhys (Clapping), Simon Corkin (Artwork), Dinah Beamish (Cello), Andrew Frizell (Trombone), Gorwel Owen (Sampling), Andrew Frizell (Sax (Alto)), Jules Singleton (Violin), Cian Ciárán (Electronic Sounds), Cian Ciárán (Vocals), Gruff Rhys (Guitar (Acoustic)), Gorwel Owen (Engineer), Guto Pryce (Clapping), Simon James (Sax (Tenor)), Gruff Rhys (Guitar (Electric)), Gruff Rhys (Vocals), How Sunford (Guitar (Electric)), Simon Corkin (Design), Guto Pryce (Bass), How Sunford (Clapping), Clair Arster (Viola), Martin Smith (Trumpet), Dave Buchanan (Engineer), Gruff Rhys (Moog Synthesizer), Gorwel Owen (Ebo), Gorwel Owen (Harpsichord), Cian Ciárán (Fender Rhodes), Sonia Slany (Violin), Simon James (Flute), Electra Strings (Ensemble), Gorwel Owen (Producer), Cian Ciárán (Piano), Les Morrison (Banjo)
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Wikipedia: Radiator (album)
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
For other uses, see Radiator (disambiguation).
Radiator
Studio album by Super Furry Animals
Released 25 August 1997
Recorded 1997
Genre Alternative rock
Length 46:54
Label Creation
Producer Gorwel Owen
Professional reviews
Super Furry Animals chronology
Fuzzy Logic
(1996)		 Radiator
(1997)		 Ice Hockey Hair
(1998)
Singles from Radiator
  1. "Hermann ♥'s Pauline"
    Released: 24 May, 1997
  2. "The International Language of Screaming"
    Released: 12 October, 1997
  3. "Play It Cool"
    Released: 22 September, 1997
  4. "Demons"
    Released: 17 November, 1997

Radiator is the second album by the Super Furry Animals. It peaked at #8 on the UK charts.[1] In 2005, it was reissued with a bonus disc of other tracks from the time.

In 2000 Q magazine placed Radiator at number 73 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

Singer Gruff Rhys has described Radiator as "more interesting" than the band's debut Fuzzy Logic with the group taking advantage of producer Gorwel Owen's "Atari computers, and banks of old vintage synths" to create an album which was "musically ... much more adventurous".[2]

The track 'Download' repeatedly appeared on the hit Welsh TV Show 'Lois' about a young teenage girl struggling to come to terms with her anorexia.

Track listing

All songs by Super Furry Animals.

  1. "Furryvision" – 1:26
  2. "The Placid Casual" – 2:49
  3. "The International Language of Screaming" – 2:14
  4. "Demons" – 5:11
  5. "Short Painkiller" – 0:38
  6. "She's Got Spies" – 4:43
  7. "Play It Cool" – 3:16
  8. "Hermann ♥'s Pauline" – 4:43
  9. "Chupacabras" – 1:26
  10. "Torra Fy Ngwallt Yn Hir" – 1:54
  11. "Bass Tuned to D.E.A.D" – 3:20
  12. "Down a Different River" – 5:37
  13. "Download" – 3:19
  14. "Mountain People" – 6:18

Reissue bonus disc

  1. "Mu-tron" – 3:16
  2. "nO.K." – 2:12
  3. "Foxymusic" – 3:49
  4. "Hit & Run" – 3:29
  5. "Wrap It Up" – 3:25

"nO.K." plays the theme of "The International Language of Screaming" on an acoustic guitar, without the vocals, accentuating the alphabet being read in both English and Welsh in the background. As the title implies, the recitations of the alphabets omit the letter "K". This was in response to the popularity of Kula Shaker at the time who had adopted the letter K as part of their manifesto. SFA recorded nO.K leaving out the letter K as an anti Kula-Shaker stance.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Search Results -- Albums". http://www.everyhit.com. 2008-03-24. http://www.everyhit.com. Retrieved 2008-03-24. 
  2. ^ Martin, Piers (April 2008). "Album by album: Super Furry Animals". Uncut 131: 70–72. 
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Super Furry Animals
Gruff Rhys • Huw Bunford • Guto Pryce • Cian Ciaran • Dafydd Ieuan
Rhys Ifans • Dic Ben
Studio albums
Compilations and
remix albums
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Singles
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