Screamadelica

Screamadelica
Studio album by Primal Scream
Released	October 8, 1991
Genre	Alternative rock, house, dance-rock[1]
Length	65:10
Label	Creation Records
Producer	The Orb, Hypnotone, Andrew Weatherall, Hugo Nicholson, Jimmy Miller
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Q April 2007 Robert Christgau link Spin (Recommended)
Primal Scream chronology
Primal Scream (1989) Screamadelica (1991) Give Out But Don't Give Up (1994)

Screamadelica is a 1991 album by Primal Scream and was their first to be a commercial success. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted it the 27th greatest album of all time.

History

The album was a massive 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.

The album's title track did not appear on the album itself; 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 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", a sample of Gillespie singing a line from Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues" and the central introductory 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, and also making #28 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Samples

A number of samples were used in the production of the album:

• "Come Together" opens with part of a speech given by Jesse Jackson at the Wattstax concert held in Los Angeles in 1972.
• "Loaded" features lines spoken by Peter Fonda's character in the 1966 movie The Wild Angels a drum loop from an Italian bootleg mix of Edie Brickell's "What I Am".
• "Slip Inside This House" features Sly Stone's laugh from the end of the song "Sex Machine" (Stand! - 1969) and the Amen break.
• "Inner Flight" samples the closing sound on Brian Eno's "The Great Pretender" from the album Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy).
• "Higher than the Sun" uses a sample from "Wah Wah Man" by the Young-Holt Unlimited Trio.

Track listing

1. "Movin' on Up" – 3:47
2. "Slip Inside This House" – 5:14 (Roky Erickson, Tommy Hall)*
3. "Don't Fight It, Feel It" – 6:51
4. "Higher Than the Sun" – 3:36
5. "Inner Flight" – 5:00 (instrumental)
6. "Come Together" – 10:21 (UK Version) / "Come Together (Terry Farley Mix)" - 8:06 (US Version)
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

All songs written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Robert Young, unless noted.

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.

Acclaim

The album has received widespread acclaim, as one of the best albums of the 1990s, appearing in many critics' lists and audience polls. Examples:

• It won the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.
• In 1996, Select Magazine named it as the number 1 album of the 90s.
• In 2001, Q Magazine placed it at number 81 in a list of the Top 100 albums of all time.^[2]
• In 2003, Pitchfork placed it at number 77 in a list of the top 100 albums of the 90s.^[3]
• It appeared in Channel 4's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of all time.^[4]

Personnel

Band (uncredited)

• Bobby Gillespie
• Andrew Innes
• Robert Young
• Martin Duffy
• Henry Olsen
• Phillip 'Toby' Tomanov

Guests

• Denise Johnson - lead vocals on track 3
• Jah Wobble - bass on track 10

Additional personnel

• Jimmy Miller, The Orb, Hypnotone, Andrew Weatherall, Hugo Nicholson - production
• Paul Anthony Taylor - programming
• Dave Burnham - engineering
• Jimmy Miller - mixing

The song "Movin on Up" was used on the previous Telewest Broadband commercials before Virgin Media bought them out. Subsequently Bacardi used the song on a UK television ad. "Movin on Up" was also featured on 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.

References