Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Whiplash

 
Album Review: Whiplash

  • Artist: James
  • Rating: StarStarHalf Star
  • Release Date: February 25, 1997
  • Type: Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rock

Review

Working with ambient-rock demigod Brian Eno can have an effect on a dearly innovative British studio team, as it has on James with two previous ear-boggling efforts, both with Father Eno at the helm. Whiplash, James' seventh album in several busy but broken years, still resounds with ambient Eno aesthetics, where even signature silences mark time in terms of sound. Old hand at synthetic pop and psonicadelia, Stephen Hague keeps the Eno wave alive with spacy zen minutes on the synth in "Watering Hole," as well as strange house dance gyrations on "Greenpeace," a happy, creaky piece. It's argued that Tim Booth sounds too much like Al Stewart but 1) Al Stewart sounds great, so? and, 2) no he doesn't really, but the energy-factor point is well taken. "Tomorrow" would be a great song sung by, say, Eddie Vedder or James Brown, but great vocal energy is a curious element to blend here among these complex quicksilver musicsmiths. One of the better vocally-driven tunes is probably the sardonic, techno-silly "Go to the Bank," which winds up being the weirdest cut on another adventurous outing for James. ~ Becky Byrkit, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Tomorrow James, Brian Eno James (3:45)
Lost a Friend James James (3:40)
Waltzing Along James James (3:54)
She's a Star James James (3:39)
Greenpeace James James (4:49)
Go to the Bank James James (4:22)
Play Dead James James (4:45)
Avalanche James James (3:46)
Homeboy James James (2:38)
Watering Hole James James (3:45)
Blue Pastures James James (4:19)

Credits

James (Main Performer), Alex (Assistant Engineer), Tim Booth (Assistant Engineer), Dave Green (Assistant Engineer), Mike Drake (Mixing), Andy Duncan (Percussion), Brian Eno (Keyboards), Brian Eno (Vocals (Background)), Jim Glennie (Assistant Engineer), Larry Gott (Assistant Engineer), Stephen Hague (Keyboards), Stephen Hague (Vocals (Background)), Stephen Hague (Producer), Stephen Hague (Mixing), Mark Hunter (Engineer), Mark Hunter (Assistant Engineer), Richard Norris (Engineer), Audrey Riley (Strings), Sam Hardaker (Engineer), Saul Davies (String Arrangements), Saul Davies (Assistant Engineer), Adrian Oxaal (Assistant Engineer), Steve Williams (Engineer), James Brown (Engineer), David Baynton-Power (Engineer), David Baynton-Power (Associate Producer), David Baynton-Power (Assistant Engineer), Ian Cooper (Mastering)
Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wikipedia: Whiplash (album)
Top
Whiplash
Studio album by James
Released February 25, 1997
Genre Alternative
Length 43:15 (reissue-64:36)
Label Mercury Records
Producer Stephen Hague, David Baynton-Power
Professional reviews
James chronology
Wah Wah
(1994)
Whiplash
(1997)
Millionaires
(1999)

Whiplash is the seventh studio album by Manchester Indie group James. It contained the top ten hit She's A Star which re-established the group commercially. The sessions for the album were long and stretched over a period of more than 2 years with many unreleased songs being recorded - Brian Eno produced many of the early sessions and details some of these songs and the recording process in his book A Year with Swollen Appendices. The album was reissued in remastered form in 2001 with 4 'bonus' tracks (Fontana 548 788-2).

Track listing

  1. "Tomorrow"
  2. "Lost a Friend"
  3. "Waltzing Along"
  4. "She's a Star"
  5. "Greenpeace"
  6. "Go to the Bank"
  7. "Play Dead"
  8. "Avalanche"
  9. "Homeboy"
  10. "Watering Hole"
  11. "Blue Pastures"
  12. "Lost a Friend (live at Shepherd's Bush Empire)[*]
  13. Greenpeace (live at Shepherd's Bush Empire)[*]
  14. Homeboy (live at Shepherd's Bush Empire)[*]
  15. Waltzing Along (Flytronix Remix)[*]
  • All songs written by James
  • [*]=Bonus tracks on 2001 remaster

Shopping: Whiplash
Top
 
 

 

Copyrights:

Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Whiplash (album)" Read more