Screamadelica
studio
ArtistPrimal Scream
CoverPrimal Scream - Screamadelica.png
Released23 September 1991
Recorded1990–1991
Studio
Genre
LabelCreation (UK)
Sire/Warner Bros. (US)
Producer
Prev year1989
Next year1994

Screamadelica is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a significant departure from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the blossoming house music scene and associated drugs such as LSD and MDMA. Much of the album's production was handled by acid house DJ Andrew Weatherall and engineer Hugo Nicolson, who remixed original recordings made by the band into dance-oriented tracks.[11]

Screamadelica, featuring Manchester-born singer Denise Johnson, was the band's first album to be a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the UK Albums Chart upon its release.[12] It received wide praise from critics, and has been frequently named one of the best albums of the 1990s in various polls. It won the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992[13] and has sold over three million copies worldwide.

Background and recording

Drawing inspiration from the acid house scene,[14] which was blossoming at the time, the band enlisted house DJs Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley on producing duties. Weatherall and Gillespie bonded over "Thin Lizzy, dub-reggae, Mott The Hoople, disco music" and they were both attracted by "industrial, experimental funk".[14] The band loved the fact that Weatherall was a DJ who had never been a producer at the helm in a studio before.[14] Gillespie commented on: "It was just this natural talent to make this music and structure and arrange music in a way that we’d never heard before. So he could take our songwriting and our instrumental[s] [...] And the melodies and the gospel singers and the strings and the slate guitars, we played a lot of synthesisers as well. [...]". Weatherall selected the parts he liked and rearranged it: "he was really great at taking all this stuff and rearranging it and making it into this fantastic music". Acid house gave him an opportunity to work with the band.[14]

"Loaded" was the first track on which Weatherall took part.[14] He 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" and a sample from the Peter Fonda B movie The Wild Angels.

Although the band wrote a track also called "Screamadelica", it does not appear on the album. The ten-minute dance track was also produced by Weatherall and sung by Denise Johnson. It appears on the Dixie-Narco EP, released in 1992, and is featured in the opening credits of the now rare Screamadelica VHS video tape.

Music

It seemed only natural that house, blues, soul, dub, ambient, rave, and psychedelic rock should come together in 65 minutes of joyful music; it seemed somehow right that a gang of MC5-obsessed rockers on their critical uppers should create a work of ecstasy-blasted euphoria that provided the Day-Glo yin to Nirvana’s turbulent yang. The results were the epitome of unfettered musical instinct, as Primal Scream and their motley crew powered through the history of modern music and into the future, operating on inspiration and too many early mornings.

— Ben Cardew of Pitchfork (September 28, 2022) [1]

When asked what his influences were for Screamadelica, singer Bobby Gillespie said that Primal Scream were like a rock'n'roll band who had quite diverse taste. Many genres interested them like free jazz, funk, soul, country, blues, electronic music, post-punk, ambient music and psychedelic music from the 1960s.[14] When naming the post-punk bands he listened to during his formative years, he explained: "a lot of those ideas are entrenched in Primal Scream, and maybe the last great rock bands were Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Buzzcocks and Joy Division. [...] The ideas in the music and the lyrics for those three bands completely influenced Primal Scream".[14] Screamadelica was also influenced by the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds (1966). Gillespie says that after discovering the album, their songs became much softer.[15] Gillespie has also cited Nico's album The Marble Index as a major influence when they were making Screamadelica, claiming he "listened to [it] all the time."[16] The band were also "big fans of '70s reggae and dub. These 12” sounded like dub records".[14] Ben Cardew of Pitchfork assessed: "Its ragtag bag of influences meant Screamadelica sounded a lot like many people, but no one sounded quite like Screamadelica, an album both ahead of its time and light years ahead of the rock/dance curve."[17]

Artwork

The album cover for Screamadelica was painted by Creation Records' in-house artist Paul Cannell.[18] Cannell was inspired by a damp water spot he'd seen on the Creation Records offices ceiling after taking LSD.[19]

Screamadelica was among ten album covers chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.[20][21]

The artwork also inspired a Fender Stratocaster for the album's 30th anniversary.

Release and commercial performance

The lead single "Loaded" reached the top 20 in the UK Singles chart in early 1990.

Screamadelica was released on 23 September 1991 in the UK. It reached number 8 on the UK Albums Chart,[22] and was later certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.[23] The album has sold 715,000 copies as of September 2020.[24] The single "Movin' On Up" was the band's breakthrough hit in the United States: as it was heavily played on alternative rock radio, it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It also reached number 28 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as it was played on rock radio stations.

Critical reception and legacy

Screamadelica was very well received by critics. In a contemporary review for Spin, Simon Reynolds called it a "totally mind-blowing" record whose best songs were "almost unclassifiable".[25] AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed Screamadelica "an album that transcends its time and influence."[26] AllMusic lists the album as the band's best. It was voted number 135 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). Pitchfork praised the album on their 2003 list of the "Top 100 albums of the '90s," saying: "Screamadelica's atmospheric and imaginative hybrid of past, present and future captured its moment in vivid color and splendor, and it still radiates with a kaleidoscopic glow."[27] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, on the other hand, assigned it a "neither" rating, indicating an album that does not warrant repeated listening despite coherent craft and one or two highlights.[28]

It was Melody Makers album of the year in 1991.[29] It was also Selects album of the year in 1991,[30] while NME placed it at no. 3 in its "Best Albums of 1991" list.[31] The album won the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992. In 1996, Select named it as the number 1 album of the 1990s. In 2000, Q placed the album at number 18 on their list of the "100 Greatest British Albums."[32] In 2001, Q placed it at number 81 on a list of the "Top 100 Albums of All Time."[33] The album ranked number 2 in Qs "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" list.[34] In 2003, NME placed it at no. 23 in its "100 Best Albums Ever" list.[35] In 2003, Pitchfork placed it at number 77 in a list of the "Top 100 Albums of the '90s."[27] Also in 2003, the album topped The Scotsmans list of 100 Best Scottish Albums.[36] In 2006, the magazine also placed it at no. 15 in its "Greatest British Albums Ever" list.[37] It appeared in Channel 4's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time."[38] In a 2009 review, the BBC hailed the album as "a solid gold classic."[39] NME also named it the "Druggiest Album Ever" in 2011.[citation needed] It was ranked number 437 in the 2020 revised edition of Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[40] and No. 1 on BrooklynVegans "Creation Records' 21 Best Records" list.[41]

"Movin' On Up" was used on the previous Telewest Broadband commercials before Virgin Media bought them out. Subsequently, Bacardi spirits used the song on a UK television ad. The song was also featured in the popular game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on alternative radio station Radio X. A Northern soul version was also recorded by Edwin Starr for the cult British surfing film Blue Juice. Kellogg's used the song in an advert for their cornflakes in c. 2011.

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of French electronic duo Daft Punk, who drew inspiration from the rock and acid house in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s, referred to Screamadelica as the record that "put everything together in terms of genre".[42]

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of the album, Primal Scream performed the entire album live at Olympia London in West London on 26 and 27 November 2010. The performance included a full gospel choir and horn section.[43] The first of these gigs was broadcast live on BBC 6 Music, presented by Steve Lamacq.[44] These gigs were followed by a UK tour in March 2011, where the band performed the album in full.

For the album's 30th anniversary in 2021, Fender created a limited run of custom Stratocasters depicting the album's artwork on the body.[45] Additionally, Columbia released the Demodelica album on 15 October 2021, with early demos and work-in-progress mixes, accompanied by notes by Jon Savage. "Most of these demos were produced by Andrew Innes at his home studio on the Isle of Dogs and at the band's studio in Hackney in 1990. The Jam and Eden Studio demos were produced by the band in 1991."[citation needed]

In 2022, Ben Cardew of Pitchfork wrote: "Primal Scream made it all sound far too easy on Screamadelica, whose combination of classic songwriting and electronic production left an early high-water mark for forward-thinking rock music in the 1990s."[17]

Track listing

20th Anniversary Limited Collector's Edition

Notes

  • A ^ The lyrics of "Slip Inside This House" were 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".
  • B ^ On the American pressings of the album, the Terry Farley mix of "Come Together" was featured in place of the original UK mix. The Farley mix runs 8:06.
  • C ^ the piano part on "Movin' On Up" was recorded in Brighton by Les Field.

Samples

Personnel

Primal Scream

Guests

Additional personnel

Charts

1991–1992 chart performance for Screamadelica
Chart (1991–1992)Peak
position
European Albums (Music & Media)[46]36
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[47]2
1999–2000 chart performance for Screamadelica
Chart (1999–2000)Peak
position
2004 chart performance for Screamadelica
Chart (2024)Peak
position
Greek Albums (IFPI)[48]39

Release history

Release history for Screamadelica
RegionDateLabelFormatCatalogue Ref
United Kingdom23 September 1991[49]CreationCDCRECD 076
2LPCRELP 076
MDCREMD 076
Japan1 October 1991[50]Columbia MusicCDCOCY 7985
United States8 October 1991[51]Sire · WEACD9 26714-2

References

  1. ^ Brown, James. "The Inside Story Of Primal Scream's Screamadelica". Sabotage Times. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  2. ^ Doyle, Tom. "CLASSIC TRACKS: Primal Scream 'Come Together'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  3. ^ Smith, Caspar (30 October 2010). "Primal Scream: The band who made rave a new world". The Observer. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Primal Scream - Screamadelica (Sire)". Chicago Tribune. 26 December 1991. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  5. ^ Duerden, Nick; Gittins, Ian; Phillips, Shaun (1997). MTV-cyclopedia: The Official MTV Guide to the Hottest Bands, Stars, Events and Music. Carlton. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-85868-336-2.
  6. ^ Terich, Jeff (2 July 2015). "10 Essential Neo-Psychedelia Albums". Treble. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  7. ^ Wehner, Cyclone (17 October 2018). "Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie On Finding Buried Treasure With Their Scrapped 1993 'Give Out' Recordings". Music Feeds. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  8. ^ CMJ New Music Monthly... College Media, Incorporated. 2000. p. 67.
  9. ^ Pitchfork Staff (2 October 2009). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2000s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 April 2023. ...the Scream’s urban-guerrilla guise was as much a fleeting phase as the acid-house love-in of 1991’s Screamedelica...
  10. ^ Ewing, Tom (25 October 2024). "UncoolTwo50 XII: Run Around and Groove Like a Baggy". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  11. ^ O’Hagan, Interview by Sean (23 February 2020). "Bobby Gillespie remembers Andrew Weatherall: 'He was a true bohemian'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Primal Scream". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  13. ^ "1992 Shortlist – Barclaycard Mercury Prize". Mercuryprize.com. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  14. ^ Healy, Matty (5 May 2020). "The 1975's Matty Healy in conversation with Bobby Gillespie". The Face. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  15. ^ Hart, Ron (12 April 2016). "The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds Celebrates its 50th Anniversary: Artists Pay Tribute to the Eternal Teenage Symphony". Pitchfork
  16. ^ Nur, Yousif (4 May 2016). "Howls From The Soul: Bobby Gillespie's Favourite Albums". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  17. ^ Pitchfork (2022-09-28). "The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2025-06-07.
  18. ^ Sloan, Billy (10 January 2010). "Primal Scream star Bobby Gillespie hails artist who [was] behind iconic Screamadelica cover after stamp tribute". Daily Record (Scotland). Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  19. ^ Caspar Llewellyn Smith. "Primal Scream: The band who made a rave new world | Music | The Observer". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  20. ^ "Classic Album Covers: Issue Date – 7 January 2010". Royal Mail. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  21. ^ Michaels, Sean (8 January 2010). "Coldplay album gets stamp of approval from Royal Mail". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  22. ^ "UK Albums". Official Charts Company. 27 June 1987. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  23. ^ "BPI Certification". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  24. ^ "The best-selling Mercury Prize winning albums revealed". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  25. ^ LLC, SPIN Media (1 November 1991). "SPIN". SPIN Media LLC. – via Google Books.
  26. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Screamadelica – Primal Scream". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  27. ^ Plagenhoef, Scott. "Pitchfork – Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 28 November 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  28. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Primal Scream: Screamadelica". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. p. 251. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  29. ^ "Rocklist.net ... Melody Maker End of year Lists – The '90's". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  30. ^ "Rocklist.net ... Select End Of Year Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 February 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  31. ^ "Rocklist.net ... NME End Of Year Lists 1991". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. 9 May 1992. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  32. ^ Q magazine, June 2000 issue
  33. ^ "Radiohead romp home in Q poll". BBC. 13 September 2001. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
  34. ^ Q magazine, October 2001 issue
  35. ^ "Rocklist.net ... NME Writers Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  36. ^ "100 best Scottish albums". The Scotsman. 16 October 2003.
  37. ^ "Rocklist.net ... NME Writers Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 February 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  38. ^ "Channel4 – 100 Greatest Albums". Archived from the original on 11 February 2008. Retrieved 29 February 2008.
  39. ^ Wade, Ian (11 March 2009). "BBC – Music – Review of Primal Scream – Screamadelica". BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  40. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  41. ^ Pearis, Bill (19 March 2021). "From My Bloody Valentine to Oasis, Creation Records' 21 Best Records". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  42. ^ Suzanne Ely, "Return of the Cybermen", Mixmag, July 2006, pp. 94–98.
  43. ^ "Primal Scream to play Screamadelica for 20th anniversary". Metro (Associated Metro Limited). 17 February 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  44. ^ "6Music Live Primal Screamdelica". BBC. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  45. ^ "30TH ANNIVERSARY SCREAMADELICA STRATOCASTER®". Fender. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  46. ^ "European Top 100 Albums". Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 41. 12 October 1991. p. 31. OCLC 29800226
  47. ^ "Distribution: Indie Albums". Music Week. 12 October 1991. p. 24. ISSN 0265-1548
  48. ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Εβδομάδα: 49/2024". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 11 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
  49. ^ "Screamadelica: Primal Scream: Amazon.co.uk (this is the first/original Creation issue)". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  50. ^ Product details Oricon
  51. ^ "Screamadelica: Primal Scream". Amazon. Retrieved 3 December 2011.

Further reading

  • Draper, Jason (2008). A Brief History of Album Covers. London: Flame Tree Publishing. pp. 296–297. ISBN 9781847862112. OCLC 227198538