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Back in Denim is the debut album by British rock band Denim.

Back in Denim
Studio album by
Denim
Released11 November 1992
RecordedMay 1990–July 1992
StudioBark, RAK, Abbey Road, London
GenreGlam rock, pop
Length49:51
LabelBoy's Own Recordings
ProducerJohn Leckie, Brian O'Shaughnessy
Denim chronology
Back in Denim
(1992)		 Denim on Ice
(1996)

Background


British rock band Felt broke-up in 1989,[1] while frontman Lawrence had been living in Brighton.[2] Finding Brighton to be unpleasant,[2] he moved to New York in early 1990.[3] Lawrence soon started to reminisce about his childhood in the 1970s.[2] He proceeded to visit a pawn shop and buy a guitar, which he would use to compose Back in Denim.[2] He eventually grew homesick and soon moved to London.[3] Lawrence formed Denim with a variety of "session men and ageing glitter-rockers", according to Rough Guides editor Peter Buckley.[4] Lawrence had been receiving calls from major labels,[2] but decided to sign with dance-oriented record label Boy's Own Recordings, who had signed a distribution deal with London Records.[3] His decision to sign with them was based on his notion that "rock music was finished, and DJs could get our records into the charts."[2]


Production and composition


While Felt's albums were recorded with a minuscule budget for small independent labels, Lawrence had "the chance to make the album I'd always wanted" for a major label.[3] Between May 1990 and July 1992, Back in Denim was recorded and mixed with producer John Leckie.[3][nb 1] At one point, Lawrence was banned from the studio and had pushed Leckie to breaking point, which resulted in him exclaiming: "I've worked with Phil Spector and John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but I can't take this any more. You're madder than any of them."[3] Eventually, before threatening to disown the recordings, he finished the proceedings with Brian O'Shaughnessy.[3] The amount of money that went into making the album had made Boy's Own Recordings go bankrupt.[2]

The album's sound has been described as glam rock[6][7] and pop.[8] Tim Sendra of AllMusic claimed that for Back in Denim, Lawrence "channeled his love of simple punk, huge hooks, novelty songs, and slagging everyone".[1] Mojo review Roy Wilkinson commented that the album's "wistful examination of Britain and knowing adoption of pop styles from other eras" laid the groundwork for Britpop.[3] The album was complete with "glam and pop hooks machined to perfection with the best in 1990s recording science".[3] "Middle of the Road" features a sample of Middle of the Road's version of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep".[1]


Release and reception


Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
The Guardian[8]
Stylus MagazineA[10]
Trouser PressFavourable[11]

It was released in November 1992[3] on Boy's Own Recordings.[9] London Records wanted to release the album's title track as a single, but Lawrence requested to re-recording the song's chorus, to which London Records cut funding for further studio time.[3] "Middle of the Road" was released as a single, with the B-sides "Ape Hangers", "Robin's Nest", and an instrumental version of "Ape Hangers" titled "The Great Grape Ape-Hangers",[12] in January 1993.

The album was received well by critics but was commercially poor.[13] In retrospect, Lawrence commented "The tills were closed. [...] This was my masterpiece and I would fight to death to get it right. If that meant it was going to end up selling 25 copies, then that was the way it had to be."[3] The album was reissued in May 2006 on West Midland's Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red. Norwegian band Turbonegro covered "Back in Denim" as a bonus track at 2007 album Retox.

In 2017, Pitchfork ranked Back in Denim at number 50 in their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".[14]


Track listing


All songs written by Lawrence.

  1. "Back in Denim" – 3:59
  2. "Fish and Chips" – 3:17
  3. "Bubblehead" – 4:43
  4. "Middle of the Road" – 4:12
  5. "The Osmonds" – 8:08
  6. "I Saw the Glitter on Your Face" – 3:34
  7. "American Rock" – 6:26
  8. "Livin' on the Streets" – 4:31
  9. "Here Is My Song for Europe" – 3:41
  10. "I'm Against the Eighties" – 7:20

References


Footnotes
  1. Lawrence had worked with Leckie previously on Felt's The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories (1984), which Leckie produced and engineered.[5]
Citations
  1. Sendra, Tim (11 April 2013). "AllMusic Playlist: Britpop". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  2. Hodgkinson, Will (21 October 2010). "Denim: Britpop's less successful fabric". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  3. Wilkinson 2005, p. 122
  4. Buckley, ed. 2003, p. 369
  5. The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories (Sleeve). Felt. Cherry Red. 1984. B-RED 63.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. Phares, Heather. "Denim on Ice". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  7. Petridis, Alexis (21 June 2012). "Go Kart Mozart: Go Kart Mozart Are On the Hot Dog Streets – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  8. Petridis, Alexis (21 April 2006). "Guardian Unlimited Arts - - Denim, Back in Denim". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  9. Hage, Erik. "Back in Denim". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  10. "Denim - Back in Denim - Review - Stylus Magazine". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  11. "TrouserPress.com :: Denim". trouserpress.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  12. "Middle of the Road - Denim | Release Info". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  13. Biography by Mark Deming (31 August 1997). "Denim | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  14. Barlow, Eve (29 March 2017). "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
Sources


Back in Denim at MusicBrainz (list of releases)



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