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"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.
"Screamadelica" was the band's first album to be a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the UK Albums Chart upon its release. It received positive reviews 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, and has sold over three million copies worldwide.
Drawing inspiration from the house music scene, which was blossoming at the time, the band enlisted house DJs Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley on producing duties, although the album also contains a wide range of other influences including gospel and dub.
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 Andrew 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.
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" and a 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 number 2 on the Modern Rock tracks chart, and also making number 28 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
"Screamadelica" was influenced by the Beach Boys' album "Pet Sounds" (1966). The band's Bobby Gillespie says that after discovering the album, their songs became much softer.
"Screamadelica" was among ten album covers chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010.
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 10/10 |
Pitchfork | 9.0/10 |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Select | 5/5 |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
"Screamadelica" was well received by critics. In a contemporary review for Spin, Simon Reynolds found the record "totally mind-blowing" whose best songs were "almost unclassifiable". AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Screamadelica "an album that transcends its time and influence." It was voted number 135 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 100 Records 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."
In a 2009 review, the BBC hailed the album as "a solid gold classic." 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.
"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.
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".
The album reached number 8 on the UK Albums Chart, and was later certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. The album has now sold 680,000 copies as of September 2011.
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. The first of these gigs was broadcast live on BBC 6 Music, presented by Steve Lamacq. These gigs were followed by a UK tour in March 2011, where the band performed the album in full.
All tracks written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, and Robert Young, except "Slip Inside This House" written by Roky Erickson and Tommy Hall.
No. | Title | Producers | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Movin' On Up" | Jimmy Miller | 3:51 |
2. | "Slip Inside This House" |
|
5:16 |
3. | "Don't Fight It, Feel It" |
|
6:53 |
4. | "Higher Than the Sun" | The Orb | 3:38 |
5. | "Inner Flight" |
|
5:01 |
6. | "Come Together" |
|
10:21 |
7. | "Loaded" | Andrew Weatherall | 7:02 |
8. | "Damaged" | Jimmy Miller | 5:39 |
9. | "I'm Comin' Down" |
|
6:00 |
10. | "Higher Than the Sun (A Dub Symphony in Two Parts)" |
|
7:38 |
11. | "Shine Like Stars" |
|
3:45 |
Notes
Samples
Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue # |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 23 September 1991 | Creation Records | CD | CRECD 076 |
2LP | CRELP 076 | |||
MD | CREMD 076 | |||
Japan | 1 October 1991 | Columbia Music | CD | COCY 7985 |
United States | 8 October 1991 | Sire Records/WEA | CD | 9 26714-2 |
Song | Release date | Release info | Peak chart positions | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
AUS |
GER |
IE |
NED |
US Alt. |
US MSR |
|||||
"Loaded" | February 1990 | Creation (CRE 070) | 16 | — | — | — | 31 | — | — | ||
"Come Together" | August 1990 | Creation (CRE 078) | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Higher Than the Sun" | June 1991 | Creation (CRE 096) | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Don't Fight It, Feel It" | August 1991 | Creation (CRE 110) | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Movin' on Up" (U.S.-only release) | October 1991 | Sire/Warner Bros. | — | — | 93 | — | — | 2 | 10 | ||
Dixie Norco EP | January 1992 | Creation (CRE 117) | 11 | 91 | — | 10 | — | — | — | ||
"Damaged" (Japan-only release) | August 1992 | Columbia (COCY-5181) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
UK Creation CRELP 076 stereo (1991) Double LP 1st press.
Album produced by Andrew Weatherall, Jimmy Miller and Hugo Nicholson.
Both vinyl records have remained in excellent condition.
Audio quality is very clear and strong throughout.
All four record centre labels are clean, unmarked, and free from tears, stains or stickers.
The album's original hinged cover has remained in excellent condition, displaying only minor signs of wear.
The album cover has a strong hinge and spine, displaying very clear, printed script.