Have You Fed the Fish?

Badly Drawn Boy

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 9, 2004)
• Original Release Date: November 5, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Xl Recordings
• ASIN: B00065GIGO
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #249,404 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5
"...There is a flow and coherence to these fifteen tracks..." One of RS 50 Best Albums of 2002.

Product Description
HAVE YOU FED THE FISH? opens with the most subtle of skits before launching into the title track, a 70s-style power ballad out of the Stephen Bishop songbook. The title track fades into crunchy, imploring angry indie rock in the Modest Mouse tradition ("40 Days, 40 Fights") which shifts into a swirling disco-era dance number ("All Possibilities") then disintegrates into an earnest epic, lyrically Dylan-esque love song suite ("I Was Wrong/You Were Right"). Incorporating something like seven verses, a whistled interlude, a synth solo and a couple kitchen sinks. And that's Damon Gough (aka. Badly Drawn Boy) in a nutshell; he could be called Beck without the gimmicks, bells and whistles, but more aptly should be referred to as his ultimate own man. HAVE YOU FED THE FISH?, the prolific BDB's second record of 2002, displays the linguistic mastery of a Swiftian wordsmith, someone who loves to toy with the language while understanding the value of restraint in a well-turned phrase, a wit which can exhibit the sharpest irony but also possesses the guts to write a song as breathtakingly sincere as the aforementioned "You Were Wrong/I Was Right," a song as beautiful and as achingingly clumsy as is the truest of love. "Unlike most of his contemporaries, singer-songwriter Gough is willing to explore all sorts of styles while allowing himself to be as playful or serious as he wants"--Alternative Press.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Have you fed them?, January 2, 2005

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

After his brilliant debut, "Hour of Bewilderbeast," Badly Drawn Boy (real name: Damon Gough) had a lot to live up to in his second (non-soundtrack) album. And he comes close to delivering in "Have You Fed the Fish?", a sparkling folky-pop album that displays his musical depth and complexity.

It opens with an announcer (like on a plane) informing us that outside the window is a cloud that looks just like Badly Drawn Boy. It's a pretentious moment that isn't too annoying -- especially when it dissolves into sparkling, layered pop. Gough relies on piano pop in songs like "40 Days 40 Fights," and the passionate ballad "How." It's his best area; he can really wring feeling from those keys.

But he also dips into the more acoustic sound, with the danceable "Born Again" and the low-key "I Was Wrong." And "Tickets To What You Need" is more acoustic than any other song -- stripped down, with Gough's vocals in the forefront, he sounds like he's standing on a table and joyously singing to the crowds. After a few more chillingly panoramic pop melodies and piano-led laments, he bows out in the soaring fuzz-guitar "Bedside Story."

It's all too easy to alienate someone you love, perhaps forever. Gough seems to be speaking through his songs to someone else, saying "I Was Wrong," "You Were Right" (two songs from the middle of this album). He retains the experimental edge, giving extra layers and sonic flourishes to what could have been an ordinary indie-folk-pop album.

If there's any flaw in "Have You Fed The Fish?", it's that it seems sometimes that Gough is trying a little too hard. Relax, mate. His acoustic guitar and exquisite piano playing are the middle of the album's sound, but he backs it up with horns, strings, sometimes thunderous percussion, and cymbals. Not to mention the smooth synthy sweeps in songs like "Centre Peace."

Gough's mellow voice is a bit like an instrument in itself -- he seems kind of timid about being in the forefront musically. He only breaks out in "Tickets To What You Need," sounding playful and charming. There are some lyrical stumbles ("And woman, I'll make you a girl"?), but most of the time he manages to wrap strangely sensitive words around the songs. "And you/were right to bide your time and not buy into my misery/Well the good things are never free..."

Gough doesn't reach the heights of his debut album, but taken alone "Have You Fed The Fish" is a beautiful little pop classic overshadowed by the bigger classic, "Bewilderbeast."

5.0 out of 5 stars Not an immediate love...but one that grows with each listen, December 2, 2008

By	Daniel Messick - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was introduced to Badly Drawn Boy through his outstanding soundtrack work on the film "About a Boy." Wanting to give his catelogue of music a try, I purchased his albums "Have you Fed the Fish?," and "The Hour of the Bewilderbeast."
While "Fish" started out with an interesting hook of what sounds like a pilot speaking over the intercom on a plane (Coming in to Land), it then launches into a driving refrain before pulling back. "Have you Fed the Fish" is a slower tempo song, with "Born Again" being another up tempo song..."All Possibilities" can now be heard on Target commercials...I won't delve into each and every song on the album...I will note that unlike the immediately loved "About a Boy" soundtrack, "Have You Fed the Fish" has grown on me with each listen...I thoroughly enjoy the album now and would highly recommend it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Badly Drawn from Khanoda's earlier catalogue?, October 19, 2006

By	gs912 (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

I've been hooked on BDB since "...Bewilderbeast" and this album definitely did not fail in continuing to raise my expectations on what a fine songwriter Damon Gough is, but I couldn't help but hearing some similarities between the track "All Possibilities" to that of a song by Khanoda called "That's My Desire" from his album "Klosure" released in 1998 originally (according to Amazon). Same guitar strumming kind of jaunt with a trumpet break. Now mind you, this hadn't occured to me until recently when I went back to hear "All Posibilities" after hearing it in a Target commercial (oddly enough, I often overlooked the track since it felt like I heard it before, and now I know where). It also made me wonder if "Something To Talk About", from the "About A Boy" soundtrack by BDB released in 2002, is a response, or tribute, or whatever, to Khanoda's song "Something To Shout About", also from his album "Klosure". Is there a connection?