Housewives Hooked on Heroin

No Man | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 5, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: 3rd Stone Records
• ASIN: B00008G4T4
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,154 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Housewives Hooked on Heroin

2. Hit the Ceiling

3. Housewives Hooked on Methadone

4. Urban Disco

5. Where I'm Calling From

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A great song, but a somewhat lacking single., June 12, 2009

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Housewives Hooked on Heroin (Audio CD)

The leadoff single to Wild Opera, "Housewives Hooked on Heroin" presents the title track in two mixes along with three B-sides. At the time of release, the piece got mixed reviews-- while No-Man had started moving away from their pop roots on Flowermouth, "Housewives Hooked on Heroin" was something quite different. A downtempo, bleak portrait, with a dull pulse that gives way to a morbid groove and eventually a slather of industrial guitar soloing, it is a complete reinvention of the band. And just when you think things couldn't get more bizarre on the piece, Tim Bowness' vocal gets doubled with a high harmony that somehow drags the piece even further along in its black mood. The remix by Scanner (the sublimely titled "Housewives Hooked on Methadone") I could probably live without-- Scanner turns the piece into a drum-n-bass number, I find the explosiveness of the beats detract from the mood of the song-- it's not bad, but when compared to the original, it's not grabbing me.

The B-sides are kind of a mixed bag-- it's pretty clear the band was reaching for new sounds. "Hit the Ceiling" is built on drum-n-bass rhythms a milky bassline and a vaguely panicked vocal from Bowness. "Urban Disco" is truly bizarre, mixing disco-styled samples with industrial guitars and an unusual sense of urgency, it's quite undefinable and I still haven't made up my mind whether I think it was successful (I do love giving it a spin, however). "Where I'm Calling From", with guest performances from trumpeter Ian Carr and guitarist Robert Fripp (with his ambient hat on) is perhaps the most telling for the band's future, its' the sort of ballad piece that would dominate Together We're Stranger, but lacks some of the power of that later music.

It's an interesting single, but by and large "Housewives Hooked on Heroin" doesn't have a ton of essential material.