Hup

The Wonder Stuff | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 3, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B000008MFM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,217 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. 30 Years in the Bathroom

2. Radio Ass Kiss

3. Golden Green

4. Let's Be Other People

5. Piece of Sky

6. Can't Shape Up

7. Don't Let Me Down, Gently

8. Cartoon Boyfriend

9. Goodnight Though

10. Unfaithful

11. Them Big Oak Trees

12. Room 410

13. It Was Me [*]

14. Gimme Some Truth [*]

15. Get Together [*]

16. Inside You [*]

Editorial Reviews

Remastered reissue of the UK alternative pop/rock act's 1989 sophomore album. Includes 4 bonus tracks, 'It Was Me', 'Gimmie Some Truth', 'Get Together' and 'Inside You'. New sleeve notes and enhanced packaging. 2000 release. Standard jewelcase. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest CDs ever by one of the greatest bands, August 20, 2001

By 

Philip T. Sparagna (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hup (Audio CD)

A great follow up to their first album (Eight Legged Groove Machine).It's a shame that this band never got that big in the US, but I had the pleasure and privilege of seeing these guys in the late eighties/early nineties. This one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Every song is catchy and not in a bad way. This release also has a couple of extras such as covers of "Gimme Some Truth" and the Young Rascals' "Get Together" which weren't released on the original album version but I beleive were released as singles during this time. No way to describe this cd except buy it. If you're sick of all of the music on the radio, this will bring you back to a time when music meant something.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Madchester? No way, we're going folk!, November 24, 2008

By 

Joao Nunes (Portugal) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hup (Audio CD)

The Wonder Stuff's second album Hup builds upon the 2 minute power pop gems of their first album and suddenly finds a whole new path that the band would choose to follow.

The first songs, 30 Years In The Bathroom and Radio Ass Kiss, maintain the melodic pop and loud rocking guitars that characterized their debut but with upgraded production values. They are wrapped in a psychedelic-dance groove and the chord structure is more surprising than anything on The Eight Legged Groove Machine. So, this looks promising.
But with Golden Green the band takes a left turn and anticipates the country-folk of the best-selling Never Loved Elvis. The song introduces Martin Bell on fiddle and banjo, later a full time member and major contributor to their new sound. His fiddle will pop up on a few more tracks along the record. So, Hup definitely seems to already have a foot on the folk-pop road that the Wonder Stuff would follow next. It is very much a transitional album. The bulk of the album hesitates between rockers (Let's Be Other People, Cartoon Boyfriend) and folk-inflected pop tunes that clearly aim for radio play (Don't Let Me Down Gently, Piece Of Sky). And the bulk of the album is quite ok but the songs lack the freshness, rush and simplicity of their previous 2 minute gems.

Near the end are two of the best songs on Hup. Unfaithful perfects the folk ballad they had done so well with Some Sad Someone. It's a beautiful little waltz with fiddle and mandolin and all. Them Big Oak Trees is a furious rocker that once more proves how effective Miles Hunt could be with a simple overused three-chord riff.

There are a couple of boring tracks that I always skip (Good Night Though, Room 410) but overall this is a good album and the last chance to grasp some of that fresh energy that The Eight Legged Groove Machine had. Never Loved Elvis would be much more folk-pop oriented.
It would also be the last album with the weird charismatic Bob The Bass Thing, a man that anticipated the Marilyn Manson make-up aesthetics by half a decade.

This edition features 4 bonus tracks that go well with the spirit of the album. But most importantly, it is a shame that they didn't add Circle Square, a single from around the same time that would fit perfectly here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still my favorite 'Stuff', September 26, 2004

By 

Michael J. Raleigh "Mike Raleigh" (Milford, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hup (Audio CD)

The Wonder Stuff's second album combines the snotty arrogance of their debut,"Eight Legged Groove Machine", with some of the refined song-writing and pop sense of the subsequent "Never Loved Elvis" album. For some reason, it is their least popular record, though it is by FAR my favorite from the Stuffies. In fact, is one of my top 10 albums OF ALL TIME! (my CD collection numbers into four figures...) The sequence of "Golden Green","Let's Be Other People","Piece of Sky","Can't Shape up", and "Don't Let me Down, Gently" is unequalled by ANY Brit-Pop band from ANY era (with the exception of those lads from Liverpool). If you've liked other Wonder Stuff music or late 80's Brit-Pop in general, do NOT miss this one.