Customer Reviews

Screamadelica

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Primal Scream are a band that move musically in so many different guises & Sounds, that If you became a fan of theirs, through a particular album, there's nothing to say that the next album is going to resemble the previous album, in any...way, shape or form. A band that reflect the musical landscape of the current time, and arguably take contemporary influences and ideas, and fashion albums that bookmark certain
periods in their career.

The year is 1991, and Britain is in the midst of a change in the current movement of music. "Dance Music" has become one of the more dominant sounds to have shaped Britain's music scene. And the majority of the music buying public has become enthralled by it, many acts producing the majority of the dance music, had discovered the drug "Ecstasy" years previous, and were, making scintillating fusions of acid, House, Techno & Alternative Dance. Primal Scream themselves had become no strangers to the Drug, and although their form of all-encompassing rock was extremely diverse, it wasn't truly representative of the explosion of Dance orientated music entering the charts. That's when the band hooked up with highly regarded Dance producer "Andy Weatherall", who'd worked on everything from: downbeat, Experimental techno, IDM, Acid, Dance. And would lend his considerable dance productions skills to embellish the album with a sunny-eyed optimism, and Hedonistic glow, (along with a helping of deep psychedelic / Exuberant arrangements).

"Movin' on Up", begins with a gospel-tinged soaring & joyous chorus, opening everything wide open and turning their previous sound of alternative dance-rock inside out by easing back on the rock dynamics, but not completely abandoning it, and fusing it with a effervescent exercise of modern dance sounds & imagination, with singer/frontman "Bobby Gillespie" singing plaintively "I've found what I'm looking for!!"...what exactly Gillespie has found isn't made entirely clear, (although it wouldn't take a genius to guess), and it's here that throughout the album a lot of the lyrical content can be open to more than one interpretation.

"Slip inside This House", locks 80's rave beats with a slightly psychedelic eastern guitar (possibly a "Sitar"), it's a highly imaginative fusion of two distinctly different sounds, and the influence on the production has "Andy Weatherall's" ideas stamped all over it. Something of a throwback to the days of Warehouse Raves, through a restrained slower melody, this is far more considered & slower paced than anything the band have previously attempted, over which Gillespie cryptically chants "Trip inside".

"Don't Fight It, Feel It" uses a reverberated bass, to elastic effect, over which the tune is stretched over, before the bassline is interupted, with female vocals, and prominent squelchy synths, take precedence, almost neo-psychedelic in approach, and such a monumental step forward for what the band is primarily known for, that it seems impossible to link this new sound, to anything the band have ever previously done. Interestingly the female vocals sing: "I want to Dance to the music, before getting High", alongisde minimal drum percussion, with the occasional euphoric looping keyboard bursts free, with surprising gusto.

"Higher Than the Sun", brings a spooky-ambience to begin with, with various sampled vocal wails, throwing the listener into (slight) confusion, before giving way to a slow horror-soundtrack inspired arrangement, that begins to gather pace, then disjointed beats with synth melodies soar & Conflict against each other, with Gillespie singing a ballad-like "Higher than the Sun" vocal. Layers of booming almost Breakbeat beats begin to take hold....a very unusual track by conventional song structure methods, but still arguably stunning.

The centrepiece track in-amongst this beautifully Euphoric rush of an album, is the breathtaking "Come Together", with a snippet of movie dialogue saying "It's a Beautiful Day", "We are Together", as church organs begin to swirl into the sound, mixed with synchronised hand-clapping (Possibly sampled from an actual Church congregation), and the minimal Drum Hi-Hat gaining momentum, before a gradually soaring arrangement of Dance Beats, begin to thump into action, driving the sound into a truly ambitiously soaked sound of Dance/Gospel Fusion......."Together as one" is the chanted message of the group of female voices singing in harmony, and it quite a breathtaking air of euphoria surrounding it, unquestionably one of the best tracks on the album.

"Loaded", another of the albums strongest tracks, opens with more snippets of movie dialogue, with the sample "We Wanna get loaded & have a good Time", showing the tracks statement of intent, and couldn't be more apt. Trumpet sections soar, minimal dance beats intertwine with everything, and shredding Guitars punctuate halfway through, being interspersed with more Clips of movie Dialogue saying "We Want to Be free, to do what we want to Do!!?", liberal use of backing female choruses, gives the track a level of unity & hedonism, that most conventional dance music couldn't possibly had to emulate....and to end the track with the sampled "We wanna get loaded, and have a good time", is a tremendous closer, for a truly stunning track.

To compare this albums against Primal Scream's previous albums is a redundant exercise, as it so out of step with what they've previously done before, that a reasonable judgement, becomes incredibly hard. This is such a brilliantly realised and produced album, that is such a monumental step forward for the band, that those that listen to it for the first time, will (initially) have difficulty believing it to be the same band. Even more astonishingly, is the fact that even though this was created around the time of the Dance music boom (in the U.K.) in the early 90's, it doesn't sound horribly dated, listening to it some 13+ years later (partly due to Andy Weatherall's incredible production). Few would argue, that this & XTRMNTR are the finest two albums Primal scream have ever made thus far, utterly essential.

Released over ten years ago, Screamadelica still sounds fresh today. To these ears it stands as one of the best albums released in the ninties. However, looking at it on paper it looks like it should have been a total failure. Primal Scream had been a noisy rock band who suddenly veered into dance music. Equal parts techno, gospel, circa 68 Stones and spacey dub, it move in several different directions, yet somehow manages to cohere. There is no shortage of great tracks, with MOVIN' ON UP(gospel meets Let it Bleed Stones), STEP INSIDE THIS HOUSE(techno cover of the 13th Floor Elavators!), DAMAGED(like a long lost bluesy outtake from Beggar's Banquet), LOADED(cool Peter Fonda sample) and HIGHER THAN THE SUN(ambient dub worthy of The Orb)among the standouts. Released the same year as Nirvana's Nevermind, this release stands at least as tall as that seminal album. In time it may even eclispe it!

This is it, the album where psychedelia, techno and blues rock all blend together in one blissful mix. This is also one of the best albums I've ever heard just for the sheer variety of styles that can be found. Most of the tunes are very trip hop oriented then there are the blues rock flavorings that resemble the Stones at their peak. This was the exact opposite end of the musical spectrum back in the 90's when, in the U.S., the grunge scene was in full swing. In the U.K. this album was a big hit but it didnt make quite that big of a splash over here in the states as we were engrossed in Cobain and company. But this album deserves more attention than it has received, its one of the most original albums I've ever heard, true it may be a mish mash of familiar genres but the way its all put together and heard sounds brand new. Anyways highly reccomended!

I remember all the raves this album got back in the day, and distinctly remember deliberately skipping it, because where most critics are concerned, the fashion and intrigue of the 'e' culture were more important than the music. Consequently how good could the music have been if it was just a soundtrack to oblivion?

I did check out 'Give Out But Don't Give Up' when it was released to similar fanfare, and thought it passionate but uninspired--a 3 star rating all the way through. So my initial write-off of 'Screamadelica' was thereby warranted.

After so many years, though, my curiousity got the best of me. I stumbled on a used copy, and while I don't agree that it's a classic album amongst albums, but it's definitely a solid, inspired effort that obviously still impresses people 10 years after it's release. It's the best 'representative' album of the scene, and Stones-psychedelia pastiche or not, the Scream's later albums would never get this good.

Most bands or artists only ever release one good album of substance in their entire careers; this one is likely Primal Scream's Mona Lisa.

This cd is what movie goers would call a "cult classic". The music on it is so diverse that from one song to next doesn't even sound like the same cd, more like a compilation album with various artists. I too was introduced to Primal Scream through the Cindy Crawford workout video. I loved the music so much I found myself watching the video over and over just to hear the music. I was very dedicated to working out everyday for a year cuz of the music. When I saw the end credits I was shocked to find out that 90 percent of the music she used was infact by one band ... Primal Scream. So during driver's ed my class drove to the mall for a break. I hunted down Screamadelica and listened to it on the way back home by the end of the drive my classmates were also interested in it. I have Cindy Crawford to thank for my discovery. "Higher Than the Sun" ,"Loaded", "Don't Fight It Feel It" (the ultimate tummy crunch song, perfect title too) LOL and my personal favorite "Slip Inside This House" ...easilly one of my favorite songs of all time. Trip-hop, house, dance, whatever you wanna call it... I call it great! A classic in it's own right and definately underrated. Buy this album no matter what your into, it is a psychedelic trip into the 90's.

now..how do you review this album without being a least a bit biased...watershed release etc. but, listening to it now..10 yrs after its release, the songs still make you want to groove. the scream moved on to expand their horizons, but this may truly be their greatest album.

Part of 'Screamadelica's critical acclaim may have more to do with its cultural impact rather than it's musical one. It's fusion of a traditional rock 'outlaw' image with the then contemporary dance scene was bound to attract critical enthusiasm. Dance music by its very nature is mostly non-image based, the stationary DJ playing their lyric-free records. Bands like Primal Scream and the Stone Roses helped to bring dance music to an alternative rock/indie audience. In the late 1980's rock in the U.K. was increasingly becoming marginalised, beaten back by the all-consuming rise of pop creators such as Stock, Aitken and Waterman. In contrast dance music was at the cutting edge of youth culture and if British guitar bands wanted to retain some sort of street-cred, they'd have to jump from the sinking ship on to the bandwagon pretty quickly.

On 'Screamadelica' this fusion of styles can be seen in the band's choice of producers, Jimmy Miller and Andrew Weatherall. Most of the album sounds like 12-inch remixes of the original guitar based songs. A process which has become standard for a lot of British guitar bands' C.D. singles. For anyone who's ever been at a rave most of the tracks on 'Screamadelica' make perfect sense as an aid to an ecstacy high, the slow long drawn-out build up adds to the sense of euphoria that occurs at the track's zenith.

As an all-out fusion of rock and dance I think 2000's XTRMNTR was a more inspired effort, but 'Screamadelica' was the beginning of Primal Scream's music experimentation. 'Screamadelica' is frequently listed on British music mags top 100 lists. However in the cold light of day 100 years from now, without cultural reference to the time it was created, pop music historians maybe slightly bemused as to why an album built around repetitive riffs should be lauded in the same way as the expressive, original song structures of 'Revolver' and 'Pet Sounds'.

This album is a classic from beginning to end. House and britpop blend to make the white man dance. A truly great album that paved the way for music to come after them. You have to own it..

Every track a gem.
this album came out in 1991. Every track still rides.

Screamadelica was, is, and always will be one of those albums that changed the face of popular music. It is a record that wears its influences heavily on its second hand sleeves. Chicago House music, deep deep deep dub, raunchy blues, British techno, Northern Soul, jangley guitars, good night lullaby's and obscure cinematic references are all blended together to form an aural experience that still makes the listener feel like they are visiting another planet. True, it's a planet chemically loaded and ready for an endless night, but isn't that what you sometimes needs your music to do for you? Take you away from the reality of it all and strand you in some weird foreign land. Bobby Gillespie and his merry band of nutjob musicians have taken us to grungier and sonically odder places, but this is the record where all the real scream team lunacy begins. Almost a trip to the dark side of the moon. Take a big hit of this album, hold it in and pass out blissfully!