Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches

Happy Mondays

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 13, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 27, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Ada
• ASIN: B000005IS7
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,817 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #5 in	Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Pop
  #11 in	Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative
  #75 in	Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Techno-House

Track Listings

1. Kinky Afro

2. God's Cop

3. Donovan

4. Grandbag's Funeral

5. Loose Fit

6. Dennis and Lois

7. Bob's Yer Uncle

8. Step On

9. Holiday

10. Harmony

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Although this band is largely responsible for defining the circa 1990 rave culture, their music is far removed from the bass-heavy electronica usually associated with dance clubs. Ten songs on this album are characterized by lazy tempos, groovy bass hooks, and artfully simple percussion tracks which interact perfectly to form smooth, danceable beats. The rhythmic foundation is further accented by tasteful guitar licks and restrained keyboard parts. Their lyrical content tends to be a little dark, even seedy for exstacy fueled dance parties. The flat, nearly spoken vocal arrangements mesh with the rest of the musical stew. --Michael A. Massa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Listening, September 25, 2001

By	M. Fulkerson (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading a few lazy reviews I felt confidently compelled to write about how I felt about this album, and what it means to me. I was 18 when this album was released. I was heavily into electronic music as well as rock music, but at the time it was hard to find good mixtures of both within the same band. Anyone who has bought music for a good portion of their lives knows how an album that is listened to at the tender age of 18 can profoundly affect the way they hear every album for the rest of their lives. Having been a dj for a few years up to this album's release, and realizing that i had heard quite a bit of mind-bending music, I can definitely say that this album was perfect in its execution of both rock and pop ideals, and continues to stand the test of time to this very day. This album, together with Primal Scream's "Screamadelica", and Shamen's "En-Tact" lp's, embodied the meshing of the dance and rock interface forever making it a cool thing for rockers to put on a dance tune, and ravers having a great rock album to throw on after a hard night of dancing. Regardless of what anyone has to say, this album does matter. I don't expect an 18 year old today to understand it and perhaps they shouldn't. I'm sure the only interest a teenager has in this album nowadays is to hear the first (and best) album Paul Oakenfold ever produced. But this album is essential and a must have. It sounds better than ever now, and still makes newer dance/rock albums by bands such as Garbage sound trite in comparison. These days the bands I get off on are Autechre, Spiritualized, Strokes, etc. These bands have nothing in common other than they make gorgeous and soulful noise. Pills, Thrills 'N Bellyaches aided me in destroying my borders and parameters of how certain music should be heard. Nothing in the realm of music is more important than that. Treat yourself to an important piece of music history, folks, and buy this album. You owe it to yourself to know why music today sounds the way it does.

Update: November 26th, 2009 -
A few comments on my review inspired me to mention that, despite my review being over eight years old, I still feel the same way about this album. My comment about the "18 year olds not getting it" was kind of stupid, and I don't know what compelled me to write that at the time. I seem to remember being on an Oakenfold-hating period which still continues today. The comparisons to Garbage are also out of date, but I think the statement of the Mondays being better than current dance/rock bands is applicable in 2009 (LCD Soundsystem and Killers come to mind). Anyway, if you do check out this album make sure you get the recent remastered edition with bonus tracks. It sounds incredible!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You've got to be kidding me!, January 11, 2003

By	"momofamanda" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

I'm reading the other reviews and, with the exception of one (the five star), I can't believe how apathetic they are. This was a defining album for the early '90s. I sought this one out when reestablishing my collection (after losing CDs over the years). Anyone who was seriously into music at that time (the club and radio DJs, the local musicians, etc.) had and appreciated this album. If you think this album is not "good enough" to own, you're probably not old enough to drink yet. Every decade has a dichotomy of music - the hard, dark side (Nirvana, Pearl Jam) and the light side (Happy Mondays). You should have both in your collection...

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A defining moment, January 21, 2005

By	Paul Kendall "Paul" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

It's impossible to not enjoy English music of the early 90s. While the US was occupying itself with Nirvana and grunge, the UK was turning out masterful works by Blur, The Charlatans, Happy Mondays, Primal Scream, The Stone Roses; not to mention a whole group of talented second tier bands.

I can't think of a release that sums up the entire British baggy rave scene as this one does. An incredible mix of groovy beats, chunky bass lines, funky guitars along with utterly unique vocals. Music that sounds as good today as it did back then, able to easily overcome so much of today's blandly overproduced stuff.

There are so many outstanding tracks such as "Kinky Afro", "God's Cop", "Dennis and Lois", "Bob's Yer Uncle", "Step On"...

Wonderfully produced by Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne.

Emphatically recommended.