Liberation (The Divine Comedy album)

Infobox Album | Name = Liberation
Type = Album
Artist = The Divine Comedy
Released = August 16, 1993
Recorded = March 1993
Genre = Baroque Pop
Length = 51:57
Label = Setanta
Producer =
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ab60trpqkl6x]
*"Hot Press" (10/12) [http://web.archive.org/web/20040531094028/divineguitar.co.uk/articles/hot1993_08_25.php]
*"NME" (Positive) [http://web.archive.org/web/20040531074102/divineguitar.co.uk/articles/nme1993_08_14.php]
Last album = "Fanfare for the Comic Muse"
(1990)
This album = "Liberation"
(1993)
Next album = "Promenade"
(1994)

"Liberation" is an album by The Divine Comedy. It was released in 1993 (see 1993 in music) on Setanta. Although this is The Divine Comedy's second album Neil Hannon often refers to it as the first because he denies Fanfare for the Comic Muse due to its stylistic differences from the rest of The Divine Comedy's work. The album was made over the space of twelve days in March 1993 by Neil Hannon and Darren Allison. Neil Hannon played most of the instruments on the album. Darren Allison was the recording engineer and the drummer for the album.

The album was released to much critical acclaim but little commercial success. The album features baroque instrumentation with harpsichord, violin, viola, cello, French horn, and a Hammond B3 organ. The album is also highly literate. "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. "Three Sisters" is about a play of the same name by Anton Chekhov. "Lucy" is an amalgam of three poetic fragments by William Wordsworth.

Track listing

*All songs written and arranged by Neil Hannon
**Additional lyrics on "Lucy" by William Wordsworth

#"Festive Road"
#"Death of a Supernaturalist"
#"Bernice Bobs Her Hair"
#"I Was Born Yesterday"
#"Your Daddy's Car"
#"Europop"
#"Timewatching"
#"The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count"
#"Queen of the South"
#"Victoria Falls"
#"Three Sisters"
#"Europe by Train"
#"Lucy"

Personnel

*Neil Hannon - Vocals, guitars, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, harpsichord, and organ
*Darren Allison - Drums and Percussion
*Lucy Castle - Viola and Violin
*Monica Scott - Cello
*Quentin Hutchinson - French horn