Psychocandy

Infobox Album |
Name = Psychocandy
Type = studio
Artist = The Jesus and Mary Chain


Released = Start date|1985|11
Recorded = Southern Studios
Wood Green, London
Genre = Alternative rock, noise pop
Length = 38:55
Label = Blanco y Negro
Producer = The Jesus and Mary Chain
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:az2tk6rx9krh link]
*Pitchfork Media (9.6/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37601/The_Jesus_and_Mary_Chain_Psychocandy_Darklands_Automatic_Honeys_Dead 2006]
*"Q" Rating|5|5 July 2006 (p.122)
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=649&name=The+Jesus+and+Mary+Chain link]
*Rolling Stone (favourable) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thejesusandmarychain/albums/album/193252/review/6068217/psychocandy 1986]
Last album =
This album = "Psychocandy" (1985)
Next album = "Darklands" (1987)

"Psychocandy" is the debut album by the Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, released in November 1985 . "Psychocandy" utilised the then-radical notion of combining simple pop tunes, à la The Beach Boys, with searing guitar noise more akin to The Velvet Underground.

The album is considered to be a landmark recording, frequently appearing in "best-ever" album lists, such as "Q" magazine's list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, where it placed at number 88 in 2000. RS500|268 Allmusic described the album as one that "created a movement without meaning to." [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:az2tk6rx9krh]

Background

The band had been signed by Blanco y Negro on the strength of their debut, Slaughter Joe-produced single, "Upside Down" and media attention generated by the band's highly charged and energetic gigs.

Recording and production

Lead vocals are handled entirely by Jim Reid on this album, with the exception of "It's So Hard," sung by William Reid.

Release and reception

The album includes the singles "Never Understand", "You Trip Me Up" and "Just Like Honey". Following reissue on CD in August 1986, the bonus track "Some Candy Talking", which was originally released on the namesake EP, was included on the album, only on the UK Blanco y Negro CDs released in 1986 and 1997; in the USA, it was released on CD by Reprise in 1986 and American Recordings in 1993 without the bonus track. In 2006, the album was remastered and released in DualDisc format without "Some Candy Talking" to conform with the original playlist.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jim and William Reid.
#"Just Like Honey" – 3:03
#"The Living End" – 2:16
#"Taste the Floor" – 2:56
#"The Hardest Walk" – 2:40
#"Cut Dead" – 2:47
#"In a Hole" – 3:02
#"Taste of Cindy" – 1:42
#"Never Understand" – 2:57
#"Inside Me" – 3:09
#"Sowing Seeds" – 2:50
#"My Little Underground" – 2:31
#"You Trip Me Up" – 2:26
#"Something's Wrong" – 4:01
#"It's So Hard" – 2:37

Some CD issues include the 1986 single "Some Candy Talking," although current releases do not.

Personnel and credits

;The Jesus and Mary Chain
* Jim Reid – vocals, guitar, production
* William Reid – vocals, guitar, production
* Douglas Hart – bass guitar, production
* Bobby Gillespie – drum kit, production

;Additional musicians
*Karen and Laurence - backing vocals

;Production
*John Loder - engineering

References

External links