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I find the explanation for the existence of the "Background" section "there to help the reader understand the type of music Frith was making before he made this album, which helps understand why Frith fans where initially disappointed with it" unconvincing, since the disappointment is spelled out with the reason in the "Reception and influence" section. The section doesn't deal with the album, is a summary of the parent article of the artist and its omission doesn't take away from the article so I think it's contra 3 (b) of the Good article criteria. Therefore I removed the section. Hekerui (talk) 12:55, 12 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I can see your point. I notice that you have taken similar sections from other Frith articles under Bruce1ee's editorship, and I concur. I think there is room, however, for some smaller one- or two-sentence background as applicable to each album. Something like "After his blah blah album(s), Frith wished to achieve [some kind of goal] with the next album..." A little bit of between-album musician history, if known, as appropriate. Binksternet (talk) 15:57, 12 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
You know, I think the first paragraph of "Recording" does that really well. It's actually not about the recording of the album but about the background of his previous recordings. Perhaps the paragraph should be renamed "Background and recording"? Will leave that to the GA nominator. Hekerui (talk) 16:00, 12 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I still don't see anything wrong with a "Background" section that summarizes what Frith had done leading up to the recording of this album. It saves the reader having to open the parent article (unless they want more detail). But as a compromise perhaps Hekerui's suggestion of merging the "Background" and "Recording" sections into a "Background and recording" section is the answer. However, I'm reluctant to start rewriting chunks of an article that has just been promoted to GA. Will that require a new review? --Bruce1eetalk06:05, 13 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
OK, I've merged part of the "Background" section into the "Recording" section and renamed it "Background and recording". How does that look? --Bruce1eetalk08:08, 14 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
The two studio albums and the live album are presented as independent events, unrelated to the Cheap-Price album. The point of a history is to tell the story—what is the story? Is there an arc of action that Frith is completing, or is there a sequence that he is breaking? We are not told why he did not use a backing band, or why he did not record in the studio. We do not know what inspired him to sing for the first time. Has he been interviewed on any of these points? Binksternet (talk) 14:17, 14 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I've removed the "Live in Japan" paragraph. You're right, it doesn't belong to the trio of albums Frith made for Ralph. I had put it there only because it fits chronologically between Speechless and Cheap, but it actually interrupts the flow of the section. --Bruce1eetalk14:39, 14 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]