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High Civilization
Studio album by
the Bee Gees
Released25 March 1991
RecordedAugust – December 1990
StudioMiddle Ear Studios (Miami Beach, Florida)
Genre
Length60:12
Label
ProducerBarry, Robin and Maurice Gibb
The Bee Gees chronology
The Very Best of the Bee Gees
(1990) 		High Civilization
(1991) 		Size Isn't Everything
(1993)
Singles from High Civilization
  1. "Secret Love"
    Released: February 1991
  2. "When He's Gone"
    Released: May 1991
  3. "The Only Love"
    Released: August 1991

High Civilization is the nineteenth studio album by British-Australian pop group the Bee Gees, released on 25 March 1991 in the United Kingdom and 14 May 1991 in the United States. It was their third and final album Warner Bros. Records, following the release of the successful comeback albums E.S.P. (1987) and One (1989), and was self-produced by the group.

Recorded with a small group of musicians, High Civilization was the first of two Bee Gees albums recorded with Prince's engineer Femi Jiya, whose preference for hard, loud percussion ensured that the drums and beats are loud in the mix, pushing the Bee Gees' vocal harmonies further back. The album favours a dance style with electronic instruments and studio effects, such as programmed drums and synthesisers, and features an eclectic array of material including art rock songs and love ballads. The record features high concept lyrical imagery and themes of romance.

On release, the album reached number 24 on the UK Albums Chart and was also successful in Germany, where it was heavily promoted. However, it did not chart in the United States. The Motown tribute "Secret Love" was issued as the lead single and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. Music critics commented on the album's dense production and lengthy songs, which some Bee Gees biographers have dismissed. The Bee Gees promoted the album with a 1991 European tour that spanned 23 cities; it included several shows in Berlin that were filmed and a London concert that was broadcast on BBC Radio 1.


"what we're doing now might a) drop some people that liked us, and b) bring in some new people."[1]

Whatever You Say, Say Nothing is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Deacon Blue, released in March 1993 by Columbia Records. It was the group's final original album before their initial split in 1994.

Wishing to pursue a new musical direction, Deacon Blue recorded the album with the dance production team of Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold, hoping that the team's different background would provide a creative challenge. Oakenfold agreed to the project in hopes of changing the band's sound to something edgier, but recording sessions were fraught with disagreement and Oakenfold, who believed the group were uninterested in his ideas, lost interest in the project. Breaking with the band's earlier, more soulful and folky work, Whatever You Say is a visceral, guitar-driven alternative rock record with dance textures and driving rhythms. Lead singer Ricky Ross adopts a breathy singing voice and pens lyrics with more universal themes than on earlier records.

Promoted by the lead single and UK Top 20 hit "Your Town", Whatever You Say, Say Nothing reached number four in the UK Albums Chart,[2] but was less successful than the band's earlier albums, and failed to chart in the United States. The album received an unenthusiastic response from music critics and the group's new direction baffled some of their fans. Some critics have described the album as a late entry into the dance-rock and baggy movements of the early 1990s. In support of the album, Deacon Blue toured Europe in 1993, with an elaborate stage set featuring scaffolding and corrugated sheets.

DB Background

[edit]

Deacon Blue's third album, Fellow Hoodlums (1991), sold half as many copies as its predecessor, When the World Knows Your Name (1989), and was critically panned,[1] though it did receive a Platinum certification in the United Kingdom.[3] Believing that they had firmly "established their sound" by the release of Fellow Hoodlums, lead singer Ricky Ross comments that the band wished to pursue a drastic change in direction for the follow-up album, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing.[1] Craig Winn of M8 believed the band's "need to attract a new audience" was comparable to Wet Wet Wet, who – having been criticised for attracting a teenage audience – released the "mature" album High on the Happy Side (1992) and became fashionable, but writes that Deacon Blue "had the opposite problem" of having a mature audience and wanting younger fans.[1]

On impetus for the band's new stylistic change, Ross commented that after the band achieved their original aim of recording an album and appearing on Top of the Pops, he realised that he is "actually quite ambitious and [wanted] to take it somewhere [he] hadn't imagined possible". He also credited "boredom factor" as a reason, commenting that, as a songwriter, he originally joined the band because because it would be "interesting", adding: "I'm pushing it having done three albums and trying to do four. So you may as well push your luck the whole way and make a fourth album that is actually quite adventurous."[1] Ross said that, rather than commercial motivations driving the band's desire for new fans, he was more interested in "us being a band and staying a band and having fun being in a band." "I've enjoyed everything that I’ve done recently. It’s not just to do with enjoyment, it's about really sparking and really pushing yourself hard because you just get lazy."[1]

Deacon Blue chose dance producers Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold to produce the album.[4][5] Bassist Ewen Vernal said that the production duo were recommended by A&R staff, and that the group chose them because their musical background was highly different to "anything we've ever done", believing that it had "got to the point where any new project we want to get into we try and approach with some kind of challenge in mind."[6] According to Ross, the duo of Osborne and Oakenfold were one of several "oddball names", another being David Byrne, that the band piled with A&R workers, hoping to find "someone to visit the studio every two weeks and be a kind of upsetting factor in the whole thing". He said the decision to hire Oakenfold came down to his vague knowledge of him as a DJ, but was only familiar with his work on an INXS song, denying that the team's work with U2 influenced the band's decision.[1]

Oakenfold and Osborne had recently completed their work on the Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990) when Sony approached them to produce the Deacon Blue album. As Oakenfold later explained, he considered them to be "an out-and-out pop band, real cheese in some respects", and was uninterested in taking on the project, but was persuaded by the group's A&R man, who ensured him that the band "really want to change, to come up with a more interesting sound."[7] As Deacon Blue were a Platinum-selling pop band, the producer decided it could be "a great thing to do, because it's not the obvious thing to do. We could completely change their sound. People would be able to see our production qualities, because we'd taken a pop band made them more edgy."[7]

DB Recording

[edit]
The Manor Studio, one of the recording locations, in 1990

Deacon Blue recorded Whatever You Say, Say Nothing in three English studios: London's AIR Studios, and Oxfordshire's The Manor Studio and Outside Studios.[8][9] A fourth studio, Eden Studios in London, was used to mix the record.[8] Paul Corkett recorded the album with assistance from Adrian Bushby, Danton Supple, Gorby and Steve Orchard.[8] Vernal said the record was difficult to record, due to the band entering "territory which we'd never been in before'."[6]

Music author Richard Norris writes that although recording with Oakenfold and Osborne was intended to "invigorate the band's creativity with a fresh new approach", the sessions were not wholly successful in this regard.[7] Oakenfold said that Deacon Blue initially agreed to his ideas about moving their sound in an edgier direction, but that once he and Osborne entered the studio, the band changed their mind, having just released their best-selling single.[7] The producer said that after completing the first track, which was "great", he told them "we now need to go more edgy...they're all getting nercous, and I'm saying trust me, this is where we're going now."[7]

Oakenfold credits co-vocalist Lorraine McIntosh – Ross' partner – for driving the band's resistance to his ideas: "it was one of those cliches where she had his ear, and what she wanted was what went on."[7] According to Ross and McIntosh in an interview with The Observer, Oakenfold and Osborne "took their carte blanche control of song selection to extreme tyrannical proportions", on occasion driving McIntosh to tears.[6] The band's guitarist Graeme Kelling believed that, despite hiring the producers to break up the band's familiar way of working, "we were trying to force ourselves in to another jacket – a terrible-looking spangly one – and didn't realise that what we had was actually quite special."[10]

Oakenfold lost interest by the end of the sessions as the album "was becoming more and more pop. Obviously it had all our sounds in terms of production, so the mix was a lot harder than the band were used to, but it was nowhere near where I wanted it to be."[7] He said: "In the end you just think, fuck it, they ain't listening."[7] He later said that despite losing interest, Osborne remained engaged.[11] Ross viewed Osborne, rather than Oakenfold, as the album's central influence, saying: "I think Steve's input was 75% and Paul's 25%. Steve’s a huge part of the deal. Paul's very good at coming in and going 'Yeah, I know' to things, and they work together as a team. I think the logic of why they worked together as a team defied some of the band at the time because of how little Paul's input was on anything."[1]

DB Composition

[edit]

Musical style and themes

[edit]
The co-production of Paul Oakenfold (2021) contributed to Deacon Blue's new direction.

For Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, Ricky Ross stirred Deacon Blue's sound into a more rock-oriented direction than their previous folk-tinged work,[12] with the "unlikely" team-up with Osborne and Oakenfold contributing to the "major sonic departure" and giving it a dance edge.[7][4] Considered an alternative rock record,[3] the music is guitar-driven,[13] something which pleased Kelling, who believed it marked a departure from the keyboard-oriented material on their earlier albums; he stated that Ross "wrote that album on guitar, and the songs were a lot more direct."[10] The sound is broader and more visceral,[14][13] and is further characterised by its driving rhythms,[15] dense textures,[15] and percussive dance flavour, achieved with the producers.[14] The rhythms have been described as techno-esque and repetitive,[13] while the use of "acoustic guitar, strings and a variety of percussion" leads to what reviewer Virginia Trioli describes as the album's distinctive British rock sound.[16] Music critic Barbara Jaegar believes the group "boosted its rhythm quotient" for a more immediate feel, departing from the ethereal, soulful pop sound of its predecessors.[17]

The reviewer John Harris contends that the album – through Oakenfold and Osborne's input – features a similar sound to Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches.[18] According to critic William Ruhlmann, Ross adopts a "high, breathy singing voice with lots of echo", and writes lyrics with more universal themes in contrast to earlier songs inspired by the Glasgow neighbourhood he grew up in.[12] Kelling's guitar work is raw and melodic, inspiring comparison to James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders.[13] Elements of the group's earlier sound remain, such as the midtempo pacing and the continued interplay between the two vocalists, Ross and McIntosh.[19] Ross denied that they "set out to make a dance record" but added that a club mix of "Your Town" was produced because, as the song ran at 125 bpm, Osborne had the idea to "dance-up a Deacon Blue record" and surprise the band's fans.[1] Nicole Meighan of The Scotsman wrote of the "fierce undercurrent of frustration and ragged anger" that characterises parts of the album, considering it "an impression, perhaps, of a band at sea, fighting against the tide."[20]

Songs

[edit]

The group's new direction is immediately apparent with the tense opening song, "Your Town",[17] a galloping protest song with heavy guitars, keyboards, dance-like rhythms and breathy harmonies.[14][21][17] Ross's unusually-altered vocals are distorted and muffled,[17][21] inspiring comparison with industrial music,[14] and Bono's vocals on U2's "The Fly" (1991).[17] One reviewer commented that Ross' vocals are "compressed and equalized into an AM-radio buzz."[15] His vocals are surrounded by the swirling guitars and the restrained, martial drums,[15] while acoustic textures more typical of the band are placed low in the mix.[14] Meighan describes the song as an "emotional juggernaut" through which drummer Dougie Vipond evokes Fleetwood Mac's "Big Love" (1987).[20] The lyrics express anger at former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who had been out of office since 1990, with lines like "When you're gone, they will curse you".[22] Ross credits the venomous lyrics to the song being written in the leadup to the 1992 general election, saying: "We had had three Tory governments, and everyone was really sick, fed up with them, and it was that sort of political song."[22] McIntosh has since described the song as one of her favourites by the group, praising its "unbelievable energy and power."[20]

The sombre nature of "Your Town" continues with "Only Tender Love".[23] "Peace & Jobs & Freedom" is a political song that features the highest prominence of McIntosh's vocals.[14][16] Harris compares it to the "filthy-sounding" Happy Mondays song "Bob's Your Uncle" (1990).[18] The driving, guitar-driven "Hang Your Head" features dance beats and "stainless steel guitar strings",[23][24] while "Bethlehem's Gate" is one of several songs characterised by what Ruhlmann describes as "relentless, martial drumming and rhythmic instruments that played pulse patterns rather than complete chords".[12] "Will We Be Lovers" is driven by a "semi-dance beat",[17] and was compared by Harris to the Happy Mondays' "Judge Fudge" (1991),[18] while "Fall So Freely Down" features some atypical guitar work atop its heavy beats.[17] "Cut Lip" is a funky, Prince-esque song with a Motown-style piano lick, an example of the soul-styled beats that appear throughout the record.[19] "Last Night I Dreamed of Henry Thomas" was singled out by reviewer Andy Gill as an anomaly for its "odd, miasmic arrangement and sounds lurking and looming out of the work".[21] The final song, "All Over the World" is midtempo and anthemic.[15]

DB Release

[edit]

As the lead single from Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, "Your Town" was released in November 1992 and debuted at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the highest new entry that week.[25][26] The song stayed on the chart four eight weeks.[26] In their review of "Our Town", i-D wrote that "Oakenfold did with U2 and does it again here..."[1] Reviewing the United States single release in May 1993, The Hard Report compared the song to the Beloved and praised it as a "great tune" which "has adult appeal written all over it", adding that it could attract both "the flannel wearing college kids and your corporate commercial radio guys".[27] Further singles charted in the UK: "Will We Be Lovers" reached number 31 in February 1993, "Only Tender Love" reached number 22 in April, and the Hang Your Head EP reached number 21 in July.[26] The latter contained the title track, "Freedom Train", "Here on the Wind" and "Indigo Sky".[28]

Ricky Ross on stage in 1993

Deacon Blue's fourth album,[7] Whatever You Say, Say Nothing was released in the United Kingdom on 1 March 1993 through Columbia Records.[29][8] Similarly to U2's Achtung Baby, the album is titled with an "ironic slogan",[30] and coinciding with its release, Ross began wearing sunglasses and "rock star togs", in a manner that Harris compared with Bono.[18] It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, but was relatively unsuccessful compared to earlier records by the band. It only spent three weeks in the Top 20 and fell off the chart completely seven weeks later.[31][26] It has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry for 100,000 sales.[3][32] The record also reached number 43 in the Netherlands,[33] and number 91 in Germany.[34] In the United States, the album was released on 23 June 1993,[17] featuring alternate artwork.[35] It was a major flop in the country and failed to chart.[22]

Deacon Blue followed the album with a 1993 European tour.[36] For the shows, Ross dressed in silvery lurex and wraparound sunglasses, drawing comparison to Bono, and used a megaphone and inspection lamp, similar to Tom Waits. The stage set was "cheapjack", featuring scaffolding and several silver-painted corrugated sheets. The set design was compared by some to U2's eccentric Zoo TV Tour, but according to Ross, the actual inspiration was Tom Waits' Big Time tour.[30] Liverpool Echo's Penny Kiley, reviewing the two April shows in Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre, noted that while the album had been criticised for its "stadium rock direction", the group eschewed large-size venues for theatre gigs, evidencing the band's "commitment to reaching local audiences that fits their grass-roots style of song". This, she contends, was in contrast to the ambitious and highly visual nature of the shows, which heavily used lanterns, spotlights, torches and candles.[37] The group cancelled their planned autumn 1993 tour, instead postponing it for spring 1994.[38] Ross recalled that by the start of 1994, it had become clear that the tour "would be our last outing together", ahead of their split later in the year.[38]

DB Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Calgary HeraldC+[39]
Chicago Tribune[13]
Cross Rhythms5/10[40]
The Daily HeraldB[15]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[41]
The News-Pilot[19]
NME3/10[18]
The Sunday Record[17]
Sunday Republican[14]

Whatever You Say, Say Nothing received unenthusiastic reviews from music critics,[41][9] and the group's new direction baffled many of their fans.[7] In his NME review, John Harris criticised the album for exuding "the wish to play the reinvention game à la U2, and suddenly become fashionable", believing that the band's A&R staff told them to "get trendy" in face of their failure to reach stadium-selling status. He added that "among all the cod-baggy wooliness", the band had "lost the knack of writing silly-but-hummable pop songs".[18] Cross Rhythms critic Rupert Loydell noted how the band joined many other bands in "the reinvention game", adopting "the U2-esque semi-collage method of dance music, grandiose songs and sonic interruption/layering." He considered the approach to work effectively on songs like "Your Town" but believed the songs are otherwise "lost", feeling that Ross was "trying too hard to be hip" and not allowing his lyrics and melodies to "speak for themselves", resulting in a generally unmemorable album.[40]

Andy Gill of The Independent described the album as "a belated jump onto a baggy bandwagon" that fell out of fashion with the Happy Mondays' Yes Please! (1992), but noted that while Oakenfold and Osborne were hired to "jolly up" Deacon Blue's sound, they "seem baffled by Deacon Blue's mundanity, and seem to settle for an approximation of concert acoustics on many songs."[21] In his review, The Daily Herald's Rick Anderson described Whatever You Say, Say Nothing as "just plain better than average" and praised "Your Town", but believed the album failed to keep its momentum, with the following songs "shadows of the opening track".[15] Sunday Republican critic Kevin O'Hara wrote that Deacon Blue "comes out hitting hard", with some songs profiling Ross' best ever singing. While he considered the album's second half weaker, overall he lauded the band's broadening style.[14]

The Sunday Record's Barbara Jaegar believed the band's new direction had not spoilt their "tasteful pop sound, which underscores thoughtful, sometimes cinematic lyrics",[17] while Music & Media opined that Deacon Blue changed their 'fragile' sound without "affecting the quality of the songwriting", further praising the record for covering political subjects that "really matter, especially with such good music under it."[24] Lou Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune believed that, due to Oakenfold and Osborne's production, Deacon Blue's sound was comparable to rowdy bands like Jesus Jones, the Charlatans and the Happy Mondays, and considered Whatever You Say to "[ooze] attitude".[13] A reviewer for the Calgary Herald compared the album to a mixture of INXS and the Pet Shop Boys merged with "a dreamy, hazy production that make the lead vocals sound like they were recorded through asbestos", but deemed this the fashionable way to create "good white-boy disco – oops, dance music."[39]

Virginia Trioli of The Age opined, "Whatever You Say is a really terrific album – solid, thematically tight with a rich and seeping sound reminiscent of Prefab Sprout at their best."[16] In his review for The News-Pilot, Anthony D. Tranfa considered the record to be a continuation of Deacon Blue's "intriguing style" and noted that while they indulge in big choruses and the "sweeping, spiky guitar sound" popular at the time, they succeed at advancing their sound with creative "soul-tinged beats" and "unabashed joyful melodicism".[19] The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewer John Lannert opined that Deacon Blue should achieve US success with their "smart, rhythmic rock album replete with eloquent, slate-gray narratives about genuine love and societal injustice".[23] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann characterised the band eschewing their earlier folky sound for a rockier direction: "It was as if, having failed at becoming the next Van Morrison, Ross decided to become the next Bono."[12]

DB Legacy

[edit]

Working on Whatever You Say, Say Nothing discouraged Oakenfold from producing further albums for other artists, later commenting: "It's months out of your life. Three months in a studio with the band every day, six days a week does my head in."[7] He credits the project as the start of him and Osborne beginning to work apart, "because I ain't gonna spend six months of my life working on a record if I'm not into it. But it was Steve's only source of income, so he would go and do it."[7] Colin Larkin credits the album's poor reception, as well as Deacon Blue's lack of commercial success in the US, as contributing factors in the band's decision to split in mid-1994.[42] McIntosh recalled that "there was a feeling that we weren't entirely sure where we were going. Musically, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing was brave and passionate in lots of ways. But it was quite a difficult record for us."[20] The album was re-released on 29 October 2012 in a set of two CDs and a bonus DVD.[31] Issued by Edsel Records, the set's contents remixes and B-sides issued on the album's singles, alongside a casebound book and liner notes from Ross.[32]

In an article on Deacon Blue's career, David Belcher of The Herald reflected that by "risibly" employing Oakenfold as producer, the album "openly signalled a clueless leap aboard a dance-rock bandwagon that had sho' nuff done gone left town two years previous. The Happy Mondays and Primal Scream? They went that-a-way."[30] In a guide to Deacon Blue's work, David Burke of Classic Pop believes that as part of the shift in musical direction, Ross "traded his inner Boss for his inner Bono, especially on the histrionic 'Bethlehem’s Gate' and 'All Over the World'. And while the songs sometimes become submerged in the mix, you have to admire Ross' chutzpah".[22] Burke also listed "Your Town" among the group's 'essential' singles.[22] Writing in The Rough Guide to Rock (1999), Justin Lewis said that, despite the promising single "Your Town", Whatever You Say, Say Nothing is "potentially intriguing but, in the event, unspectacular". He commented that the producers' background as "dance gurus" was "hardly in evidence", and that aside from the single "Will We Be Lovers", there was "little sign of the band's old inspiration."[43] In The Great Rock Discography (2000), Martin C. Strong opined that the album "smacked of desperation."[28] However, Dougie Adam of Cross Rhythms considers it to be the group's "bravest and most underrated album".[31]

Personnel

[edit]

Adapted from the liner notes of Whatever You Say, Say Nothing[8]

Deacon Blue
Others

Charts and certifications

[edit]

Deacon Blue

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Calgary HeraldC+[39]
Chicago Tribune[13]
Cross Rhythms5/10[40]
The Daily HeraldB[15]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[41]
The News-Pilot[19]
NME3/10[18]
The Sunday Record[17]
Sunday Republican[14]

Andy Gill of The Independent

    • O&O were hired to "jolly up their sound" on the album, "a belated jump onto a baggy bandwagon" that fell out of fashion when the Happy Mondays' released Yes, Please (1992). They credited the producers for seeming/"seem baffled by Deacon Blue's mundanity, and seem to settle for an approximation of concert acoustics on many songs."[21]
    • "Your Town" is the opening song, "a galloping protest number with big guitars, breathy harmonies, and Ricky Ross' voice muffled and distant." The track is "hearty, unexceptional jock-rock" of the sort that fills stadiums worldwide. The album continues in this vein, with the "real risk" exception of "Last Night I Dreamed of Henry Thomas", which has an "odd, miasmic arrangement and sounds lurking and looming out of the work", "is by far the most interesting thing here." But then the album returns to "anthemic breast-beating mode"[21]

The Record's 3.5 Barbara Jaegar [17]

    • They've "opted for a musical change" after the "silky, soulful pop" of the earlier three. While not a drastic change, it should get the band "some long overdue recognition" in the US.[17]
    • Through the O&O (Mondays, Neneh, Arrested Development) team-up, the band "has boosted its rhythm quotient and given its guitars more prominent display." In comparison to the relatively ethereal quality of their earlier work, "the impact is now immediate and visceral." Change is obvious straight away from "Your Town", the opening song, "derives its tension and energy from dance-like rhythms and weirdly altered vocals that have Ross [sounding like] U2's Bono singing 'The Fly'."[17]
    • Elsewhere, "Falls So Freely Down" features "some uncharacteristic guitar play atop muscular beats," while "Will We Be Lovers" is driven by "a semi-dance beat". None of these changes "are at the expensive of the group's tasteful pop sound, which underscores thoughtful, sometimes cinematic lyrics." This is good because while the album may attract new fans of the band, "longtime supporters" the band won't be lost. US release 23 June 1993.[17]

The Sunday Record's Barbara Jaegar highlighted Deacon Blue's abandonment of the relatively ethereal quality of their earlier work for a new, more visceral sound, but believed none of the new changes spoil the band's "tasteful pop sound, which underscores thoughtful, sometimes cinematic lyrics."[17]

Chicago Tribune 3 Lou Carlozo[13]

    • "Deacon Blue's sound belongs to a rowdier family", including British bands Jesus Jones, the Charlatans and the Mondays, thanks to O&O "cranking up the band's sound." "Whatever You Say is a visceral, guitar-driven record that oozes attitude", and that Ross (songwriter-vocalist) "sounds poised to take the band to higher ground without taking pop's promised path". He says "the incessant, techno-groove rhythms" "tend to wear thin after a while", but praises Kelling's "raw, melodic" guitar work and compares it to James Honeyman Scott of the Pretenders, and Ross' "chock-full-of-angst vocals."[13]

Lou Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune believed that, due to Oakenfold and Osborne's production, Deacon Blue's sound was comparable to rowdy bands like Jesus Jones, the Charlatans and the Happy Mondays, and considered Whatever You Say to be a viscereal work that "oozes attitude".[13] While he believed the "incessant, techno-groove rhythms" eventually wear thin, he praises Ross' angsty vocals and Kelling's "raw, melodic" guitar work, comparing it to James Honeyman Scott of the Pretenders.[13]

South Wales Echo 3 https://www-newspapers-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/image/902915972/?match=1&terms=deacon%20blue%20whatever%20you%20say%20say%20nothing

Sunday Republican 3/5 [14]

    • "More musically" intense than late 80s "Dignity" but still with the melodic skills. "the band comes out hitting hard on [the album]". Credits the producers for the percussive dance element and Ross's "best singing yet" on some songs. Believes the second half is weaker, but overall "their sound keeps broadening" and they're "managing it with style."[14]
    • "percussive dance flavour" thanks to O&O's production and the sound has broadened[14]
    • "Your Town" is a "searing blast of guitars, keyboards and industrial-style distorted vocals", but the band are recognisable via "the acoustic textures lurking in the background." Meanwhile, "Cut Lip" is funky, Prince-tinged. "Peace & Jobs & Freedom" is political and "Bethlehem's Gate" is a ballad.[14]

Sunday Republican critic Kevin O'Hara wrote that Deacon Blue "comes out hitting on the hard", with some songs profiling Ross' "best singing yet". While he considered the album's second half weaker, overall he believed the band's sound continued to broaden "with style".[14]

The Daily Herald B Rick Anderson[15]

    • "Full of driving rhythms, dense textures and clenched-jaw lyrics, this Deacon Blue album is just plain better than average". He praised "Your Town" but believed the album failed to keep its momentum, with the following songs "shadows of the opening track".[15]
    • "Your Town" opening song, "Ricky Ross' voice compressed and equalized into an AM-radio buzz while guitars swirl around and above him, the drums keeping everything in time with a restrained, martial beat." "All Over the World" is a midtempo anthem.[15]

In his review, The Daily Herald's Rick Anderson described Whatever You Say, Say Nothing as "just plain better than average" and praised "Your Town", but believed the album failed to keep its momentum, with the following songs "shadows of the opening track".[15]

Calgary Herald C+ Rick Anderson? [39]

    • A reviewer for the Calgary Herald compared the album to a mixture of INXS and the Pet Shop Boys merged with "a dreamy, hazy production that make the lead vocals sound like they were recorded through asbestos. But hey, that's style, that's what you do these days to make some good white-boy disco – oops, dance music."[39]

A reviewer for the Calgary Herald compared the album to a mixture of INXS and the Pet Shop Boys merged with "a dreamy, hazy production that make the lead vocals sound like they were recorded through asbestos", but deemed this the fashionable way "to make some good white-boy disco – oops, dance music."[39]

Virginia Trioli of The Age[16]

    • Says "no excuse should be offered for not knowing this band." following the album. "Whatever You Say is a really terrific album – solid, thematically tight with a rich and seeping sound reminiscent of Prefab Sprout at their best."[16] McIntosh's vocals are "criminally underused" ("Peace & Jobs & Freedom" is a great spot for them). "Elsewhere, judicious use is made of acoustic guitar, strings and a variety of percussion. This kind of British rock reads like you should have heard it all before. But you haven't."[16]

Virginia Trioli of The Age opined, "Whatever You Say is a really terrific album – solid, thematically tight with a rich and seeping sound reminiscent of Prefab Sprout at their best."[16]

News-Pilot 3/?[19]

    • Continuation of their "intriguing style with the spirited interplay of its singers, Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, and as usual finds its stride on crack-'em-up, midtempo rockers." Writes that while the group indulge in big choruses and the "sweeping, spiky guitar sound" popular at the time, the group advance their sound with "creative use of soul-tinged beats (such as the Motown piano luck on 'Cut Lip') or unabashed joyful melodicism". Called it their second best album next to Raintown and says they're "an honest rock band."[19]

In his review for The News-Pilot, Anthony D. Tranfa considered the record to be a continuation of Deacon Blue's "intriguing style" that, as usual, peaks with its "crank-'em'-up, midtempo rockers", and nothing that while the band indulge in big choruses and the "sweeping, spiky guitar sound" popular at the time, they succeed at advancing their sound with creative "soul-tinged beats" and "unabashed joyful melodicism".[19]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel John Lannert[23]

    • Should Deacon Blue should see some American success thanks to their "smart, rhythmic rock album replete with eloquent, slate-gray narratives about genuine love and societal injustice", noting that while Ross' voice strains on some harder-edged songs, he "exhibits a more menacing delivery" on more sombre tracks.[23]
    • "Fall So Freely Down" and "Hang Your Head" are driving, guitar-driven songs, whereas "Your Town", "Only Tender Love" and "Cut Lip" are sombre tuens.[23]

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewer John Lannert opined that Deacon Blue should achieve US success with their "smart, rhythmic rock album replete with eloquent, slate-gray narratives about genuine love and societal injustice", noting that while Ross' voice strains on some harder-edged songs, he "exhibits a more menacing delivery" on more sombre tracks.[23]

Mark Richards of Heartland Evening News[25]

    • "Long-awaited album". Expressed initial disappointment but found that the album grew on him and believed it is "certainly worth a thought", and rated it their third best album.[25]
    • "Your Town", lead single Nov 92, "the highest new entry at 14"[25]

Books

[edit]

"Not well received"[41]

Writing in The Rough Guide to Rock (1999), Justin Lewis said that, despite the promising single "Your Town", Whatever You Say, Say Nothing is "potentially intriguing but, in the event, unspectacular". He commented that the producers' background as "dance gurus" was "hardly in evidence", and that aside from the single "Will We Be Lovers", there was "little sign of the band's old inspiration."[46]

DB online

[edit]

The Big One: Huge M8 interview, March 1993[1]

The Face: "The new LP proves anyone can be reborn. Does that mean producer Paul Oakenfold is God?"[1]

Music & Media: Changed their 'fragile' sound without "affecting the quality of the songwriting! Soundwise, the producer duo Osborne/Oakenfold have taken the band into the new age, with some nicely dosed dance beats and stainless steel guitar strings (Hang Your Head). Glasgow is "their town," which never lets these people lose touch with what's going on in society. What ever you say, "Peace & Jobs & Freedom" are indeed political topics that really matter, especially with such good music under it.[24]

Cross Rhythms, 5/10, Rupert Loydell: The band "are joining a host of other bands in the reinvention game", getting O&O to "change their sound, adopting (like others) the U2-esque semi-collage method of dance music, grandiose songs and sonic interruption/layering." They consider this to "works well" on, for instance, "Your Town", but "elsewhere the actual songs" (what the band are best at) "are lost", feeling that Ross was unaware his lyrics and melodies are the band's strongpoint and should "speak for themselves. Here's he's trying too hard to be hip" and considers the album overall not "a particularly enjoyable or memorable affair."[40]

"New Town" single review, May 1993 (US): "has adult appeal written all over it", saying it could appeal to both "the flannel wearing college kids and your corporate commercial radio guys". Compares it to The Beloved. A "great tune" that could put US success on the band.[27]

"Downfall of the Deacons was a crisis of identity" (David Belcher of The Herald, 1994). Considered their music before this to be a "prefabricated Prefab Sprout, pallid Blue Nile, watery Waterboys. Most risibly, when the band's last studio album employed producer-remixer Paul Oakenfold, it openly signalled a clueless leap aboard a dance-rock bandwagon that had sho' nuff done gone left town two years previous. The Happy Mondays and Primal Scream? They went that-a-way. Ricky, remember: as well as being unashamedly sticky-fingered, real pop is nimble, up to the minute, quick to spot an opening."[30]

  • Adding on this, "On last year's tour, Ricky appropriated Bono's silvery lurex and wraparound shades, plus Tom Waits' megaphone and inspection lamp. Behind him there was a cheapjack stage set featuring scaffold and a couple of corrugated sheets spray-painted silver. It was a shoddy echo of U2's elaborate Zoo TV tour the year previously." Ross said that the band were not copying U2 but rather Tom Waits' Big Time tour.[30]
  • The album has an "ironic slogan for a title", similar to U2[30]

Cross Rhythms retrospective: With the O&O team-up they "change musical direction but the album was a relative commercial flop, 'only' reaching number four and spending a mere three weeks in the top 20 albums and falling out of the charts entirely seven weeks later. This bravest and most underrated album in the band's back catalogue is released on 29th October as a 2CD + one DVD set"[31]

David Burke of Classic Pop

  • Album: "represented a shift in musical direction" for the band, replacing producer Jon Kelly with O&O. "Ross seems to have traded his inner Boss for his inner Bono, especially on the histrionic Bethlehem’s Gate and All Over The World. And while the songs sometimes become submerged in the mix, you have to admire Ross' chutzpah, though if the album was a calculated attempt to break America, that attempt failed miserably (it didn’t even chart over there)." He says the British were "just about" still on board, with the number four placing and number 14 hit.[22]
  • Names "Your Town" among the group's essential singles. Features Ross "venting his anger at Margaret Thatcher", who had been out of office since 1990, saying that "When you're gone, they will curse you". He said: "It has a real venom to it, which at that time it was coming up to the 1992 General Election" "We had had three Tory governments, and everyone was really sick, fed up with them, and it was that sort of political song."[22]

Bicester Advertiser: "After a less-than-enthusiastic critical reception for their 1993 album, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, recorded here in Oxfordshire at the Manor Studios and produced by Paul Oakenfold, the band called it a day."[9]

The Scotsman, says Deacon blue "joined forces with dance producers Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne, and unleashed thrilling singles like Will We Be Lovers and Only Tender Love. And then there was Your Town – an emotional juggernaut that saw Vipond harness Fleetwood Mac’s Big Love.[20] McIntosh says of that song: "That's one of my favourites" "It’s got this unbelievable energy and power." While Scotsman says: "There’s a fierce undercurrent of frustration and ragged anger: an impression, perhaps, of a band at sea, fighting against the tide."[20] McIntosh says: "I think there was a feeling that we weren’t entirely sure where we were going". "Musically, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing was brave and passionate in lots of ways. But it was quite a difficult record for us."[20]

Daily Record? Band comments on each album https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music-news/deacon-blue-set-release-expanded-1397004 And Oakenfold https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity-interviews/dj-legend-paul-oakenfold-says-5324458

Graeme Kelling interviewed in Guitarist (magazine) 1999. "After a time, you get really familiar with the way that everything's played and you get really used to doing things in a certain way. We worked with Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osbourne on our last album to break that up. But in retrospect we were trying to force ourselves in to another jacket - a terrible looking spangly one - and didn't realise that what we had was actually quite special." On the album's guitar focus, he said he was happy about that as "a lot of songs before that were keyboard orientated, but Ricky wrote that album on guitar, and the songs were a lot more direct."[10]

April 1993 interview with bassist Ewen Vernal for The Scene: He didn't like bad review. Some stuff about hiring O&O. He says the choice of the production team "was based on the recommendation of one of the Record Comapny's A&R people, and as Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh revealed in their recent Observer interview, Paul and Steve took their carte blanche control of song selection to extreme tyrannical proportions (Lorraine was driven to tears on more than one occasion)." On much of the record's success being credited to O&O, Vernal said: "Yes, I guess It would be. Basically we've been doing this now for six or seven years, and It's got to the point where any new project we want to get Into we try and approach with some kind of challenge In mind. So we approached Paul and Steve, whose background is different to anything we've ever done. In a lot of ways It was a difficult record to make, because we were going into territory which we'd never been In before'."[6]

Potential pics

[edit]
Ricky Ross in 1993
Paul Oakenfold (pictured 2021) retired from producing other artists' records after the Deacon Blue record
The Manor Studio, Oxfordshire, in 1990

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Winn, Craig (March 1993). "The Re-birth Of Deacon Blue". M8 (48). Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 145. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ a b c Jurek, Thom. "Deacon Blue Biography by Thom Jurek". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b Blythe, Daniel (2002). The Encyclopaedia of Classic 80s Pop. London: Alison & Busby. p. 107. ISBN 9780749005344. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  5. ^ Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1999). VH1 Rock Stars Encyclopedia. London: DK Publishing. p. 279. ISBN 9780789446138. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Chas and Luigi (April 1993). "Plymouth Pavilions Tuesday 13th April". The Scene. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Norris, Richard (2009). Paul Oakenfold: The Authorised Biography. London: Bantam Press. pp. 207–209. ISBN 978-0593058954. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e Whatever You Say, Say Nothing (liner). Deacon Blue. Columbia. 1993.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ a b c Lamphee (27 June 2006). "Deacon Blue: Loaded and cool". Bicester Advertiser. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  10. ^ a b c English, Paul (July 1999). "Greame Kelling Interview". Guitarist. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  11. ^ Oakenfold, Paul (2022). "Chapter 13: Even Better than the Real Thing". Ready Steady Go: My Unstoppable Journey in Dance. London: Welbeck Publishing. ISBN 9781802790757. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing - Deacon Blue - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Carlozo, Lou (19 August 1993). "Tempo Recordings". Chicago Tribune: 71. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n O'Hare, Kevin (11 July 1993). "Playback". Sunday Republican: G-7. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Anderson, Rick (15 August 1993). "Momentum doesn't last on Deacon Blue album". The Daily Herald. Provo, Utah: D9. Retrieved 31 August 2024. Cite error: The named reference "Anderson" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Trioli, Virginia (22 April 1993). "New Sounds". The Age: Green Guide. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: 11. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Jaegar, Barbara (20 June 1993). "Quick Spins". The Sunday Record: E-6. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Harris, John (6 March 1993). "Long Play". New Musical Express. p. 33.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Tranfa, Anthony D. (20 August 1993). "Music". The News-Pilot. San Pedro, California: K14. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Meighan, Nicole (23 August 2023). "Deacon Blue on their early years: 'We didn't give the idea of hits any thought at all'". The Scotsman. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Gill, Andy (25 February 1993). "Popped in, souled out". The Independent: 20. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g Burke, David (7 October 2019). "The Lowdown: Deacon Blue". Classic Pop. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g Lannert, John (11 July 1993). "Deacon Blue's eloquence". South Florida Sun-Sentinel: 3F. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  24. ^ a b c "New Releases" (PDF). Music & Media: 13. 13 March 1993. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  25. ^ a b c d Richards, Mark (5 March 1993). "Singing praises of the Blues". Heartland Evening News: 8. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  26. ^ a b c d "Deacon Blue". Official Charts. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  27. ^ a b "Automatics" (PDF). The Hard Report: 46. 14 May 1996. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  28. ^ a b Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 191. ISBN 9780862418274. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  29. ^ Sinclair, David (1 March 1993). "Records: The difference between timeless, retro and old-fashioned". The Times.
  30. ^ a b c d e f Belcher, David (13 May 1994). "Downfall of the Deacons was crisis of identity". The Herald. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  31. ^ a b c d Adam, Dougie (19 September 2012). "Deacon Blue: Exclusive in-depth interview with the returning hitmakers". Cross Rhythms. p. 2. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  32. ^ a b "Demon Edsel New Release" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  33. ^ a b "Dutch chart peaks". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  34. ^ a b "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  35. ^ Whatever You Say, Say Nothing (liner). Deacon Blue. Chaos. 1993.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  36. ^ Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 48. ISBN 9780313315473. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  37. ^ Kiley, Penny (12 April 1993). "First Night". Liverpool Echo: 7. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  38. ^ a b Ross, Ricky (2022). Walking Back Home: Deacon Blue & Me. London: Headline. p. 199. ISBN 9781472289308.
  39. ^ a b c d e f "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald: C2. 23 May 1993. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
  40. ^ a b c d Loydell, Rupbert (1 August 1993). "Deacon Blue - Whatever You Say, Say Nothing". Cross Rhythms. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  41. ^ a b c d Larkin, Colin (1997). "Deacon Blue". Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music. London: Virgin Books. p. 353. ISBN 1-85227 745 9.
  42. ^ Larkin, Charles (2011). "Deacon Blue". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  43. ^ Lewis, Justin (1999). "Deacon Blue". In Buckley, Jonathan; Duane, Orla; Ellingham, Mark; Spicer, Al (eds.). The Rough Guide to Rock (2nd ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 257. ISBN 1-85828-457-0.
  44. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1991". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  45. ^ "British album certifications – Bee Gees – High Civilization". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 September 2014. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type High Civilization in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  46. ^ Lewis, Justin (1999). "Deacon Blue". In Buckley, Jonathan; Duane, Orla; Ellingham, Mark; Spicer, Al (eds.). The Rough Guide to Rock (2nd ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 257. ISBN 1-85828-457-0.

Bibliography

  • Bilyeu, Melinda; Cook, Hector; Hughes, Andrew Môn (2011). "Lonely Days". The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees: Tales of the Brothers Gibb (New ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-8748-3.
  • Stanley, Bob (2023). "Manchester". Bee Gees: Children of the World. London: Nine Eight Books. ISBN 978-1-7887-0541-7.
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