| Attack of the Grey Lantern | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 17 February 1997 | |||
| Recorded | 1996–1997 | |||
| Length | 62:13 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Producer | Paul Draper, Ian Caple, Mark Stent | |||
| Mansun chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Attack of the Grey Lantern | ||||
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Attack of the Grey Lantern is the debut album by English alternative rock band Mansun released on 17 February 1997 via Parlophone. [1] The album spent a total of 19 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number one. [2]
According to Mansun's Kleptomania liner notes, frontman Paul Draper states that "Take It Easy, Chicken" was their first song and the band really did not know how to play their instruments, let alone play as a band, when DJs Steve Lamacq and John Peel started to play the song on BBC Radio 1. Through 1996 and 1997, Mansun released "Egg Shaped Fred" (which was re-recorded for the album to include new drummer Andie Rathbone), "Stripper Vicar", "She Makes My Nose Bleed" and "Taxloss" (styled Taxlo$$). "Wide Open Space" became a dance anthem after being remixed by DJ and producer Paul Oakenfold under the production alias Perfecto. This remix was included on Oakenfold's compilation Resident: Two Years of Oakenfold at Cream, as an indicator of being one of the most played songs at major UK nightclub Cream, as well as in nightclubs around the world, over the 1997–1999 period. [3]
"Taxloss" alludes melodically and lyrically to the Beatles' song "Taxman", and also to the rhythmic feel of "Tomorrow Never Knows", as well as "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" by Little Jimmy Osmond. The video notoriously featured the band throwing £25,000 in five-pound notes onto the main concourse of London's Liverpool Street station during rush hour and watching the ensuing chaos. [4]
While Mansun's singer and songwriter, Paul Draper, admits that Attack of the Grey Lantern is not a fully fledged concept album, it was his intention for it to be one, until he "ran out of steam", labelling the LP "half a concept album – a con album". [5] AllMusic referred to the album as a song cycle. [6] The majority of the record is centred on the concept of a superhero, known as "The Grey Lantern", in the guise of Draper himself. Throughout the album, the hero encounters a number of immoral inhabitants in a fictional English village. [5] [7]
Well, The Grey Lantern is like a comic-book hero – the album is about this village of people with really disgusting morals and the Grey Lantern sorts them out. I suppose the Grey Lantern's me. I wouldn't have a cape, but there are definitely characters on the record – Albert Taxloss, Chad, Dark Mavis. At the end of the album it all gets resolved and you find Mavis is actually the Stripper Vicar. [5]
At the time of release, Draper hinted at a possible album sequel, titled "The Return of the Grey Lantern". [5] For its American release, the album's running order was re-sequenced, a move which some felt compromised the intended concept, as the song "Stripper Vicar" was replaced with "Take It Easy, Chicken."
When Attack of the Grey Lantern was released in February 1997, it charted at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. [2] The album was preceded by four singles, the first of which "Egg Shaped Fred" was released a year prior. "Egg Shaped Fred" was Mansun's début single for Parlophone Records and made No. 37 [2] in the UK. The following three singles ("Stripper Vicar", "Wide Open Space", "She Makes My Nose Bleed") all made the top forty each improving of the previous singles' chart position. The final single released from the album was "Taxloss" which followed the album in April 1997 and made No. 15. [2] In the US, Mansun enjoyed their only chart success with "Wide Open Space" reaching the modest position of No. 25 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| Classic Pop |  [9] |
| The Guardian | [7] |
| NME | 8/10 [10] |
| Pitchfork | 9.3/10 [11] |
| Q | [12] |
| Rolling Stone | [13] |
| Select | 2/5 [5] |
| Uncut | [14] |
| Vox | 9/10 [15] |
In The Observer , Neil Spencer wrote that while "Mansun's guitar-driven sound veers rather too erratically between Nineties Britpop and Sixties psychedelia, the chime and idiosyncrasy of the songs hold steady, and with a scope that runs from Liverpudlian lovers to transvestite vicars, it's quintessentially English pop." [16]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melody Maker | United Kingdom | Best 50 Albums of the Year [17] | 1997 | 12 |
| NME | United Kingdom | Best 50 Albums of the Year [18] | 1997 | 44 |
| Q | United Kingdom | Best 50 Albums of the Year [19] | 1997 | * |
| The Guardian | United Kingdom | Best 10 Pop CD's of the Year [20] | 1997 | * |
* denotes an unranked list.
All tracks are written by Paul Draper; except where indicated
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chad Who Loved Me" | 5:02 |
| 2. | "Mansun's Only Love Song" | 5:55 |
| 3. | "Taxloss" | 7:02 |
| 4. | "You, Who Do You Hate?" | 3:06 |
| 5. | "Wide Open Space" | 4:31 |
| 6. | "Stripper Vicar" | 4:05 |
| 7. | "Disgusting" | 5:07 |
| 8. | "She Makes My Nose Bleed" | 3:55 |
| 9. | "Naked Twister" | 4:39 |
| 10. | "Egg Shaped Fred" | 4:12 |
| 11. | "Dark Mavis" ("Dark Mavis" ends at 8:36, followed by hidden track "An Open Letter to the Lyrical Trainspotter", begins at 10:36) | 14:38 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chad Who Loved Me" | 5:02 |
| 2. | "Mansun's Only Love Song" | 5:55 |
| 3. | "Taxloss" | 7:02 |
| 4. | "You, Who Do You Hate?" | 3:06 |
| 5. | "Wide Open Space" | 4:31 |
| 6. | "Stripper Vicar" | 4:05 |
| 7. | "Disgusting" | 5:07 |
| 8. | "She Makes My Nose Bleed" | 3:55 |
| 9. | "Naked Twister" | 4:39 |
| 10. | "Egg Shaped Fred" | 4:11 |
| 11. | "Dark Mavis" | 8:36 |
| 12. | "Flourella" (bonus track) | 4:18 |
| 13. | "The Gods of Not Very Much" (bonus track) | 4:39 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Chad Who Loved Me" | 5:02 |
| 2. | "Wide Open Space" | 4:31 |
| 3. | "She Makes My Nose Bleed" | 3:55 |
| 4. | "Naked Twister" | 4:39 |
| 5. | "Take It Easy, Chicken" | 4:26 |
| 6. | "You, Who Do You Hate?" | 3:09 |
| 7. | "Mansun's Only Love Song" | 5:55 |
| 8. | "Taxloss" | 7:02 |
| 9. | "Disgusting" | 4:21 |
| 10. | "Egg Shaped Fred" | 4:12 |
| 11. | "Dark Mavis" | 8:36 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Egg Shaped Fred (Alternative Version)" | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Ski Jump Nose" | 3:41 |
| 3. | "Lemonade Secret Drinker" | 3:47 |
| 4. | "Thief" + "Secret Track" | 5:20 |
| 5. | "Take It Easy Chicken" | 4:29 |
| 6. | "Drastic Sturgeon" | 3:25 |
| 7. | "The Greatest Pain" | 3:52 |
| 8. | "Moronica" | 4:32 |
| 9. | "The Edge" | 3:16 |
| 10. | "Duchess" | 4:30 |
| 11. | "No One Knows Us" | 3:41 |
| 12. | "Things Keep Falling off Buildings" | 4:19 |
| 13. | "Rebel Without a Quilt" | 4:09 |
| 14. | "Vision Impaired" | 2:39 |
| 15. | "Skin Up Pin Up" | 3:41 |
| 16. | "The Gods of Not Very Much" | 4:39 |
| 17. | "Moronica (Acoustic)" | 3:14 |
| 18. | "Lemonade Secret Drinker (Acoustic)" | 2:47 |
| 19. | "The Most to Gain" | 2:21 |
| 20. | "Flourella" | 4:28 |
| Total length: | 76:45 | |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "She Makes My Nose Bleed (Acoustic)" | 3:32 | |
| 2. | "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" | Paul Draper, Dominic Chad | 4:39 |
| 3. | "Live Open Space" | 4:43 | |
| 4. | "Drastic Sturgeon (Live)" | 3:18 | |
| 5. | "Grey Lantern" | 2:03 | |
| 6. | "The Impending Collapse of It All" | Paul Draper, Dominic Chad | 4:05 |
| 7. | "Ski Jump Nose (Live)" | 6:32 | |
| 8. | "Wide Open Space (Acoustic)" | 4:16 | |
| 9. | "Closed for Business" | 3:03 | |
| 10. | "K.I.Double.S.I.N.G." | Dominic Chad, Paul Draper, Stove King, Andie Rathbone | 4:41 |
| 11. | "Everyone Must Win" | Dominic Chad, Howard Devoto, Paul Draper | 5:37 |
| 12. | "The World's Still Open" | 3:38 | |
| 13. | "Dark Mavis (Acoustic)" | 4:59 | |
| 14. | "Stripper Vicar (Live)" | 4:09 | |
| 15. | "Egg Shaped Fred (Acoustic)" | 2:51 | |
| 16. | "The Impending Collapse Of It All (Acoustic)" | Paul Draper, Dominic Chad | 4:26 |
| 17. | "Ski Jump Nose (Acoustic)" | 2:37 | |
| 18. | "(I'm in a) Wide Open Space" (Remix, performed by Greg Downey & Mansun) | 7:14 | |
| Total length: | 76:23 | ||
|
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) [26] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone.
Little Kix is the third album by English alternative rock band Mansun, released on 14 August 2000 and was the band's last studio album to be completed and released before their dissolution in 2003. It was promoted by three singles, and peaked at #12 on the UK Albums Chart.
Six is the second album by English alternative rock band Mansun, released in September 1998 via Parlophone. It was released in the UK and Europe on 7 September 1998, and in the US on 20 April 1999, with an alternative running order, different artwork, and the re-recorded single version of the title track. In an interview prior to the release of Six, Paul Draper stated that the "interlude" "Witness to a Murder " was included to separate the album into two parts as a tribute to old-style vinyl albums.
Andrew "Andie" Rathbone is an English drummer and former member of the alternative rock band Mansun.
Paul Edward Draper is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, formerly the frontman of the alternative rock band Mansun.
The Goa Mix is a two-hour DJ mix by British musician and DJ Paul Oakenfold. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 1 as an Essential Mix on 18 December 1994 after the producer of the show, Eddie Gordon, chose Oakenfold to produce an eclectic DJ mix for the show which featured a burgeoning variation of electronic styles, having begun the previous year. Oakenfold had, at this point, developed his own unique Goa trance sound, influenced by his time at hippy gatherings on beaches in Goa, and employed it heavily into the mix, which also made pioneering use of film score samples. Oakenfold used the mix as an experiment in which he tried to fuse electronic music, especially trance music, with film score music, and then to overlay the result with vocal parts, samples and additional production. The mix was split into two parts, later referred to as the Silver Mix and the Gold Mix respectively. Reflecting the Goa influence, the album title did not evolve beyond its simplistic working name.
Legacy: The Best Of Mansun is the first official 'best of' collection from Mansun. It collects all the bands Parlophone lead-EP tracks and selected album tracks which were compiled by Paul Draper and Dominic Chad. It was released as a standard CD, special edition CD and DVD set featuring all the bands promo videos and digital download. In Japan the compilation included two bonus tracks.
"Wide Open Space" is a song by Chester rock band Mansun, released as a single on 25 November 1996. The song was the lead track of Four EP. The single's success led to alternative versions appearing on four of the next five Mansun singles. These versions were one live, one acoustic, and two remixes, the first and most popular by Perfecto, and a NRG version by The Trouser Enthusiasts. A completely different version credited to longtime engineer Mike Hunter was included as a hidden bonus track on their compilation Kleptomania. The song also appears on The Sound of Gran Turismo, a soundtrack album based on Gran Turismo.
"Legacy" is a song by English rock band Mansun. It was released as a single in 1998 from the group's album, Six, and was the lead track on Eight EP. It follows a similar template to many of the group's other hits and was also their highest-charting single, peaking at No. 7 in the UK Singles Chart.
"She Makes My Nose Bleed" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper. It was recorded and produced by Draper with additional production by Mark 'Spike' Stent during sessions for the group's début studio album. The song was one of four demoed by the group in 1995 that helped the group secure a publishing contract with Polygram Music Publishing. The song was released as the fourth single in early 1997 from the group's debut album, Attack of the Grey Lantern. The single was a big commercial success for the group breaking them into the UK Top Ten for the first time with a peak of #9.
"Closed for Business" is a song by English rock band Mansun. It was released as the lead song on Seven EP in 1997 and became their second top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart.
"I Can Only Disappoint U" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper with lead guitarist Dominic Chad. It was recorded and produced by Hugh Padgham and co-producer Michael Hunter during sessions for the group's third studio album. The song was released as the first single in 2000 from the group's third album, Little Kix. The song went on to become their fourth and final top ten hit in the UK peaking at #8. A progressive house/trance remix by Paul Oakenfold preceded the release of the single during the summer of 2000.
The following is a comprehensive discography of the English alternative rock band Mansun.
"Egg Shaped Fred" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper. It was produced by Draper, mixing and engineering by Ronnie Stone with assistance from the group's long-term collaborator Mike Hunter. Released in 1996 the song was the group's major label début for Parlophone and their third release overall. It was released as One EP, using the band's own numbering system. The EP was their first to enter the UK Top 40 peaking at #37."Egg Shaped Fred" was remixed and extended for inclusion on Mansun's debut album Attack of the Grey Lantern in 1997.
"Take It Easy Chicken" is a song by Chester rock band Mansun first released in 1995. It was the first song that the group ever recorded, and was later re-recorded and released as the lead track of the Two EP, the group's fourth release overall. An instrumental version appears in the PAL version of Gran Turismo 2.
"Stripper Vicar" is a song by Chester rock band Mansun released in 1996. It was the lead track of Three EP and was the band's fifth release overall. The single was the group's first with the group's new drummer, Andie Rathbone. The EP became Mansun's first top twenty hit peaking at #19 on the UK Singles Chart. Three EP was released on Two CDs, and 7" Vinyl. "Stripper Vicar" and "An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter" were included on the group's début album, though the single was left off US editions.
"Taxloss" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper. It was produced by Draper and mixed by Mark 'Spike' Stent during sessions for the group's debut studio album. The song was edited down from over seven minutes to four and a half minutes released as a single in April 1997, the fifth single from the group's debut album, Attack of the Grey Lantern, and their sixth on a major-label. The single charted in the top twenty at #15 on the UK Singles Chart and continuing the group's run of four consecutive top twenty singles.
"Negative" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by Paul Draper, Dominic Chad, Stove and Andie Rathbone. It was recorded and produced by Paul Draper and Mark 'Spike' Stent during sessions for the group's second studio album. The song was released as the third single in 1998 from the group's second album, Six. Despite being one of the album's more traditional songs the single peaked low at #27 on the UK Singles Chart, breaking the group's run of seven consecutive top twenty singles.
"Fool" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper. It was recorded and produced by Hugh Padgham with co-producer Michael Hunter during sessions for the group's third studio album. The song was released as the third and final single in early 2001 from the group's third album, Little Kix. The single disappointed commercially reaching the low peak of #28 on the UK Singles Chart during the typically quiet post-Christmas singles market.
Ian Caple is an English recording engineer, record producer, programmer and mixer.
