| Blowback | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 July 2001 | |||
| Studio | Candy Sound, Durban Studios, Ocean Way, Sarm West, Wonder Station [1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 58:36 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer | Tricky | |||
| Tricky chronology | ||||
| ||||
Blowback is the fifth studio album by English rapper and producer Tricky. It was released on 26 June 2001. [1]
The album features more accessible, popular song structures than his previous records. Tricky later said he "did Blowback for the money, basically 'cause I was broke". [2] He recorded the album with guest musicians, including Red Hot Chili Peppers members Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Josh Klinghoffer, and John Frusciante; Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette, Ed Kowalczyk, Mark Thwaite of The Mission, and less known artists such as Hawkman, Stephanie McKay and Ambersunshower. "I turned up at the studio and nothing was written," Morissette recalled. "We just worked on it there. He's a very funny man." [3]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 65/100 [4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [5] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [6] |
| The Guardian | [7] |
| NME | 6/10 [8] |
| Pitchfork | 3.1/10 [9] |
| Q | [10] |
| Rolling Stone |  [11] |
| Spin | 5/10 [12] |
| The Village Voice | A [13] |
Blowback received generally positive reviews from critics, [4] although many of Tricky's longtime fans disliked it. [14] According to Encyclopedia of Popular Music writer Colin Larkin, it was hailed as Tricky's best record since his 1995 debut Maxinquaye , [5] while PopMatters critic Jeffrey Thiessen later called it "a great pop album nobody liked". [14] Simon Price regarded Blowback as Tricky's best album since 1996's Pre-Millennium Tension and "his most accessible since Maxinquaye." He wrote in his review for The Independent at the time that the artist's move to New York "away from the petty politics of the music business" had resulted in "a dark, dense album of future-funk and deep dub". [15] In The New York Times , Neil Strauss called it a radical departure from previous Tricky records, "direct and upfront, the poppiest production Tricky has ever mustered". [16] The Indianapolis Star described it as Tricky's attempt to "prove there's at least one more rap-rock album that's worth a listen". [17] Writing for The Guardian , Dave Simpson was surprised by how "deliriously uplifting, even humorous", the music was, while encompassing "everything from rap-metal (of which there's lots...) to ragga, US power-pop, granite beats, supernatural ambience and even New Romantic. At the same time, it is uniquely, inimitably Tricky." [7]
Some reviewers were more critical. The Wire said while "some of it is just odd enough to work", the album's fusion of hip hop, electro, dancehall, and, "most problematically, stadium alt.rock" proved to be an intriguing but frustrating listen. [18] NME magazine's Sarah Dempster was disappointed in Tricky's choice of guest artists, who she felt came off as "market-friendly gimmicks, novelties that will afford his selective ramblings a wider audience". [8] While viewing it as further evidence of Tricky's evolution from trip hop toward becoming "some sort of rap-pop revolutionary", Pitchfork 's Brent DiCrescenzo found much of the music "horrible" and plagued by the musician's poor lapses in creative judgment, particularly his duets with Anthony Kiedis and Ed Kowalczyk. [9]
Blowback was named the fourth best album of 2001 by Village Voice critic Robert Christgau. [19] In retrospect, he viewed it as Tricky's most "songful" release, one that was "criminally neglected" by listeners. [20] Bill Friskics-Warren later said Blowback was "an album of funk-rock by way of dancehall reggae" that relied on mainstream-rock guest performers but did not "forego incisiveness for accessibility, resistance for appeasement". [21]
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) [22] | 28 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [23] | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [24] | 27 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [25] | 29 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [26] | 43 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [27] | 29 |
| French Albums (SNEP) [28] | 16 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [29] | 48 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) [30] | 21 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [31] | 22 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [32] | 29 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [33] | 33 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [34] | 34 |
| US Billboard 200 [35] | 138 |
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP) [36] | 148 |
As of September 2003 it has sold 95,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. [37]
Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws, better known by his stage name Tricky, is a British record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Bristol, south-west England, he began his career as an early member of the band Massive Attack alongside Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall & Andrew Vowles. He embarked on a solo career with his debut album, Maxinquaye, in 1995. The release won Tricky popular acclaim and marked the beginning of a lengthy collaborative partnership with vocalist Martina Topley-Bird. He released four more studio albums before the end of the decade, including Pre-Millennium Tension and the pseudonymous Nearly God, both in 1996. He has gone on to release nine studio albums since 2000, most recently Fall to Pieces (2020). In 2016, he joined Massive Attack on stage for the first time in two decades while continuing his solo career.
She's So Unusual is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Cyndi Lauper, released on October 14, 1983, by Portrait Records. The album was re-released in 2014 to commemorate its 30th anniversary, and was called She's So Unusual: A 30th Anniversary Celebration. The re-release contains demos and remixes of previously released material, as well as new artwork.
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Maxinquaye is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky, released on 20 February 1995 by 4th & B'way Records, a subsidiary of Island Records. In the years leading up to the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited role in the musical group Massive Attack and wanted to pursue an independent project. Shortly after, he met with vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, who he felt would offer a wider vision to his music, and signed a solo contract with 4th & B'way in 1993. Tricky recorded Maxinquaye the following year primarily at his home studio in London, with Topley-Bird serving as the album's main vocalist, while Alison Goldfrapp, Ragga and Mark Stewart performed additional vocals.
Nearly God is the unofficial second album by English rapper and producer Tricky. It was released in February 1996 under the pseudonym "Nearly God", which originated from an interview during which Tricky was asked "so how does it feel to be God... well, nearly God."
Pre-Millennium Tension is the second album from English rapper and producer Tricky, released in 1996. It was a conscious effort by Tricky to depart away from the trip hop label with which critics had described his previous music. The album was well received by critics, being named the ninth best record of the year in the 1996 Pazz & Jop poll.
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