| Heavy Load | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1993 | |||
| Label | Gee Street/4th & B’way/Island/PolyGram [1] | |||
| Producer | Scott Harding, New Kingdom, Lumberjacks | |||
| New Kingdom chronology | ||||
| ||||
Heavy Load is the first album by the musical duo New Kingdom, released in 1993. [2] [3]
The singles "Good Times" and "Cheap Thrills" made the top 100 on the UK Singles Chart. [4] The group supported the album with several live dates, including shows with Royal Trux. [5]
The album was produced by Scott Harding, New Kingdom, and the Lumberjacks. [6] [7] It was recorded in Manhattan. [8] "Mother Nature" examines ecological themes. [9]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| Calgary Herald | B [11] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [13] |
Vibe called the album "a celebration of the black-light world of the subconscious," noting the "drug-induced lyrics swimming through a jazzmospheric haze." [14] Spin thought that the group "could be Cypress Hill's geeky, inward-peeking younger brothers." [15] The Santa Fe New Mexican noted that Heavy Load features some "newer elements which have entered into hip-hop, namely black noise, a term used by some critics to describe experimental jazz sounds and various industrial, electronic soundscapes pulsing over the requisite skewed bass lines and funky beats." [16]
The Calgary Herald deemed the album "a happenin' hip-hop funky fury." [11] The Province considered it "a record that favors low, thick, swinging rhythms over big beats, storytelling over boasting, characterization over gangsta posturing." [17] The Boston Herald wrote that the group "turn a pop-music grab bag, with samples of Miles Davis, Grand Funk and others, into ... metallic R&B." [18]
AllMusic wrote that "songs like 'Mad Mad World' and 'Mighty Maverick' work especially well, with Sebastian's trippy spoken-word poetry matching the psychedelic musical backgrounds to create the drugged-out feel the band seems to strive for." [10] In a retrospective article, The Village Voice praised the "dusty sonic patina that was fond of incorporating reverse reverb," writing that "at times, New Kingdom resonated like a psychedelic Wu-Tang." [19]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Good Times" | 2:38 |
| 2. | "Headhunter" | 2:25 |
| 3. | "Frontman" | 3:08 |
| 4. | "Mad Mad World" | 1:43 |
| 5. | "Mama and Papa" | 3:34 |
| 6. | "Cheap Thrills" | 4:21 |
| 7. | "Mars" | 3:20 |
| 8. | "Are You Alive?" | 3:51 |
| 9. | "Half Seas Over" | 3:45 |
| 10. | "Mother Nature" | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Calico Cats" | 2:50 |
| 12. | "Mighty Maverick" | 5:04 |
| 13. | "Lazy Smoke" | 3:30 |
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