Megatop Phoenix | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 4 September 1989 [1] | |||
Studio | Konk Studios (Hornsey, London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 59:05 | |||
Label | CBS | |||
Producer | ||||
Big Audio Dynamite chronology | ||||
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Singles from Megatop Phoenix | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Christgau's Record Guide | C+ [3] |
Megatop Phoenix is the fourth and final studio album by the original line-up of English band Big Audio Dynamite, released on 4 September 1989 by CBS Records. Mick Jones and Bill Price produced the album. It was recorded at the Kinks' Konk Studios in Hornsey, London, who were considered an inspiration in the album's liner notes.
Megatop Phoenix was the last album to be released under the name of Big Audio Dynamite for six years (until 1995's F-Punk ). A year after this album's release Mick Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite II with totally different members. The phoenix in the title is a reference to a near-death experience of Jones, who had developed chickenpox and pneumonia, and spent several months in hospital prior to recording this album. [4] [5]
The album reached #26 on the UK album chart and #85 on the Billboard 200 albums in the USA.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Start" | Big Audio Dynamite | 0:14 |
2. | "Rewind" | Big Audio Dynamite | 4:35 |
3. | "All Mink & No Manners" | Big Audio Dynamite | 0:41 |
4. | "Union, Jack" | Jones, Letts, Williams | 6:04 |
5. | "Contact" | Jones, Donovan | 4:42 |
6. | "Dragon Town" | Jones, Letts, Roberts, Williams | 4:46 |
7. | "Baby, Don't Apologise" | Jones, Letts | 4:51 |
8. | "Is Yours Working Yet?" | Big Audio Dynamite | 1:03 |
9. | "Around the Girl in 80 Ways" | Jones, Letts | 3:30 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
10. | "James Brown" | Jones, Letts | 5:08 |
11. | "Everybody Needs a Holiday" | Jones, Letts | 5:33 |
12. | "Mick's a Hippie Burning" | Big Audio Dynamite | 2:31 |
13. | "House Arrest" | Jones, Letts, Roberts, Donovan | 3:59 |
14. | "The Green Lady" | Jones, Letts, Roberts | 3:43 |
15. | "London Bridge" | Jones, Letts, Roberts | 3:50 |
16. | "Stalag 123" | Jones, Letts, Roberts | 3:11 |
17. | "End" | Big Audio Dynamite | 0:34 |
Total length: | 59:05 |
The album makes copious use of sampling from various musical and other sources. Many of the tracks listed are created mainly from samples. Some of the samples are identified with their source below.
According to the NME review of 2/9/1989 there are also samples of Arthur Scargill and BAD interviews.
Big Audio Dynamite were an English band, formed in London in 1984 by Mick Jones, former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. The band mixed various musical styles, incorporating elements of punk rock, dance music, hip hop, reggae, and funk. After releasing a number of well-received studio albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Big Audio Dynamite broke up in 1997. In 2011, the band embarked on a reunion tour.
Frizzle Fry is the debut studio album by American rock band Primus. It was released on February 7, 1990, by Caroline Records. Produced by the band and Matt Winegar, the album was recorded at Different Fur Studios in San Francisco in December 1989. In 2015, Primus frontman Les Claypool ranked Frizzle Fry as his favorite Primus album.
"The Globe" is a 1991 song by British electronic group Big Audio Dynamite II. It was released as a single in the United States and is taken from their album The Globe. It samples the 1981 song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" and Lionel Richie's 1983 single, "All Night Long ".
Fear is the fourth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released on 1 October 1974 by Island Records.
Michael Geoffrey Jones is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as co-founder and lead guitarist of punk rock band the Clash, until his dismissal by frontman Joe Strummer in 1983. In 1984, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. Jones has played with the band Carbon/Silicon along with Tony James since 2002 and was part of the Gorillaz live band for a world tour in 2010–2011. In late 2011, Jones collaborated with Pete Wylie and members of the Farm to form the Justice Tonight Band.
Dreadzone are a British electronic music group formed in 1993 in London by ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts and musician Tim Bran. They have released eight studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations.
!!! is the debut studio album by the American band !!!. It was released in 2000 on Gold Standard Laboratories on vinyl, and saw wide release on CD on 19 June 2001.
What Makes a Man Start Fires? is the second studio album and fifth release by American punk rock band Minutemen.
"James Brown" is a 1989 single by Big Audio Dynamite from their fourth studio album Megatop Phoenix (1989) that peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard US Modern Rock charts.
This Is Big Audio Dynamite is the debut studio album by the English band Big Audio Dynamite, led by Mick Jones, the former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. It was released on 1 November 1985 by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 27 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 103 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Three singles were released from the album, all of which charted in the UK. "The Bottom Line" released a month before the album, barely made the Top 100, peaking at No. 97, becoming their lowest charting single, whereas its follow-up single "E=MC²" released in 1986, became their only Top 20 hit, peaking at No. 11, and becoming their best-selling single. The final single from the album, "Medicine Show" also released in 1986, became their last single to chart within the Top 40 under the original line-up, peaking at No. 29. The music video for "Medicine Show", directed by Don Letts, featured two other former members of the Clash, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon as police officers as well as John Lydon of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd.
No. 10, Upping St. is the second studio album by the English band Big Audio Dynamite, led by Mick Jones, the former lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Clash. The album's title is a pun on 10 Downing Street, the headquarters of the Government of the United Kingdom. The album reunited Jones for one album with former Clash bandmate Joe Strummer, who was a co-producer of the album and co-writer of 5 of its 9 songs.
Daniel Donovan is an English keyboardist, composer, photographer and remixer. He was a founding member of Big Audio Dynamite and of Dreadzone.
This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! is the second studio album by English rock band Pop Will Eat Itself, released on 1 May 1989 by RCA Records. It builds upon the band's 1987 debut Box Frenzy in its extensive usage of sampling, combining influences from punk rock, hip hop, heavy metal, and disco music, with samples and lyrics that reference, among many subjects, pop culture and otaku culture. Particularly influential on the album's musical style were hip hop group Public Enemy, while the album's own subtle post-punk touches would later be credited as influential. Some critics regard it as a sound collage. The album artwork, designed by The Designer's Republic, touches on nuclear warfare themes.
Higher Power is the seventh album by Big Audio Dynamite, released in 1994. First released in the US on 8 November, it was then released in the UK the following week on 14 November 1994. "Looking for a Song" was released as a single; it peaked at No. 24 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
F-Punk is a studio album by Mick Jones' post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite, released in 1995. It was the first album to be released under the name of Big Audio Dynamite since 1989's Megatop Phoenix. The title is a pun on the funk group P-Funk, and is supposed to imply "Fuck punk." The album cover lettering takes influence from London Calling, one of Mick Jones' albums with The Clash, which in turn was a copy of Elvis Presley's debut album.
Kool-Aid is an album by Big Audio Dynamite II. It was their first album under this name and with this line-up, which had been changed by band leader Mick Jones in 1990. It was only released in the UK, Europe and Australia. Several of the songs appeared on the group's next worldwide release, The Globe, albeit in reworked form. Among them is "Change of Atmosphere", which was reworked into the group's number 1 hit "Rush".
Leo Williams, also known as E-Zee Kill, is an English-Jamaican bassist residing in the United Kingdom.
Tighten Up Vol. 88 is the third studio album by the English band Big Audio Dynamite, released in June 1988 by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 33 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 102 on the Billboard 200 but was their first not to receive a certification.
Big Audio Dynamite are a British musical group formed in 1984 by the ex-guitarist and singer of the Clash, Mick Jones. The group is noted for its effective mixture of varied musical styles, incorporating elements of punk rock, dance music, hip hop, reggae, and funk. BAD's one constant throughout frequent shifts in membership and musical direction is the vocals provided by Mick Jones. After releasing a number of well-received albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Big Audio Dynamite disbanded in 1997. In 2011, the band embarked on a reunion tour.
One Thousand Years of Trouble is the debut full-length album, and second album overall, by English electronic rock band Age of Chance, released in 1987 by Virgin Records. After attracting the attention of Virgin with their industrial cover version of Prince's "Kiss", the band signed to the label and began working on the album with producer Howard Gray, whose Sequential Circuits Studio 440 drum machine enticed the band. Gray was given free hand by Virgin on the album, which was recorded at Trident Studios. The album showcases the band's unique "crush collision" sound, incorporating sampling, noisy power chords, hard percussion, house beats, and influences from post-punk and hip hop. Lead singer Steve Elvidge's lyrics display a Northern, bitter tone, incorporating sloganeering and commenting on contemporary politics.
The disappointing Tighten Up Vol. 88 reaches no such peaks and now sounds like a fairly brazen attempt to get hip commercial airplay. The fault is seldom with Jones' songwriting but more with the slick sheen laid over the leaner, less aggressive beats. The LP yielded "Just Play Music" and "Other 99," but a pall was thrown on the release as Jones fell deathly ill shortly after its appearance; having contracted pneumonia, he was hospitalized for months.