Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 8 March 1999 | |||
Genre | Britpop, psychedelic rock, raga rock | |||
Length | 54:11 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Bob Ezrin, George Drakoulias, Rick Rubin | |||
Kula Shaker chronology | ||||
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Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is the second album by the British indie and psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker. [1]
Initial recording sessions for the album were produced by John Leckie but the band soon decided to bring in producers George Drakoulias and Rick Rubin instead. [1] Eventually Drakoulias and Rubin were rejected by the band and Bob Ezrin was brought in to complete the album. [1] As a result of this, the production credits for the album's lead single, "Sound of Drums", name Drakoulias and Rubin as producers, while the rest of Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts is produced by Ezrin. Like its predecessor, K , the album continues the band's hybrid of 1960s-style psychedelic rock, groovy indie pop, and Indian instrumentation, albeit with a more progressive rock slant than on previous releases. [1] Musically, many of the songs make use of Beatles-influenced psychedelic effects, swirling guitars, and Indian chants. [1] This musical eclecticism prompted the band themselves to refer to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts as their "kitchen sink album". [2]
The album was partly recorded at the Astoria recording studio, a houseboat-studio owned by Pink Floyd guitarist, David Gilmour. During production, the album was given the working title of Strangefolk, as lead vocalist Crispian Mills revealed during a BBC Radio 2 interview on 10 September 2007. Mills explained that the album's title was only changed to Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts at the last minute before release. However, the rejected album title was later reused for the band's 2007 comeback album, Strangefolk .
In addition, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was originally intended to feature the song "Strangefolk", a 10-minute-long track that began with the spoken introduction "In the beginning was the word, and the word was...'Om Keshavaya namah aum'." [2] Ultimately, this track was not released on the album but an excerpt of it was included as a hidden track on the 2002 compilation album, Kollected: The Best of Kula Shaker . [2] Another song entitled "Strangefolk" was included on the 2007 reunion album but despite its identical title, this song is not the same as the Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts outtake. The full version was eventually released on the anniversary edition of the album as a bonus track.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Los Angeles Daily News | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Wall of Sound | 89/100 [5] |
The album was released on 8 March 1999 and reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart, during a chart stay of 10 weeks. [6] [7] It was less successful in the U.S., however, where it failed to break into the Billboard 200 album chart. [8] It was preceded in April 1998 by the "Sound of Drums" single which reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart. [7] Two further singles were taken from Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts: "Mystical Machine Gun", which was released concurrently with the album and peaked at #14 in the UK, and "Shower Your Love", which was released in May 1999 and also reached #14 on the UK charts. [7] None of the album's accompanying singles charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in America. [8]
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was re-released in a 10th Anniversary, 2 CD edition on 20 January 2010. [9] [10] The 10th Anniversary edition included an expanded running order for the original album, with the outtake song "Strangefolk" included, as the band originally intended. [9] It also featured previously unreleased demos, alternate versions of songs, and new artwork. [9]
Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts was placed at number 36 in Q magazine's 2006 list, "The 50 Worst Albums Ever!" [11]
On 20 January 2010 a deluxe edition was re-issued by StrangeFOLK Records Band's Label featured:
Disc 1 – "The Album"
Disc 2 – "Astronauts Anthology"
Kula Shaker
Additional musicians
Production
Chart (1999) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [12] | 36 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [13] | 31 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [14] | 38 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [15] | 63 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [16] | 17 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [17] | 33 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [18] | 6 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [19] | 7 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [20] | 26 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [21] | 41 |
UK Albums (OCC) [22] | 9 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Japan (RIAJ) [23] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [24] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |