| 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 | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [3] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [4] |
| 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"
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ) [23] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) [24] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Shake Your Money Maker is the debut studio album by American rock band the Black Crowes, released on February 13, 1990 on Def American Recordings. It is the only album by the band to feature guitarist Jeff Cease. The album is named after a classic blues song written by Elmore James. The Black Crowes have played the song live many times over the years, but it is not included on this album.
The Fat of the Land is the third studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy, released on 30 June 1997 through XL Recordings. The album received critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It has sold over 10 million copies worldwide as of 2019.
Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a number of Top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart, including "Tattva", "Hey Dude", "Govinda", "Hush", and "Sound of Drums". The band's debut album, K, reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. It was voted number 879 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).
Crispian Mills is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director. Active since 1988, Mills is best known as the frontman of the psychedelic indie rock band Kula Shaker. Following the band's break-up in 1999, he remained with Columbia Records, and toured with a set of session musicians under the name Pi, although no official studio recordings were released in full. After the label rejected the Pi album, Mills disappeared for a short time, returning in 2002 as frontman and lead guitarist for back-to-basics rock outfit The Jeevas, who disbanded in 2005 to make way for a reformed Kula Shaker, who released their third album Strangefolk in 2007. 2010 he released the album Pilgrims Progress with Kula Shaker. In 2017 the band celebrated the 20th anniversary of their album K with the release of the new record K 2.0. Mills joined the band for a sold-out UK tour to celebrate the anniversary.
K is the debut album by English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, released on 16 September 1996. A concept album, themed on Indian mysticism, it became the fastest selling debut album in Britain since Elastica's debut the previous year, selling over 130,000 copies in the first week. The album reached the number-one position on the UK Albums Chart and number 200 on the US Billboard 200. It was voted number 879 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).
Kollected – The Best Of is a 2002 compilation album by Kula Shaker; There are sixteen songs on the album: seven from their debut "K", four from "Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts" and five non-album tracks.
Alonza George Bevan is an English musician who was the bassist for the English rock band Kula Shaker.
"Shower Your Love" is a song by Kula Shaker. It first appeared on their second album Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts in March 1999 and then as a single in its own right two months later. It reached #14 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Govinda" is a song by British rock band Kula Shaker, released on their debut album, K (1996). Sung entirely in Sanskrit, the song includes Indian influences and tambura and tabla instrumentation. "Govinda" was issued as a single on 11 November 1996 and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
Strangefolk is the third studio album by English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, the first album since the band reformed. The album has received mixed reviews since its release. It entered the UK charts at number 69.
Tattva : The Very Best Of Kula Shaker 2007 is a best-of double album released in 2007 by the record label Music Club. It includes all the tracks from Kula Shaker's first two albums and a handful of previously released non-album tracks. It is not an official 'best of' and the band have asked fans not to buy it.
"Sound of Drums" is a song by English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, released as the lead single from their second studio album, Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts (1999). With lyrics by frontman Crispian Mills and music composed by the whole band, the track takes musical inspiration from American rock band the Doors and received production from Rick Rubin and George Drakoulias, as Mills wanted to track to have a more "American" sound than their previous works. "Sound of Drums" was issued as a single on 20 April 1998 and debuted at number three on the UK Singles Chart the same month, becoming Kula Shaker's fifth and final top-10 hit in the United Kingdom.
"Tattva" is a song by British psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, released as the band's debut single. It was first released in the United Kingdom in 1996 as "Tattva ", then re-issued on 24 June 1996 as a re-recording from their debut album, K (1996), with a different sleeve and track listing. The re-recording reached number four on the UK Singles Chart, number 11 on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30 chart, and number 10 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. In Melody Maker, critic Neil Kulkarni declared "Tattva" and follow-up release "Grateful When You're Dead" to be "the two worst singles of '96".
The English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker, formed in 1995, has released six major studio albums, as well as numerous singles with extensive B-sides, music videos, and EPs. The band has also contributed to film soundtracks and TV advertisements.
Pilgrims Progress is the fourth studio album by Kula Shaker and was released on 28 June 2010. The first single to be taken from the album was "Peter Pan R.I.P", which was made available to download as an MP3 from the band's website on 22 April 2010. A three-track "Peter Pan R.I.P" EP was later made available on the iTunes Store on 18 June 2010. The album's title is a deliberate misspelling of John Bunyan's story, The Pilgrim's Progress.
Gouri Choudhury is a Bangladeshi-born British singer and music teacher.
K 2.0 is the fifth studio album by English psychedelic raga rock band Kula Shaker. Recorded in 2015 at State Of The Ark, London, England and The Tea Rooms, Lompret, Belgium. Released on 12 February 2016 on CD, vinyl and digital download.
Radhe Radhe may refer to:
"Hey Dude" is a Britpop song by English psychedelic rock band Kula Shaker. Written by frontman Crispian Mills and Kula Shaker, the song was released as the third single from their 1996 debut studio album, K, on 26 August 1996. Produced by John Leckie, "Hey Dude" became the band's joint-highest-charting song in the United Kingdom, peaking at number two in September 1996. Internatially, the single charted in Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands, as well as on the Canadian and US rock charts. In Australia, the song was ranked at number 60 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1996.
