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Symphony or Damn | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 3, 1993 [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Terence Trent D'Arby | |||
Terence Trent D'Arby chronology | ||||
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Singles from Symphony or Damn | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
Calgary Herald | B [9] |
Robert Christgau | [10] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [3] |
The Hour | (favorable) [2] |
Music Week | [11] |
NME | 4/10 [12] |
Terence Trent D'Arby's Symphony or Damn* (*Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness) is the third studio album by Terence Trent D'Arby, released in 1993 through Columbia Records. This album marked something of a comeback after the disappointing performance of his previous album Neither Fish nor Flesh , and was generally well received by many critics, with Q magazine rating it five stars upon its release. The album's title comes from a line in the song "Do You Love Me Like You Say?".
The album is heavier in sound than D'Arby's debut album, which was essentially a mix of pop, soul and gospel. However Symphony or Damn contains several guitar oriented songs, such as "Do You Love Me Like You Say?", "Castillian Blue", "Are You Happy?" and the out-and-out rocker "She Kissed Me". The latter is an up-tempo hard rock song, that features the line "she likes rap and metal really loud", alluding to the subject's love of hip hop and heavy metal music. However, "Castillian Blue" and "Are You Happy?" have a blues guitar sound, with the former sounding dark and brooding and the latter featuring a far more upbeat pop/soul/blues sound. The drum sound throughout most of the album is also of a heavy nature.
"Penelope Please" namechecks the Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde in the chorus: "You will still be home in time, to watch The Pops , featuring Chrissie Hynde".
The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and was boosted by four top 20 UK singles, "Do You Love Me Like You Say?", "Delicate", featuring Des'ree (both tracks peaked at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart), "She Kissed Me" (UK number 16) and "Let Her Down Easy" (UK number 18).
Two more tracks were released from the album but they were not as successful as the aforementioned tracks. "Turn the Page" failed to chart, while "Neon Messiah" was released as an EP in Japan only. This included a number of B-sides and is a widely sought-after collector's item.
Tower of Power Horns (Tracks 6 & 11)
The Atlantic Horns (Track 9)
String section (Track 11)
Chart (1993) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] | 8 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [14] | 38 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [15] | 51 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [16] | 56 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [17] | 14 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [18] | 28 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [19] | 23 |
UK Albums (OCC) [20] | 4 |
US Billboard 200 [21] | 119 |
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American singer Terence Trent D'Arby has released 12 studio albums, four greatest hits compilation albums, four live albums, one extended play, and 31 singles. D'Arby has earned one platinum album. His début album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby (1987) peaked at number 4 in the US, and while receiving positive reviews, it became a huge success in Europe. The album featured the number 1 single "Wishing Well", which sold over 500,000 copies and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Follow up albums were less successful. After Columbia Records parted ways with the artist in the mid-1990s, D'Arby later changed his stage name to Sananda Maitreya. He went on to release 8 studio albums, and 4 live albums, under his own independent record label Treehouse Publishing.
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