The song "4 am" was later re-recorded and appeared on the 1999 Madness album Wonderful.
The Lone Ranger was reissued in 1996 with new artwork,a reordered track listing and including the single "No More Alcohol",a reworked version of the original album track "Alcohol". The album was reissued again in 2016 by Cherry Red Records as a two-CD deluxe edition,reverting back to its original cover.[7]
Background
After the Madness reunion concert in 1992,which yielded the album Madstock!,Suggs became involved in working on his first solo album. He had written a few songs,including "Alcohol" and "Fortune Fish". In 1994,Rob Dickins arranged for Suggs to work with producers Sly and Robbie on some songs. Dickins suggested "I'm Only Sleeping" as a track,while Sly and Robbie proposed "Cecilia" as one of the songs to work on. Other songs produced by Sly and Robbie are "Camden Town","Haunted" and "Off on Holiday",and they also helped to produce "The Tune",a song written by fellow Madness member Mike Barson. After the sessions with Sly and Robbie ended,other songs were recorded with other producers.[8]
Suggs collaborated with Barson to write and produce a number of songs,including "Camden Town","4 am",which is a tribute to The Kinks,and "She's Gone". The songs,including "Green Eyes",were co-produced with engineer Kevin Petrie,who also helped with "Alcohol" and "Fortune Fish".[8]
After the second Madstock concert,Madstock II,Suggs announced that he would pursue a solo career in August 1994,and made his first appearance as a solo artist in November on Danny Baker After All,performing "I'm Only Sleeping" and Morrissey's "Suedehead". His debut album The Lone Ranger was released in 1995.[9]
Singles
Five singles were released from the album,all of which reached the UK Singles Chart. A cover of The Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping",released as a double A-side with "Off on Holiday",reached No. 7 in August 1995.[10] This was followed by "Camden Town",which reached No. 14 in October[11] and then "The Tune",which peaked at No. 33 in December 1995.[12] A cover of Simon &Garfunkel's "Cecilia" was the next single,peaking at No. 4 in May 1996[13] and becoming Suggs' highest-charting solo single to date.[6] The final single to be released from the album,"No More Alcohol",is a reworked version of the original track "Alcohol". This reached No. 24 in September 1996.[14] "No More Alcohol" was included on a 1996 reissue of the album with new artwork and a reordered track listing.
Upon the album's release,Victoria Segal of Melody Maker was critical of "Camden Town" and "I'm Only Sleeping",describing them as being "as welcome as hawmorragic fever",but felt "the rest [of the album] is actually OK,in a predictably perky,ska-ed up way".[18] Johnny Cigarettes of NME was negative in his review,believing the album to be merely a money-making endeavor without "a single good excuse for [it] to exist",although he did note a "couple of mildly agreeable contemplative ballads". He believed that the covers of 'I'm Only Sleeping' and 'Cecilia' were recorded merely for "maximum commercial muscle" and also noted that the single "Camden Town" "borrows a hefty chunk of credible trendiness". He added,"Rope in Sly and Robbie to try and prove your authentic credentials,roll out the jaunty feel-good 'reggie' ditties,sit back and watch the cash roll in."[15]
Evan Cater,writing for AllMusic,wrote,"The Lone Ranger has the feel of an amateur demo,populated primarily by drum machines and synthesizers,but despite the weakness of the production,Suggs manages credible covers of the Beatles' 'I'm Only Sleeping' and Simon and Garfunkel's 'Cecilia'." Cater was not impressed with Suggs' songwriting talent on the songs he wrote by himself,but felt that he fared better on the ones he co-wrote with Mike Barson,"who appears to have a stronger sense of melody".[1]Trouser Press described the album as delivering "much the same ska pop mixture and music hall jollity as [Madness],but with more weight to the production."[2] In a review of the 2016 reissue,Record Collector's Mark Elliott commented that the "charming,60s-influenced,11-song set hits the sweet spot where an experimental edge packs an impressive commercial punch and everyone emerges with their dignity intact".[16]
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