The Small Price of a Bicycle

The Small Price of a Bicycle
Studio album by The Icicle Works
Released	September 1985
Recorded	1984–1985
Genre	Post-punk, new wave, neo-psychedelia
Length	44:45
Label	Beggars Banquet
Producer	Hugh Jones Wally Brill The Icicle Works Geoff Muir
The Icicle Works chronology
The Icicle Works (1984) The Small Price of a Bicycle (1985) If You Want to Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Song (1987)
Singles from The Small Price of a Bicycle
"Hollow Horse" Released: 5 October 1984 [1] "All the Daughters" Released: 10 May 1985 [2] "Seven Horses" Released: 5 July 1985 [3]

The Small Price of a Bicycle is the second studio album by The Icicle Works. The album was released in 1985 and charted at number 55 in the UK ^{[4] [5] [6]} Despite the success of the band's first album in North America, it was not released in either the US or Canada, with Arista Records in the US memorably rejecting it as "punk-rock demos".^{[ citation needed ]}

In Canada, an early version of the track "Book of Reason" was released by Vertigo Records on their 1984 Vertigo Sampler 2-LP set, with a note that the track was from the forthcoming Icicle Works LP. However, the LP never actually appeared; instead, Vertigo Canada issued a 5-track EP called Seven Horses Deep. This EP included the so-called "American Version" of "Seven Horses" (which was never actually issued in the US), the single version of "All The Daughters", and the previously issued UK b-sides "(Let's Go) Down to the River", "Beggars Legacy" and "Goin' Back".

In 2011, Cherry Red Records issued a 3-CD expanded edition of The Small Price of a Bicycle. Disc 1 featured the original album in its entirety, while discs 2 and 3 featured a wealth of related demos, b-sides, radio sessions, live tracks, remixes and unreleased session outtakes.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Sounds	[8]

The album was reviewed by Roger Holland for the music magazine Sounds where it received a perfect score of five stars out of five. Holland wrote that The Small Price of a Bicycle was "a very fine album" and praised its "combinations of exuberant young rock rhythms and enchanting, inspiring vocals".

Track listing

UK edition

Original LP & CD

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Hollow Horse"	Ian McNabb Chris Layhe	Hugh Jones	4:00
2.	"Perambulator"	McNabb Layhe	Wally Brill	4:02
3.	"Seven Horses"	McNabb	Brill	4:12
4.	"Rapids"	McNabb	Brill	4:32
5.	"Windfall"	McNabb	Brill	4:13
6.	"Assumed Sundown"	McNabb	Brill	5:53
7.	"Saint's Sojourn"	McNabb	Brill	4:43
8.	"All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House)"	McNabb	Geoff Muir The Icicle Works	4:40
9.	"Book of Reason"	McNabb	Brill	3:45
10.	"Conscience of Kings"	McNabb	Brill	4:48

2011 Expanded Edition

Disc 1 contains the original album, as above

2011 Expanded Edition (Disc 2)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Hollow Horse" (Long Version)	McNabb Layhe	Hugh Jones
2.	"Book of Reason" (USA Long Version)	McNabb	Wally Brill
3.	"All The Daughters (Of Her Father's House)" (Long Version)	McNabb	Geoff Muir The Icicle Works
4.	"A Pocketful of Nothing"	McNabb	The Icicle Works Pete Coleman
5.	"Mr. Soul"	Neil Young	The Icicle Works Coleman
6.	"When You Hear The Mission Bells"	McNabb
7.	"Seven Horses" (American Version)	McNabb	Brill
8.	"Slingshot"	McNabb Layhe	Brill
9.	"Beggars Legacy"	McNabb Layhe	Brill
10.	"Goin' Back"	Carole King Gerry Goffin	Brill
11.	"When It All Comes Down" (Long Version)	McNabb	Pat Moran
12.	"(Let's Go) Down to the River"	McNabb	Muir Ian McNabb
13.	"Cold Turkey"	John Lennon	Muir McNabb
14.	"Seven Horses" (Early Recording)	McNabb
15.	"Perambulator" (Early Recording)	McNabb
16.	"Assumed Sundown" (Early Recording)	McNabb
17.	"Beggars Legacy" (Early Recording)	McNabb Layhe

2011 Expanded Edition (Disc 3)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"When It All Comes Down" (Abridged Version)
2.	"Saints Sojourn" (Early Recording)
3.	"Hollow Horse" (John Peel Session 1984)
4.	"Deep in the Woods" (John Peel Session 1984)
5.	"Conscience of Kings" (John Peel Session 1984)
6.	"When You Hear the Mission Bells" (John Peel Session 1984)
7.	"Perambulator" (Janice Long Session 1985)
8.	"All the Daughters (Of Her Father's House)" (Janice Long Session 1985)
9.	"Diamond in the Rough" (Janice Long Session 1985)
10.	"Impossibly Three Lovers" (Janice Long Session 1985)
11.	"Seven Horses" (Live)
12.	"Perambulator" (Live)
13.	"Rapids" (Live)
14.	"Hollow Horse" (Live)
15.	"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (Live)

Personnel

The Icicle Works

• Robert Ian McNabb – guitar, lead vocals, keyboards
• Chris Layhe – bass, backing vocals, keyboards, violin
• Chris Sharrock – drums, percussion

References

1. "Music Week" (PDF).
2. "Music Week" (PDF).
3. "Music Week" (PDF).
4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 266. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
5. "Merseybeasts".
6. "The Small Price of a Bicycle - the Icicle Works | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
7. Sutton, Michael. "The Small Price of a Bicycle – The Icicle Works | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
8. "Icicle Works Review".