| Using My Gills as a Roadmap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1998 | |||
| Recorded | Paradise Studios | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 47:21 | |||
| Label | Citadel | |||
| Producer | Wayne Connolly, Died Pretty | |||
| Died Pretty chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Using My Gills as a Roadmap | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Sydney Morning Herald |   [1] |
| The Age | [2] |
| The Daily Telegraph |   [3] |
Using My Gills as a Roadmap is the seventh album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. The album, their second working with producer Wayne Connolly, was released in 1998.
Guitarist and co-songwriter Brett Myers said the album marked a return to more experimental work, with little concern about the potential for radio airplay. "We all made a conscious decision to do something different with this album that we hadn't done before," he said. "We wanted to make songs that didn't have such rigid structures and to get away from the pop groove we'd fallen into a bit in the past."
He said the album was also the one the band had taken most charge of in the production process. "It's a hell of a lot more work—we couldn't lounge around and relax as much. In the end, it's ultimately more rewarding, though. With the stuff on this album, we were so secure with what we wanted to do. I knew the sounds I wanted to create, I had a good idea about what I wanted to get. We ended up writing the songs around the sounds. We listened to lots of late '70s music like Bowie's Low and "Heroes" —especially the second sides, with the really long instrumental passages. We even listened to some of the psychedelic trance that's around at the moment."
Myers said that with the ideas firmly in their minds, the recording process was very quick and most of the album was completed in just two weekends. "It all just fell into place." He said the first single, "Radio", was more similar to the band's earlier material, but said: "The song makes sense in the context of the album. It's a good mid-point, it sort of serves as a cross-over from what we used to do, to now. I think it's a good bridge." [4]
John Encarnacao at The Sydney Morning Herald said, "Almost absent are the familiar epic electric guitar and organ arrangements that have become the Pretty trademark. Brett Myers favours acoustic tones which make an earthy counterpoint to John Hoey's sometimes ethereal, sometimes buzzing synths. Where electric guitars appear, they slither elliptically la Fripp. And Peno hardly raises his voice throughout the whole disc." [5]
(All songs by Brett Myers and Ron Peno)
Todd Harry Rundgren is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophisticated and often unorthodox music, his occasionally lavish stage shows, and his later experiments with interactive art. He also produced music videos and was an early adopter and promoter of various computer technologies, such as using the Internet as a means of music distribution in the late 1990s.
Died Pretty, sometimes The Died Pretty, were an Australian alternative rock band founded by mainstays Ron Peno and Brett Myers in Sydney in 1983. Their music started from a base of early electric Bob Dylan with psychedelic influences, including The Velvet Underground and Television. They were managed by John Needham, who is the owner of Citadel Records, their main label.
The Screaming Tribesmen were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 1981 by mainstay Mick Medew on lead vocals and lead guitar. With various line-ups they released three studio albums, Bones and Flowers, Blood Lust (1990) and Formaldehyde (1993), before disbanding in 1998. They reformed in 2011 for performances until June 2012. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described how they, "fashioned a memorable brand of 1960s-inspired pop rock that combined equal parts existential lyric angst, melodic inventiveness and strident guitar riffs."
Parables for Wooden Ears is the debut studio album released by the Australian band Powderfinger. It was released on 18 July 1994 by Polydor Records, after recording at the Metropolis Studios in Melbourne during February 1994.
Skylarking is the ninth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released 27 October 1986 on Virgin Records. Produced by American musician Todd Rundgren, it is a loose concept album about a nonspecific cycle, such as a day, a year, the seasons, or a life. The title refers to a type of bird (skylark), as well as the Royal Navy term "skylarking", which means "fooling around". It became one of XTC's best-known albums and is generally regarded as their finest work.
"Soul Sound" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their debut studio album One Touch (2000). It was written by Charlotte Gordon Cumming during a trip to Kenya, Africa, where she was inspired to compose it based on her experiences there. Produced by Ron Tom, "Soul Sound" is a pop song featuring guitar and bass instrumentation. It was released in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2001 as the album's fourth and final single. Critics praised the song for the group's demeanour although some regarded it as inferior in comparison to the album's other tracks.
Human Wheels is the twelfth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. Released on Mercury Records on September 7, 1993, it peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. The single "What If I Came Knocking" was Mellencamp's last No. 1 single on the Album Rock Tracks chart, staying atop for two weeks in the summer of 1993. The album has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for sales of 1,000,000 copies.
Ronald Stephen Peno, who also performed as Ron S. Peno and Ronnie Pop, was an Australian rock singer and songwriter who fronted Died Pretty from 1983 to 2002. Before that, he was a member of the punk band The Hellcats (1976–77), followed by hard rock band The 31st and The Screaming Tribesmen (1981). In his later years, after relocating to Melbourne, Peno formed the alt-country duo The Darling Downs with Kim Salmon and finally his own band, Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions which he co-founded with Cam Butler.
Free Dirt is the first full-length album by Australian alternative rock band Died Pretty, released in 1986. The album was repackaged in 2008 by Aztec Music with a second CD containing seven singles and six live recordings from 1986.
Zonoscope is the third studio album by Australian electronic music band Cut Copy, released on 4 February 2011 by Modular Recordings. Recorded in Melbourne in 2010, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics. Zonoscope reached number three on the ARIA Albums Chart, becoming the band's second highest-peaking album after In Ghost Colours, which topped the chart in 2008.
Call Signs is the third studio album by Melbourne electronica band Black Cab, released in 2009.
Dirty Pop Fantasy is the eighth studio album by Australian alternative rock band Regurgitator. The album was first streamed on 23 August 2013 on the music streaming website Deezer and officially released on 6 September 2013 on the record label Valve Records. Regurgitator toured from September to December 2013.
Doughboy Hollow is the fourth album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. The album, recorded with English producer Hugh Jones, was released in 1991.
Everydaydream is the eighth and final studio album by the Australian rock band Died Pretty. The album, recorded with producer Wayne Connolly and released in October 2000, injected a strongly electronic feel into the band's sound with its extensive use of synthesizers and drum machines.
Trace is the fifth album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. It was released in September 1993. The album was the most commercially successful of the band's career, peaking at No.11 on the ARIA album charts.
Sold is the sixth album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. It was released in 1996 and peaked at No. 29 in the ARIA album charts. The album was the last to include drummer, Nick Kennedy, who left during recording; he was replaced in the sessions by Shane Melder, on loan from Sidewinder. It was co-produced by former Radio Birdman vocalist Rob Younger, who had produced the band's 1986 debut Free Dirt, and Wayne Connolly, who went on to co-produce their next two albums.
Lost is the second album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. It was released in 1988.
Pre Deity is a compilation album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. It was released in 1987 in the wake of their debut album Free Dirt and comprised tracks from the band's early singles and their 1985 "Next to Nothing" EP. The album was re-released on CD in 1992 and all the tracks were included on the bonus disc of the 2008 Aztec Music remastered reissue of Free Dirt.
Every Brilliant Eye is the third album by Australian rock band Died Pretty. It was released in 1990 and produced by Jeff Eyrich, whose previous production credits included The Gun Club, The Plimsouls and T Bone Burnett.
"D.C." is a song by Australian alternative rock band Died Pretty. It was released in September 1991 as the second single from their fourth studio album Doughboy Hollow. The song peaked at number 124 on the ARIA Charts. It was nominated for Best Video at the 1992 Aria Awards.
