Vanishing Point | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 7 July 1997 | |||
Studio | Chalk Farm Studios, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 53:31 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
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Primal Scream chronology | ||||
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Singles from Vanishing Point | ||||
Vanishing Point is the fifth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 7 July 1997 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Reprise Records. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. [1] The album shows inspiration from genres such as dub, ambient, dance music, and krautrock, as well as bands such as Motörhead, Can, and the Stooges. It was the band's first album to feature Gary 'Mani' Mounfield on bass, formerly of the Stone Roses, although Marco Nelson played bass on "Burning Wheel", "Star", "If They Move, Kill 'Em'", and "Stuka". Other guest appearances on Vanishing Point include Augustus Pablo, Glen Matlock, and the Memphis Horns.
Gillespie has described the album as an anarcho-syndicalist speedfreak road-movie record. [2] It is named after and inspired by the 1971 film Vanishing Point , especially the song "Kowalski", which is meant to be an alternative soundtrack of the movie. Lead singer Bobby Gillespie said, "The music in the film is hippy music, so we thought, 'Why not record some music that really reflects the mood of the film?' It's always been a favourite of the band, we love the air of paranoia and speed- freak righteousness. It's impossible to get hold of now, which is great! It's a pure underground film, rammed with claustrophobia." [2]
The album was written and recorded with the aid of two portable eight-track recording studios at the band's Chalk Farm rehearsal rooms. [2] The entire album was written and recorded in two months and mixed an additional month. [2] On their cover of "Motorhead", Gillespie sung the first verse through a Darth Vader mask. [3] According to an article, much of the album came from live improvisation and, "Then later on we'd layer other sounds and loops over the top, and the vocals," Gillespie said in an interview. [3] The track "If They Move, Kill 'Em" was originally to have included a sample from Sam Peckinpah's film The Wild Bunch (the song title is one of the earliest lines of dialogue spoken in the film), but it could not be cleared in time. [3]
Vanishing Point was released on 7 July 1997 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Reprise Records. It is the fifth album by Primal Scream.
Author Irvine Welsh scripted the video for the album's first single, "Kowalski," which was directed by musician Douglas Hart. The video features a Dodge Challenger and super model Kate Moss beating up the band. Gillespie described the video as a cross between Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! and The Sweeney . [3]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [5] |
The Guardian | [6] |
Los Angeles Times | [7] |
NME | 9/10 [8] |
Pitchfork | 8.3/10 [9] |
Rolling Stone | [10] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [11] |
Spin | 8/10 [12] |
The Village Voice | B+ [13] |
Vanishing Point received positive reviews from critics, who welcomed it as a return to form after 1994's Give Out But Don't Give Up .[ citation needed ] NME named it the 4th best album of 1997. [14] In 2012, NME journalist Mark Beaumont ranked it as the band's fourth best album, calling it "a brilliant record for its statement of intent alone – it stamped in stone Primal Scream's mandate to never repeat themselves and consistently indulge their experimental spirit". [15] The album was also included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [16]
All tracks are written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Robert Young, and Martin Duffy, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Burning Wheel" | 7:06 | |
2. | "Get Duffy" | 4:09 | |
3. | "Kowalski" | Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Robert Young, Martin Duffy, Gary Mounfield | 5:50 |
4. | "Star" | 4:24 | |
5. | "If They Move, Kill 'Em" | 3:01 | |
6. | "Out of the Void" | 3:59 | |
7. | "Stuka" | 5:36 | |
8. | "Medication" | 3:52 | |
9. | "Motörhead" | Lemmy Kilmister | 3:38 |
10. | "Trainspotting" | 8:07 | |
11. | "Long Life" | 3:49 |
Credits adapted from liner notes. [17]
Production
Chart (1997) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [18] | 64 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [19] | 31 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [20] | 31 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [21] | 97 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [22] | 23 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [23] | 2 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [24] | 3 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [25] | 47 |
UK Albums (OCC) [1] | 2 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [26] | 34 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Japan (RIAJ) [27] | Gold | 100,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums). Barrie Cadogan has toured and recorded with the band since 2006 as a replacement after the departure of guitarist Robert "Throb" Young.
Gary "Mani" Mounfield is an English rock bassist, best known for being a member of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream.
Robert Gillespie is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead singer, founding member, primary lyricist, and sole continuous member of the alternative rock band Primal Scream. He was the drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain in the mid-1980s, leaving after the release of the band's debut album Psychocandy, and was once the bassist for The Wake.
Screamadelica is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a significant departure from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the blossoming house music scene and associated drugs such as LSD and MDMA. Much of the album's production was handled by acid house DJ Andrew Weatherall and engineer Hugo Nicolson, who remixed original recordings made by the band into dance-oriented tracks.
Give Out But Don't Give Up is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 28 March 1994 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and in the United States by Sire Records. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. Musically, it marked a massive departure from the psychedelic sound of their previous studio album Screamadelica (1991) into one influenced by classic rock and blues music. Its cover photo is a cropped version of Troubled Waters by American photographer William Eggleston. Eggleston included the album in his 2017 Pitchfork list of "the Music That Made Him a Photography Legend."
Echo Dek is a remix album by the Scottish alternative rock band Primal Scream. It was released in October 1997 and followed the group's fifth studio album by less than four months. It peaked at number forty-three on the UK Album Chart and number ninety-seven on the Japanese Oricon Album Chart.
XTRMNTR is the sixth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 31 January 2000 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 2 May 2000 in the United States by Astralwerks. It peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart.
Evil Heat is the seventh studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 5 August 2002 in the United Kingdom by Columbia Records and on 26 November 2002 in the United States by Epic Records. It peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. Musically, its style forms a link between two of the band's previous albums: the aggressive protest of XTRMNTR (2000), and the acid house psychedelia of Screamadelica (1991).
Darklands is the second studio album by Scottish alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain, released on 31 August 1987 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album is the band's first to use drum machines, replacing live drummer Bobby Gillespie, who had left to pursue a career as the frontman of Primal Scream. Lead vocals are performed by Jim Reid, with the exception of "Darklands", "Nine Million Rainy Days" and "On the Wall", which are sung by William Reid.
Riot City Blues is the eighth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream, released on 5 June 2006 by Columbia Records. It peaked at number 5 on the UK Albums Chart. With this album, the band left behind the electronic elements they had used on their previous albums XTRMNTR (2000) and Evil Heat (2003), returning to more traditional rock and roll. The album features guest appearances from Will Sergeant, Warren Ellis, and Alison Mosshart, and was the last album to feature guitarist Robert "Throb" Young, who departed before the album's UK tour for personal reasons.
"Loaded" is a song by Scottish rock band Primal Scream, released on 19 February 1990 as the lead single from their third studio album Screamadelica (1991). Mixed and produced by Andrew Weatherall, it is a remix of an earlier song titled "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have". In 2014, NME placed the song at number 59 in its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The discography of Primal Scream, a Scottish rock band, consists of eleven studio albums, twenty-six singles, one EP, two greatest hits albums, two live albums, and one remix album. They also released a joint live CD and DVD with MC5 titled Black to Comm, recorded at the 2008 Meltdown festival.
"Kowalski" is a song by Scottish rock band Primal Scream, released on 5 May 1997 as the lead single from their fifth studio album Vanishing Point. The song contains a drum sample from "Halleluhwah" by Can and an interpolation of the bassline from "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" by Funkadelic, and is named after the main character of the 1971 film Vanishing Point, played by Barry Newman; it also features various dialogue samples from said film.
Beautiful Future is the ninth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 21 July 2008 by B-Unique Records. It peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart. It was promoted with the single "Can't Go Back", and was produced by Björn Yttling and Paul Epworth.
Screamadelica Live is a Primal Scream live album and DVD, It was released in 2011 for Primal Scream's tour for the 20th anniversary for the 1991 album Screamadelica. The performance was filmed at the Olympia Grand Hall in London on 26 November 2010 and was released on CD, DVD and Blu-ray on 30 May 2011. This is the final Primal Scream album to feature Mani, who departed and reformed his previous band The Stone Roses in the same year.
More Light is the tenth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream, released on 13 May 2013. The single "It's Alright, It's OK" received airplay on national stations including BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music and Absolute Radio and on music channel MTV Rocks, whilst it has also been played on a number of smaller stations including 106.9FM WHCR and Kingstown Radio. It references influential The Gun Club singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce with a take on his song "Goodbye Johnny" and use of the track title "Walking with the Beast". This is their first album since Give Out But Don't Give Up (1994) to not feature bassist Mani.
"Velocity Girl" is a song by British alternative rock band Primal Scream, originally released as the B-side to their second single, "Crystal Crescent", in 1986. Shortly preceding its release, Primal Scream’s frontman, Bobby Gillespie, left his post as the drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain, recording only one album with them, the influential noise pop release Psychocandy (1985). Disentangled from their major label "whirlwind", he resumed activity with the lesser known Primal Scream, proceeding to, as Pitchfork Media later described it, "reduce the pop song to its subatomic essence: quick, breezy, quirky, and above all, exquisitely small" with "Velocity Girl". The band also recorded a slightly longer version with a second verse for Janice Long in July 1986. The song was partly inspired by the actress, model and Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick.
Chaosmosis is the eleventh studio album by Scottish band Primal Scream. It was released on 18 March 2016 on the band's First International label, through Ignition Records. The album's lead single, "Where the Light Gets In", was released on 1 February 2016 and features American singer Sky Ferreira. "I Can Change" was released on 14 March 2016 as the second single from the album. "Trippin' on Your Love" was released to US submodern rock radio on 16 March 2016 as the album's third single. The fourth single, "100% or Nothing", was released as a 12-inch single on 19 August 2016.
"Star" is a song by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was released on 16 June 1997 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Vanishing Point (1997). It peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. NME named it the 27th best track of 1997.
Scream Above the Sounds is the tenth studio album by Welsh rock band Stereophonics. Released on 27 October 2017 by Parlophone Records, it was produced by lead singer and guitarist Kelly Jones, along with Jim Lowe.