Walkabout (The Fixx album)

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Walkabout
The Fixx - Walkabout.jpg
Studio album by
the Fixx
Released19 May 1986 (1986-05-19) [1]
RecordedNovember 1985
StudioFarmyard, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, England
Genre New wave
Length48:32
Label MCA [2]
Producer Rupert Hine
The Fixx chronology
Phantoms
(1984)		Walkabout
(1986)		 React
(1987)
Singles from Walkabout
  1. "Secret Separation"
    Released: 12 May 1986 (1986-05-12) (US) [3]
  2. "Built for the Future"
    Released: 25 August 1986 (1986-08-25) (US) [4]

Walkabout is the fourth studio album by the English new wave band the Fixx, released by MCA Records in the US on 19 May 1986, followed by a UK release on 15 September 1986. [5] [6] The first single, "Secret Separation", spent two weeks atop the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in July 1986; it was the band's second No. 1 single on the chart.

Contents

Production

The album was produced by Rupert Hine. [7] Singer Cy Curnin started working on the album while temporarily living in Africa. Walkabout was the first album to include bass player Danny Brown as an official member of the band. [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]

The Ottawa Citizen called the album "the most well-rounded, honest effort by the group so far, marked by a deliberate attempt to 'uncomplicate' the group's sound, without sacrificing the poignancy of the social messages in the songs." [12] The Los Angeles Times called the album the band's best to that point, writing that "the LP's uninventive slices of quirky new wave, tentative funk and Bowie impersonations could have been worse." [13] The Sun Sentinel wrote that "the Fixx is capable of creating polished but ultimately passionless and perfunctory pop-funk ... this is not a record that anyone's going to remember five years from now." [14]

Track listing

All songs are written by Dan K. Brown, Cy Curnin, Rupert Greenall, Jamie West-Oram, and Adam Woods, except when noted.

  1. "Secret Separation" (Brown, Curnin, Greenall, Jeannette Obstoj, West-Oram, Woods) - 3:51
  2. "Built for the Future" - 4:07
  3. "Treasure It" - 4:38
  4. "Chase the Fire" - 4:27
  5. "Can't Finish" - 4:09
  6. "Walkabout" - 4:35
  7. "One Look Up" - 4:15
  8. "Read Between the Lines" - 3:59
  9. "Sense the Adventure" - 3:42
  10. "Camphor" - 3:53 [with hidden CD track "Peace on Earth (Do What You Can)" - 10:46]

Personnel

The Fixx

Additional personnel

Production

Charts

Chart (1986)Peak
position
Australia Kent Music Report [15] 99
US Billboard Top Pop Albums [16] 30

Singles

YearSingleChartPosition
1986"Built for the Future"US Album Rock Tracks 13
"Secret Separation"US Billboard Hot 100 19
US Album Rock Tracks1

References

  1. ↑ "May Hot Album Releases" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 98, no. 18. New York, US: Billboard Publications Inc. 3 May 1986. p. 3. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved 20 January 2026– via World Radio History.
  2. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 483.
  3. ↑ Ultimate Collection (Media notes). The Fixx. US: Hip-O. 1999. p. 9. 088 112 117 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ↑ Ultimate Collection (Media notes). The Fixx. US: Hip-O. 1999. p. 9. 088 112 117 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ↑ "New Albums" (PDF). Music Week . London, UK: United Magazines Ltd. 13 September 1986. p. 30. ISSN   0265-1548 . Retrieved 20 January 2026– via World Radio History.
  6. ↑ "The Fixx Doesn't Shy from Controversies". Sun-Sentinel.
  7. ↑ "The Fixx | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  8. ↑ Kim, Jae-Ha. "Rocker Curnin Gets a Fix on the World with His Lyrics Even While Fans Dance". Chicago Tribune.
  9. ↑ "AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  10. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 427.
  11. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 247.
  12. ↑ "The Fixx gets family feeling". Ottawa Citizen: F3. 20 June 1986.
  13. ↑ Atkinson, Terry (29 June 1986). "Summer LP Roundup: The Fixx Mixes It Up". Los Angeles Times. p. 93.
  14. ↑ Henke, James (25 July 1986). "Big Country Rebounds; The Fixx LP Incoherent". Sun Sentinel. p. 38.
  15. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 113. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  16. ↑ "The Fixx". Billboard.
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