Why Be Blue

Last updated
Why Be Blue
Suicide - Why Be Blue.jpg
Studio album by
Released1992 (1992)
RecordedOne Take Studios, New York City
Genre Synthpop, electronic
Length41:10
Label Brake Out
Producer Ric Ocasek
Suicide chronology
A Way of Life
(1988)
Why Be Blue
(1992)
American Supreme
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Why Be Blue is the fourth studio album by Suicide, originally released in 1992 by Brake Out Records. It was reissued on Mute Records Blast First sub-label in 2005 containing a new remix of the entire album by keyboardist Martin Rev, a revised track order, new artwork, plus an additional disc of live material from 1989.

Contents

Track listing

All tracks are written by Martin Rev and Alan Vega

No.TitleLength
1."Why Be Blue"4:33
2."Cheat-Cheat"4:02
3."Hot Ticket"3:59
4."Universe"3:56
5."Last Time"3:35
6."Play the Dream"4:24
7."Pump It"3:50
8."Flashy Love"4:43
9."Chewy-Chewy"3:57
10."Mujo"4:11

2005 Track listing

Disc 1 – Remixed by Martin Rev

No.TitleLength
1."Why Be Blue?"4:33
2."Cheat-Cheat"4:04
3."Mujo"4:10
4."Pump It"3:52
5."Last Time"3:36
6."Play the Dream"4:25
7."Chewy-Chewy"3:56
8."Hot Ticket"4:02
9."Flashy Love"4:44
10."Universe"4:00

Disc 2 – Live at Le Palace, Paris / 17 April 1989

No.TitleLength
1."C'est La Vie"7:02
2."Johnny"5:04
3."Mambo Mambo"6:18
4."Rock Train"8:36
5."Jukebox Baby '96"7:40
6."Dream Baby Dream"6:56
7."Night Time"8:04
8."On Fire"5:12

Personnel

Adapted from the Why Be Blue liner notes. [2]

Suicide
Production and additional personnel

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
United Kingdom1988Chapter 22CD, LP CHAP 35
United States/UK2005 Blast First/Mute/EMI CDBFFP 191/07243 8 63538 0 1

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suicide (band)</span> American musical duo

Suicide was an American musical duo composed of vocalist Alan Vega and instrumentalist Martin Rev, intermittently active between 1970 and 2016. The group's pioneering music used minimalist electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers and primitive drum machines, and their early performances were confrontational and often ended in violence. They were among the first acts to use the phrase "punk music" in an advertisement for a concert in 1970—during their very brief stint as a three-piece including Paul Liebegott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Vega</span> American singer (1938–2016)

Boruch Alan Bermowitz, known professionally as Alan Vega, was an American vocalist and visual artist, primarily known for his work with the electronic protopunk duo Suicide.

<i>Keys to Ascension 2</i> 1997 live album / studio album by Yes

Keys to Ascension 2 is the fifth live and sixteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes. It was released as a double album in November 1997 by Essential Records as the successor to the previous live/studio album Keys to Ascension. After guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Rick Wakeman returned to the band in 1995, the group relocated to San Luis Obispo, California and started to write new material. The reunion of this particular line-up was promoted with three concerts at the city's Fremont Theater in March 1996, the five's first live performance together since 1979. Keys to Ascension 2 features the remaining half of the live set from the 1996 shows and five new studio tracks including two ones which marked a return to the group writing long-form pieces.

<i>Formaldehyde</i> (album) 1993 studio album by Terrorvision

Formaldehyde is the first album by the rock band Terrorvision. Produced by Pat Grogan and the band, the album was recorded at The Chapel in June 1992. They were assisted by Fulton Dingley; Grogan and the band mixed all of the recordings, except for "New Policy One", "My House", and "Human Being", which were mixed by Gil Norton. All songs written and arranged by Terrorvision. The original Total Vegas Recordings version was released in December 1992; the EMI version appeared on 3 May 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everybody Hurts</span> 1993 single by R.E.M.

"Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, Automatic for the People (1992), and released as a single in April 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song fared much better on the US Cash Box Top 100, where it peaked at number 18. It also reached the top 10 on the charts of Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Jake Scott. In 2003, Q ranked "Everybody Hurts" at number 31 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". In 2005, Blender ranked the song at number 238 on their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".

<i>Nightlife</i> (Thin Lizzy album) 1974 studio album by Thin Lizzy

Nightlife is the fourth studio album by Irish rock band Thin Lizzy, released on 8 November 1974 by Vertigo Records. It was produced by Ron Nevison and bandleader Phil Lynott, and was the first album to feature the band as a quartet with newcomers Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson on guitars.

<i>River Runs Red</i> 1993 studio album by Life of Agony

River Runs Red is the debut studio album by American alternative metal band Life of Agony, released on October 12, 1993 by Roadrunner Records. It is a concept album, telling the story of a teenager, from a troubled household, who ultimately attempts suicide. The album features what Rolling Stone called "bleak odes to misanthropy, parental neglect, regret and killing yourself".

<i>Suicide</i> (1977 album) 1977 studio album by Suicide

Suicide is the debut studio album from the American rock band Suicide. It was released in 1977 on Red Star Records and produced by Craig Leon and Marty Thau. The album was recorded in four days at Ultima Sound Studios in New York and featured Martin Rev's minimalist electronics and harsh, repetitive rhythms paired with Alan Vega's rock and roll-inspired vocals and depictions of urban life.

<i>Suicide: Alan Vega and Martin Rev</i> 1980 studio album by Suicide

Suicide: Alan Vega and Martin Rev is the second studio album by the American band Suicide. It was produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars for Ze Records in 1980. Recorded in January 1980, Ocasek gave keyboardist Martin Rev new equipment to perform on while Alan Vega distanced himself from the music to concentrate on the vocals. Michael Zilkha of Ze pushed to give the album a more dance music oriented sound, hoping that disco musician Giorgio Moroder would produce it.

<i>Jehovahkill</i> 1992 studio album by Julian Cope

Jehovahkill is the eighth album by Julian Cope, released in 1992. After the critical success of Peggy Suicide (1991), Cope's idea for Jehovakill was to incorporate a krautrock attitude into his music. He began recording the album with musicians Rooster Cosby and Donald Ross Skinner, while co-producing it with the latter. The sessions yielded what Cope considered to be his most sonically experimental material to date. Originally titling the record Julian H. Cope, he sent an eleven track version to Island Records, who initially rejected its release, but gave Cope extra recording sessions for the album. During the extra sessions, in which six extra songs were recorded, the album became harder and was retitled Jehovahkill.

"Frankie Teardrop" is a song by Suicide from the band's self-titled debut album, released in 1977.

<i>American Supreme</i> 2002 studio album by Suicide

American Supreme is the fifth and final studio album by the American band Suicide. It was released in 2002 on Mute Records and was the group's first self-produced album. The album received generally favorable reception with positive reviews praising its experimental and difficult listening experience while negative reviews found the album sounding dated even in comparison to the group's first two albums released decades prior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheree</span> 1978 single by Suicide

"Cheree" is a song by the synth punk band Suicide, written by its members Martin Rev and Alan Vega. It was released as a single in 1978 by Bronze Records. Since its initial release, it has been covered by a number of artists, most notably by? and the Mysterians on their 1999 album More Action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dream Baby Dream</span>

"Dream Baby Dream" is a song by the electro-punk band Suicide, written by its members Martin Rev and Alan Vega. It was released as a single in 1979 by Island Records. It has been covered by Neneh Cherry and The Thing on the 2011-recorded album The Cherry Thing and by Bruce Springsteen both live and in a studio version released on High Hopes (2014). Springsteen released a live version as an EP which was a part of the Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series in 2008. Also part of the EP series was a live version of "Dream Baby Dream" performed by Suicide on NBC's The Midnight Special in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surrender (Suicide song)</span> 1988 single by Suicide

Surrender is a single by the synthpop band Suicide, written by its members Martin Rev and Alan Vega. It was released as a single in 1988 by Chapter 22.

<i>Half Alive</i> (album) 1981 compilation album by Suicide

Half Alive is a compilation album by Suicide, originally released on cassette only on September 9, 1981 by ROIR. It is composed of live recordings from 1978 and home and studio demos recorded between 1974 and 1979.

<i>21½ Minutes in Berlin/23 Minutes in Brussels</i> 1978 live album by Suicide

21½ Minutes in Berlin/23 Minutes in Brussels is a live performance album by Suicide, released in 1978 by Red Star Records. The B-side of the album is infamous for the audience's raucous revulsion toward the duo's performance, providing "some indication of the public's reaction to this confrontational duo in their heyday". 23 Minutes in Brussels remained largely unheard until its release in 1998 with the reissue of the band's self-titled debut album. 21½ Minutes in Berlin remains out of print.

<i>Ghost Riders</i> (Suicide album) 1986 live album by Suicide

Ghost Riders is a live performance album by Suicide, recorded in 1981 and released in 1986 by ROIR.

<i>A Way of Life</i> (Suicide album) 1988 studio album by Suicide

A Way of Life is the third studio album by Suicide, released in 1988. It was first distributed by Chapter 22 Records, then received wider global distribution through Wax Trax! Records a year later. Visual artist Stefan Roloff produced a music video for the song "Dominic Christ" and Suicide went overseas to promote the album by performing the single "Surrender" in Paris which was aired on French television. In 2005, it was remastered containing a slight remix by Martin Rev and redistributed by Mute Record's Blast First sub-label with an additional disc of live material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rev It Up (song)</span> 1988 single by Jerry Harrison: Casual Gods

"Rev It Up" is a song by American musician Jerry Harrison, performed with his band Casual Gods. Written by Harrison, John Sieger, and Ernie Brooks, the song features a prominent guitar riff created by Harrison and Alex Weir of American funk band the Brothers Johnson. The track was recorded in a bomb shelter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, along with most of Harrison's second album, Casual Gods (1988), on which the song appears as the opening track.

References

  1. Kellman, Andy. "Suicide: Why Be Blue > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  2. Why Be Blue (booklet). Suicide. München, Germany: Brake Out. 1992.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)