Troublegum

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Troublegum
Therapy studio album

Publication
(s)

February 7, 1994

admission

Early - mid 1993

Label (s) A&M Records

Genre (s)

Rock , alternative rock , pop-punk

Title (number)

14 (15 in the Japanese version)

running time

45:39

occupation

production

Chris Sheldon

Studio (s)

Black Barn Studios, Surrey , England (Track 2), Livingstone Studios, London , England (Track 11), Chipping Norton Studios, Oxford , England, Rak Studios and Church Studios, London , England

chronology
Nurse
(1992)
Troublegum Infernal Love
(1995)

Troublegum is the second major label album by the Northern Irish band Therapy . It was released on February 7, 1994 on A&M Records . The album marked the band's breakthrough, reaching number five in the UK charts.

Origin and style

The album was recorded in 1993 in various English studios: The song Screamager in February 1993 in Black Barn Studios, it was released in March 1993 on the EP Shortsharpshock and reached number nine in the British charts. Turn appeared on the EP Face the Strange in May 1993 and was recorded in March 1993 at Livingstone Studios. The rest of the recordings took place in mid-1993 at Chipping Norton Studios in Oxford and in two London studios. In contrast to Nurse, the songs were not created in jam sessions , but on the acoustic guitar, which made the singing more prominent. When recording the band, in contrast to the previous album, it was important that the sound was no longer so “clean and clinical”, but Sheldon's production was ultimately differentiated and more metal-like. The song structures should also be less complex. Although the band stated that they were still listening to industrial rock , they wanted to record “melodic, song-oriented compositions” at the time. Some guest musicians were involved, with the song Unbeliever for example Page Hamilton from Helmet . Eight singles were released (including promo releases), including the Joy Division Cover Isolation .

On the occasion of the band's 20th anniversary, the band played the entire album at a few concerts in 2010.

background

Track list
  1. Knives (Cairns) - 1:55
  2. Screamager (Cairns / McKeegan / Ewing) - 2:36
  3. Hellbelly (Cairns) - 3:21
  4. Stop It You're Killing Me (Cairns) - 3:50
  5. Nowhere (Cairns / McCarrick) - 2:26
  6. The Laughing (Cairns / McKeegan / Ewing) - 2:48
  7. Unbeliever (Cairns) - 3:28
  8. Trigger Inside (Cairns) - 3:56
  9. Lunacy Booth (Cairns) - 3:55
  10. Isolation ( Curtis / Sumner / Hook / Morris ) - 3:10
  11. Turn (Cairns / McKeegan / Ewing) - 3:50
  12. Femtex (Cairns) - 3:14
  13. Unrequited (Cairns) - 3:03
  14. Brainsaw (Cairns) - 3:58
  15. You are My Sunshine (Davis / Mitchell) ( Hidden Track )
  16. Pantopon Rose (Cairns / McKeegan) - 2:19 (Japanese version)

Singer Andy Cairns said that Troublegum is not a “pure bubblegum album like from the sixties”, but the melodies go in that direction. Since the lyrics are more serious as a contrast to this, the play on words of the album title from the words "Trouble" and "Bubblegum" offered itself. But the texts would be deliberately apolitical.

The song Hellbelly was inspired by the television preachers who, according to Cairns, all want to benefit from the glory of Jesus Christ , but are not in the least willing to endure his sufferings in return. He calls this hypocrisy . In the chorus, Andy Cairns sings "Jesus without the suffering" (Eng. "Jesus without the suffering"). Unbeliever is also a song critical of the church. On the one hand, according to Cairns, the church would “ arrogate censorship and forbid other people to depict violence, for example”. On the other hand, according to Cairns, the churches would "spread terrifying stories of the agonizing purgatory of Hell , some of which are cruelly illustrated". These stories are being told to children right now.

The song Die Laughing is based on a true story and is about a man who seeks help from a psychiatrist because of his depression . The latter prescribed Valium for the patient , but the man's anxiety became worse. After the man in front was short, suicide to commit again, he turned to his therapist. Since he could no longer prescribe stronger medication, he recommended that his patient visit the circus that was in town at the moment. The clown would have been "incredibly funny", to which the patient replied that he is the clown.

“Many people simply cannot get out of their everyday role of playing the lucky ones and run around with put on good-mood facial expressions, even though they are feeling bad. This is precisely what they despair of because, in addition to their actual suffering, they also feel misunderstood because they cannot communicate. "

- Andy Cairns

Trigger Inside deals with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer . According to Andy Cairns, much would have gone wrong in Dahmer's life that led to his actions. For Cairns the idea arises that "a number of potential mass murderers are walking around like time bombs that could be triggered by a key situation at any time".

reception

Troublegum received good reviews. Andy Kellman from Allmusic.com called the record a "landmark". Kellman especially praised the songwriting . Although the songs are simple, there is a great variety, no two songs sound the same. It awarded four and a half stars out of five and the “AMG Album Pick” award. Screamager has been compared to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit for its teenage importance . In Rock Hard, Uwe “Buffo” Schnädelbach liked the catchy melodies with “catchy tunes”. The album is a "brilliant foray through the extensive fund of rock music". He awarded nine out of ten points. The album was the magazine in third place behind in the monthly "Richter scale" Prongs Cleansing and Hanging in the Balance of Metal Church . In 2005 the magazine Visions took the album at number 99 in its "150 albums for eternity".

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g h Marcus Schleutermann: Clowns & Massenmörder , in: Rock Hard, No. 82, March 1994, pp. 16-17
  2. a b allmusic.com: Biography Therapy?
  3. ^ Allmusic.com: Troublegum review by Andy Kellman
  4. rockhard.de: Troublegum review by Uwe “Buffo” Schnädelbach
  5. Visions, No. 151, October 2005, p. 62

Web links