A Maximum High
Encyclopedia
A Maximum High is the second studio album
by the British
rock
band Shed Seven
, released in April, 1996 via Polydor Records
. The album was written by all four band members at the time of release; Rick Witter
, Paul Banks
, Tom Gladwin and Alan Leach.
, prior to recording the album. One of the first tracks recorded, with their new producer Chris Sheldon
, was the lead single, "Where Have You Been Tonight?", written in late-1994 and debuting live at the band's Christmas
show on December 23. It was one of five tracks completed during a three week recording session at RAK Studios
in February, 1995, before the band departed midway through the mixing process at Metropolis to embark on their first tour of Japan
, satisfied with what they had achieved;
Along with the lead single, they completed a further four songs during their first stint in the recording studio; "This Day Was Ours", "Bully Boy", an untitled track, which was said to be the first Shed Seven song to feature drummer Alan Leach on lead vocals, and "Lies". This version of "Lies" was previewed on an NME
compilation cassette given away free with their May 6, 1995 issue, almost a year before the album was released. Following gigs in Spain
and Japan, the band headed back to the studio in May 1995 to begin work on further material for inclusion on the album, which, at that point, was titled In Colour. Numerous tracks recorded in this period feature the highly renowned session musicians, The Kick Horns and The Phantom Horns, adding a brassier undertone to the featured songs and marking a notable change in sound to that of the band's previous output.
in his review, summarising the album as "sexy, Smiths-fuelled and superb";
He went on to liken the "jugular-directed guitar attacks" to that of their debut album
, but also noted a distinct change "of a band trying new moves and a richer sound". This change of sound was also noted by Mark Sutherland, writing for the NME
in April 1996, who stated that "the Sheds have rocketed on so far from '94's 'Change Giver', they could actually rewrite the traditional album reviewers lexicon" and went on to compare the band to The Stone Roses
;
Writing for The Guardian
in April 1996, Caroline Sullivan labelled A Maximum High "good, but not outstanding", as she praised guitarist Paul Banks's "exultant jangling", but found fault with the album's lyrical content. The LP has also been referred to as "the band's most consistently engaging album (...) full of inspirational anthems [and] excellent shout-along, arena-ready numbers."
A limited edition double CD version of the album titled A Maximum High Special Edition was released in September, 1996, five months after the regular issue. It featured a bonus disc of many of the band's b-sides from their first 9 single releases, along with an alternate piano version of the album track "Out By My Side" and an expanded album cover with additional lyrics and photographs.
Aside from the two UK releases, the French limited edition was issued with a free bonus disc in a cardboard slipcase featuring two live tracks—"Mark" and "Dolphin"—recorded at the Hanover Grand, London on January 30, 1996. The former track was later issued in the UK in May 1996 as a b-side to "Bully Boy" – the fourth single taken from A Maximum High – whilst the latter remains exclusive to the bonus disc. The Japanese version of the album also featured additional material, a bonus track titled "Song Seven", which was to be found as a b-side on the band's UK single "Getting Better", released in January, 1996.
which reached number 7 three years later, chart-wise, A Maximum High is Shed Seven's most successful album to date.
", "Going For Gold", "On Standby" and "Bully Boy". Each single release entered the chart at number 23 or higher, including their biggest hit to date, "Going For Gold", which peaked at number 8 in March, 1996.
/Banks
/Gladwin/Leach.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Shed Seven
Shed Seven
Shed Seven are an English indie rock band from York and were one of the groups which contributed to the Britpop music scene that evolved during the 1990s, yet never received the degree of mainstream success achieved by bands such as Oasis and Blur...
, released in April, 1996 via Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
. The album was written by all four band members at the time of release; Rick Witter
Rick Witter
Rick Witter is a singer, songwriter and frontman of the York-based Britpop band, Shed Seven.He was educated at Huntington School, York.-Professional career:...
, Paul Banks
Paul Banks (Shed Seven)
Paul Banks is a musician, songwriter and lead guitarist with the rock band, Shed Seven.-Professional career:...
, Tom Gladwin and Alan Leach.
Background and recording
Shed Seven held writing and rehearsal sessions at a local potato plant, RS Cockerill's of YorkYork
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, prior to recording the album. One of the first tracks recorded, with their new producer Chris Sheldon
Chris Sheldon
Chris Sheldon is a record producer, particularly of rock music, based in London, UK. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Feeder, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize and Pixies amongst others...
, was the lead single, "Where Have You Been Tonight?", written in late-1994 and debuting live at the band's Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
show on December 23. It was one of five tracks completed during a three week recording session at RAK Studios
RAK studios
RAK Studios are located near Regents Park in central London. The Studios were created by Mickie Most in late 1976 and they have been host to the recording of a number of artists for over three decades.- Artists recorded at RAK :All info from artist list....
in February, 1995, before the band departed midway through the mixing process at Metropolis to embark on their first tour of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, satisfied with what they had achieved;
Along with the lead single, they completed a further four songs during their first stint in the recording studio; "This Day Was Ours", "Bully Boy", an untitled track, which was said to be the first Shed Seven song to feature drummer Alan Leach on lead vocals, and "Lies". This version of "Lies" was previewed on an NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
compilation cassette given away free with their May 6, 1995 issue, almost a year before the album was released. Following gigs in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Japan, the band headed back to the studio in May 1995 to begin work on further material for inclusion on the album, which, at that point, was titled In Colour. Numerous tracks recorded in this period feature the highly renowned session musicians, The Kick Horns and The Phantom Horns, adding a brassier undertone to the featured songs and marking a notable change in sound to that of the band's previous output.
Critical reception
A Maximum High garnered a positive to mixed response from critics upon release. Ian Harrison of Select drew a number of comparisons with The SmithsThe Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
in his review, summarising the album as "sexy, Smiths-fuelled and superb";
(I)t's apparent that Shed Seven's closest inspiration isn't Northside or The Railway Children, but The Smiths. Of all the contenders to be the heirs to The Hated Salford Ensemble, this band pull it off with the best spirit and the least number of groaning timbers. Continually there're the lilting/grinding guitars à la Marr, while Rick's voice twists and soars like Moz pre-Brendan Behan look-alike period.
He went on to liken the "jugular-directed guitar attacks" to that of their debut album
Change Giver
Change Giver is the debut album by British rock band Shed Seven, released via Polydor Records on September 5, 1994. It was produced by Jessica Corcoran and was issued during the formative year of the britpop movement—a scene which dominated British alternative music in the mid-1990s.The album was...
, but also noted a distinct change "of a band trying new moves and a richer sound". This change of sound was also noted by Mark Sutherland, writing for the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
in April 1996, who stated that "the Sheds have rocketed on so far from '94's 'Change Giver', they could actually rewrite the traditional album reviewers lexicon" and went on to compare the band to The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...
;
Certainly, the tough, ultra-confident, tune-stuffed 'outfit' here are, Witter's emotional foghorn vocals apart, barely recognisable from the scruffy tykes on the flashy, but ultimately unsatisfying, 'Change Giver'. Indeed, parts of it are good enough to pass as someone else's second album: chiefly, the record The Stone Roses should have made instead of 'The Second Coming'.
Writing for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in April 1996, Caroline Sullivan labelled A Maximum High "good, but not outstanding", as she praised guitarist Paul Banks's "exultant jangling", but found fault with the album's lyrical content. The LP has also been referred to as "the band's most consistently engaging album (...) full of inspirational anthems [and] excellent shout-along, arena-ready numbers."
Alternate editions
Aside from the two UK releases, the French limited edition was issued with a free bonus disc in a cardboard slipcase featuring two live tracks—"Mark" and "Dolphin"—recorded at the Hanover Grand, London on January 30, 1996. The former track was later issued in the UK in May 1996 as a b-side to "Bully Boy" – the fourth single taken from A Maximum High – whilst the latter remains exclusive to the bonus disc. The Japanese version of the album also featured additional material, a bonus track titled "Song Seven", which was to be found as a b-side on the band's UK single "Getting Better", released in January, 1996.
Album
A Maximum High spent a total of 26 weeks in the UK album chart, peaking at number 8 on April 13, 1996, with the Special Edition reissue peaking at number 13. Discounting the band's singles compilationGoing for Gold (album)
Going For Gold is a singles compilation album by the British rock band, Shed Seven, released in May 1999 via Polydor Records. The album features sleevenotes written by Mark Sutherland, the former editor of Melody Maker, who refers to the LP as the band's "Best Of Album", whereas the album artwork...
which reached number 7 three years later, chart-wise, A Maximum High is Shed Seven's most successful album to date.
Singles
The album spawned five Top 40 UK hit singles for the band in "Where Have You Been Tonight?", "Getting BetterGetting Better (Shed Seven song)
"Getting Better" is the second single from the Shed Seven album A Maximum High. The song spent a total of 3 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 14 on January 27, 1996....
", "Going For Gold", "On Standby" and "Bully Boy". Each single release entered the chart at number 23 or higher, including their biggest hit to date, "Going For Gold", which peaked at number 8 in March, 1996.
Track listing
All tracks written by WitterRick Witter
Rick Witter is a singer, songwriter and frontman of the York-based Britpop band, Shed Seven.He was educated at Huntington School, York.-Professional career:...
/Banks
Paul Banks (Shed Seven)
Paul Banks is a musician, songwriter and lead guitarist with the rock band, Shed Seven.-Professional career:...
/Gladwin/Leach.
- Track 13 is bonus track included on the Japanese edition of the album.
- Track 4 is exclusive to this album release.
- Tracks 1, 6 and 11 are taken from the 1996 single, "On Standby".
- Track 2 is taken from the 1994 single, "Speakeasy".
- Tracks 3 and 7 are taken from the 1995 single, "Where Have You Been Tonight?".
- Track 5 is taken from the 1994 single, "Dolphin".
- Tracks 8, 12 and 15 are taken from the 1994 single, "Ocean PieOcean pie"Ocean Pie" is the fourth single release from britpop band Shed Seven's debut album, Change Giver. The single was released in October 1994 and peaked at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart.-Tracklisting:CD and 12" Vinyl#"Ocean Pie" – 4:39...
". - Tracks 9 and 14 are taken from the 1996 single, "Going For Gold".
- Track 10 is taken from the double A side 1994 single, "Mark/Casino Girl".
- Tracks 13 and 16 are taken from the 1996 single, "Getting BetterGetting Better (Shed Seven song)"Getting Better" is the second single from the Shed Seven album A Maximum High. The song spent a total of 3 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 14 on January 27, 1996....
". - Production on the tracks included on the Special Edition bonus disc was done by Shed Seven, Chris Sheldon, Jessica Corcoran, Tim Lewis and Simon Wall.
Personnel
Shed Seven
Additional musicians
|
Technical personnel
|