Guerrilla (album)
Encyclopedia
Guerrilla is the third studio album by by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals
. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records
and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced
by the band themselves, as regular producer Gorwel Owen
felt exhausted after a busy schedule working for other bands. Recording took place at Real World Studios
, Box, Wiltshire
in mid-1998 with the group experimenting with a sampler
for the first time and writing a number of songs in the studio. The band tried to create a 45-minute long, immediate sounding record, and therefore chose the upbeat songs from the 25 tracks which were recorded during sessions for the album. Guerrilla was chosen as the album's title as a pun on the group's name.
The album features a mix of musical styles and was described as exemplifying the 'nu-psychedelia' musical genre by British music magazine the NME
. Singer Gruff Rhys
has stated that his lyrics are upbeat and disposable. Critical reception was generally positive with the record appearing in the "Best album of 1999" lists issued by several magazines. The band were disappointed with the relative lack of success of the album's singles and went on "pop strike" as a result, issuing the 'lo-fi
', all-Welsh language
Mwng
as the follow-up to Guerrilla in May 2000.
sort of album, where you listen to it and every song is different," according to singer Gruff Rhys
. Rhys has said that the band felt they were waging a "sonic war" against average music and "the mainstream" with the record.
The Super Furry Animals had originally intended to work on the album with Gorwel Owen
, who co-produced
1996's Fuzzy Logic
and 1997's Radiator
with the band. According to Rhys, however, Owen felt "burned out" after producing other bands solidly for a year and a half and asked the group to wait until he had chance to rest. The Super Furry Animals were so keen to record that they decided to produce the album themselves. Guerrilla was recorded at Peter Gabriel
's Real World Studios
in Box, Wiltshire
during the middle of 1998. Although Rhys has stated that the group met Gabriel several times during recording, and that they thought he was "a good old guy", Real World was chosen because it was near to the band's homes in Wales rather than because of its association with the former Genesis
frontman. Sessions were "much less volatile than usual" according to Rhys, as the five members of the band felt they had to reach consensus over everything because they were producing the record themselves—while recording their previous albums the band would often fall out and shout at each other safe in the knowledge that Owen would act as a mediator and take the final decisions. Bassist
Guto Pryce
has stated that the band also felt happier during recording sessions for Guerrilla because they had their pets with them at Real World, and were able to relax and enjoy the 1998 FIFA World Cup
and the British summer.
During recording, the band used a sampler
for the first time and hired many different musical instruments. The group experimented with electronic sounds and wrote several of the album's tracks in the studio, allowing "the music to dictate itself". The song "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" was written around the ringtone of a mobile phone
with the rhythm track being based on a sample of bassist
Guto Pryce
tripping over a lead while Huw Bunford
played a note on his guitar. "Some Things Come From Nothing" came from an acid house
tune written by keyboardist Cian Ciaran
. Samples of Rhys playing an out-of-tune acoustic guitar
and Ciaran playing drums
were mixed together and the song was "written and recorded simultaneously" by the group. "The Sound of Life Today" is a 22 second sample of "Some Things Come From Nothing" played backwards. According to Rhys the band gave the track a "really pompous title" so that listeners would expect to hear the meaning of life and instead get just a "collection of noises". "Do or Die
", "Fire in My Heart
" and "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" were written by Rhys while "The Door to This House Remains Open" developed from a band jam
of the Rod Stewart
song "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" which completely changed over the 30 minutes the group played for. The melody for "Northern Lites
" was written by Gruff Rhys several years before the track was released. Reggae
and rock
styles were tried by the band before they settled on calypso
after Rhys wrote lyrics for the song and tried playing along to a preset calypso rhythm track which was on his keyboard
. The band added steel drums to the track on the spur of the moment after seeing the instruments "lying around" Real World during recording. The steel drums parts were performed by keyboard player Ciaran, despite the fact he did not know how to play them.
Around 25 tracks were recorded for Guerrilla, with all members of the band agreeing to trim this number down for the final track listing of the record in order to make a 45-minute long album which was immediate. The group chose the 'up' songs, the "digital songs with more of a constant rhythm", that they had recorded and left off the 'down' tracks to create a positive "brash and light-weight" record—a "disposable pop album that's too good to throw away". According to Bunford, some of the more guitar-orientated songs the group recorded were included on initial track listings and were only left off the record at the last minute in favour of more electronic sounding tracks. Rhys has said that the decision to include "The Teacher" on the album was a decisive moment, as the track is "the most stupid thing on the record"—if a more downbeat song, such as eventual B-side
"The Matter of Time", had been included in its place, Guerrilla would have been a much more self-indulgent album. The singer has also stated that the group's "healthy ego problems" would often result in individuals fighting to have some of their own songs removed from the final track listing of the record in favour of songs written by other members. The band chose to sequence the album like a hip hop
record, with "Check It Out" as an introduction and "A Specific Ocean" and "The Sound of Life Today" as interludes.
The album's title is pun on the band's name but was also chosen by the group as they felt it had added resonance in the wake of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
. Rhys has also stated that the band sometimes flatter themselves that they "take a guerrilla stance outside things, make things that aren't pop, popular in the future". The band added the subtitle "Non violent direct action" to the album's packaging to ensure that no-one could read any "crass, militaristic statements" into the name of the record. The band thought about making a film to accompany the album but ultimately decided that the idea was "too ambitious". They returned to this idea with 2001's Rings Around the World
, making music video
s for each of the tracks on the record and including them on the album's DVD
release.
as a combination of the group's techno roots and their more recent "sunny guitar-pop". The NME
featured an interview with the Super Furry Animals, several weeks before the release of the album in the United Kingdom, as the lead article in an issue which discussed the "nu-psychedelia" musical genre, which they saw Guerrilla as exemplifying. Gruff Rhys has stated, however, that he sees the album as a quite conventional pop album, and that he associates psychedelia with improvisation whereas Guerrilla was "almost entirely preconceived". The singer has also said that the album is not a radical departure for the group musically, although it is "more groovy and uptempo [...] more textured and punchy" than the band's previous releases, partly due to the mix
which creates a "more American sound". Spin
stated that the record combines "prog
, glam
, techno, and garage
" and is the "gleeful missing link in the psych
-prog continuum". Select stated that the album juxtaposes pop songs with "rambling odities" and is dominated by the "electronic throbs and pulses" of keyboard player Cian Ciaran at the expense of guitarist Huw Bunford. The magazine went on to say that Gruff Rhys's voice anchors the record and gives life to songs which otherwise might seem to be works-in-progress, citing "Chewing Chewing Gum" as an example.
The Melody Maker has described opening track "Check It Out" as a "jazz funk" song which turns into dub
after its first minute. The magazine went on to state that the song sums up the album due to its "defacement of symmetry" and disorder, which is also evident on "Do or Die", "The Turning Tide" and "The Teacher", all of which start as pop before ending up "skew-whiff under a wealth of hooligan noise". "The Turning Tide" features a string arrangement
by High Llamas
frontman Sean O'Hagan
. According to Rhys the band were happy with O'Hagan's "interesting" arrangement—the track is more serious than many of the other songs on the album and the group found writing a string part for it themselves problematic. "Do or Die" has been described as a "dumb pop song" by Rhys and called "surf pop" by the Melody Maker. Rhys has called "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" "metronomical", and stated that it was inspired by mobile phone ringtones. Critics have described the song as a techno track, with Pitchfork calling it "floor-slapping LSD-infused electronica" and Spin stating that it is "a psycho ward of tweaked noises", reminiscent of the music of Daft Punk
. "The Door to This House Remains Open" is a drum and bass
song that has been likened to the music of Boards of Canada
by Yahoo! Music
, while "Some Things Come From Nothing" is a post-punk
dub track that was called "the closest a rock band will come to the cracked ambience of Aphex Twin
" by the NME. "Fire in My Heart" has been described by Rhys as a country and western
song, while Mojo
has called it "trad-sounding" folk music
. The Melody Maker called the album's closer "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" "psych pop" and likened "Chewing Chewing Gum" to the second side of Roxy Music
's debut album
. "Night Vision" is the "most aggressive-sounding" song on the album according to Rhys. The track has been called garage rock by the Melody Maker and punk rock
by both Allmusic and Yahoo! Music, with the latter comparing the song to "She's Lost Control
" by Joy Division
. First single "Northern Lites" is a calypso-inspired track. Critics have commented on the song's use of "Tijuana brass", reminiscent of the work of Herb Alpert
, and likened the track to the music of Burt Bacharach
and Hal David
and the Beck
single "Deadweight
".
" features the most clichéd lyrics he has ever written, he has also said that he wrote it with complete sincerity. The track is "soul advice" and is about the many different in our lives.
"Northern Lites
" was named after the Aurora Borealis
, a natural light display which can be observed particularly in the polar regions, and usually at night. The song's lyrics were written by Rhys about "the weather", and were inspired by coverage of the "terrifying, worldwide, seven-year phenomenon" of the west Pacific El Niño
climate pattern
the singer saw on "weather channels" in 1998. Rhys has said that he views "The Turning Tide" as more serious than the other tracks on Guerrilla. The song's lyrics are about living in a time of change and embracing change. Although "Do or Die
" has "really daft lyrics" its title was was taken from the Quit India speech
made by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank
in Bombay
in which Gandhi called for his countrymen to "Do or Die" and use non-violent resistance to end British Imperial rule in India. Rhys has stated that he feels quite pleased that young children can can jump up and down to the song, singing "Gandhi lyrics". "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" is a comic, but also quite sinister, song about the possible effects of mobile phone radiation on people's health
. Both "Night Vision" and "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" have lyrics inspired by the band's nights out in Cardiff
. The former addresses bouncers
who caused problems for the group by throwing them out of nightclubs, and the aggression that the band frequently witnessed on Saturday nights in the city. The latter is a very happy song about "being in love and going out to the Hippo Club in Cardiff and feeling bulletproof and unstoppable".
, cassette
, Minidisc
and vinyl
by Creation Records
and peaked at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart
. The record was released on 27 July 1999 in the United States. "Northern Lites
" was released as the first single from the album, reaching number 11 in the UK Singles Chart
, followed by "Fire in My Heart
" which peaked at number 25 after its release on 9 August 1999. The third and final single to be taken from the album, "Do or Die
", was released on 17 January 2000 and reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart. Guerrilla was reissued in 2005 by XL Recordings
, with a bonus CD featuring the six B-sides which appeared on the album's singles.
Pete Fowler
, who had designed the sleeve of every Super Furry Animals release since the 1997 single "Hermann ♥'s Pauline", again provided the artwork for Guerrilla. Fowler worked in 3D
, creating a model of a yellow monster, smoking a pipe and wearing a "mobile phone and bandolier belt". The monster is shown operating "the control panel of the universe" for the cover of the record.
The album features the hidden track
s "Citizen's Band" and "Chewing Chewing Gum (Reprise)". The former appears only on the Compact Disc
version of the record—it is stored in the pregap
and can be heard by rewinding back from the start of the first song, "Check It Out". The latter appears at the very end of the album following several minutes of silence after the end of last song "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy". The lyrics for "Citizen's Band" are hidden inside the card outer-sleeve included with original CD copies of the album. According to Rhys the band decided to hide "Citizen's Band" as it didn't fit with the rest of the Guerrilla and they wanted to make the album like a computer game which can be played for several months before a new level is discovered. Guitarist Huw Bunford has stated that the band originally intended to hide the track in the album cover itself, by way of a special vinyl sleeve design, but the group's record label, Creation, refused to allow this due to the cost.
called the album "magical stuff" and commended the band for their ability to mix musical styles, being particularly impressed with the juxtaposition of the esoteric "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" and the "trad-sounding" "Fire in My Heart". The magazine suggested that Guerrillas melodies were good enough to provide the band with number one singles and praised "Northern Lites" in particular, stating that it was "one of the most frothily inventive pop confections" since the band's own "Ice Hockey Hair
", released in 1998. Pitchfork Media
were similarly impressed with the eclecticism of the album, stating that the group seemingly try every musical genre possible and succeed in their efforts. The website claimed that the album sees the band take their "long-standing whimsicality to its logic-warping extreme". Cokemachineglow also commented on the band's musical versatility, stating that, although the record features a mix of styles, it is a cohesive whole; a "perfectly flowing album", that showcases some of the Super Furry Animals' best songs. Allmusic agreed calling Guerrilla arguably the band's "most cohesive" album and a "pleasingly and consistently unpredictable" record. Yahoo! Music
called Guerrilla a "strange bag of mixed fruits" and stated that, as the record is so difficult to pigeonhole, it "takes some getting into". The website felt that this was a good thing however, and again praised the album for its shifting musical styles. CMJ New Music Report
stated that the record sees the band capturing "an enviously gentle interplay between electronic and organic instruments".
The NME called the album "an acid fried quadrophonic vision of rock 'n' roll" and suggested that it was a masterpiece which could define the era in which it was released, in the same way that Primal Scream
's Screamadelica
did in 1991 and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
by Oasis
did in 1995. The magazine also stated that, despite the very different musical genres evident on the album, it succeeds in being a coherent, startlingly beautiful record, which showcases the band's "thunderous imagination and three-dimensional vision" and could be described as "experimental music with a beating heart". The NME ranked the album at number three in their Albums of the year 1999
feature, praising the record for its "superabundance of creativity". The Melody Maker also claimed that the album accurately reflected the era in which it was released and called it the group's best release. The magazine went on to compare Guerrilla to the "romance" of drug taking, calling it a "beautifully suggestive and inspiring testament" to illegal substances. Select placed Guerrilla at number nine in their albums of the year award for 1999 and called "Somethings Come From Nothing" the record's highlight, stating that the track "oozes an epic, sonourous electronic sadness around Gruff's muted mumbling of a single sentence". Despite dismissing "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" as a throwaway novelty song, the magazine stated that Guerrilla "makes experiment engaging" and concluded that it was a "brilliantly subversive" attack on the charts. The record appeared in the "Best New Albums of 1999" feature in the January 2000 issue of Record Collector, with the magazine calling it "upbeat and mischievous, with as many touching moments as there are puzzling".
Spin claimed that the album was "more-hit-than-miss" and shows that "prog can be fun". The magazine was critical of "The Turning Tide" and "Northern Lites" however, calling the former "cosmically ridiculous" and the latter "overipe fruit". British newspaper The Independent
stated that, although the record includes a number of exceptional tracks, it also features a "lot of noodling" and claimed that it does not compare favourably with the work of The Flaming Lips
. Q
called Guerrilla a "great big bouncing ball of confusion" and stated that the record "explodes all over the place with almost cartoon glee". The magazine did, however, feel that the record's disparate influences were too often "left hanging like loose wires" and that there was an air of forced eccentricity about the release, despite praising lead single "Northern Lites".
Accolades
* denotes an unordered list
on 2 May. The group then played that year's Glastonbury
and V
festivals. The band undertook a tour of the United States and Canada, beginning at Maxwell's
, Hoboken, New Jersey
on 14 September and ending at the Coachella Festival
on 9 October. Singer Gruff Rhys wrote a tour diary, covering the first nine dates from 14-26 September, which appeared in the 9 October 1999 issue of the Melody Maker under the title "Guerrillas in the Midwest". The group played a fifteen date tour of the United Kingdom, starting on 15 October at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
and ending at the Brixton Academy, London
on 3 November. After concerts in Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and France, promotion ended with a headline date at the Cardiff International Arena
on 20 December which was webcast
on the band's official website, and a support slot with the Manic Street Preachers
at the Millennium Stadium
, Cardiff on New Year's Eve 1999.
Singer Gruff Rhys
has described Guerrilla as "flippant, exciting, with an instant pop rush" and "one of [the band's] most ambitious" records, going on to state that "if any of our records could've sold a lot, this is the one. I don't think the others have been proper pop albums, but I think Guerrilla could have been". The band were disappointed with the relative lack of success of the album and its singles—none of which managed to chart inside the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart—and went on "pop strike" as a result. Because of this the group's next record was the all-Welsh language
, lo-fi
, Mwng
, which the group recorded simply for the joy of making music. The album was recorded in two weeks for just , in contrast with the "excessive expense" of Guerrilla.
.
Reissue Bonus CD
Additional musicians
Recording personnel
Artwork
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
and peaked at number 10 in the UK Album Charts. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by the band themselves, as regular producer Gorwel Owen
Gorwel Owen
Gorwel Owen is a Welsh producer and musician. He has worked with Datblygu, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals and Hwyl Nofio. He is also a member of Pondman with his wife, the poet Fiona Owen.-Discography:...
felt exhausted after a busy schedule working for other bands. Recording took place at Real World Studios
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...
, Box, Wiltshire
Box, Wiltshire
Box is a village located in Wiltshire, England, about east of Bath and west of Chippenham. It is quite a large parish with several settlements, apart from the village of Box, within its boundaries....
in mid-1998 with the group experimenting with a sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
for the first time and writing a number of songs in the studio. The band tried to create a 45-minute long, immediate sounding record, and therefore chose the upbeat songs from the 25 tracks which were recorded during sessions for the album. Guerrilla was chosen as the album's title as a pun on the group's name.
The album features a mix of musical styles and was described as exemplifying the 'nu-psychedelia' musical genre by British music magazine 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...
. Singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has stated that his lyrics are upbeat and disposable. Critical reception was generally positive with the record appearing in the "Best album of 1999" lists issued by several magazines. The band were disappointed with the relative lack of success of the album's singles and went on "pop strike" as a result, issuing the 'lo-fi
Low fidelity
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response...
', all-Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
Mwng
Mwng
Mwng is the fourth studio album by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals, and the first by the group to have lyrics written entirely in the Welsh language. Mwng was released on 15 May 2000 on the band's own record label, Placid Casual, following the demise of their former label Creation...
as the follow-up to Guerrilla in May 2000.
Origins and recording
Guerrilla was deliberately conceived as a commercial-sounding 'pop' album; a "jukeboxJukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
sort of album, where you listen to it and every song is different," according to singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
. Rhys has said that the band felt they were waging a "sonic war" against average music and "the mainstream" with the record.
The Super Furry Animals had originally intended to work on the album with Gorwel Owen
Gorwel Owen
Gorwel Owen is a Welsh producer and musician. He has worked with Datblygu, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Super Furry Animals and Hwyl Nofio. He is also a member of Pondman with his wife, the poet Fiona Owen.-Discography:...
, who co-produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
1996's Fuzzy Logic
Fuzzy Logic (album)
Fuzzy Logic is the debut album by the Super Furry Animals. It was listed in Q Magazine's Best British Albums Ever in July 2004, and in the same magazine's Top 10 Britpop Albums Ever in December 1996 and features in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die...
and 1997's Radiator
Radiator (album)
Radiator is the second album by the Super Furry Animals. It peaked at #8 on the UK charts. In 2005, it was reissued with a bonus disc of other tracks from the time....
with the band. According to Rhys, however, Owen felt "burned out" after producing other bands solidly for a year and a half and asked the group to wait until he had chance to rest. The Super Furry Animals were so keen to record that they decided to produce the album themselves. Guerrilla was recorded at Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's Real World Studios
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...
in Box, Wiltshire
Box, Wiltshire
Box is a village located in Wiltshire, England, about east of Bath and west of Chippenham. It is quite a large parish with several settlements, apart from the village of Box, within its boundaries....
during the middle of 1998. Although Rhys has stated that the group met Gabriel several times during recording, and that they thought he was "a good old guy", Real World was chosen because it was near to the band's homes in Wales rather than because of its association with the former Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
frontman. Sessions were "much less volatile than usual" according to Rhys, as the five members of the band felt they had to reach consensus over everything because they were producing the record themselves—while recording their previous albums the band would often fall out and shout at each other safe in the knowledge that Owen would act as a mediator and take the final decisions. Bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Guto Pryce
Guto Pryce
Guto Dafydd Pryce is a bass guitar player in the band Super Furry Animals.The name Guto is pronounced in Welsh....
has stated that the band also felt happier during recording sessions for Guerrilla because they had their pets with them at Real World, and were able to relax and enjoy the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
and the British summer.
During recording, the band used a sampler
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
for the first time and hired many different musical instruments. The group experimented with electronic sounds and wrote several of the album's tracks in the studio, allowing "the music to dictate itself". The song "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" was written around the ringtone of a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
with the rhythm track being based on a sample of bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Guto Pryce
Guto Pryce
Guto Dafydd Pryce is a bass guitar player in the band Super Furry Animals.The name Guto is pronounced in Welsh....
tripping over a lead while Huw Bunford
Huw Bunford
Huw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
played a note on his guitar. "Some Things Come From Nothing" came from an acid house
Acid house
Acid house is a sub-genre of house music that emphasizes a repetitive, hypnotic and trance-like style, often with samples or spoken lines rather than sung lyrics. Acid house's core electronic squelch sounds were developed around the mid-1980s, particularly by DJs from Chicago who experimented with...
tune written by keyboardist Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran
Cian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
. Samples of Rhys playing an out-of-tune acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and Ciaran playing drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
were mixed together and the song was "written and recorded simultaneously" by the group. "The Sound of Life Today" is a 22 second sample of "Some Things Come From Nothing" played backwards. According to Rhys the band gave the track a "really pompous title" so that listeners would expect to hear the meaning of life and instead get just a "collection of noises". "Do or Die
Do or Die (song)
"Do or Die" is the eleventh single by Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and was the band's last release for Creation Records. The track reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 17 January 2000...
", "Fire in My Heart
Fire in My Heart
"Fire in My Heart" is the tenth single by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. It was the second single to be taken from the group's 1999 album Guerrilla, and reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 9 August 1999...
" and "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" were written by Rhys while "The Door to This House Remains Open" developed from a band jam
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
of the Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
song "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" which completely changed over the 30 minutes the group played for. The melody for "Northern Lites
Northern Lites
"Northern Lites" is the ninth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the first single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 10 May 1999. The song was written by singer Gruff Rhys and was inspired by the El Niño phenomenon...
" was written by Gruff Rhys several years before the track was released. Reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and 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...
styles were tried by the band before they settled on calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
after Rhys wrote lyrics for the song and tried playing along to a preset calypso rhythm track which was on his keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
. The band added steel drums to the track on the spur of the moment after seeing the instruments "lying around" Real World during recording. The steel drums parts were performed by keyboard player Ciaran, despite the fact he did not know how to play them.
Around 25 tracks were recorded for Guerrilla, with all members of the band agreeing to trim this number down for the final track listing of the record in order to make a 45-minute long album which was immediate. The group chose the 'up' songs, the "digital songs with more of a constant rhythm", that they had recorded and left off the 'down' tracks to create a positive "brash and light-weight" record—a "disposable pop album that's too good to throw away". According to Bunford, some of the more guitar-orientated songs the group recorded were included on initial track listings and were only left off the record at the last minute in favour of more electronic sounding tracks. Rhys has said that the decision to include "The Teacher" on the album was a decisive moment, as the track is "the most stupid thing on the record"—if a more downbeat song, such as eventual B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
"The Matter of Time", had been included in its place, Guerrilla would have been a much more self-indulgent album. The singer has also stated that the group's "healthy ego problems" would often result in individuals fighting to have some of their own songs removed from the final track listing of the record in favour of songs written by other members. The band chose to sequence the album like a hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
record, with "Check It Out" as an introduction and "A Specific Ocean" and "The Sound of Life Today" as interludes.
The album's title is pun on the band's name but was also chosen by the group as they felt it had added resonance in the wake of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia
The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia was NATO's military operation against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The strikes lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999...
. Rhys has also stated that the band sometimes flatter themselves that they "take a guerrilla stance outside things, make things that aren't pop, popular in the future". The band added the subtitle "Non violent direct action" to the album's packaging to ensure that no-one could read any "crass, militaristic statements" into the name of the record. The band thought about making a film to accompany the album but ultimately decided that the idea was "too ambitious". They returned to this idea with 2001's Rings Around the World
Rings around the World
Rings Around the World is the fifth studio album and the major label debut by Super Furry Animals. Released on 23 July 2001 by Epic Records in the United Kingdom, it was the first album by any artist to be simultaneously released on both audio CD and DVD...
, making music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s for each of the tracks on the record and including them on the album's DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release.
Musical style
Guerrilla features an eclectic mix of musical styles and has been described by Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
as a combination of the group's techno roots and their more recent "sunny guitar-pop". 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...
featured an interview with the Super Furry Animals, several weeks before the release of the album in the United Kingdom, as the lead article in an issue which discussed the "nu-psychedelia" musical genre, which they saw Guerrilla as exemplifying. Gruff Rhys has stated, however, that he sees the album as a quite conventional pop album, and that he associates psychedelia with improvisation whereas Guerrilla was "almost entirely preconceived". The singer has also said that the album is not a radical departure for the group musically, although it is "more groovy and uptempo [...] more textured and punchy" than the band's previous releases, partly due to the mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
which creates a "more American sound". Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
stated that the record combines "prog
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, glam
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
, techno, and garage
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
" and is the "gleeful missing link in the psych
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
-prog continuum". Select stated that the album juxtaposes pop songs with "rambling odities" and is dominated by the "electronic throbs and pulses" of keyboard player Cian Ciaran at the expense of guitarist Huw Bunford. The magazine went on to say that Gruff Rhys's voice anchors the record and gives life to songs which otherwise might seem to be works-in-progress, citing "Chewing Chewing Gum" as an example.
The Melody Maker has described opening track "Check It Out" as a "jazz funk" song which turns into dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
after its first minute. The magazine went on to state that the song sums up the album due to its "defacement of symmetry" and disorder, which is also evident on "Do or Die", "The Turning Tide" and "The Teacher", all of which start as pop before ending up "skew-whiff under a wealth of hooligan noise". "The Turning Tide" features a string arrangement
String section
The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
by High Llamas
The High Llamas
The High Llamas are a London-based musical group, formed by the Irish guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Hagan after the demise of his group Microdisney. O'Hagan writes and arranges the music and the rest of the group consists of drummer Rob Allum, keyboardist/cellist Marcus Holdaway, and...
frontman Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan
Sean O'Hagan is a founding member of Irish indie band Microdisney. In the 1990s he formed The High Llamas and released a number of highly acclaimed albums showing influences as diverse as The Beach Boys, Ennio Morricone, Antonio Carlos Jobim and avant-garde electronica...
. According to Rhys the band were happy with O'Hagan's "interesting" arrangement—the track is more serious than many of the other songs on the album and the group found writing a string part for it themselves problematic. "Do or Die" has been described as a "dumb pop song" by Rhys and called "surf pop" by the Melody Maker. Rhys has called "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" "metronomical", and stated that it was inspired by mobile phone ringtones. Critics have described the song as a techno track, with Pitchfork calling it "floor-slapping LSD-infused electronica" and Spin stating that it is "a psycho ward of tweaked noises", reminiscent of the music of Daft Punk
Daft Punk
Daft Punk are an electronic music duo consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter . Daft Punk reached significant popularity in the late 1990s house movement in France and met with continued success in the years following, combining elements of house with synthpop...
. "The Door to This House Remains Open" is a drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
song that has been likened to the music of Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...
by Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
, while "Some Things Come From Nothing" is a post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
dub track that was called "the closest a rock band will come to the cracked ambience of Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
" by the NME. "Fire in My Heart" has been described by Rhys as a country and western
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
song, while Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
has called it "trad-sounding" folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. The Melody Maker called the album's closer "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" "psych pop" and likened "Chewing Chewing Gum" to the second side of Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
's debut album
Roxy Music (album)
Roxy Music is the debut album by art rock band Roxy Music, released in June 1972. It was generally well-received by contemporary critics and made #10 in the UK charts.-Style and themes:...
. "Night Vision" is the "most aggressive-sounding" song on the album according to Rhys. The track has been called garage rock by the Melody Maker and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
by both Allmusic and Yahoo! Music, with the latter comparing the song to "She's Lost Control
She's Lost Control
"She's Lost Control" is a song by British post-punk band Joy Division. It was first introduced in a concert in June 1978. Two separate single recordings have been released: a guitar-dominated version appearing on the band's 1979 debut album Unknown Pleasures, and a heavier and more electronic...
" by Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
. First single "Northern Lites" is a calypso-inspired track. Critics have commented on the song's use of "Tijuana brass", reminiscent of the work of Herb Alpert
Herb Alpert
Herbert "Herb" Alpert is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, or TJB. He is also a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records...
, and likened the track to the music of Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
and Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
and the Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
single "Deadweight
Deadweight (song)
"Deadweight" is a single by Beck, taken from the soundtrack to the film A Life Less Ordinary. The song was nominated for Best Song from a Movie at the 1998 MTV Movie Awards, but lost out to Will Smith's "Men in Black". The song can also be found on the Deluxe Edition of Odelay.-Music video:This...
".
Lyrical themes
According to Gruff Rhys, Guerrillas lyrics are largely "self-consciously disposable, happy". "The Door to This House Remains Open" is about "starting a new chapter of your life". Rhys has said that his lyrics, which suggest that people should leave their doors open to others and that international borders should be open to allow immigration, are so optimistic that he is almost embarrassed by them. In contrast "Some Things Come From Nothing" features pessimistic lyrics inspired by the idea that "nothing seems to have any substance any more". "The Teacher" was written by Rhys from a teacher's perspective and was inspired by guitarist Huw Bunford, who was an art teacher before the Super Furry Animals became successful. Although Rhys has stated that "Fire in My HeartFire in My Heart
"Fire in My Heart" is the tenth single by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. It was the second single to be taken from the group's 1999 album Guerrilla, and reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 9 August 1999...
" features the most clichéd lyrics he has ever written, he has also said that he wrote it with complete sincerity. The track is "soul advice" and is about the many different in our lives.
"Northern Lites
Northern Lites
"Northern Lites" is the ninth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the first single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 10 May 1999. The song was written by singer Gruff Rhys and was inspired by the El Niño phenomenon...
" was named after the Aurora Borealis
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...
, a natural light display which can be observed particularly in the polar regions, and usually at night. The song's lyrics were written by Rhys about "the weather", and were inspired by coverage of the "terrifying, worldwide, seven-year phenomenon" of the west Pacific El Niño
El Niño-Southern Oscillation
El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, is a quasiperiodic climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every five years...
climate pattern
Climate pattern
A climate pattern is any recurring characteristic of the climate. Climate patterns can last tens of thousands of years, like the glacial and interglacial periods within ice ages, or repeat each year, like monsoons....
the singer saw on "weather channels" in 1998. Rhys has said that he views "The Turning Tide" as more serious than the other tracks on Guerrilla. The song's lyrics are about living in a time of change and embracing change. Although "Do or Die
Do or Die (song)
"Do or Die" is the eleventh single by Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and was the band's last release for Creation Records. The track reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 17 January 2000...
" has "really daft lyrics" its title was was taken from the Quit India speech
Quit India speech
thumb|Procession view at BangaloreThe Quit India speech is a speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8, 1942, on the eve of the Quit India movement. He called for determined, but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do...
made by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank
Gowalia Tank
Gowalia Tank Maidan is a park in central Mumbai where Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech on 8 August 1942 decreeing that the British must leave India immediately or else mass agitations would take place...
in Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in which Gandhi called for his countrymen to "Do or Die" and use non-violent resistance to end British Imperial rule in India. Rhys has stated that he feels quite pleased that young children can can jump up and down to the song, singing "Gandhi lyrics". "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" is a comic, but also quite sinister, song about the possible effects of mobile phone radiation on people's health
Mobile phone radiation and health
The effect of mobile phone radiation on human health is the subject of recent interest and study, as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world . Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range...
. Both "Night Vision" and "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" have lyrics inspired by the band's nights out in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. The former addresses bouncers
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...
who caused problems for the group by throwing them out of nightclubs, and the aggression that the band frequently witnessed on Saturday nights in the city. The latter is a very happy song about "being in love and going out to the Hippo Club in Cardiff and feeling bulletproof and unstoppable".
Release
Guerrilla was released on 14 June 1999 in the United Kingdom on CDCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
, Minidisc
MiniDisc
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
and vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
by Creation Records
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
and peaked at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. The record was released on 27 July 1999 in the United States. "Northern Lites
Northern Lites
"Northern Lites" is the ninth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the first single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 10 May 1999. The song was written by singer Gruff Rhys and was inspired by the El Niño phenomenon...
" was released as the first single from the album, reaching number 11 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, followed by "Fire in My Heart
Fire in My Heart
"Fire in My Heart" is the tenth single by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. It was the second single to be taken from the group's 1999 album Guerrilla, and reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 9 August 1999...
" which peaked at number 25 after its release on 9 August 1999. The third and final single to be taken from the album, "Do or Die
Do or Die (song)
"Do or Die" is the eleventh single by Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and was the band's last release for Creation Records. The track reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 17 January 2000...
", was released on 17 January 2000 and reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart. Guerrilla was reissued in 2005 by XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
, with a bonus CD featuring the six B-sides which appeared on the album's singles.
Pete Fowler
Pete Fowler
Pete Fowler is a Welsh artist best known for his artwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals. He is a freelance illustrator and "monster creator" inspired by Japanese art, folklore, myths, psychedelia and super nature...
, who had designed the sleeve of every Super Furry Animals release since the 1997 single "Hermann ♥'s Pauline", again provided the artwork for Guerrilla. Fowler worked in 3D
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
, creating a model of a yellow monster, smoking a pipe and wearing a "mobile phone and bandolier belt". The monster is shown operating "the control panel of the universe" for the cover of the record.
The album features the hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
s "Citizen's Band" and "Chewing Chewing Gum (Reprise)". The former appears only on the Compact Disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
version of the record—it is stored in the pregap
Pregap
The pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
and can be heard by rewinding back from the start of the first song, "Check It Out". The latter appears at the very end of the album following several minutes of silence after the end of last song "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy". The lyrics for "Citizen's Band" are hidden inside the card outer-sleeve included with original CD copies of the album. According to Rhys the band decided to hide "Citizen's Band" as it didn't fit with the rest of the Guerrilla and they wanted to make the album like a computer game which can be played for several months before a new level is discovered. Guitarist Huw Bunford has stated that the band originally intended to hide the track in the album cover itself, by way of a special vinyl sleeve design, but the group's record label, Creation, refused to allow this due to the cost.
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 14 June 1999 | Creation Records Creation Records Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were... |
Compact disc Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
CRECD242 |
| Cassette Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel... |
CCRE242 | |||
| Minidisc MiniDisc The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record... |
CREMD242 | |||
| Vinyl record Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... |
CRELP242 | |||
| United States | 27 July 1999 | Flydaddy | Compact disc | FLY 036 |
Critical reception
Guerrilla received generally positive reviews from critics. MojoMojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
called the album "magical stuff" and commended the band for their ability to mix musical styles, being particularly impressed with the juxtaposition of the esoteric "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" and the "trad-sounding" "Fire in My Heart". The magazine suggested that Guerrillas melodies were good enough to provide the band with number one singles and praised "Northern Lites" in particular, stating that it was "one of the most frothily inventive pop confections" since the band's own "Ice Hockey Hair
Ice Hockey Hair
Ice Hockey Hair is an EP by the Welsh alternative rock band Super Furry Animals, released in 1998. The record contains four songs which the band felt did not fit in with either their previous album, 1997's Radiator, or its follow-up Guerrilla. The title track refers to an alternative name for the...
", released in 1998. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
were similarly impressed with the eclecticism of the album, stating that the group seemingly try every musical genre possible and succeed in their efforts. The website claimed that the album sees the band take their "long-standing whimsicality to its logic-warping extreme". Cokemachineglow also commented on the band's musical versatility, stating that, although the record features a mix of styles, it is a cohesive whole; a "perfectly flowing album", that showcases some of the Super Furry Animals' best songs. Allmusic agreed calling Guerrilla arguably the band's "most cohesive" album and a "pleasingly and consistently unpredictable" record. Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
called Guerrilla a "strange bag of mixed fruits" and stated that, as the record is so difficult to pigeonhole, it "takes some getting into". The website felt that this was a good thing however, and again praised the album for its shifting musical styles. CMJ New Music Report
College Music Journal
College Music Journal, commonly known as CMJ, is a music events/publishing company which hosts an annual festival in New York City, the CMJ Music Marathon, as well as a weekly magazine of and for the music industry and college radio stations in the United States and Canada. It publishes top 30...
stated that the record sees the band capturing "an enviously gentle interplay between electronic and organic instruments".
The NME called the album "an acid fried quadrophonic vision of rock 'n' roll" and suggested that it was a masterpiece which could define the era in which it was released, in the same way that Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
's Screamadelica
Screamadelica
Screamadelica is the third studio album by the Scottish alternative rock group Primal Scream and was their first to be a commercial success. It was released on 23 September 1991 in the UK by Creation Records, and 8 October 1991 in North America by Sire Records. Screamadelica peaked at #8 on the UK...
did in 1991 and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Morning Glory? is the second studio album by the English rock band Oasis. It was released on 2 October 1995 through Creation Records. The album was Oasis' most enduring commercial success, charting at number one in the UK and number four in the U.S...
by Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
did in 1995. The magazine also stated that, despite the very different musical genres evident on the album, it succeeds in being a coherent, startlingly beautiful record, which showcases the band's "thunderous imagination and three-dimensional vision" and could be described as "experimental music with a beating heart". The NME ranked the album at number three in their Albums of the year 1999
NME album of the year
Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best albums of the year. It was started in 1974. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th...
feature, praising the record for its "superabundance of creativity". The Melody Maker also claimed that the album accurately reflected the era in which it was released and called it the group's best release. The magazine went on to compare Guerrilla to the "romance" of drug taking, calling it a "beautifully suggestive and inspiring testament" to illegal substances. Select placed Guerrilla at number nine in their albums of the year award for 1999 and called "Somethings Come From Nothing" the record's highlight, stating that the track "oozes an epic, sonourous electronic sadness around Gruff's muted mumbling of a single sentence". Despite dismissing "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" as a throwaway novelty song, the magazine stated that Guerrilla "makes experiment engaging" and concluded that it was a "brilliantly subversive" attack on the charts. The record appeared in the "Best New Albums of 1999" feature in the January 2000 issue of Record Collector, with the magazine calling it "upbeat and mischievous, with as many touching moments as there are puzzling".
Spin claimed that the album was "more-hit-than-miss" and shows that "prog can be fun". The magazine was critical of "The Turning Tide" and "Northern Lites" however, calling the former "cosmically ridiculous" and the latter "overipe fruit". British newspaper The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
stated that, although the record includes a number of exceptional tracks, it also features a "lot of noodling" and claimed that it does not compare favourably with the work of The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
. Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
called Guerrilla a "great big bouncing ball of confusion" and stated that the record "explodes all over the place with almost cartoon glee". The magazine did, however, feel that the record's disparate influences were too often "left hanging like loose wires" and that there was an air of forced eccentricity about the release, despite praising lead single "Northern Lites".
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iguana Music | Spain | Best albums 1999 | 44 | 1999 |
| Melody Maker Melody Maker Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody... |
United Kingdom | Albums of the year 1999 | 3 | |
| 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... |
Albums of the year 1999 NME album of the year Every December, British music magazine NME compiles a list of what it considers the best albums of the year. It was started in 1974. The list is usually published in one of the issues sold before Christmas – in 2006 it was published in the issue for December the 9th... |
3 | ||
| Record Collector Record Collector Record Collector is the United Kingdom's longest-running monthly music magazine. It distributes both within the UK and worldwide. It started in 1979.-The early years:... |
The Best New Albums of 1999 | * | ||
| Select | Albums of the year 1999 | 9 | ||
| Uncut UNCUT (magazine) Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections... |
Albums of the year 1999 | * | ||
| The Village Voice The Village Voice The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City... |
United States | Albums 1999 | 131 | |
Promotion and legacy
The Super Furry Animals embarked on a brief, five-date, tour of the United Kingdom, in support of first single "Northern Lites", beginning at Tenby De Valance Pavilion on 27 April 1999 and ending at the Cambridge Corn ExchangeCambridge Corn Exchange
The Cambridge Corn Exchange is a concert venue in Cambridge, England. It is also used as an examination hall for students at Cambridge University.-Building the venue:...
on 2 May. The group then played that year's Glastonbury
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and V
V Festival
The V Festival is an annual music festival held in England during the penultimate weekend in August. The event is held at two parks simultaneously which share the same bill; artists perform at one location on Saturday and then swap on Sunday. The sites are located at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and...
festivals. The band undertook a tour of the United States and Canada, beginning at Maxwell's
Maxwell's
Maxwell's is a music club in Hoboken, New Jersey that also has a restaurant. The intimate venue often attracts a wide variety of acts looking for a change from the New York City concert spaces across the river.-History:...
, Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
on 14 September and ending at the Coachella Festival
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
on 9 October. Singer Gruff Rhys wrote a tour diary, covering the first nine dates from 14-26 September, which appeared in the 9 October 1999 issue of the Melody Maker under the title "Guerrillas in the Midwest". The group played a fifteen date tour of the United Kingdom, starting on 15 October at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre at 1 Roe Street, Liverpool, England. It was built in 1938 in an Art Deco style.-History:Built in the 12th Century, the site of the current Royal Court Theatre was originally a water well...
and ending at the Brixton Academy, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 3 November. After concerts in Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands and France, promotion ended with a headline date at the Cardiff International Arena
Cardiff International Arena
The Cardiff International Arena was opened on 10 September 1993, by Shirley Bassey, in front of 5,500 fans. On 1 March 2011, the Cardiff International Arena was officially renamed Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, after the car sales company with a branch in Newport bought the naming rights to the Cardiff...
on 20 December which was webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
on the band's official website, and a support slot with the Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
at the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
, Cardiff on New Year's Eve 1999.
Singer Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys
Gruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
has described Guerrilla as "flippant, exciting, with an instant pop rush" and "one of [the band's] most ambitious" records, going on to state that "if any of our records could've sold a lot, this is the one. I don't think the others have been proper pop albums, but I think Guerrilla could have been". The band were disappointed with the relative lack of success of the album and its singles—none of which managed to chart inside the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart—and went on "pop strike" as a result. Because of this the group's next record was the all-Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, lo-fi
Low fidelity
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response...
, Mwng
Mwng
Mwng is the fourth studio album by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals, and the first by the group to have lyrics written entirely in the Welsh language. Mwng was released on 15 May 2000 on the band's own record label, Placid Casual, following the demise of their former label Creation...
, which the group recorded simply for the joy of making music. The album was recorded in two weeks for just , in contrast with the "excessive expense" of Guerrilla.
Track listing
All songs by Super Furry AnimalsSuper Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...
.
- "The Citizen's Band" (PregapPregapThe pregap on a Red Book audio CD is the portion of the audio track that precedes "index 01" for a given track in the table of contents . The pregap is typically two seconds long and usually, but not always, contains silence...
hidden trackHidden trackIn the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
) - "Check It Out" – 1:26
- "Do or DieDo or Die (song)"Do or Die" is the eleventh single by Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and was the band's last release for Creation Records. The track reached number 20 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 17 January 2000...
" – 1:59 - "The Turning Tide" – 2:49
- "Northern LitesNorthern Lites"Northern Lites" is the ninth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the first single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 10 May 1999. The song was written by singer Gruff Rhys and was inspired by the El Niño phenomenon...
" – 3:29 - "Night Vision" – 4:41
- "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" – 5:24
- "A Specific Ocean" – 0:51
- "Some Things Come From Nothing" – 5:53
- "The Door to This House Remains Open" – 4:17
- "Fire in My HeartFire in My Heart"Fire in My Heart" is the tenth single by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. It was the second single to be taken from the group's 1999 album Guerrilla, and reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 9 August 1999...
" – 2:45 - "The Teacher" – 2:31
- "The Sound of Life Today" – 0:22
- "Chewing Chewing Gum" – 4:49
- "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" – 10:31*
- "Keep the Cosmic Trigger Happy" (Reprise) - 21:00*
Reissue Bonus CD
- "This, That, and the Other" – 5:59
- "Missunderstanding (sic)" – 3:24
- "Mrs Spector" – 3:01
- "Rabid Dog" – 3:47
- "The Matter of Time" – 5:47
- "Colorblind" – 3:32
Personnel
Band- Gruff RhysGruff RhysGruffydd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, performing solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals who obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He also most recently formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, keyboards - Huw BunfordHuw BunfordHuw "Bunf" Bunford is the guitarist in the rock band, Super Furry Animals.-Biography:...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, backing vocals, samplers - Guto PryceGuto PryceGuto Dafydd Pryce is a bass guitar player in the band Super Furry Animals.The name Guto is pronounced in Welsh....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Cian CiaranCian CiaranCian Ciaran is the keyboard player in the band, Super Furry Animals.Ciaran is the brother of Dafydd Ieuan . He plays keyboards, electronics and occasional guitar, drums, steel drum and vocals...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, electronics, steel drums, drums, guitar, backing vocals - Dafydd IeuanDafydd IeuanDafydd Ieuan is the drummer with the band, Super Furry Animals and The Peth. He currently lives in Cardiff with his wife Debbie, and their two children Cai and Lleucu....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion, backing vocals
Additional musicians
- Marcus Holdaway – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
on "The Turning Tide" - Katie Wilkinson – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
on "The Turning Tide" - Jaqueline Norrie – violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on "The Turning Tide" - Julia Singleton – violin on "The Turning Tide"
- Steve Waterman – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
on "Northern Lites" - A D Gibson – trumpet on "Northern Lites"
- Andrew Robinson – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
on "Northern Lites" - Euros Wyn – fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
on "Northern Lites" - Kris Jenkins – percussion on "Northern Lites"
Recording personnel
- Super Furry Animals – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Michael Brennan Jnr. – engineering, assistant mixing (Rockfield StudiosRockfield StudiosRockfield Studios, near Monmouth in Wales and just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire are where many of British rock music’s most successful recordings have been made.-History:...
), mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
on "Check It Out" - Nick Addison – engineering
- Claire Lewis – assistant engineering
- Chris Shaw - mixing
- Patrick McGovern – assistant mixing (Strongroom Studios)
- Jon Collyer – assistant mixing (Orinonco Studios)
- Ray Mascarenes – assistant mixing (Orinonco Studios)
- Paul Reed – assistant mixing (Rockfield Studios)
- Ceri Collier – technical help
- Howie Weinberg – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Artwork
- Pete FowlerPete FowlerPete Fowler is a Welsh artist best known for his artwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals. He is a freelance illustrator and "monster creator" inspired by Japanese art, folklore, myths, psychedelia and super nature...
– sleeve models and paintings - Artificial Environments – other imagery and graphics
- Simon Corkin – design
- Matthew Donaldson – model photography
Album chart positions
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
10 |