Primal Scream
Encyclopedia
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock
band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow
by Bobby Gillespie
(vocals
) and Jim Beattie
and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes
(guitar
), Martin Duffy
(keyboards
), and Darrin Mooney (drums
). Barrie Cadogan toured with the band in 2006 as a temporary replacement after the departure of guitarist Robert "Throb" Young. Young's permanent replacement has not yet been announced.
The band performed throughout 1982-1984, but their career did not take off until Gillespie left his position as drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain
. The band were a key part of the mid-1980s indie pop
scene, but eventually moved away from their more jangly sound, taking on more psychedelic
and then garage rock
influences, before incorporating a dance music
element to their sound. Their 1991 album Screamadelica
broke the band into the mainstream. Despite multiple lineup changes, the band has remained commercially successful and continues to tour
and record.
, the southeastern area of Glasgow. There he attended Kings Park Secondary School
, where he first met Robert Young. Another school friend was Alan McGee
, who took Gillespie to his first gig, a Thin Lizzy
concert. McGee and Gillespie were heavily influenced by punk rock
, and they joined a local punk band, The Drains, in 1978. The Drains guitarist was a 15-year old Andrew Innes. The band was short-lived, and Innes and McGee relocated to London while Gillespie chose to remain in Glasgow.
After the punk movement ended, Gillespie became disenchanted with mainstream New Wave music
. He met up with another school friend who shared his outlook, Jim Beattie, and recorded "elemental noise tapes", in which Gillespie would bang two dustbin lids together and Beattie played fuzz-guitar. They soon moved on to Velvet Underground and Byrds
cover songs before starting to write their own songs, based on Jah Wobble
and Peter Hook
basslines. Gillespie later said that the band "didn't really exist, but we did it every night for something to do." They named themselves Primal Scream, a term used to describe a cry heard in primal therapy
. Still essentially a partnership, Primal Scream first played live in 1982.
Their first recording session, for McGee's independent label Essential Records, was a single track entitled "The Orchard". Beattie later claimed that they burned the master tape. After the aborted recording, Gillespie joined The Jesus and Mary Chain as their drummer, and alternated between both bands. While the Mary Chain became notorious for their chaotic gigs, Gillespie and Beattie expanded Primal Scream's lineup to include school friend Young on bass, rhythm guitarist Stuart May, drummer Tom McGurk, and tambourine player Martin St. John. This lineup was signed to Creation Records
, an independent record label
founded by Alan McGee, and recorded the group's debut single, "All Fall Down", which received positive reviews.
and Jim Reid
that he was to either dissolve Primal Scream to join the Mary Chain full-time or resign. Gillespie chose to remain with Primal Scream. Stuart May was replaced by Paul Harte, and the group then released a new single, "Crystal Crescent". The b-side, "Velocity Girl", was released on the C86
compilation, which led to their being associated with the scene of the same name. The band strongly disliked this, with Gillespie saying that "[t]hey can't play their instruments and they can't write songs."
The band toured throughout 1986, and Gillespie became disenchanted with the quality of their performances. He said that there "was always something missing, musically or in attitude." The band switched to McGee's newly set-up Warner Bros.
subsidiary Elevation Records
. Before the band entered Rockfield Studios
in Wales to record their debut album, McGurk was asked to leave the band. The group subsequently began recording using session players. They spent four weeks recording with producer Stephen Street
before deciding to halt the sessions.
May was subsequently dismissed and Gillespie's former bandmate Innes was brought in as his replacement, and the band finally found a new drummer, Gavin Skinner. With their new lineup, the band re-entered the studio, this time in London with producer Mayo Thompson
. By the time Sonic Flower Groove
was completed, it had cost £100,000. The album reached number 62 on the British charts and received poor reviews, with Allmusic calling it "pristine but dull." The backlash from the album caused internal strife within the band. Beattie and Skinner subsequently resigned.
The band, now consisting of only Gillespie, Innes and Young, relocated to Brighton
to regroup. Young switched to guitar, and they recruited bassist Henry Olsen and drummer Phillip "Toby" Tomanov, who had both been in Nico
's backing band, The Faction. They traded in their jangle pop
sound for a harder rock edge, or as Gillespie said, "[w]e had found rock 'n' roll." The band's re-signed to Creation Records and released their first single in two years, "Ivy, Ivy, Ivy". This was followed by a full album, Primal Scream
. The band's new sound was met with poor reviews, NME
called it "confused and lacking in cohesion". Fans responded as unfavourably as the critics, with many of the old fans being disappointed or simply confused by the new sound. The album featured Felt
keyboardist Martin Duffy
guesting.
scene by McGee in 1988. They were at first sceptical; Gillespie said: "I always remember being quite fascinated by it but not quite getting it." The band did, however, quickly develop a taste for it and began attending raves. The band met up with DJ Andrew Weatherall
at a rave
, and he was given a copy of "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have", a track from Primal Scream, to remix for one of his shows. Weatherall added a drum loop from an Italian bootleg mix of Edie Brickell
's "What I Am", a sample of Gillespie singing a line from Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues
" and the central introductory sample from the Peter Fonda
B-movie
The Wild Angels
. The resulting track, "Loaded", became the band's first major hit, reaching number 16 on the UK Singles Chart
. This was followed by another single, "Come Together", which reached number 19.
The band entered the studio with Weatherall, Hugo Nicolson
, The Orb
and Jimmy Miller producing, and Martin Duffy
now full time on keyboards. They released two more singles, "Higher Than The Sun" and "Don't Fight It, Feel It", both of which were successful. The album, Screamadelica, was released in late 1991 to positive reviews. Ink Blot Magazine said that the album was "both of its time and timeless." The album was also a great commercial success, reaching number eight on the British charts. The album won the first Mercury Music Prize, beating Gillespie's former band The Jesus and Mary Chain.
The supporting tour kicked off in Amsterdam
, and it included a performance at the Glastonbury festival
before coming to an end in Sheffield
. Throughout the tour the band and their increasingly large entourage gained notoriety for their large narcotic intake. The band's drug habits have often been discussed in print. Journalist James Brown
reported a now infamous story: the bandmates were arguing with one another about whether to get Vietnamese, Chinese or Indian. When one of Brown's colleagues asked them if they'd settle for a burger the band informed him: "It's heroin we're discussing, not food!". Around this time, the band recorded the Dixie Narco EP
. Some of the tracks had a more American blues-rock
sound than previously, and displayed a novel P-Funk
influence.
to help. After some short sessions in London's E-Zee Studios, the band, along with Dowd, moved to Alabama
. After the completion of the sessions, the band felt that they had "rehearsed the life out of the songs", and they brought in multiple producers to remix some of the tracks. The Black Crowes
' producer George Drakoulias
did some mixing, as did funk legend George Clinton
.
In March 1994, the first single from the new album, "Rocks
", was released. It was the band's highest charting single to date, reaching number seven on the UK charts. The single was not received well, with NME calling them "dance traitors". The album, Give Out But Don't Give Up
was released in May to mixed reviews. Whereas some praised the band's new Stones
-influenced sound, some dismissed the album as tired and drawing too heavily on their influences. Two more singles were released from the album, "Jailbird" and "(I'm Gonna) Cry Myself Blind", both of which charted progressively lower.
While touring in support of the album, relations within the band began to wear down. The band's American tour, when they supported Depeche Mode
, was, in the words of manager Alex Nightingale, "the closest we've come to the band splitting up." After the completion of the tour, the band remained quiet for a long period of time. Gillespie later remarked that he was unsure if the band would continue. The only release during this period was a single, "The Big Man and the Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown", a collaboration with Irvine Welsh
and On-U Sound, which caused controversy due to offensive lyrics about Glasgow Rangers FC and their fan base.
, fresh from the well-publicised break-up of his previous band, The Stone Roses
, was added as the band's new bassist, and Paul Mulraney was added as their new drummer. The arrival of Mani revitalized the group, who were considering disbanding after the failure of Give Out. The album was recorded in the band's personal studio in two months, and was mixed in another month. Most of the recording was engineered by Innes, and produced by Brendan Lynch
and Andrew Weatherall
.
The music on the album had a complex shoegazing dance/dub rhythm, harking back to the crossover success of Screamadelica, yet sounding significantly darker. Some songs on the album were inspired by cult 1971 film Vanishing Point
; Gillespie said that they wanted to create an alternative soundtrack for the film. Other lyrics were inspired by the band's past experiences with drug abuse. Gillespie described the album as "an anarcho-syndicalist speedfreak road movie record!" The first single released from the album, "Kowalski
", was released in May 1997, and reached number 8 on the British charts. The album, titled Vanishing Point
after the film, was released in July and revitalized the band's commercial viability. It received almost unanimously positive reviews upon release, Entertainment Weekly
calling it a "swirling, hypnotic acid-trip", and Musik saying that "this group's place in the history book of late 20th Century music is assured." The inclusion on the album of the title track from the film Trainspotting also helped cement the band's place in alternative modern culture.
The band scheduled a short supporting tour to take place during July. Unfortunately, the band had to postpone the dates. This led to speculation that there were problems within the band, and that one of the members may resign. The band's press agent issued a statement saying "[i]t's not a drugs thing and it's not a nervous breakdown." Before the tour was scheduled to begin, Mulraney left the band and they were forced to use a drum machine. The initial dates were poorly received, but they eventually hired drummer Darrin Mooney and the gigs improved. Throughout the Vanish Point tour Primal Scream employed the up and coming Asian Dub Foundation
as a support act, helping them to break onto the mainstream.
In February 1998 the band released the "If They Move, Kill 'Em" EP. This notably featured the bands' first collaboration with Kevin Shields
, on his remix of the title track. Later that year Shields joined the band on tour, and would have a major influence over their sound in the next few years. After the release of the Album, a collection of alternative mixes/remixes from Vanishing Point were released as the album Echo Dek, with the bulk of mixes done by Adrian Sherwood
.
's Bernard Sumner
, and former My Bloody Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields
, who had become a semi-permanent member.
The first single from XTRMNTR
, "Swastika Eyes", was released on November 1999. The song's overtly political content, Gillespie said it was about "American international terrorism", made it controversial. Nevertheless, it was a hit, charting at #22 on the British charts. XTRMNTR itself fared well, reaching #3. The political content was well received, with Allmusic calling it a "nasty, fierce realization of an entire world that has... lost the plot.". In 2009 NME
charted XTRMNTR
at #3 in The Top 100 Greatest Albums of The Decade
In 2000, the band began recording their seventh album, Evil Heat
, released in 2002. Though the political content was not as strong as the previous album, there was a song originally slated for the album entitled "Bomb the Pentagon", which was reworked into the song "Rise" after the 11 September attacks. The album, like many of Primal Scream's previous albums, had multiple producers. Shields produced several tracks, and Andrew Weatherall produced three tracks, his first work with the band since Vanishing Point. Kate Moss
sang professionally for the first time with single "Some Velvet Morning
", a version of the Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra song. The album also featured another guest appearance, Led Zeppelin
singer Robert Plant
. In 2003 the double CD album Dirty Hits
was released containing the better known works and some previously unheard versions and remixes of those tunes.
In June 2005, Primal Scream played a controversial set at the Glastonbury Festival
, throughout which Gillespie was playfully abusive to the crowd and was alleged to have made Nazi salutes during the song "Swastika Eyes". They were eventually forced off by officials after overrunning their allotted time; the festival organisers were at that point already annoyed at the band when, in response to their invitation to join other recording artists in signing a Make Poverty History poster which would be auctioned off for charity, lead singer Bobby Gillespie instead altered the poster so that it read "Make Israel History". Gillespie later said that this was to show his support for the Palestinian
cause.
, Gillespie said that the band had written "euphoric rock 'n' roll songs" for their next album. They intended to capture the energy of their live performances. The band chose Youth
as their producer, which led to speculation that they had fallen out with Shields. Although the band themselves admitted that they were unsure of the situation, Shields subsequently joined them on tour.
The album's first single, "Country Girl", was released on 22 May 2006, and received regular airplay in 2006 resulting in a chart entry of number 5, their highest ever. It was also used by the BBC
in the closing credits of the Grand National
2007 and as the backing track to a video celebrating the successes of the Scottish racing driver Dario Franchitti in the 2007 Autosport Awards ceremony in London. The album, Riot City Blues
, was released in June and reached number five on the UK Album Charts. However, it received mixed reviews: Pitchfork Media
called it "flat and dead", while Allmusic called it "a refreshingly retro rock & roll album"
In support of the album, the band toured the UK, along with selected dates in Europe. The band released their first DVD, Riot City Blues Tour
, in August 2007. The DVD featured clips of the band's performance in London, as well as all their music videos and an interview with Gillespie and Mani.
On 26 August 2006, bassist Mani was reportedly arrested at the Leeds music festival, after what was said to be a drunken brawl. However, he was soon released and the band's appearance at the festival went ahead. Also around this time, Young left the band to go on sabbatical, failing to appear on their November 2006 UK tour. It has since been stated by Bobby Gillespie that Young is unlikely to make a return. He has been temporarily replaced by Barrie Cadogan of Little Barrie
.
After touring seminal album Screamadelica
for most of 2011, on 18 October Mani
revealed he had left the band to follow his dream due to the reformation of his original band The Stone Roses
.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
by Bobby Gillespie
Bobby Gillespie
Robert Bernard Andrew "Bobby" Gillespie is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and founding member of the alternative rock band, Primal Scream. He was also the drummer for The Jesus and Mary Chain in the mid-1980s.- Early life :Born and raised in the south side district of Mount Florida in...
(vocals
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...
) and Jim Beattie
Jim Beattie (musician)
Jim Beattie is a Scottish musician who founded Primal Scream and later went on to form Spirea X and Adventures in Stereo.-Biography:Beattie formed Primal Scream in 1982 along with Bobby Gillespie...
and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes
Andrew Innes
Andrew Innes is a London-based musician. He is best known for being the rhythm guitarist in Scottish rock band Primal Scream.-Early years:...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy (musician)
Martin Duffy is an English keyboardist who originally played in Felt and currently plays with Primal Scream.-Career:Duffy was born in Birmingham and grew up in Rednal in the south of the city, attending St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School in King's Norton, and growing up listening to Two Tone, punk,...
(keyboards
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...
), and Darrin Mooney (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 ....
). Barrie Cadogan toured with the band in 2006 as a temporary replacement after the departure of guitarist Robert "Throb" Young. Young's permanent replacement has not yet been announced.
The band performed throughout 1982-1984, but their career did not take off until Gillespie left his position as drummer of The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
. The band were a key part of the mid-1980s indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
scene, but eventually moved away from their more jangly sound, taking on more psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt 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 the...
and then garage rock
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...
influences, before incorporating a dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
element to their sound. Their 1991 album 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...
broke the band into the mainstream. Despite multiple lineup changes, the band has remained commercially successful and continues to tour
Primal Scream tours
The following is an incomplete listing of Primal Scream tours and itineraries.-1985:-1986 - 1987:-1989:-1990 Japan Tour:-1991 Japan Tour:-1994 Japan Tour :-1995 - 1997 :-1998:-2000:-2002:-2003:-2004:-2005:-2006:...
and record.
Formation (1982–1985)
Bobby Gillespie moved to Mount FloridaMount Florida
Mount Florida is an area in the southeastern corner of the Scottish city of Glasgow.- Details :The origins of the name are uncertain. It has been stated that it derives from Mount Florida House, owned by a family from Florida, USA...
, the southeastern area of Glasgow. There he attended Kings Park Secondary School
Kings Park Secondary School
Kings Park Secondary School, situated on Fetlar Drive, in the Kings Park area of south Glasgow, is a Scottish non-denominational state school....
, where he first met Robert Young. Another school friend was Alan McGee
Alan McGee
Alan McGee has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian.McGee is best-known for co-forming and running the independent Creation Records label from 1983–1999, and then Poptones from 1999-2007...
, who took Gillespie to his first gig, a Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
concert. McGee and Gillespie were heavily influenced by 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...
, and they joined a local punk band, The Drains, in 1978. The Drains guitarist was a 15-year old Andrew Innes. The band was short-lived, and Innes and McGee relocated to London while Gillespie chose to remain in Glasgow.
After the punk movement ended, Gillespie became disenchanted with mainstream New Wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
. He met up with another school friend who shared his outlook, Jim Beattie, and recorded "elemental noise tapes", in which Gillespie would bang two dustbin lids together and Beattie played fuzz-guitar. They soon moved on to Velvet Underground and Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
cover songs before starting to write their own songs, based on Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble
Jah Wobble is an English bass guitarist, singer, poet and composer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but left the band after two albums...
and Peter Hook
Peter Hook
Peter Hook is an English bass player, musician and author.He was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until...
basslines. Gillespie later said that the band "didn't really exist, but we did it every night for something to do." They named themselves Primal Scream, a term used to describe a cry heard in primal therapy
Primal therapy
Primal therapy is a trauma-based psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov, who argues that neurosis is caused by the repressed pain of childhood trauma. Janov argues that repressed pain can be sequentially brought to conscious awareness and resolved through re-experiencing the incident and fully...
. Still essentially a partnership, Primal Scream first played live in 1982.
Their first recording session, for McGee's independent label Essential Records, was a single track entitled "The Orchard". Beattie later claimed that they burned the master tape. After the aborted recording, Gillespie joined The Jesus and Mary Chain as their drummer, and alternated between both bands. While the Mary Chain became notorious for their chaotic gigs, Gillespie and Beattie expanded Primal Scream's lineup to include school friend Young on bass, rhythm guitarist Stuart May, drummer Tom McGurk, and tambourine player Martin St. John. This lineup was signed to 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...
, an independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
founded by Alan McGee, and recorded the group's debut single, "All Fall Down", which received positive reviews.
First recordings (1986–1989)
After the release of the single, Gillespie was told by Mary Chain leaders WilliamWilliam Reid (musician)
William Adam Reid is a guitarist, composer and, at times, singer for the Scottish alternative rock band, The Jesus and Mary Chain.-The Jesus and Mary Chain:...
and Jim Reid
Jim Reid
Jim Reid is the lead singer for the alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, which he formed with his elder brother and guitarist William Reid -The Jesus and Mary Chain:...
that he was to either dissolve Primal Scream to join the Mary Chain full-time or resign. Gillespie chose to remain with Primal Scream. Stuart May was replaced by Paul Harte, and the group then released a new single, "Crystal Crescent". The b-side, "Velocity Girl", was released on the C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
compilation, which led to their being associated with the scene of the same name. The band strongly disliked this, with Gillespie saying that "[t]hey can't play their instruments and they can't write songs."
The band toured throughout 1986, and Gillespie became disenchanted with the quality of their performances. He said that there "was always something missing, musically or in attitude." The band switched to McGee's newly set-up Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
subsidiary Elevation Records
Elevation Records
Elevation was a record label set up as a joint venture between Creation Records and WEA in 1987. Frustrated with the limitations of independent distribution and financing, Alan McGee set up the label to get wider distribution and sales for some of the bands on Creation, with a view to generating...
. Before the band entered Rockfield Studios
Rockfield Studios
Rockfield 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:...
in Wales to record their debut album, McGurk was asked to leave the band. The group subsequently began recording using session players. They spent four weeks recording with producer Stephen Street
Stephen Street
Stephen Street is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths in the 1980s, as well as Blur and The Cranberries in the 1990s. Street also collaborated with Morrissey on some of his most popular work after The Smiths broke up, playing instruments and co-writing songs...
before deciding to halt the sessions.
May was subsequently dismissed and Gillespie's former bandmate Innes was brought in as his replacement, and the band finally found a new drummer, Gavin Skinner. With their new lineup, the band re-entered the studio, this time in London with producer Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson
Mayo Thompson is an American musician and visual artist best known as the leader of the avant-garde rock band Red Crayola .-1960s:...
. By the time Sonic Flower Groove
Sonic Flower Groove
Sonic Flower Groove was Scottish band Primal Scream's debut album. Released in 1987, Sonic Flower Groove featured psychedelic, Byrdsy jangle pop and was the only Primal Scream album to feature founder member Jim Beattie ....
was completed, it had cost £100,000. The album reached number 62 on the British charts and received poor reviews, with Allmusic calling it "pristine but dull." The backlash from the album caused internal strife within the band. Beattie and Skinner subsequently resigned.
The band, now consisting of only Gillespie, Innes and Young, relocated to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
to regroup. Young switched to guitar, and they recruited bassist Henry Olsen and drummer Phillip "Toby" Tomanov, who had both been in Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
's backing band, The Faction. They traded in their jangle pop
Jangle pop
Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds, with their electric twelve-string guitars and power pop song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based...
sound for a harder rock edge, or as Gillespie said, "[w]e had found rock 'n' roll." The band's re-signed to Creation Records and released their first single in two years, "Ivy, Ivy, Ivy". This was followed by a full album, Primal Scream
Primal Scream (album)
Primal Scream was the second album of British band Primal Scream. Released in 1989 it took a harder rock approach than their debut album Sonic Flower Groove and did not achieve great success...
. The band's new sound was met with poor reviews, 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...
called it "confused and lacking in cohesion". Fans responded as unfavourably as the critics, with many of the old fans being disappointed or simply confused by the new sound. The album featured Felt
Felt
Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
keyboardist Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy, is an Irish filmmaker and writer.Starting as a film-editor at Radio Telefís Éireann in the late 1970s, he expanded into writing children's shows in the 1980s with the Lambert Puppet Theatre, Wanderly Wagon, Fortycoats & Co., Bosco and Scratch Saturday...
guesting.
Screamadelica (1990–1992)
The band were first introduced to the acid houseAcid 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...
scene by McGee in 1988. They were at first sceptical; Gillespie said: "I always remember being quite fascinated by it but not quite getting it." The band did, however, quickly develop a taste for it and began attending raves. The band met up with DJ Andrew Weatherall
Andrew Weatherall
Andrew Weatherall is a DJ, producer, and remixer.Andrew, Terry Farley, Cymon Eckel and Steve Mayes started Boy's Own initially as a fanzine commenting on fashion, records, football, and other issues...
at a rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
, and he was given a copy of "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have", a track from Primal Scream, to remix for one of his shows. Weatherall added a drum loop from an Italian bootleg mix of Edie Brickell
Edie Brickell
Edie Arlisa Brickell is an American singer-songwriter best known for 1988's Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went #4 on the US Albums Chart.-Life and career:...
's "What I Am", a sample of Gillespie singing a line from Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues
Terraplane Blues
"Terraplane Blues" is a blues song recorded in 1936 in San Antonio, Texas by bluesman Robert Johnson. "Terraplane Blues" was Johnson's first single and it became a moderate regional hit, selling 5,000 copies....
" and the central introductory sample from the Peter Fonda
Peter Fonda
Peter Henry Fonda is an American actor. He is the son of Henry Fonda, brother of Jane Fonda, and father of Bridget and Justin Fonda...
B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels is a 1966 Roger Corman film, made on location in Southern California. The Wild Angels was made three years before Easy Rider and was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture...
. The resulting track, "Loaded", became the band's first major hit, reaching number 16 on 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 ...
. This was followed by another single, "Come Together", which reached number 19.
The band entered the studio with Weatherall, Hugo Nicolson
Hugo Nicolson
Hugo Nicolson is a record producer and engineer who has worked on records for artists including Primal Scream, Embrace, David Holmes, Shack and Julian Cope....
, The Orb
The Orb
Throughout 1989, the Orb, along with Martin Glover, developed the musical genre of ambient house through the use of a diverse array of samples and recordings. The culmination of its musical work came toward the end of the year when the group recorded a session for John Peel on BBC Radio 1...
and Jimmy Miller producing, and Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy
Martin Duffy, is an Irish filmmaker and writer.Starting as a film-editor at Radio Telefís Éireann in the late 1970s, he expanded into writing children's shows in the 1980s with the Lambert Puppet Theatre, Wanderly Wagon, Fortycoats & Co., Bosco and Scratch Saturday...
now full time on keyboards. They released two more singles, "Higher Than The Sun" and "Don't Fight It, Feel It", both of which were successful. The album, Screamadelica, was released in late 1991 to positive reviews. Ink Blot Magazine said that the album was "both of its time and timeless." The album was also a great commercial success, reaching number eight on the British charts. The album won the first Mercury Music Prize, beating Gillespie's former band The Jesus and Mary Chain.
The supporting tour kicked off in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, and it included a performance at the Glastonbury festival
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...
before coming to an end in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. Throughout the tour the band and their increasingly large entourage gained notoriety for their large narcotic intake. The band's drug habits have often been discussed in print. Journalist James Brown
James Brown (editor)
James Brown is a British journalist. He is best known for creating the modern men's magazine market with the launch of his title Loaded in 1994, a magazine that was said to define a generation...
reported a now infamous story: the bandmates were arguing with one another about whether to get Vietnamese, Chinese or Indian. When one of Brown's colleagues asked them if they'd settle for a burger the band informed him: "It's heroin we're discussing, not food!". Around this time, the band recorded the Dixie Narco EP
Dixie Narco EP
The 7" and cassette formats omit "Stone My Soul".-Personnel:*"Movin' On Up" produced by Jimmy Miller*"Stone My Soul", "Carry Me Home", and "Screamadelica" produced by Andrew Weatherall and Hugo Nicolson.-Charts:...
. Some of the tracks had a more American blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
sound than previously, and displayed a novel P-Funk
P-Funk
P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...
influence.
Give Out But Don't Give Up (1992–1995)
The band began work on their fourth album in Roundhouse Studios in London in September 1992. Most of the band members had developed heroin addictions, and as a result the sessions did not produce any new material. The band called in producer Tom DowdTom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
to help. After some short sessions in London's E-Zee Studios, the band, along with Dowd, moved to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. After the completion of the sessions, the band felt that they had "rehearsed the life out of the songs", and they brought in multiple producers to remix some of the tracks. The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
' producer George Drakoulias
George Drakoulias
George Drakoulias is a Greek-American music producer and A&R executive at the American Recordings label. He is often considered a protege of Rick Rubin....
did some mixing, as did funk legend George Clinton
George Clinton (funk musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
.
In March 1994, the first single from the new album, "Rocks
Rocks (song)
"Rocks" is a song by UK group Primal Scream. It is taken from the group's fourth album, Give Out But Don't Give Up. The song was released as a single in 1994 and reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, acting as a double A-side with another of the band's songs, "Funky Jam"...
", was released. It was the band's highest charting single to date, reaching number seven on the UK charts. The single was not received well, with NME calling them "dance traitors". The album, Give Out But Don't Give Up
Give Out but Don't Give Up
Give Out But Don't Give Up is a 1994 album by Primal Scream. It was the follow-up to the successful Screamadelica.-Track listing:All tracks written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Robert Young, unless noted.# "Jailbird" - 3:46# "Rocks" - 3:37...
was released in May to mixed reviews. Whereas some praised the band's new Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
-influenced sound, some dismissed the album as tired and drawing too heavily on their influences. Two more singles were released from the album, "Jailbird" and "(I'm Gonna) Cry Myself Blind", both of which charted progressively lower.
While touring in support of the album, relations within the band began to wear down. The band's American tour, when they supported Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, was, in the words of manager Alex Nightingale, "the closest we've come to the band splitting up." After the completion of the tour, the band remained quiet for a long period of time. Gillespie later remarked that he was unsure if the band would continue. The only release during this period was a single, "The Big Man and the Scream Team Meet the Barmy Army Uptown", a collaboration with Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...
and On-U Sound, which caused controversy due to offensive lyrics about Glasgow Rangers FC and their fan base.
Vanishing Point (1996–1998)
After a short hiatus, the band returned with a new lineup. Gary "Mani" MounfieldGary Mounfield
Gary Manny "Mani" Mounfield , is an English rock bassist of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. He has a distinctive playing style that combines a fast moving rock style with a dance rhythm or dub groove...
, fresh from the well-publicised break-up of his previous band, 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...
, was added as the band's new bassist, and Paul Mulraney was added as their new drummer. The arrival of Mani revitalized the group, who were considering disbanding after the failure of Give Out. The album was recorded in the band's personal studio in two months, and was mixed in another month. Most of the recording was engineered by Innes, and produced by Brendan Lynch
Brendan Lynch
Brendan Lynch is a British music producer, who has produced for Paul Weller, Primal Scream, and The Rakes. He has also worked with the 22-20s, Carleen Anderson and Ocean Colour Scene...
and Andrew Weatherall
Andrew Weatherall
Andrew Weatherall is a DJ, producer, and remixer.Andrew, Terry Farley, Cymon Eckel and Steve Mayes started Boy's Own initially as a fanzine commenting on fashion, records, football, and other issues...
.
The music on the album had a complex shoegazing dance/dub rhythm, harking back to the crossover success of Screamadelica, yet sounding significantly darker. Some songs on the album were inspired by cult 1971 film Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point (album)
Vanishing Point is a 1997 album by Primal Scream. It is named after and inspired by the 1971 film Vanishing Point, especially the song "Kowalski", which is meant to be an alternative soundtrack to the movie...
; Gillespie said that they wanted to create an alternative soundtrack for the film. Other lyrics were inspired by the band's past experiences with drug abuse. Gillespie described the album as "an anarcho-syndicalist speedfreak road movie record!" The first single released from the album, "Kowalski
Kowalski
Kowalski is the second most common surname in Poland . During the previous century it was the most common name. Jan Kowalski are synonymous with John Doe or John Smith in English-speaking countries....
", was released in May 1997, and reached number 8 on the British charts. The album, titled Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point (album)
Vanishing Point is a 1997 album by Primal Scream. It is named after and inspired by the 1971 film Vanishing Point, especially the song "Kowalski", which is meant to be an alternative soundtrack to the movie...
after the film, was released in July and revitalized the band's commercial viability. It received almost unanimously positive reviews upon release, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
calling it a "swirling, hypnotic acid-trip", and Musik saying that "this group's place in the history book of late 20th Century music is assured." The inclusion on the album of the title track from the film Trainspotting also helped cement the band's place in alternative modern culture.
The band scheduled a short supporting tour to take place during July. Unfortunately, the band had to postpone the dates. This led to speculation that there were problems within the band, and that one of the members may resign. The band's press agent issued a statement saying "[i]t's not a drugs thing and it's not a nervous breakdown." Before the tour was scheduled to begin, Mulraney left the band and they were forced to use a drum machine. The initial dates were poorly received, but they eventually hired drummer Darrin Mooney and the gigs improved. Throughout the Vanish Point tour Primal Scream employed the up and coming Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation
Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence...
as a support act, helping them to break onto the mainstream.
In February 1998 the band released the "If They Move, Kill 'Em" EP. This notably featured the bands' first collaboration with Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
, on his remix of the title track. Later that year Shields joined the band on tour, and would have a major influence over their sound in the next few years. After the release of the Album, a collection of alternative mixes/remixes from Vanishing Point were released as the album Echo Dek, with the bulk of mixes done by Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood is an English record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing a number of popular acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy...
.
XTRMNTR and Evil Heat (1999–2005)
Recording sessions for the band's sixth album went well. The band were for the most part free of drugs, and their lineup had finally stabilised. Despite their new found peace, the band pursued a harsher and angrier musical direction. Many of the songs they wrote had overtly political lyrics, Gillespie said the band wished to convey "what it's like to be in Britain in this day and age." The album featured mulitiple guest appearances, including the Chemical Brothers, New OrderNew Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
's Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
, and former My Bloody Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields
Kevin Shields
Kevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
, who had become a semi-permanent member.
The first single from XTRMNTR
XTRMNTR
XTRMNTR is a 2000 album by Primal Scream. In a departure from Primal Scream's earlier hedonistic recordings, the band took a more political stance, attacking government, police, and multinational corporations...
, "Swastika Eyes", was released on November 1999. The song's overtly political content, Gillespie said it was about "American international terrorism", made it controversial. Nevertheless, it was a hit, charting at #22 on the British charts. XTRMNTR itself fared well, reaching #3. The political content was well received, with Allmusic calling it a "nasty, fierce realization of an entire world that has... lost the plot.". In 2009 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...
charted XTRMNTR
XTRMNTR
XTRMNTR is a 2000 album by Primal Scream. In a departure from Primal Scream's earlier hedonistic recordings, the band took a more political stance, attacking government, police, and multinational corporations...
at #3 in The Top 100 Greatest Albums of The Decade
In 2000, the band began recording their seventh album, Evil Heat
Evil Heat
Evil Heat is a 2002 album by Primal Scream.The track "Rise" was originally titled "Bomb the Pentagon", and debuted as part of the band's live set in summer 2001. In light of the September 11, 2001 attacks, both the lyrics and title of the song were reworked, and the revised version appears on the...
, released in 2002. Though the political content was not as strong as the previous album, there was a song originally slated for the album entitled "Bomb the Pentagon", which was reworked into the song "Rise" after the 11 September attacks. The album, like many of Primal Scream's previous albums, had multiple producers. Shields produced several tracks, and Andrew Weatherall produced three tracks, his first work with the band since Vanishing Point. Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
sang professionally for the first time with single "Some Velvet Morning
Some Velvet Morning
"Some Velvet Morning" is a psychedelic pop song written by Lee Hazlewood and originally recorded by Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra in late 1967. It first appeared on Sinatra's album Movin' with Nancy, the soundtrack to her 1967 television special of the same name. The song has been covered many times...
", a version of the Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra song. The album also featured another guest appearance, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
singer Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
. In 2003 the double CD album Dirty Hits
Dirty Hits
Dirty Hits is a greatest hits compilation by Primal Scream. It was released in 2003. Early limited versions came in a card sleeve with a bonus disc of remixes; most had previously appeared as b-sides....
was released containing the better known works and some previously unheard versions and remixes of those tunes.
In June 2005, Primal Scream played a controversial set at the Glastonbury Festival
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...
, throughout which Gillespie was playfully abusive to the crowd and was alleged to have made Nazi salutes during the song "Swastika Eyes". They were eventually forced off by officials after overrunning their allotted time; the festival organisers were at that point already annoyed at the band when, in response to their invitation to join other recording artists in signing a Make Poverty History poster which would be auctioned off for charity, lead singer Bobby Gillespie instead altered the poster so that it read "Make Israel History". Gillespie later said that this was to show his support for the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
cause.
Riot City Blues, Beautiful Future (2006–present)
In an interview with NMENME
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...
, Gillespie said that the band had written "euphoric rock 'n' roll songs" for their next album. They intended to capture the energy of their live performances. The band chose Youth
Martin Glover
Martin Glover, also known as Youth, is a record producer and a founding member and bassist of the UK band Killing Joke. He is a member of The Fireman along with Paul McCartney. Glover was born in Africa.-Early career:...
as their producer, which led to speculation that they had fallen out with Shields. Although the band themselves admitted that they were unsure of the situation, Shields subsequently joined them on tour.
The album's first single, "Country Girl", was released on 22 May 2006, and received regular airplay in 2006 resulting in a chart entry of number 5, their highest ever. It was also used by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in the closing credits of the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
2007 and as the backing track to a video celebrating the successes of the Scottish racing driver Dario Franchitti in the 2007 Autosport Awards ceremony in London. The album, Riot City Blues
Riot City Blues
Riot City Blues is the eighth studio album by Primal Scream, released on June 5, 2006. On this album, Primal Scream leaves its electronic element behind and returns to more traditional rock and roll...
, was released in June and reached number five on the UK Album Charts. However, it received mixed reviews: 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...
called it "flat and dead", while Allmusic called it "a refreshingly retro rock & roll album"
In support of the album, the band toured the UK, along with selected dates in Europe. The band released their first DVD, Riot City Blues Tour
Riot City Blues Tour
Riot City Blues Tour is the first live DVD from Scottish band Primal Scream. The show was filmed in high-definition at the Hammersmith Apollo in London during the tour in support of their latest album, Riot City Blues...
, in August 2007. The DVD featured clips of the band's performance in London, as well as all their music videos and an interview with Gillespie and Mani.
On 26 August 2006, bassist Mani was reportedly arrested at the Leeds music festival, after what was said to be a drunken brawl. However, he was soon released and the band's appearance at the festival went ahead. Also around this time, Young left the band to go on sabbatical, failing to appear on their November 2006 UK tour. It has since been stated by Bobby Gillespie that Young is unlikely to make a return. He has been temporarily replaced by Barrie Cadogan of Little Barrie
Little Barrie
Little Barrie is a power trio that originated in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, since relocated to London. Their sound could be described as stripped down R&B/Soul/Funk/Blues/Garage rock jamband. The band consists of Barrie Cadogan , Lewis Wharton and Virgil Howe . Before Howe, Billy...
.
After touring seminal album 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...
for most of 2011, on 18 October Mani
Gary Mounfield
Gary Manny "Mani" Mounfield , is an English rock bassist of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. He has a distinctive playing style that combines a fast moving rock style with a dance rhythm or dub groove...
revealed he had left the band to follow his dream due to the reformation of his original band 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...
.
Discography
- Sonic Flower GrooveSonic Flower GrooveSonic Flower Groove was Scottish band Primal Scream's debut album. Released in 1987, Sonic Flower Groove featured psychedelic, Byrdsy jangle pop and was the only Primal Scream album to feature founder member Jim Beattie ....
(1987) - Primal ScreamPrimal Scream (album)Primal Scream was the second album of British band Primal Scream. Released in 1989 it took a harder rock approach than their debut album Sonic Flower Groove and did not achieve great success...
(1989) - ScreamadelicaScreamadelicaScreamadelica 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...
(1991) - Give Out But Don't Give UpGive Out but Don't Give UpGive Out But Don't Give Up is a 1994 album by Primal Scream. It was the follow-up to the successful Screamadelica.-Track listing:All tracks written by Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes and Robert Young, unless noted.# "Jailbird" - 3:46# "Rocks" - 3:37...
(1994) - Vanishing PointVanishing Point (album)Vanishing Point is a 1997 album by Primal Scream. It is named after and inspired by the 1971 film Vanishing Point, especially the song "Kowalski", which is meant to be an alternative soundtrack to the movie...
(1997) - XTRMNTRXTRMNTRXTRMNTR is a 2000 album by Primal Scream. In a departure from Primal Scream's earlier hedonistic recordings, the band took a more political stance, attacking government, police, and multinational corporations...
(2000) - Evil HeatEvil HeatEvil Heat is a 2002 album by Primal Scream.The track "Rise" was originally titled "Bomb the Pentagon", and debuted as part of the band's live set in summer 2001. In light of the September 11, 2001 attacks, both the lyrics and title of the song were reworked, and the revised version appears on the...
(2002) - Riot City BluesRiot City BluesRiot City Blues is the eighth studio album by Primal Scream, released on June 5, 2006. On this album, Primal Scream leaves its electronic element behind and returns to more traditional rock and roll...
(2006) - Beautiful FutureBeautiful FutureBeautiful Future is the ninth studio album by British rock band Primal Scream, released on on B-Unique Records/Atlantic Records. The album was promoted by the single "Can't Go Back", which was released on , and it was produced by Björn Yttling and Paul Epworth.According to the press release, "the...
(2008)