The American Adventure (album)
Encyclopedia
The American Adventure is the second album by UK prog-pop duo The Electric Soft Parade
, released in 2003 on BMG UK & Ireland. The album was seen as a departure from their previous effort Holes in the Wall
(DB Records, 2002) and paved the way for their third full-length LP, No Need To Be Down-Hearted.
and "'70s Pink Floyd comfortable numbness". Andrew McGregor writing for the BBC
praised the uniqueness of The Electric Soft Parade sound, but found fault with the album's lyrical content; "there's surely no need to adopt their 'stating-the-bleeding-obvious in a Moon/June/Balloon stylee' approach. "Existing is easy, living is hard" from the otherwise fine closing track "Exist" is a cliche too far, with unfortunate echoes of "Why" by Annie Lennox." In her review for RTÉ, Anne-Louise Foley labelled the album "dull", stating that it is "nowhere as interesting as it thinks it is" and singling out "The American Adventure" as the main offender in her 2-star review; "[t]he White brothers shoot themselves in the foot with the overblown prog monstrosity that is the title track. Long and meandering (though it does manage to escape from the sound swamp near the end), it's the kind of song that only a mother or devout PR man could love." Despite her reservations about the album as a whole, she found merit in the LP's second single, "Lose Yr Frown", declaring it "the best thing on offer, with a catchy chorus that trips off Alex's guitar with an upbeat ease. It's what the young band do best and they should remember this". Stylus Magazine
's Kilian Murphy thought that The American Adventure was despondently disappointing overall, citing "time spent on the road plugging their debut long-player" as the overriding factor which had "caused the Parade to lose some of their fizz", but he also felt that the album also had its good points, too; "Thankfully, not everything on the American Adventure suffers from such despondency. Opening track “Things I’ve Done Before” may not let much lyrical light in (...), but it’s equipped with a killer riff and a sense of momentum that is lost later in the album (...) while “Bruxellisation” is a rich, heartbreaking ballad in the Doves mould." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian
declared the album musically "adventurous" in her complimentary review, and, although the songwriting lacked uniformity, the album was a success;
Josh Rogan, writing for Yahoo! Music
, described The American Adventure as "a roller coaster ride well worth taking" that had "clearly been lovingly constructed and largely well executed" with "a strong sense of focus and quality control".
and A. White
, unless otherwise noted.
The Electric Soft Parade
The Electric Soft Parade are an English psych-pop band from Brighton, comprising brothers Alex and Thomas White, the creative core of the band, as well as a number of other musicians with whom they record and perform live, most recently including Andrew Mitchell and Damo Waters, as well as...
, released in 2003 on BMG UK & Ireland. The album was seen as a departure from their previous effort Holes in the Wall
Holes in the Wall
Holes in the Wall is an album by The Electric Soft Parade, released in February 2002. The album was released on DB Records and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize...
(DB Records, 2002) and paved the way for their third full-length LP, No Need To Be Down-Hearted.
Critical reception
The American Adventure received mixed reviews upon release. Jack Rabid of Allmusic noted a distinct change of sound from that of the band's debut album, Holes In The Wall, but it was a change that he felt worked to good effect; "They abandon any semblance of their first LP's clockwork consistency for a bumpy ride of an LP that shifts gears from song to song, or mid-song abruptly but successfully throughout". He went on to draw comparisons with the baroque music of The Beach BoysThe Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and "'70s Pink Floyd comfortable numbness". Andrew McGregor writing for 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...
praised the uniqueness of The Electric Soft Parade sound, but found fault with the album's lyrical content; "there's surely no need to adopt their 'stating-the-bleeding-obvious in a Moon/June/Balloon stylee' approach. "Existing is easy, living is hard" from the otherwise fine closing track "Exist" is a cliche too far, with unfortunate echoes of "Why" by Annie Lennox." In her review for RTÉ, Anne-Louise Foley labelled the album "dull", stating that it is "nowhere as interesting as it thinks it is" and singling out "The American Adventure" as the main offender in her 2-star review; "[t]he White brothers shoot themselves in the foot with the overblown prog monstrosity that is the title track. Long and meandering (though it does manage to escape from the sound swamp near the end), it's the kind of song that only a mother or devout PR man could love." Despite her reservations about the album as a whole, she found merit in the LP's second single, "Lose Yr Frown", declaring it "the best thing on offer, with a catchy chorus that trips off Alex's guitar with an upbeat ease. It's what the young band do best and they should remember this". Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
's Kilian Murphy thought that The American Adventure was despondently disappointing overall, citing "time spent on the road plugging their debut long-player" as the overriding factor which had "caused the Parade to lose some of their fizz", but he also felt that the album also had its good points, too; "Thankfully, not everything on the American Adventure suffers from such despondency. Opening track “Things I’ve Done Before” may not let much lyrical light in (...), but it’s equipped with a killer riff and a sense of momentum that is lost later in the album (...) while “Bruxellisation” is a rich, heartbreaking ballad in the Doves mould." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
declared the album musically "adventurous" in her complimentary review, and, although the songwriting lacked uniformity, the album was a success;
Josh Rogan, writing for 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...
, described The American Adventure as "a roller coaster ride well worth taking" that had "clearly been lovingly constructed and largely well executed" with "a strong sense of focus and quality control".
Track listing
All tracks written by T.Tom White (musician)
Thomas White is a Brighton, England-based musician, producer and visual artist. Educated at Davigdor Infants, Somerhill Juniors and Hove Park schools, he began learning the piano at the age of 5, picking up the violin a year later and teaching himself guitar, drums and clarinet in his early teens...
and A. White
Alex White (musician)
Alex White is a multi-instrumentalist who, along with brother Tom, forms the nucleus of Brighton band The Electric Soft Parade. Alex also plays drums in Brakes...
, unless otherwise noted.
- "Things I've Done Before" (A. White) – 2:55
- "Bruxellisation" – 3:28
- "Lights Out" – 2:40
- "The Wrongest Thing in Town" – 5:13
- "Lose Yr Frown" (A. White) – 2:55
- "The American Adventure" (T. White) – 6:59
- "Chaos" (T. White) – 4:42
- "Headacheville" – 4:01
- "Existing" (T. White) – 3:27
The Electric Soft Parade
- Alex WhiteAlex White (musician)Alex White is a multi-instrumentalist who, along with brother Tom, forms the nucleus of Brighton band The Electric Soft Parade. Alex also plays drums in Brakes...
– producer, arranger, 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...
, guitarsGuitarThe 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...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, synth bass, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, claps, vox continental organ, tacked piano, hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, celesteCelestaThe celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, 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 ....
, reverb guitar - Thomas WhiteTom White (musician)Thomas White is a Brighton, England-based musician, producer and visual artist. Educated at Davigdor Infants, Somerhill Juniors and Hove Park schools, he began learning the piano at the age of 5, picking up the violin a year later and teaching himself guitar, drums and clarinet in his early teens...
– producer, arranger, artwork, photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, drums, vocals, guitars, bass, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, sampler, 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...
, 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....
, claps, vox continental organ, hammond organ, akai 12-track, piano
Additional musicians
- Steven Large – piano, hammond organ
- Debbie Ball – guitars
- Alex Miller – violin
- Monster BobbyMonster BobbyMonster Bobby is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the creator of and guitarist for the indie pop girl group The Pipettes.-Overview:...
– q-chord, grooveboxGrooveboxThe term Groovebox was originally used by Roland corporation to refer to its MC-303, but the term has since entered general use. It refers to a self-contained instrument for the production of live, loop-based electronic music with a high degree of user control facilitating improvisation.A groovebox... - Phil Sumner – cornetCornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
- Sebastian McNulty – spoken wordSpoken wordSpoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
Technical personnel
- Danton Supple – co-producer, mixer
- Nick Webb – mastering
- Mervyn Penrose – sleeve assembly
- Marc Beatty – violin recording
- Al Scott – vocal recording, edits