St. Jude (album)

St. Jude
Studio album by The Courteeners
Released 7 April 2008
Genre Indie rock, post-punk revival
Length 49:36
Label Polydor
Producer Stephen Street, Ben Hillier, Rob Kirwan
The Courteeners chronology
St. Jude
(2008)		 Falcon
(2010)Falcon2010
Singles from St. Jude
  1. "Cavorting"
    Released: 6 August 2007
  2. "Acrylic"
    Released: 22 October 2007
  3. "What Took You So Long?"
    Released: 14 January 2008
  4. "Not Nineteen Forever"
    Released: 31 March 2008
  5. "No You Didn't, No You Don't"
    Released: 23 June 2008
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
Digital Spy[3]
The Guardian[4]
NME7/10[5]
Uncut[6]

St. Jude is the debut studio album by British indie rock band The Courteeners. It was released through Polydor on 7 April 2008. There is also a special edition album which includes a second disc of acoustic versions of songs which feature on the actual album. Though the album was received to average reviews from critics, the album has become somewhat a cult success though many fans are more favorable to the versions of songs seen on Here Come the Young Men EP and various other demos. In support of the album the band embarked on a European tour.

The album reached number 4 in the UK Album chart and passed its 100,000th sale the same week follow-up Falcon was released. The 990 sales the album collected during that period, brought the total up to 100,757. As of November 2016, it has sold 166,150 copies.[7]

In December 2008 St. Jude won the inaugural Guardian's First British Album Award beating albums by Glasvegas, Duffy, Adele, and Noah & The Whale. The award was voted for by members of the public and The Guardian journalists. St. Jude clinched a mammoth 53% of the public vote.[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Liam Fray.

  1. "Aftershow"
  2. "Cavorting"
  3. "Bide Your Time"
  4. "What Took You So Long?"
  5. "Please Don't"
  6. "If It Wasn't for Me"
  7. "No You Didn't, No You Don't"
  8. "How Come"
  9. "Kings of the New Road"
  10. "Not Nineteen Forever"
  11. "Fallowfield Hillbilly"
  12. "Yesterday, Today & Probably Tomorrow"

Special edition disc

  1. "Cavorting" (Original Recording)
  2. "No You Didn't, No You Don't" (Original Recording)
  3. "Acrylic"
  4. "Kimberley"
  5. "An Ex Is An Ex For A Reason"
  6. "Bide Your Time" (Acoustic)
  7. "Acrylic" (Acoustic)
  8. "What Took You So Long?" (Acoustic)
  9. "Not Nineteen Forever" (Acoustic)

Trivia

  1. The cover's artwork was painted by The Courteeners singer Liam Fray, and features Audrey Hepburn.
  2. "Not Nineteen Forever" was used in an episode of 90210 and was also used as the link music on Sky Sports News in between advert breaks. It is also featured in the football video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2010.
  3. "No You Didn't, No You Don't" has been used as a backing track for Match of the Day as well as the program's Sunday show Match of the Day 2 on multiple occasions.
  4. The album is dotted with references to The Smiths, of whom lead singer Morrissey is very fond of The Courteeners. References include the lyrics "Do you know who I am? I'm like a Morrissey with some strings". As The Smiths did before them, The Courteeners continuously reference Manchester locations for instance the song "Fallowfield Hillbilly" (featuring lyrics about Piccadilly Records and the suburb of Fallowfield), or the song "Yesterday, Today and Probably Tomorrow", which features references to Withington and their native Middleton. They also mention Strangeways, a Manchester jail, which is also mentioned in a Smiths album. Some feared at time of the album release that few would get the references of the band outside Manchester, but this has not proved any problem.
  5. Another Smiths similarity is that the album was produced by Stephen Street, who produced a great bulk of Smiths and early Morrissey material.
  6. Morrissey has mentioned his love for The Courteeners on numerous occasions. After seeing The Courteeners in Camden, Morrissey played their song "What Took You So Long?" on American radio station KRCW, where he heaped praise on the band saying that "Every song was very strong and full of hooks and full of dynamics and I thought, 'this is great" and that "So many groups in England, they're hyped and they're huge and they're all over the press and they don't really actually have any songs, they don't really have anything to offer... but it's different with The Courteeners, they actually do have very good, strong songs." Morrissey added to his torrent of praise that "I think they will make it here [in the US] and I think you'll come across them."

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 4

References

  1. ↑ http://www.metacritic.com/music/st-jude/the-courteeners
  2. ↑ "Allmusic Review".
  3. ↑ "Digital Spy Review".
  4. ↑ "The Guardian Review".
  5. ↑ "NME Review".
  6. ↑ "Uncut Review".
  7. ↑ Jones, Alan (4 November 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: James Arthur tops albums chart with Back from the Edge". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 27 November 2016. (Subscription required (help)).
  8. ↑ Swash, Rosie (19 December 2008). "The 2008 Guardian First Album award winner". The Guardian.
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