K (album)

K
Studio album by Kula Shaker
Released 16 September 1996 (UK)
22 October 1996 (US)
Recorded January–May 1996
Studio Eden, RAK, Townhouse, Chipping Norton, Livingston, The Pierce Room, Wessex, Maison Rouge, Eastcote Studios
Genre Psychedelic rock, raga rock, Britpop
Length 48:51 (not including 13:04 silence)
Label Columbia
Producer John Leckie, Shep & Dodge, Crispian Mills
Kula Shaker chronology
K
(1996)		 Summer Sun E.P.
(1997)Summer Sun E.P.1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Austin Chronicle[2]
Alternative Press[3]
The A.V. Club(mixed)[4]
Robert ChristgauC[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[6]
NME9/10[7]
Q[8]
Record Collector[9]
Rolling Stone(favourable)[10]

K is the debut album by Kula Shaker, released on 16 September 1996. When it was released, it became the fastest selling debut album in Britain since Elastica's debut the previous year.[11] The album reached the #1 position in the UK charts, however in America it stalled at #200 in the Billboard charts.

The Grateful Dead's psychedelic rock style is an influence on Kula Shaker's first and second albums. The hidden track after "Hollow Man" is a recording of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, speaking about his own guru.

The album received mixed reviews; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic noted the band's "powerful rush", but said they "have trouble coming up with hooks".[1]

Artwork

The cover art (by comic-book artist Dave Gibbons) consists of various images related to the letter K, including: John F. Kennedy, Lord Kitchener, Karl Marx, Gene Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Ken Dodd, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Danny Kaye, Kal-El (Superman), Boris Karloff (as Frankenstein's monster), Krishna, King Kong, Martin Luther King, Jr., 2 Knights (a pair of Keys on one of them), a Kettle, Kali, the Kaiser, Nikita Khrushchev, Grace Kelly, the number 11 (symbolizing K), and Rudyard Kipling's book Kim.

Track listing

All tracks written by Crispian Mills except where indicated.

Original track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hey Dude" 4:10
2."Knight on the Town" 3:25
3."Temple of Everlasting Light"Mills, Alonza Bevan2:33
4."Govinda" 4:57
5."Smart Dogs" 3:16
6."Magic Theatre"Mills, Bevan2:38
7."Into the Deep"Mills, Bevan3:49
8."Sleeping Jiva"Mills, Bevan, Jay Darlington, Paul Winterhart2:02
9."Tattva" 3:46
10."Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There" 5:42
11."303"Mills, Bevan3:08
12."Start All Over" 2:35
13."Hollow Man (Parts 1 & 2)" (plus 0:12 hidden track after – 13:04 silence) 6:10

Personnel

Kula Shaker

Guest musicians

  • Wajahat Kahn - sarod (on "Sleeping Jiva")
  • Himangsu Goswami - tabla (on "Govinda" and "Jerry Was There")
  • Gauri - backing vocals (on "Govinda")
  • The Kick Horns - horns (on "Start All Over")

References

  1. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AllMusic review". AllMusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  2. ↑ "Record Reviews - Music Review". The Austin Chronicle. 1996-11-15. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  3. ↑ "Kula Shaker – K". Alternative Press. January 1997. p. 73.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Stephen (29 March 2002). "Kula Shaker: K". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "CG: Kula Shaker". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  6. ↑ Pepper, Tracey (25 October 1996). "K Review | Music Reviews and News". Entertainment Weekly. p. 116. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  7. ↑ "Kula Shaker K". NME. 21–28 December 1996. pp. 66–67.
  8. ↑ "Kula Shaker K". Q. October 1996. p. 165.
  9. ↑ Tuscadero, Inky (December 2011). "Kula Shaker – K". Record Collector. p. 95. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  10. ↑ Archived 18 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ "Kula Shaker Classic Rock Archive". Classic Rock. March 2000. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  • K at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
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