Olympian (album)

Olympian
Studio album by Gene
Released 20 March 1995
Recorded Autumn 1994 - Townhouse 3, London
Genre Britpop, alternative rock
Length 40:31
2:19:12 (2014 remastered & expanded reissue)
Label Polydor (US and Europe)
Costermonger (UK)
Producer Phil Vinall, Miti Adhikari
Gene chronology
Olympian
(1995)		 To See the Lights
(1996)

Olympian is the 1995 debut album by British guitar band Gene, released on 20 March 1995 by Costermonger Records.

It is frequently recognized as one of the crowning achievements of Britpop.[1][2][3]

The album sound is noted for being influenced by The Smiths, The Jam & The Small Faces.[4][5] Aesthetically, the album cover reminds of The Smiths' sleeves.

The album reached number 8 in the UK albums chart, selling 70,000 copies and gaining a silver disc.

The image used for the cover is a still from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said of the album: "While Gene manages to carve out an identity indebted to the Smiths but not dominated by them, they also fail to produce an album of consistently compelling material - considering that it's a debut album, that's not a fatal flaw. And Gene's best material shows they are capable of transcending their influences."[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by Martin Rossiter/Steve Mason/Kevin Miles/Matt James.

No.TitleLength
1."Haunted by You"3:41
2."Your Love, It Lies"3:18
3."Truth, Rest Your Head"5:00
4."A Car That Sped"3:36
5."Left-Handed"2:20
6."London, Can You Wait?"3:11
7."To the City"4:00
8."Still Can't Find the Phone"3:00
9."Sleep Well Tonight"4:36
10."Olympian"5:25
11."We'll Find Our Own Way"2:24
Total length:40:31
US Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
12."For the Dead"3:26
13."Be My Light, Be My Guide"4:03
Total length:48:02

Personnel

Gene
Additional musicians

Electra Strings:

  • Sian Bell - Cello
  • Jocelyn Pook - Viola
  • Jules Singleton - 2nd Violin
  • Sonia Slany - Lead Violin
  • Pete Thomas - String Arrangements
Production
  • Phil Vinall - Producer
  • Miti Adhikari - Producer
  • Pete Hofmann - Engineer
  • Andy Vella - Design
  • Kevin Westenberg, Melanie Cox and Andrew Carruth - Photography

References

  1. ↑ "BEST DAYS: HERE ARE 10 ESSENTIAL BRITPOP ALBUMS TURNING 20 IN 2015". Vanyaland. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "10 Essential Britpop Albums". Treble. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Story of Britpop in 60 Albums". www.mojo4music.com. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "10 Classic Albums That Wouldn't Be The Same Without The Smiths' 'Meat Is Murder'". NME. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  5. ↑ "Album A&E - Gene, 'Olympian'". NME. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Olympian at AllMusic
  7. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Olympian by Gene: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.