No Exit (Blondie album)

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No Exit
File:No Exit (Blondie album).jpg
Studio album by Blondie
Released February 23, 1999
Recorded 1998; at
Red Night Recording, NYC;
Electric Lady Studios, NYC;
Chung King House of Metal, NYC
Genre New wave, alternative rock
Length 59:05
Label Beyond Records
Producer Craig Leon
Blondie chronology
The Hunter
(1982)The Hunter1982		 No Exit
(1999)		 The Curse of Blondie
(2003)The Curse of Blondie2003
Singles from No Exit
  1. "Maria"
    Released: February 1, 1999
  2. "Nothing Is Real but the Girl"
    Released: June 12, 1999 (UK)
  3. "No Exit"
    Released: October 22, 1999 (Europe)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2.5/5 stars[1]
Entertainment Weekly C[2]
Robert Christgau A-[5]
Rolling Stone 2.5/5 stars[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide 3/5 stars[4]

No Exit is the seventh studio album by the American rock group Blondie. Released in February 1999, it was the band's first album in 17 years and featured their UK number one hit single "Maria".

Overview

As was customary for a Blondie album, No Exit dabbled in many genres, including pop, reggae, and hip-hop. Mike Chapman, who had produced all but the first two of Blondie's albums, produced some of the early demos for the album but final production of the album fell to Craig Leon.

A version of The Shangri-Las' 1965 hit "Out in the Streets" was also included on this album. It was originally recorded by the band in 1975 while they were trying to get a record deal. The demo version was first issued on EMI's 1994 anthology The Platinum Collection and was later included on the 2001 remaster of the band's first album, Blondie.

A huge comeback promotional tour was launched preceding the release of the album, which spanned 13 months and visited Europe, North America and Oceania.

Release and reception

The album reached #3 in the UK charts, where it was certified Gold for sales in excess of 100,000 copies. It was preceded by the hit single, "Maria", which became Blondie's sixth UK #1, exactly twenty years after the band's first number one, "Heart of Glass", making them the first American band to have chart-topping UK singles in three different decades: 1970s, 80s and 90s.[6] A second single, "Nothing Is Real but the Girl", peaked at #26 in the UK. The title track, "No Exit", was released as a limited edition third single in Europe, which is a fusion of classical, hip-hop and rock, and featured raps by Mobb Deep, Coolio, U-God & Inspectah Deck.

The album was released in several editions in different countries with various bonus tracks, mainly live versions of songs recorded during No Exit Tour. The album was also reissued in 2001 along with all other Blondie's studio albums, this time including three bonus tracks.[7]

Chris Stein commented on the title of the album in a 2004 interview: "...The title was taken from a Sartre play, which says there's no madness in individuals, it's all in groups. I think that's probably what all these reality TV shows are about. Maybe we were a reality TV show before there was reality TV."

Track listing

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Screaming Skin"   Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Romy Ashby, Leigh Foxx 5:35
2. "Forgive and Forget"   Stein 4:31
3. "Maria"   Jimmy Destri 4:51
4. "No Exit"   Harry, Destri, Ashby, Stein, Coolio 4:51
5. "Double Take"   Harry, Stein 4:12
6. "Nothing Is Real but the Girl"   Destri 3:13
7. "Boom Boom in the Zoom Zoom Room"   Harry, Ashby, Clem Burke, Kathy Valentine, Denny Freeman 4:08
8. "Night Wind Sent"   Harry, Stein, Ashby, Foxx 4:40
9. "Under the Gun" (for Jeffrey Lee Pierce) Stein 4:09
10. "Out in the Streets" (The Shangri-Las cover) Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry 3:03
11. "Happy Dog" (for Caggy) Harry, Stein, Ashby 3:24
12. "The Dream's Lost on Me"   Harry, Stein, Ashby 3:19
13. "Divine"   Burke, Valentine 4:14
14. "Dig up the Conjo"   Harry, Stein, Destri 4:55
Bonus tracks on US & Canadian edition
No. Title Writer(s) Length
15. "Dreaming" (hidden track) Harry, Stein 3:22
16. "Call Me" (hidden track) Giorgio Moroder, Harry 4:47
17. "Rapture" (hidden track) Harry, Stein 7:07
Bonus tracks on Australian edition
No. Title Writer(s) Length
15. "Call Me"   Giorgio Moroder, Harry 4:47
16. "Rapture"   Harry, Stein 7:07
17. "Heart of Glass"   Harry, Stein 6:49
Limited edition bonus EP
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Call Me"   Giorgio Moroder, Harry 4:47
2. "Rapture"   Harry, Stein 7:07
3. "Dreaming"   Harry, Stein 3:21
4. "Heart of Glass"   Harry, Stein 6:49
Bonus track on Japanese edition
No. Title Writer(s) Length
15. "Hot Shot" (Karen Young cover) Andrew Kahn, Kurt Borusiewicz 3:46
Bonus tracks on 2001 Reissue
No. Title Writer(s) Length
15. "Hot Shot" (Karen Young cover) Andrew Kahn, Kurt Borusiewicz, 3:46
16. "Rapture" (hidden track) Harry, Stein 7:07
17. "Heart of Glass" (hidden track) Harry, Stein 6:49
  • Tracks 15 to 17 are sequenced as one track with total duration 17:51. Tracks 16 and 17 recorded live at Lyceum Ballroom, London, November 22, 1998

Personnel

Additional personnel

Production

  • Producer, Recorded by — Craig Leon
  • Mixed by — Craig Leon (tracks: 1, 7, 9 to 11, 13, 14); Mike Shipley (tracks: 2 to 6, 8)
  • Assistant producer — Cassell Webb
  • Mastered by — Steve Hall
  • Recorded at Red Night Recording NYC, Electric Lady Studios, NYC and Chung King House of Metal, NYC
  • Mixed at Abbey Road Studios, London and Encore Studios, Los Angeles
  • Mastered at Future Disc, Los Angeles

Chart peaks

Chart (1999) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 72
Austrian Albums Chart[8] 20
Belgian Albums Chart[9] 45
Canadian Albums Chart[10] 34
Dutch Albums Chart[11] 80
German Albums Chart[12] 18
French Albums Chart[13] 25
Swedish Albums Chart[14] 36
Swiss Albums Chart[15] 21
UK Albums Chart[16] 3
US Billboard 200[17] 18

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Gold 100,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Notes

  1. ↑ No Exit at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Entertainment Weekly review
  3. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  4. ↑ Rolling Stone Album Guide
  5. ↑ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Note: User needs to enter "Blondie" in the "Keywords" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Search" button. Select "More >>" next to the relevant entry to see full certification history.
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