Nonsuch (album)
| Nonsuch | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:XTC Nonsuch.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by XTC | ||||
| Released | 27 April 1992 | |||
| Recorded | July–October 1991 | |||
| Studio | Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England | |||
| Genre | Baroque pop | |||
| Length | 63:29 | |||
| Label | Virgin Records | |||
| Producer | Gus Dudgeon | |||
| XTC chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Nonsuch | ||||
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Nonsuch (styled as NONSVCH.) is the twelfth studio album by the English band XTC, released on 27 April 1992. In a 1992 MTV interview, Andy Partridge said that he had selected the name of the album after encountering a drawing of Nonsuch Palace and, thinking that the archaic word "Nonsuch" meant "does not exist" rather than, as he later learned, "unique". The album title may have derived from a couplet in the lyrics of the final song of Oranges and Lemons (their previous studio album) "Chalkhills and Children":
I'm skating over thin ice
while some nonesuch net holds me aloft
The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. "The Disappointed" was nominated for an Ivor Novello award. The album reached No. 1 on the Rolling Stone College album chart and No. 97 on the Billboard album chart in the U.S. It was the band's second consecutive Top 30 success on the UK album chart, reaching 28.
The album produced three singles: "The Disappointed" (which reached No. 33 on the UK singles chart), "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" (which reached No. 71 on the UK singles chart) and "Wrapped In Grey" (which, when withdrawn by Virgin, prompted the band to go on strike).
Two promotional videos were made. A UK-only video for "The Disappointed" (the band also did a lip-sync performance of this song on Pebble Mill at One) and "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead," which received much airplay on MTV that summer.
The band performed "Books Are Burning" live with drummer Dave Mattacks on The Late Show on BBC-TV in April 1992.
The album cover is a picture of Nonsuch Palace in Surrey, from the book A Short History of Ewell and Nonsuch, by Cloudesley S. Willis. The palace no longer exists, but its former grounds included the present-day Nonsuch Park between Ewell and Cheam.
New 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes from the original analogue tapes by Steven Wilson were released in 2013.[1]
Track listing
UK CD: CDV 2699
All songs written and composed by Andy Partridge, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" | 5:02 |
| 2. | "My Bird Performs" (Colin Moulding) | 3:51 |
| 3. | "Dear Madam Barnum" | 2:48 |
| 4. | "Humble Daisy" | 3:36 |
| 5. | "The Smartest Monkeys" (Moulding) | 4:18 |
| 6. | "The Disappointed" | 3:23 |
| 7. | "Holly Up on Poppy" | 3:04 |
| 8. | "Crocodile" | 3:56 |
| 9. | "Rook" | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Omnibus" | 3:20 |
| 11. | "That Wave" | 3:34 |
| 12. | "Then She Appeared" | 3:51 |
| 13. | "War Dance" (Moulding) | 3:22 |
| 14. | "Wrapped in Grey" | 3:46 |
| 15. | "The Ugly Underneath" | 3:50 |
| 16. | "Bungalow" (Moulding) | 2:49 |
| 17. | "Books Are Burning" | 4:52 |
| 18. | "Didn't Hurt a Bit" ((Note: Only available on 2013 re-release) Moulding) | 3:27 |
Personnel
- Andy Partridge – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine, percussion, Shaker, keyboard programming, bell tree
- Colin Moulding – vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Dave Gregory – electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, synthesisers, Hammond organ, backing vocals, church bell
with:
- Dave Mattacks – drums, tambourine, drum & sitar samples, shaker, percussion
- Gus Dudgeon – "ringmaster," tambourine, percussion, chorus
- Guy Barker – flugelhorns, trumpet
- Florence Lovegrove – viola
- Rose Hull – cello
- Stuart Gordon – violin
- Gina Griffin – violin
- Neville Farmer – chorus
String and brass arrangements by Dave Gregory, except "Rook" and "Omnibus" by Andy Partridge and "War Dance" by Colin Moulding. Strings on "The Disappointed" arranged by Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [3] |
| Q |  [4] |
| Q | (1997) [5] |
| Robert Christgau |  [6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | The Billboard 200 | 97 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Dear Madam Barnum" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 18 |
| 1992 | "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
References
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