A Maximum High
Encyclopedia
A Maximum High is the second studio album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Shed Seven
Shed Seven
Shed Seven are an English indie rock band from York and were one of the groups which contributed to the Britpop music scene that evolved during the 1990s, yet never received the degree of mainstream success achieved by bands such as Oasis and Blur...

, released in April, 1996 via Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

. The album was written by all four band members at the time of release; Rick Witter
Rick Witter
Rick Witter is a singer, songwriter and frontman of the York-based Britpop band, Shed Seven.He was educated at Huntington School, York.-Professional career:...

, Paul Banks
Paul Banks (Shed Seven)
Paul Banks is a musician, songwriter and lead guitarist with the rock band, Shed Seven.-Professional career:...

, Tom Gladwin and Alan Leach.

Background and recording

Shed Seven held writing and rehearsal sessions at a local potato plant, RS Cockerill's of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, prior to recording the album. One of the first tracks recorded, with their new producer Chris Sheldon
Chris Sheldon
Chris Sheldon is a record producer, particularly of rock music, based in London, UK. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Feeder, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize and Pixies amongst others...

, was the lead single, "Where Have You Been Tonight?", written in late-1994 and debuting live at the band's Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 show on December 23. It was one of five tracks completed during a three week recording session at RAK Studios
RAK studios
RAK Studios are located near Regents Park in central London. The Studios were created by Mickie Most in late 1976 and they have been host to the recording of a number of artists for over three decades.- Artists recorded at RAK :All info from artist list....

 in February, 1995, before the band departed midway through the mixing process at Metropolis to embark on their first tour of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, satisfied with what they had achieved;
Along with the lead single, they completed a further four songs during their first stint in the recording studio; "This Day Was Ours", "Bully Boy", an untitled track, which was said to be the first Shed Seven song to feature drummer Alan Leach on lead vocals, and "Lies". This version of "Lies" was previewed on an NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 compilation cassette given away free with their May 6, 1995 issue, almost a year before the album was released. Following gigs in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 and Japan, the band headed back to the studio in May 1995 to begin work on further material for inclusion on the album, which, at that point, was titled In Colour. Numerous tracks recorded in this period feature the highly renowned session musicians, The Kick Horns and The Phantom Horns, adding a brassier undertone to the featured songs and marking a notable change in sound to that of the band's previous output.

Critical reception

A Maximum High garnered a positive to mixed response from critics upon release. Ian Harrison of Select drew a number of comparisons with The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

 in his review, summarising the album as "sexy, Smiths-fuelled and superb";
(I)t's apparent that Shed Seven's closest inspiration isn't Northside or The Railway Children, but The Smiths. Of all the contenders to be the heirs to The Hated Salford Ensemble, this band pull it off with the best spirit and the least number of groaning timbers. Continually there're the lilting/grinding guitars à la Marr, while Rick's voice twists and soars like Moz pre-Brendan Behan look-alike period.

He went on to liken the "jugular-directed guitar attacks" to that of their debut album
Change Giver
Change Giver is the debut album by British rock band Shed Seven, released via Polydor Records on September 5, 1994. It was produced by Jessica Corcoran and was issued during the formative year of the britpop movement—a scene which dominated British alternative music in the mid-1990s.The album was...

, but also noted a distinct change "of a band trying new moves and a richer sound". This change of sound was also noted by Mark Sutherland, writing for the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

in April 1996, who stated that "the Sheds have rocketed on so far from '94's 'Change Giver', they could actually rewrite the traditional album reviewers lexicon" and went on to compare the band to The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...

;
Certainly, the tough, ultra-confident, tune-stuffed 'outfit' here are, Witter's emotional foghorn vocals apart, barely recognisable from the scruffy tykes on the flashy, but ultimately unsatisfying, 'Change Giver'. Indeed, parts of it are good enough to pass as someone else's second album: chiefly, the record The Stone Roses should have made instead of 'The Second Coming'.

Writing for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

in April 1996, Caroline Sullivan labelled A Maximum High "good, but not outstanding", as she praised guitarist Paul Banks's "exultant jangling", but found fault with the album's lyrical content. The LP has also been referred to as "the band's most consistently engaging album (...) full of inspirational anthems [and] excellent shout-along, arena-ready numbers."

Alternate editions

A limited edition double CD version of the album titled A Maximum High Special Edition was released in September, 1996, five months after the regular issue. It featured a bonus disc of many of the band's b-sides from their first 9 single releases, along with an alternate piano version of the album track "Out By My Side" and an expanded album cover with additional lyrics and photographs.

Aside from the two UK releases, the French limited edition was issued with a free bonus disc in a cardboard slipcase featuring two live tracks—"Mark" and "Dolphin"—recorded at the Hanover Grand, London on January 30, 1996. The former track was later issued in the UK in May 1996 as a b-side to "Bully Boy" – the fourth single taken from A Maximum High – whilst the latter remains exclusive to the bonus disc. The Japanese version of the album also featured additional material, a bonus track titled "Song Seven", which was to be found as a b-side on the band's UK single "Getting Better", released in January, 1996.

Album

A Maximum High spent a total of 26 weeks in the UK album chart, peaking at number 8 on April 13, 1996, with the Special Edition reissue peaking at number 13. Discounting the band's singles compilation
Going for Gold (album)
Going For Gold is a singles compilation album by the British rock band, Shed Seven, released in May 1999 via Polydor Records. The album features sleevenotes written by Mark Sutherland, the former editor of Melody Maker, who refers to the LP as the band's "Best Of Album", whereas the album artwork...

 which reached number 7 three years later, chart-wise, A Maximum High is Shed Seven's most successful album to date.

Singles

The album spawned five Top 40 UK hit singles for the band in "Where Have You Been Tonight?", "Getting Better
Getting Better (Shed Seven song)
"Getting Better" is the second single from the Shed Seven album A Maximum High. The song spent a total of 3 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 14 on January 27, 1996....

", "Going For Gold", "On Standby" and "Bully Boy". Each single release entered the chart at number 23 or higher, including their biggest hit to date, "Going For Gold", which peaked at number 8 in March, 1996.

Track listing

All tracks written by Witter
Rick Witter
Rick Witter is a singer, songwriter and frontman of the York-based Britpop band, Shed Seven.He was educated at Huntington School, York.-Professional career:...

/Banks
Paul Banks (Shed Seven)
Paul Banks is a musician, songwriter and lead guitarist with the rock band, Shed Seven.-Professional career:...

/Gladwin/Leach.
  • Track 13 is bonus track included on the Japanese edition of the album.

  • Track 4 is exclusive to this album release.
  • Tracks 1, 6 and 11 are taken from the 1996 single, "On Standby".
  • Track 2 is taken from the 1994 single, "Speakeasy".
  • Tracks 3 and 7 are taken from the 1995 single, "Where Have You Been Tonight?".
  • Track 5 is taken from the 1994 single, "Dolphin".
  • Tracks 8, 12 and 15 are taken from the 1994 single, "Ocean Pie
    Ocean pie
    "Ocean Pie" is the fourth single release from britpop band Shed Seven's debut album, Change Giver. The single was released in October 1994 and peaked at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart.-Tracklisting:CD and 12" Vinyl#"Ocean Pie" – 4:39...

    ".
  • Tracks 9 and 14 are taken from the 1996 single, "Going For Gold".
  • Track 10 is taken from the double A side 1994 single, "Mark/Casino Girl".
  • Tracks 13 and 16 are taken from the 1996 single, "Getting Better
    Getting Better (Shed Seven song)
    "Getting Better" is the second single from the Shed Seven album A Maximum High. The song spent a total of 3 weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 14 on January 27, 1996....

    ".
  • Production on the tracks included on the Special Edition bonus disc was done by Shed Seven, Chris Sheldon, Jessica Corcoran, Tim Lewis and Simon Wall.

Personnel


Shed Seven
  • Rick Witter
    Rick Witter
    Rick Witter is a singer, songwriter and frontman of the York-based Britpop band, Shed Seven.He was educated at Huntington School, York.-Professional career:...

     – vocals
    Singing
    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

    , piano
    Piano
    The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

    , glockenspiel
    Glockenspiel
    A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...

  • Paul Banks
    Paul Banks (Shed Seven)
    Paul Banks is a musician, songwriter and lead guitarist with the rock band, Shed Seven.-Professional career:...

     – guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    s, hammond organ
    Hammond organ
    The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...

    , piano, harpsichord
    Harpsichord
    A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

  • Tom Gladwin – bass
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Alan Leach – drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

    , percussion
    Percussion instrument
    A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...

    , bongos
    Bongo drum
    Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...


Additional musicians
  • The Phantom Horns – horns
    Horn section
    In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...

    , brass
    Brass instrument
    A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...

  • Kate St John
    Kate St John
    Katharine Elinor Margaret St John is an English musician, vocalist, composer, record producer, and arranger. She plays the oboe, saxophone, accordion, piano and cor anglais.-1980s:...

     – oboe
    Oboe
    The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

  • The Kick Horns – brass
  • Audrey Riley
    Audrey Riley
    Audrey Riley is a cellist and string arranger based in the UK. Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn and was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of The Family Cat. She has been a member of the post-minimalist band Icebreaker...

     – strings
    String section
    The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...

  • Richard Wailer – backing vocals
    Backing vocalist
    A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

  • Shakiran Alexander – backing vocals
  • James Taylor
    James Taylor Quartet
    The James Taylor Quartet are a British four-piece jazz funk band who have become renowned for their live performances. They were formed by Hammond organ player James Taylor following the break-up of his former band The Prisoners in the wake of Stiff Records' bankruptcy...

     – hammond organ

Technical personnel
  • Chris Sheldon
    Chris Sheldon
    Chris Sheldon is a record producer, particularly of rock music, based in London, UK. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Feeder, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize and Pixies amongst others...

     – producer
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

    , mixer
    Audio mixing (recorded music)
    In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...

  • Pete Hoffman – recording
    Sound recording and reproduction
    Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

  • Graeme Stewart – assistant engineer
    Audio engineering
    An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...

  • Shelley Saunders – assistant engineer
  • Matt Howe – assistant engineer
  • Stylorouge
    Stylorouge
    Stylorouge is a graphic design studio currently based in Shoreditch, London. Formed by creative director Rob O'Connor in 1981, it is notable for creating record sleeve designs for bands such as Blur, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Stereophonics, Killing Joke, Sandie Shaw, Adam Ant, Catatonia, Jesus...

     – cover design
    Cover art
    Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...

  • George Logan – front cover and band photography
    Photography
    Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

  • Paul Stanley – photography
  • Gavin Kingcome – photography
  • Mark Thomson – photography
  • Carl Rush – photography
  • Simon Fowler – photography
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