Far from the Maddening Crowds is the debut studio album by British electronic dance music act Chicane

Chicane (recording artist)

Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....

, released in 1997. It is highly regarded as a seminal release in the trance

Trance music

Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...

 community, and is highly sought after. The album appeared on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

 for one week, reaching number forty-nine.

After licensing issues resulted in the album being deleted for a period of five years, the album became highly sought after. However, it was re-released on 22 October 2007 with all the tracks from the original version, plus a new mix, "Offshore 2007", which is a remix of the original track "Offshore '97".

"Offshore

Offshore (song)

"Offshore" is a song by British electronic dance music artist Chicane. It was released as his debut single from the album Far from the Maddening Crowds on 2 December 1996...

", the earliest song produced and released, is also among the best-known of Chicane's songs; aside from single sales and being a major dance club

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

 hit, resulting on its inclusion on what has been said to be over 130 compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

s, it has also been featured in the UK on TV programs ranging from travel reviews to the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Gardener's World and Grandstand

Grandstand (BBC)

Grandstand was a British television sport programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock...

.

Track listing

Personnel

• Nick Bracegirdle
  Chicane (recording artist)
  Chicane is a British electronic dance music act, and the guise of British musician, composer, songwriter and record producer, Nicholas Bracegirdle....
  
   – songwriting, production
• Leo Elstob – songwriting on "Offshore
  Offshore (song)
  "Offshore" is a song by British electronic dance music artist Chicane. It was released as his debut single from the album Far from the Maddening Crowds on 2 December 1996...
  
  " and "Offshore '97", production on "Offshore"
• Caroline Lavelle
  Caroline Lavelle
  Caroline Lavelle is a British singer-songwriter and cellist who has created three solo albums and contributed vocals, music, and production help to many other artists and bands.-Career:Lavelle studied at the Royal College of Music in London...
  
   – songwriting and vocals on "Lost You Somewhere"
• Salt Tank
  Salt Tank
  Salt Tank are two English record producers, David Gates and Malcolm Stanners, plus percussionist Andy Rose, from Surrey. Their music ranges from laid-back trance, such as their hit single "Eugina" to tougher sounds.-Biography:The trio recorded several singles, before signing a recording contract...
  
   – songwriting and production on "Leaving Town"
• Luce Drayton – vocals on "Sunstroke
  Sunstroke (song)
  "Sunstroke" is a song by dance artist Chicane. The song was released on 1 June 1997 as a CD single.-Charts:Sunstroke entered the UK Singles Chart on the 14th June 1997 at number 21, the next week it dropped 24 places to number 45, by week 3 the song dropped to number 71.-Release history:...
  
  "
• Richie Sullivan – songwriting on "Offshore '97"
• Graham Dear – songwriting on "Offshore '97"
• Louise Burton – songwriting on "Offshore '97"
• Anthony Pappa
  Anthony Pappa
  Anthony Pappa is a DJ from Melbourne, Australia. After meeting Sasha and John Digweed during an Australian tour, he decided to move to Great Britain...
  
   – mixing on "Offshore '97"
• Walter Coelho – mastering
• Alex Gold – executive producer
  Executive producer
  An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
  
  

Source:

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...	49