The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Encyclopedia
The Hour of Bewilderbeast is an album
that was released by Badly Drawn Boy
in 2000 (see 2000 in music
). The album won the 2000 Mercury Prize
. The album featured members of Alfie
and Doves as backing musicians.
, is loosely based on Leonardo Da Vinci
's drawing "Vitruvian Man
". The original art also featured Woody Allen
, however his picture had to be removed due to copyright issues.
Other modifications to the album include the removal of a selection of lyrics from the track "Magic in the Air." The lyrics were replaced by an instrumental after hip hop
artist Taja Sevelle
claimed they were too similar to those in her single "Love Is Contagious
."
, the album has a score of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Several reviewers compared the album to Beck
and Elliott Smith
.
Allmusic's John Bush praised the album, writing "Despite all attempts to sabotage his songwriting and production with innumerable experimental tidbits, songs within a song, and (seemingly) tossed-off arrangements, Damon Gough has to face the fact that he wrote and produced over a dozen excellent songs of baroque folk-pop for his album debut, and the many gems can't help but shine through all the self-indulgence." Bush also praised Gough's use of humor in the lyrics. musicOMH
's Michael Hubbard also gave the album a positive review, writing "This album deserves to do well for many more reasons than the act's name, excellent though it is. It is light, breezy and atmospheric, a surprise is set loose with every track and even the title is marvellous." Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork Media
described the album as "loose" and "scatterbrain," but nevertheless praised the album, writing "Piano, strings, harps, and Wurlitzer attach insect wings to the lovely songs. They'll swarm and pester your head for days. With this concise tour through the gentler side of British songwriting history... Badly Drawn Boy proves what shallow saps American liberal arts majors can be behind a guitar."
Spin
's Barney Hoskyns
, on the other hand, gave the album a more mixed review, writing "Gough's dewy little tunes are mere scribblings in the margins of alt-folk's dog-eared hook-book, while his too-cool-to-care singing is drip-dry dreary." Hoskyns continued: "Stand The Hour of Bewilderbeast next to Elliott Smith
's Figure 8
for a few bars and Gough starts to look like an imposter."
The Hour of Bewilderbeast has appeared on a few end of year lists. Pitchfork Media
ranked the album #18 on its list of the top 20 albums of 2000. NME
ranked the album #4 on its list of the 50 best albums of 2000. In addition, the album received the 2000 Mercury Prize
, a prize Gough was favored to win. When Gough received the prize, he tossed the prize money on the ground and said: "I always assumed I was never going to win because good things don't happen to good people normally."
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...
that was released by Badly Drawn Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
in 2000 (see 2000 in music
2000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
). The album won the 2000 Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
. The album featured members of Alfie
Alfie (band)
Alfie were an English indie rock band from Manchester. They were originally signed to Twisted Nerve Records before moving to EMI sub-label Regal Zonophone Records.-Twisted Nerve years :...
and Doves as backing musicians.
Copyright issues
The cover art, produced by Andy VotelAndy Votel
Andrew Shallcross, known by his stage name Andy Votel, is an electronic musician, DJ and record producer, co-founder of Twisted Nerve Records and the reissue label Finders Keepers Records...
, is loosely based on Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's drawing "Vitruvian Man
Vitruvian Man
The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the famed architect, Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and...
". The original art also featured Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, however his picture had to be removed due to copyright issues.
Other modifications to the album include the removal of a selection of lyrics from the track "Magic in the Air." The lyrics were replaced by an instrumental after hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artist Taja Sevelle
Taja Sevelle
Taja Sevelle is a music recording artist, songwriter, novelist and inventor from Minneapolis, Minnesota who began her music career in 1987 when she was signed to the Paisley Park Records label by Prince. In the same week, she was accepted into the Berklee College of Music in Boston.Sevelle's first...
claimed they were too similar to those in her single "Love Is Contagious
Love Is Contagious
"Love Is Contagious" is the debut single by Taja Sevelle, released in 1987. The song was taken from her eponymous debut album, released on Paisley Park Records, the label founded by her mentor, Prince. To date, this self-penned song is Sevelle's only major chart hit. The song reached number 7 on...
."
Reception and legacy
The Hour of Bewilderbeast has received mostly positive reviews. On the review aggregate site MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the album has a score of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Several reviewers compared the album to Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
and Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
.
Allmusic's John Bush praised the album, writing "Despite all attempts to sabotage his songwriting and production with innumerable experimental tidbits, songs within a song, and (seemingly) tossed-off arrangements, Damon Gough has to face the fact that he wrote and produced over a dozen excellent songs of baroque folk-pop for his album debut, and the many gems can't help but shine through all the self-indulgence." Bush also praised Gough's use of humor in the lyrics. musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
's Michael Hubbard also gave the album a positive review, writing "This album deserves to do well for many more reasons than the act's name, excellent though it is. It is light, breezy and atmospheric, a surprise is set loose with every track and even the title is marvellous." Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
described the album as "loose" and "scatterbrain," but nevertheless praised the album, writing "Piano, strings, harps, and Wurlitzer attach insect wings to the lovely songs. They'll swarm and pester your head for days. With this concise tour through the gentler side of British songwriting history... Badly Drawn Boy proves what shallow saps American liberal arts majors can be behind a guitar."
Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
's Barney Hoskyns
Barney Hoskyns
Barney Hoskyns is a British music critic and editor of the online music journalism archive Rock's Backpages.Hoskyns graduated from Oxford with a First Class degree in English. He began writing about music for Melody Maker and New Musical Express, quitting his job as staff writer at NME to research...
, on the other hand, gave the album a more mixed review, writing "Gough's dewy little tunes are mere scribblings in the margins of alt-folk's dog-eared hook-book, while his too-cool-to-care singing is drip-dry dreary." Hoskyns continued: "Stand The Hour of Bewilderbeast next to Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith
Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...
's Figure 8
Figure 8 (album)
Figure 8 is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Released by DreamWorks Records on April 18, 2000, it became Smith's second release on a major label and the last album he would complete before his death...
for a few bars and Gough starts to look like an imposter."
The Hour of Bewilderbeast has appeared on a few end of year lists. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
ranked the album #18 on its list of the top 20 albums of 2000. 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...
ranked the album #4 on its list of the 50 best albums of 2000. In addition, the album received the 2000 Mercury Prize
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize and currently known as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for sponsorship reasons, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established by the British Phonographic Industry and British...
, a prize Gough was favored to win. When Gough received the prize, he tossed the prize money on the ground and said: "I always assumed I was never going to win because good things don't happen to good people normally."
Track listing
Personnel
The following people contributed to The Hour of Bewilderbeast:- Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough) – vocals, acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, pianoPianoThe 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...
, lead guitar, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, drum machineDrum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, handclaps, whistlingWhistlingHuman whistling is the production of sound by means of carefully controlling a stream of air flowing through a small hole. Whistling can be achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips and then blowing or sucking air through the hole...
, slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, Wurlitzer electric pianoWurlitzer electric pianoWurlitzer 200A|250px|thumbThe Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, New York...
, lead keyboards, organ soloOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, drum machine organs, percussion, crash cymbalCrash cymbalA crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to in ostinato. The term "crash" may have been first used by Zildjian in 1928....
, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, string arrangement, sound effectSound effectFor the album by The Jam, see Sound Affects.Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media...
s - Matt McGeever – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, handclaps - Sam Morris – bass, keyboards, French horn, handclaps
- Ian Smith – drums, electric guitar, percussion, vibraphone, handclaps
- Joe Robinson – drum programming, loops, theremin, effects, sound effects
- Andy Votel – drum programming, effects, piano, keyboards, strings samples, samplesSampling (music)In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
- Adrian Dacre – drums
- Sean Kelly – drums, handclaps
- Ian Rainford – handclaps
- Jez WilliamsJez WilliamsJez Williams is the guitarist/songwriter of Doves. He was born in Manchester, England, and he is also the twin brother of bandmate Andy...
– electric guitar, slide guitar - Jimi GoodwinJimi GoodwinJimi Goodwin is the bassist, vocalist and guitarist for Doves. Before their incarnation as Doves, the three members were a dance-club music trio called Sub Sub....
– bass - Andy WilliamsAndy Williams (Doves)Andy Williams is the drummer and vocalist of Doves. He was born in Manchester, England, and he is also the twin brother of bandmate Jez...
– drums - Martin Rebelski – Wurlitzer electric piano, clavinetClavinetA Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
, keyboards - Gary Wilkinson – keyboards, drum programming, sirenSirenIn Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
s, noises - Paul Taylor – string arrangements
- Sophie Williams – handclaps
- Derrick Santini – handclaps
- Spencer Birtwhistle – drums
- Northern New Orleans Brass Band – horns
- Clare Hewitt – backing vocals
Album
| Chart (2000) | 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... |
13 |
| US Billboard Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
36 |
| US Billboard Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
23 |
Singles
| Year | Song | Peak positions |
|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 2000 | "Another Pearl" | 41 |
| 2000 | "Disillusion" | 26 |
| 2000 | "Once Around the Block" | 27 |
| 2000 | "Pissing in the Wind" | 22 |