The House of Love (1988 album)
Encyclopedia
The House of Love was the debut album by the British
band The House of Love
. Released in June 1988 by Creation Records, the album was a critical success.
Despite the loss of Heukamp, the remaining four members continued with the recording of the debut album. The only single which would make it onto the album was "Christine": surprisingly, neither of the band's first two singles ("Shine On" and "Real Animal") were included. Instead the band drew on other songs which Chadwick had built up. These included "Touch Me", which was the first song that Chadwick had ever written (and which, in 2007, remained his favourite), "Man to Child" (which stemmed from his anxieties about "feeling old at the age of 26") and "Road" (written about his experiences and feelings of alienation on the squatting scene following his move to London from the Midlands). "Love in a Car" was based on "an affair which went on too long" while "Hope" and "Sulphur" drew on Chadwick's failed first marriage (he would describe the songs as "the only positive thing that came out of it.")
Although the recording sessions for the album were completed in just over a week, the mixing sessions - allegedly fuelled by copious use of LSD
- proved more problematic, with producer Pat Collier dealing with the final mix after disagreements within the band. The album was preceded by the release of "Christine" as a single in May 1988, which reached No. 1 in the independent charts. The album itself was released later in May. As with the band's previous early singles compilation, the album lacked a title and featured only the band's name on the record sleeve: consequently the album became known simply as The House of Love. A subsequent non-album single, "Destroy The Heart", was eventually voted single of the year in John Peel's Festive Fifty and was added to the end of the next pressing of The House of Love (although it was removed from the 2007 reissue of the album).
In 2007 the reformed House of Love performed the album live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
-curated Don't Look Back
series.
.
(later issues would add "Destroy the Heart" as the eleventh track, although this would not feature on the 2007 reissue)
with
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...
band The House of Love
The House of Love
The House of Love is an English alternative rock band. Formed in 1986, the band rose to prominence in the UK as a leading indie rock band in 1988 and split up in 1993, eventually reforming a decade later in 2003. The band is best known for its detailed psychedelic guitar sound and for the...
. Released in June 1988 by Creation Records, the album was a critical success.
Background
The album was recorded following the departure member of founder member Andrea Heukamp, who had played on the band's early singles. Her only appearance on the album was playing guitar and singing backing vocals on the song "Christine" (the first song which group leader Guy Chadwick had written for The House of Love and had inspired the blueprint for the band's original lineup and style). Although the split was amicable, Chadwick would later comment "Losing Andrea Heukamp was a massive, massive blow for me: I loved her voice and I loved her playing, she was easily as important as Pete (Evans), Terry (Bickers) or Chris (Groothuizen)."Despite the loss of Heukamp, the remaining four members continued with the recording of the debut album. The only single which would make it onto the album was "Christine": surprisingly, neither of the band's first two singles ("Shine On" and "Real Animal") were included. Instead the band drew on other songs which Chadwick had built up. These included "Touch Me", which was the first song that Chadwick had ever written (and which, in 2007, remained his favourite), "Man to Child" (which stemmed from his anxieties about "feeling old at the age of 26") and "Road" (written about his experiences and feelings of alienation on the squatting scene following his move to London from the Midlands). "Love in a Car" was based on "an affair which went on too long" while "Hope" and "Sulphur" drew on Chadwick's failed first marriage (he would describe the songs as "the only positive thing that came out of it.")
Although the recording sessions for the album were completed in just over a week, the mixing sessions - allegedly fuelled by copious use of LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
- proved more problematic, with producer Pat Collier dealing with the final mix after disagreements within the band. The album was preceded by the release of "Christine" as a single in May 1988, which reached No. 1 in the independent charts. The album itself was released later in May. As with the band's previous early singles compilation, the album lacked a title and featured only the band's name on the record sleeve: consequently the album became known simply as The House of Love. A subsequent non-album single, "Destroy The Heart", was eventually voted single of the year in John Peel's Festive Fifty and was added to the end of the next pressing of The House of Love (although it was removed from the 2007 reissue of the album).
In 2007 the reformed House of Love performed the album live in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
-curated Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back (concert series)
Don't Look Back is a yearly series of concerts in which London based promoters All Tomorrow's Parties ask artists and bands to play one of their seminal albums live in its entirety...
series.
Title confusion
The first three long-form House of Love releases - this album, the previous German-market early singles compilation, and the band's 1990 album on Fontana Records - would all lack of an evident title. To avoid confusion, the three untitled releases would be distinguised by informal titles: the singles collection would be known as The German Album (due to its initial release in Germany) and the 1990 album would be known as either Fontana (after the record label it was released on) or The Butterfly Album (after the sleeve art). When people refer to a House of Love album called The House of Love, they are generally referring to the 1988 Creation Records album.Track listing
All tracks composed by Guy ChadwickGuy Chadwick
Guy Chadwick was the guitarist and vocalist with the British alternative band, The House of Love. He wrote the majority of the band's material....
.
- "Christine" - 3:27
- "Hope" - 2:58
- "Road" - 3:45
- "Sulphur" - 3:07
- "Man to Child" - 2:52
- "Salome" - 2:32
- "Love in a Car" - 4:00
- "Happy" - 2:55
- "Fisherman's Tale" - 3:45
- "Touch Me" - 3:02
(later issues would add "Destroy the Heart" as the eleventh track, although this would not feature on the 2007 reissue)
Personnel
- Guy Chadwick - vocals, guitars
- Terry Bickers - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Chris Groothuizen - bass guitar
- Pete Evans - drums
with
- Andrea Heukamp - guitar and backing vocals on "Christine"