The House of Love (1990 album)
Encyclopedia
The House of Love is the second album by British alternative rock band The House of Love
, released on Fontana Records
in 1990. It should not be confused with the band's debut album
, which is also called The House of Love. It is generally referred to either as Fontana (after the record label it was issued on) or The Butterfly album (after Trevor Key's sleeve art).
As opposed to the recording of the debut album (which had only taken one week, despite a protracted and argumentative mixing period afterwards), the new recordings were spread out over two years in multiple studios and would involve the work of four different producers (Dave Meegan
, Paul Staveley O'Duffy
, Stephen Hague
and Tim Palmer
) as well as production involvement by the band members themselves. The band would find themselves at odds with their A&R man Dave Bates, who saw the band as generators of hit singles and who had selected the album producers (whom Chadwick deemed "quite obviously wrong for us") as well as commissioning remixes which the band loathed and had not authorised.
During the slow and argumentative recording process, The House of Love's rhythm section Chris Groothuizen and Pete Evans would moonlight as members of a separate band, My White Bedroom. More seriously affected was lead guitarist Terry Bickers
, an introverted character who was already unhappy with the implications of the band's deal with Fontana. Bickers would retreat into manic depression as his relationship with Chadwick deteriorated into a non-speaking one in which the two were more likely to communicate by post rather than have a face-to-face conversation. Following the completion of the album, Bickers would acrimoniously quit The House of Love during the early days of the sixty-date promotional tour. A couple of years later he would comment "I just found at the time that I didn't have the same aspirations as the rest of the band. I was more into exploring music than exploring the exploitation of markets around the globe. They were really into crusading. And winning. I wasn't."
.
.
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 on Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
in 1990. It should not be confused with the band's debut album
The House of Love (1988 album)
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.-Background:...
, which is also called The House of Love. It is generally referred to either as Fontana (after the record label it was issued on) or The Butterfly album (after Trevor Key's sleeve art).
Background
The recording and mixing of The House of Love was beset with problems, with the band members distracted by hedonism, ego and indecision. Group leader Guy Chadwick would later comment "we really needed guidance at that crucial point. Most groups just go nuts. It's like this huge trolley full of booze being placed in front of you. With a whiff of success, people change towards you. We were taking too many drugs, I was drinking ridiculously and that's the worst combination when things are going wrong."As opposed to the recording of the debut album (which had only taken one week, despite a protracted and argumentative mixing period afterwards), the new recordings were spread out over two years in multiple studios and would involve the work of four different producers (Dave Meegan
Dave Meegan
Dave Meegan is a record producer. He trained under Trevor Horn and is best known for his work with the band Marillion. He is also heavily associated with the band U2 and worked with the band as an engineer during the sessions for The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum.With Marillion he notably produced...
, Paul Staveley O'Duffy
Paul Staveley O'Duffy
Paul O’Duffy is a British record producer, composer, mixer. He is best known for producing Swing Out Sister's Grammy-nominated multi-platinum debut album, for his BMI nomination as 'Producer of the Year' in 1987, and work with John Barry and other film score producing...
, Stephen Hague
Stephen Hague
Stephen Hague is an American music producer most active with various British acts in the 1980s. He was an influential figure in the synthpop movement.-Early career:...
and Tim Palmer
Tim Palmer
Tim Palmer is a British music producer, audio engineer and songwriter of rock and alternative music.-1980-1990:Palmer worked as an assistant engineer at Utopia Studios in London, England in the early 1980s...
) as well as production involvement by the band members themselves. The band would find themselves at odds with their A&R man Dave Bates, who saw the band as generators of hit singles and who had selected the album producers (whom Chadwick deemed "quite obviously wrong for us") as well as commissioning remixes which the band loathed and had not authorised.
During the slow and argumentative recording process, The House of Love's rhythm section Chris Groothuizen and Pete Evans would moonlight as members of a separate band, My White Bedroom. More seriously affected was lead guitarist Terry Bickers
Terry Bickers
Terry Bickers is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter, best known as a member of the rock bands The House of Love and Levitation...
, an introverted character who was already unhappy with the implications of the band's deal with Fontana. Bickers would retreat into manic depression as his relationship with Chadwick deteriorated into a non-speaking one in which the two were more likely to communicate by post rather than have a face-to-face conversation. Following the completion of the album, Bickers would acrimoniously quit The House of Love during the early days of the sixty-date promotional tour. A couple of years later he would comment "I just found at the time that I didn't have the same aspirations as the rest of the band. I was more into exploring music than exploring the exploitation of markets around the globe. They were really into crusading. And winning. I wasn't."
Singles
The House of Love would eventually generate four singles. The first of these was "Never" (issued against the band's wishes) which stalled at number 41 in the singles chart on release in 1989, as did the November follow-up "I Don't Know Why I Love You" (although the latter would achieve greater success as a Radio 1 Single of the Week and in reaching number 2 on the Modern Rock charts in the USA). The third single was a re-recording of the band's debut single "Shine On", which became the band's biggest and best-known British hit (reaching number 20). The last of the four was "The Beatles and the Stones", which reached number 36.Re-recordings
Several tracks on the album were re-recordings of previously released House of Love songs. The most obvious of these was "Shine On", but both "The Hedonist" and "Blind" had previously been B-sides of singles released on Creation RecordsCreation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
.
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....
.
- "Hannah" - 5:42
- "Shine On" - 4:00
- "Beatles and the Stones" - 4:22
- "Shake and Crawl" – 3:40
- "Hedonist" - 3:36
- "I Don't Know Why I Love You" - 3:29
- "Never" - 3:43
- "Someone's Got to Love You" - 3:39
- "In a Room" - 4:05
- "Blind" - 3:43
- "32nd Floor" - 4:05
- "Se Dest" - 5:02
Personnel
- Guy Chadwick - vocals, guitars
- Terry Bickers - lead guitar, backing vocals
- Chris Groothuizen - bass guitar
- Pete Evans - drums
External links
- Scans of the cover at discogs.com