Life on Other Planets

Life on Other Planets is the fourth album by English alternative rock band Supergrass. It is the first album that includes Rob Coombes as an official member of the band, and originally went under the working title of Get Lost. The American edition of the album included many bonus tracks and rare live editions. One of these live editions became infamous when it was discovered you can hear a gunshot in the background of the song.[12] It peaked at #9 in the UK charts.[13]

For the scientific study of life on other planets, see Extraterrestrial life.

Life on Other Planets
Studio album by
Supergrass
Released30 September 2002
RecordedOctober 2001–March 2002
StudioMayfair Studios, Heliocentric Studios, Rockfield Studios
GenreAlternative rock, Britpop
Length40:38
LabelParlophone (UK)
Island (US)
Echo/BMG (2018 reissue)
ProducerTony Hoffer
Supergrass chronology
Supergrass
(1999)		 Life on Other Planets
(2002)		 Supergrass Is 10
(2004)
Singles from Life On Other Planets
  1. "Never Done Nothing Like That Before"
    Released: 1 July 2002
  2. "Grace"
    Released: 16 September 2002
  3. "Seen the Light"
    Released: 27 January 2003
  4. "Rush Hour Soul"
    Released: 4 August 2003
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Blender[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[4]
The Guardian[5]
NME7/10[6]
Pitchfork7.6/10[7]
Q[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
SpinB[10]
Uncut[11]

Concept

The band claim that much of the inspiration for this album was gleaned from a "working holiday"[14] in the Côte d'Azur, Southern France together, listening to the French radio station Nostalgie and watching Carl Sagan documentaries on the cosmos.[14][15] Carl Sagan and Douglas Adams are in fact mentioned on the reverse of Life On Other Planets under a list of people Supergrass would like to thank.

The naming of the album was influenced by this excursion, but also by a telescope which qualified astrophysicist and keyboard player Rob Coombes, would bring with him to the recording studio in order to see the planets; "...we got fascinated on everything above us and came up with the title,"[14] explained Mick Quinn.

The band hired an outside producer, Tony Hoffer, for the record, having felt that their last release, Supergrass, lacked some of the urgency of their previous albums: "He helped us keep the takes quite short and sweet", says Danny Goffey. "We really didn't mess around because he kept us moving. If we had done it on our own again, we'd just get really analytical and start crying and trying to mend things that weren't broken.[16]"

The album was debuted at Meltdown festival in London's Royal Festival Hall on 28 June 2002, the edition curated by David Bowie.[17]

Track listing

All tracks written by Supergrass (as Rob Coombes officially was a band member effective this album).

CD 5418002 Limited edition 12" (with free poster) 5418001

  1. "Za" – 3:04
  2. "Rush Hour Soul" – 2:55
  3. "Seen the Light" – 2:25
  4. "Brecon Beacons" – 2:56
  5. "Can't Get Up" – 4:02
  6. "Evening of the Day" – 5:18 The track is in fact a tribute to Spinal Tap song "All the Way Home", with the lyric "If she's not on that 3:15, then I'm gonna know what sorrow means."[16]
  7. "Never Done Nothing Like That Before" – 1:43
  8. "Funniest Thing" – 2:29
  9. "Grace" – 2:30
  10. "La Song" – 3:43
  11. "Prophet 15" – 4:05
  12. "Run" – 5:28

CD TOCP 66003 (Japan only) The Japanese release of the album has the same track listing as above, but with the addition of:

  1. "Velvetine" – 3:39
  2. "Electric Cowboy" – 5:09

Enhanced CD 440 063 685-2 (US only) This contained the same tracks as the standard release, but the enhanced section consisted of the following:

  1. "Grace" (video) – 2:37
  2. "Seen the Light" (video) – 2:45

Personnel
  • Gaz Coombes – lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar on "Evening of the Day"
  • Mick Quinn – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Evening of the Day", "Never Done Nothing Like That Before" and "La Song"
  • Rob Coombes – keyboards
  • Danny Goffey – drums, backing vocals

References
  1. "Reviews for Life On Other Planets by Supergrass". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Life on Other Planets – Supergrass". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  3. Blashill, Pat (March 2003). "Supergrass: Life on Other Planets". Blender. No. 14. p. 143. Archived from the original on 13 December 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  4. Tucker, Ken (14 February 2003). "Life On Other Planets". Entertainment Weekly. No. 695. ISSN 1049-0434. Archived from the original on 8 January 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  5. Simpson, Dave (27 September 2002). "Supergrass: Life on Other Planets". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  6. McNamee, Paul (4 October 2002). "Supergrass: Life On Other Planets". NME. ISSN 0028-6362. Archived from the original on 2 January 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  7. Tangari, Joe (24 February 2003). "Supergrass: Life on Other Planets". Pitchfork. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  8. Quantick, David (October 2002). "Supergrass: Life on Other Planets". Q. No. 195. p. 117. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  9. Kot, Greg (20 February 2003). "Supergrass: Life On Other Planets". Rolling Stone. No. 916. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  10. Pappademas, Alex (April 2003). "Supergrass: Life on Other Planets". Spin. Vol. 19 no. 4. p. 106. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  11. "Supergrass: Life on Other Planets". Uncut. No. 66. November 2002. p. 118.
  12. Everitt, Matt (2 July 2003). "Supergrass 'Get Lost'". Xfm London. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  13. "Life on Other Planets". strangeones.com. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  14. "OOR Magazine Article, translated from the Dutch by Leo Hoek van Dijke". strangeones.com. 5 October 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  15. Redfern, Mark (2003). "Supergrass Bonus Quotes". Under the Radar. No. 4. p. 68. ISSN 1553-2305. Archived from the original on 5 September 2003.
  16. Wiederhorn, Jon (30 January 2003). "Supergrass Get Thrown For A L.O.O.P, Party With Skanks". MTV. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  17. "Supergrass' Limited Return". NME. IPC Media. 11 May 2002. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
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