Wild and Lonely
Wild and Lonely is the fourth studio album by Scottish post-punk and new wave band the Associates, released on 24 March 1990 by Circa. Produced by Australian record producer Julian Mendelsohn, it peaked at No. 71 on the UK Albums Chart. Three singles were released from the album: "Fever", "Fire to Ice" and "Just Can't Say Goodbye", all of which failed to chart.
| Wild and Lonely | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 24 March 1990 | |||
| Genre | Alternative dance | |||
| Length | 47:17 | |||
| Label | Circa | |||
| Producer | ||||
| The Associates chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sleight of Hand | ||||
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Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | D+[2] |
Wild and Lonely was poorly received by critics.
Ira Robbins, writing for Entertainment Weekly, wrote "Scotland's Associates have ended a lengthy recording hiatus with a glossy, shallow album that sounds seriously out of step. Where most high-tech dance-pop now follows the soothing groove of Soul II Soul, the Associates — more precisely, singer-songwriter Billy Mackenzie plus a load of session players — cling to a dramatic delivery and chattering, generally overloaded arrangements."[2] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Ned Raggett wrote, "There's some of the same relative musical ennui, where everything is perfectly pleasant but rarely striking. Even more distressing, more than once, said music is little more than late-'80s glossy yup-funk that is singularly unappealing in its boredom, often saved only by Mackenzie's performing bravura and nice production touches [...] Happily, the worse moments don't define the album, and when at its best, Wild and Lonely serves up a fine selection of new Mackenzie classics."[1]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Billy Mackenzie.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fire to Ice" | 4:35 |
| 2. | "Fever" | 4:49 |
| 3. | "People We Meet" | 4:25 |
| 4. | "Just Can't Say Goodbye" | 5:33 |
| 5. | "Calling All Around the World" | 4:20 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Where There's Love" | 4:44 |
| 7. | "Something's Got to Give" | 4:53 |
| 8. | "Strasbourg Square" | 4:41 |
| 9. | "Ever Since That Day" | 4:48 |
| 10. | "Wild and Lonely" | 4:29 |
| Total length: | 47:17 | |
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the Wild and Lonely liner notes.[3]
Musicians
- Billy Mackenzie – vocals
- Blair Booth – keyboards, strings, programming, vocals
- Philipp Erb – keyboards, strings, programming
- Gary Maughan – keyboards, programming
- L. Howard Hughes – piano, strings
- Mimi Izumi Kobayashi – piano
- Chester Kamen – guitar
- J.J. Belle – guitar
- Mark Rutherford – guitar
- Guy Pratt – bass guitar
- Kevin Hutchison – bass guitar
- Danny Cummings – percussion
- Moritz von Oswald – percussion
- Malcolm Duncan – saxophone
- Neil Sidwell – saxophone
- Martin Drover – trumpet
- Lennie Costa – bouzouki
- Anne Dudley – strings
- Gavyn Wright – strings
- Carol Kenyon – backing vocals
- Carroll Thompson – backing vocals
- Juliet Roberts – backing vocals
Production and artwork
- Julian Mendelsohn – producer
- Billy Mackenzie – producer, sleeve design
- Ren Swan - engineer
- Richard Haughton – photography
- Colin Williams – painting
References
- Raggett, Ned. "Wild and Lonely – The Associates | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- Robbins, Ira (28 September 1990). "[Wild and Lonely review]". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- Wild and Lonely (CD booklet). the Associates. Circa. 1990.CS1 maint: others (link)
- "ASSOCIATES | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
