WYSIWYG (an abbreviation of What You See Is What You Get) is the ninth studio album by English rock band Chumbawamba, released on 4 April 2000 by EMI. The album was written and produced by Chumbawamba (excluding a cover of the Bee Gees' "New York Mining Disaster 1941"), with additional production by Neil Ferguson. Originally a continuation of the sound of predecessor Tubthumper (1997), the group scrapped the material from the album's initial recording sessions and sought to explore new sounds with WYSIWYG. The album incorporates elements of pop, dance-pop, alternative rock, and experimental music. Thematically, the album explores various aspects of pop culture that the group had been exposed to due to the success of their 1997 single "Tubthumping". WYSIWYG was promoted with one single: "She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy".
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| Released | 4 April 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||
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| Length | 47:48 | |||
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| Singles from WYSIWYG | ||||
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WYSIWYG received polarized reviews from music critics. Some music critics praised the album's catchy hooks and references to pop culture, while others criticized the album for being dull and lacking cohesion. The album was met with some controversy due to the song "Passenger List for Doomed Flight #1721", a B-side to "She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy" and bonus track on the album, in which the group names off prominent public figures that they wish would disappear on an astray flight. In a stark contrast to Tubthumper, the album failed to attain any notable commercial success, failing to chart on any major music charts. Following the commercial failure of WYSIWYG, Chumbawamba parted ways with EMI in 2001.
Recording
editAbout 8 months after the release of Tubthumper, Chumbawamba returned to the studio to work on a follow-up record. They recorded a full 10-song album,[2] but decided it was too similar to its predecessor, so they scrapped it and started over.[3]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[6] |
| Lincoln Journal-Star | |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| MTV Asia | 7/10[9] |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Village Voice | A−[11] |
| Wall of Sound | 71/100[12] |
The album was subject to polarized reviews from music critics upon its release. Some critics were extremely positive regarding the album. Robert Christgau awarded the album an "A−" and praised it as "an unslackening stream of infectious invective and simplistic satire," going on to praise "Hey Hey We're the Junkies".[11] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine also praised the album, giving it 4 stars and felt that although the album didn't contain any obvious hit singles and was rather short, concluding that the record "delivers far more than anyone could have expected, especially anyone that considered the group one-hit wonders."[4]
Some critics' feelings regarding the album were more mixed. MTV Asia gave the album 7 out of 10 and commented that the album was "very different" from its predecessor, going on to question the album's subtlety but concluding that the album demonstrates great range, positing that "all the eccentricities of the album, however, are offset by sweet melodies."[9] Entertainment Weekly, though praising the record's melodies and temper, felt that some of the songs' topics (such as album stickering and Rock Hudson) "are thumpingly dated."[6]
However, some critics were extremely negative regarding the album. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield awarded the album 1 and a half stars out of 5, commenting that the album sounds like "a self-imitating mishmash of shout-along choruses, tepid beats and confused eclectic diddling", deeming the album "bumbling adult pop".[10] Louis Pattison's review for Amazon.co.uk was also negative, deeming the songs "soulless" and "saccharine" and commenting that the album lacks subtlety and tact.[13]
Commercial performance
editUpon its release, the album was a commercial failure for Chumbawamba, causing them to leave EMI a year later, due to disputes. However, in the United States, Republic/Universal handled releases for MUTT Records, especially Readymades, but dropped the band from the label in 2004, allowing them to sign onto Koch Records. As of August 2015, the album had sold 22,000 copies in the US.[14]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Chumbawamba except where indicated
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'm With Stupid" | 2:55 | |
| 2. | "Shake Baby Shake" | 1:53 | |
| 3. | "Pass It Along" | 3:24 | |
| 4. | "Hey, Hey, We're the Junkies" | 1:57 | |
| 5. | "The Health & Happiness Show" | 1:07 | |
| 6. | "I'm Coming Out" | 2:47 | |
| 7. | "I'm in Trouble Again" | 2:29 | |
| 8. | "Social Dogma" | 1:08 | |
| 9. | "WWW Dot" | 1:34 | |
| 10. | "New York Mining Disaster 1941" | Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb | 1:57 |
| 11. | "I'm Not Sorry, I Was Having Fun" | 3:03 | |
| 12. | "Jesus in Vegas" | 2:57 | |
| 13. | "The Standing Still" | 1:32 | |
| 14. | "She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy" | 3:11 | |
| 15. | "Ladies for Compassionate Lynching" | 1:23 | |
| 16. | "Celebration, Florida" | 3:13 | |
| 17. | "Moses With a Gun" | 0:25 | |
| 18. | "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Jerry Springer" | 0:48 | |
| 19. | "Smart Bomb" | 2:31 | |
| 20. | "Knickers" | 0:21 | |
| 21. | "Lie Lie Lie Lie" | 2:32 | |
| 22. | "Dumbing Down" | 4:30 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 23. | "Just a Form of Music" | 3:07 |
| 24. | "Lest We Forget" | 1:25 |
| 25. | "Passenger List for Doomed Flight #1721" | 2:49 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 23. | "Passenger List for Doomed Flight #1721" | 2:49 |
Song notes
edit- "I'm With Stupid", "Hey, Hey, We're the Junkies", "Shake Baby Shake", and "The Standing Still" contain samples from Helter Stupid by Negativland.
- A rock remix of "Pass It Along" was used in a Pontiac commercial, circa 2002.
- "New York Mining Disaster 1941" is a cover of the Bee Gees' 1967 single.
- The hidden track ends in Alice Nutter saying, "It's me trousers," and laughing, after which another voice says, "That's it."
Personnel
editAdapted from AllMusic and WYSIWYG liner notes.[15][16]
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Group Members
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Also appearing
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References
edit- ^ Barrett, John (28 September 2011). "25 Awesome One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s". Paste. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ Moss, Corey. "Chumbawamba "Not Sorry" About Eclectic New Album". MTV. Viacom. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Bessman, Jim (18 March 2000). "Chumbawamba Aims New Social Barbs on New". Google Books. Nielsen Business Media/Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. ""What You See Is What You Get" review". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
- ^ a b Browne, David (7 April 2000). "WYSIWYG". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ Wartofsky, Alona (28 April 2000). "'Silver & Gold' rich with signature Neil Young sound". Lincoln Journal-Star.
- ^ HOCHMAN, STEVE (7 April 2000). "This Time, Chumbawamba's Message Is Clear". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ a b Boey, Tricia. "Chumbawamba - WYSIWYG review". MTV Asia. Archived from the original on 12 December 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ a b Sheffield, Rob. "Chumbawamba: Wysiwyg Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (2 May 2000). "Alt Lives!!". The Village Voice. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- ^ Graff, Gary. "Review: What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 15 April 2001. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ Pattison, Louis. ""Wysiwyg" by Chumbawamba: Product Description". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
- ^ Hughes, John (4 September 2008). "Lost in the '90s: Chumbawamba, "Amnesia"". PopDose. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Album Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- ^ What You See Is What You Get liner notes