Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches

Two Happy Mondays albums on this is a piss take. 1.5/5. Raising to 2.

A few real gems in this but it is nowhere near as good as Bummed imho. A little bit too clean. I don't hear the psychedelia or the dance music influence as much as is claimed. I've never liked Step On.

Day 70

It's DARE (Uh)

Fav track: Step On

Het hitje Step On biedt een een typisch eind '80s / 'begin '90s geluid. Hier komt waarschijnlijk het wiki-bakje 'alternative dance' vandaan. Want de basis van de rest van het album ligt voor mijn gevoel wat meer in de brit-pop of soms punk-light (Grandbag's funeral...) hoek met in elk geval een typische zang. Niet dat de beatjes en loopjes ontbreken. Sterker nog, die helpen om het album toch nog goed verteerbaar (en dus vergeetbaar) te maken. Ik gaf aan een luistermaatje Paul Oakenfold die credits. Maar die geeft ze vrolijk door aan Steve Osborne lees ik.

Eh. Just not something I care to revisit

It was ok, but not very memorable. 2.5/5

Oh, great, another British band I've never heard of. As for the album, it was ok. There were a few good bits, but also a few bits that felt like poor imitations of 70s American soul. Most of it is just guitar pop with an electronic tinge, nothing really special. I don't get why this one is on the list at all.

This album is ranked #17 of 22 albums for 1990. Other 1990 albums rated by me:
People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm(2/22)-5
Heaven or Las Vegas(3/22)-4
Bossanova(4/22)-5
Fear of a Black Planet(5/22)-5
Shake Your Money Maker(6/22)-2
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got(7/22)-4
Ragged Glory(12/22)-5
The La's(13/22)-3
En-Tact(22/22)-1

2.3/5

Trying a bit too hard to be Soul. Or maybe a neo-Stones? “Step On” is fun( why you gotta be twistin’ my melon, man?) Love this most when the guitars get to go wild. Tight rhythm section. A low 3

I've only become familiar with Happy Mondays in recent times off the back of a pub mate speaking glowingly about seeing them live earlier in the year. I started here and worked my way backwards towards their debut Bummed, and I'd have to say this is their strongest material by a long shot.

This captures something really unique, fun and quite special in my view – it's like an injection of serotonin into the veins of industrial and post-punk to create something still cynical and murky at its core, but now geared for the dance floor. It has a gritty, druggy street feel and working class mentality reverberating through it both sonically and lyrically, and although there is an observable polish to the production, the album still has a loose, ragged funk to ground it in its surroundings.

The grooves, bass lines and percussion on here are hypnotic and nothing short of remarkable, and even if this does sound heavily tethered to the 90s when you take the production for what it is today, that's a huge part of the appeal for me. It makes me feel nostalgic for a time I wasn't even around for.

"Step On", "Kinky Afro" and "Loose Fit" are the obvious highlights for me for their razor-sharp hooks, but the surrounding material holds its own as well, even if some of it does bleed together on occasion comparatively.

This slaps icl

Wyjątkowo ciekawa płyta, nie słyszałam wcześniej o tej grupie, a muzycznie słychać sporo inspiracji/wpływów z różnych styli i dekad w muzyce, aczkolwiek z zachowaniem stylu który nazwałabym "90s britpop-dance-electronica'? Koniecznie wrócę, miłe odkrycie.

Honestly, I thought Bummer was much more interesting. This is basically a Brit-pop album, with quite a bit less of the Psychedelia of Bummer, but some of the funk and whatnot is still around. The first few songs are pretty solid, but this album sort of slowly crawls into the background in a way that I don't really find compelling. This *is* fine, but it's on the side of fine that I'm not really into.

Indie dance at it’s finest! What’s not to like.
Kinky Afro, Step on and Loose Fit are all classics and sum up the Mondays perfectly. Yes Shaun Ryder isn’t your standard vocalist, but that’s a fair chunk of their charm.

Happy Mondays are one of those bands that I think I should find annoying, but somehow in practice I find quite charming in a completely chaotic way. This album really barreled along at quiet the pace, from the opening beats of Kinky Afro (a song I have always liked) all the way through to Harmony.

I can only assume the lyrics were completely baffling if you aren't British though.

3/5

Didn’t get this on a Monday but that’s all right! I wasn’t happy anyway.

Word of the day is: Eyesore

Singer can't sing, instruments are annoying. Why is this album here?

Listening to on Tuesday so maybe that's my fault but it's very disappointing.

Happy Mondays made for a sad Sunday

My Dad absolutely loves the Mondays so this has been on my list to check out for an eternity. Bloody brilliant album, really loved it. Hard to pick one top track cause there’s a few bangers on here.

Top Track - Kinky Afro