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Darklands (album)

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Darklands
Studio album by
the Jesus and Mary Chain
Released31 August 1987 (1987-08-31)
StudioLivingston (London)
Genre
Length35:51
LabelBlanco y Negro
Producer
The Jesus and Mary Chain chronology
Psychocandy
(1985) 		Darklands
(1987) 		Barbed Wire Kisses
(1988)
Singles from Darklands
  1. "April Skies"
    Released: April 1987
  2. "Happy When It Rains"
    Released: August 1987
  3. "Darklands"
    Released: October 1987
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Mojo[2]
Paste[3]
Pitchfork7.8/10[4]
Q[5]
Record Collector[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[7]
Select4/5[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[9]
The Village VoiceB+[10]

Darklands is the second studio album by Scottish alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain, released on 31 August 1987 by Blanco y Negro Records. The album is the band's first to use drum machines, replacing live drummer Bobby Gillespie, who had left to pursue a career as the frontman of Scottish rock band Primal Scream. Lead vocals are performed by Jim Reid, with the exception of "Darklands", "Nine Million Rainy Days" and "On the Wall", which are sung by William Reid.

Darklands reached number five on the UK Albums Chart, the band's highest-peaking album on the chart to date.[11] The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[12]

Primal Scream later recorded a cover version of the album's title track as a B-side to their 1998 single "If They Move, Kill 'Em".[13]

Reception

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Ned Raggett of Allmusic observed. "Feeling no doubt burdened by the various claims of being the new Sex Pistols, and likely fed up with accusations that the walls of feedback were their own trick, the Reid brothers underwent a bit of a rethink with Darklands. The end result must have fallen squarely between two camps -- hardly eligible for sunny commercial airplay, not quite as flailing as the earliest efforts -- but, from a distance, this is an appealing, enjoyable record." noting a "often stripped away" "calmer classic rock twang and groove,". Though he felt "the changes on Darklands can be overstated -- the basic formula at the heart of the band (inspired plagiarism of melodies and lyrics alike, plenty of reverb, etc.) stayed pretty much the same" comparing its foundation to its predecessor Psychocandy (1985) despite its different sound and mood, and concluded. "Darklands is no Psychocandy in the end -- nothing the band released later ever was -- but it's still a good listen."[14]

Nitsuh Abebe of Pitchfork praised the album in a 7.8 review saying "With Gillespie gone and replaced by an unobtrusive drum machine, the band turns down the noise attitude and works on developing the back-to-basics pop songs that were always underneath. The singles (“Happy When it Rains”) are a joy, big hooks laced with just the right amount of vintage leather-and-shades cool."[15]

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a B+ and observed, "they know damn well their putatively erotic-existential despair speaks to thrill-seeking normals by making chaos rhyme." and felt it was "inevitable for them to take their folk-simple hook-ditties in an acoustic direction," but concluded "Yet as a normal I miss the feedback--without all that chaos, the trick just doesn't come off death-defying enough."[16]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by William Reid and Jim Reid

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Darklands"5:29
2."Deep One Perfect Morning"2:43
3."Happy When It Rains"3:36
4."Down on Me"2:36
5."Nine Million Rainy Days"4:29
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."April Skies"4:00
7."Fall"2:28
8."Cherry Came Too"3:06
9."On the Wall"5:05
10."About You"2:31

2011 expanded edition

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Disc one (bonus tracks)[17]
No.TitleLength
11."Some Candy Talking"3:18
12."Taste of Cindy" (acoustic version)2:00
13."Psychocandy"2:54
14."Hit"3:29
15."Darklands" (BBC Radio session)4:40
16."Down on Me" (BBC Radio session)2:29
17."Deep One Perfect Morning" (BBC Radio session)2:37
18."Fall" (BBC Radio session)3:11
19."In the Rain" (BBC Radio session)2:28
20."Happy Place" (BBC Radio session)2:24
Disc two[17]
No.TitleLength
1."Kill Surf City"3:12
2."Bo Diddley Is Jesus"3:17
3."Who Do You Love"4:05
4."Everything's Alright When You're Down"2:39
5."Shake"2:01
6."Happy When It Rains" (demo)3:46
7."Happy Place"2:24
8."F.Hole"1:07
9."Rider"2:12
10."On the Wall" (Portastudio demo)3:41
11."Surfin' USA" (April outtake)2:58
12."Here It Comes Again"2:32
13."Walk and Crawl"2:24
14."Some Candy Talking" (NME version)3:10
15."Mushroom"3:19
16."The Hardest Walk" (soundtrack version)3:12
17."Don't Ever Change"3:32
18."Swing"2:25
19."Darklands" (with strings)5:27
20."Interview (Janice Long)"14:36
DVD[17]
No.TitleLength
1."Some Candy Talking" (music video)3:25
2."April Skies" (music video)3:59
3."Kill Surf City" (music video)3:16
4."Happy When It Rains" (music video)3:33
5."Darklands" (music video)3:59
6."April Skies" (live on Top of the Pops)3:41
7."April Skies" (live on Villa Tempo)3:47
8."Happy When It Rains" (live on The Roxy)3:36

Personnel

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Credits adapted from the liner notes of Darklands.[18]

The Jesus and Mary Chain

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  • Jim Reid – vocals (all tracks except 1, 5, 9)
  • William Reid – vocals (tracks 1, 5, 9); production (all tracks)

Additional personnel

[edit]

Charts

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Chart performance for Darklands
Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[19] 81
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 64
European Albums (Music & Media)[21] 38
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[22] 20
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 38
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 23
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 5
US Billboard 200[26] 161

Certifications

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Certifications for Darklands
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Darklands – The Jesus and Mary Chain". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  2. ^ "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy / Darklands / Automatic". Mojo. No. 153. August 2006. p. 111. ISSN 1351-0193.
  3. ^ Leven, Jeff (8 August 2006). "The Jesus and Mary Chain – Reissues". Paste. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  4. ^ Abebe, Nitsuh (4 August 2006). "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy / Darklands / Automatic / Honey's Dead / Stoned & Dethroned". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  5. ^ "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Darklands". Q. No. 100. January 1995. p. 273. ISSN 0955-4955.
  6. ^ "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Darklands". Record Collector. 2006. p. 87. ISSN 0261-250X. [T]hey purposefully refined the dynamics to craft genuine pop hits...
  7. ^ Sisario, Ben (2004). "The Jesus and Mary Chain". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 429–30. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  8. ^ Manning, Sarra (April 1997). "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy / Darklands / Barbed Wire Kisses / Automatic / Honey's Dead / Stoned And Dethroned". Select. No. 82. p. 112. ISSN 0959-8367.
  9. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (26 January 1988). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 22 January 2016 – via RobertChristgau.com.
  11. ^ "Jesus & Mary Chain | full Official Chart History" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  12. ^ Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  13. ^ If They Move, Kill 'Em (UK CD single). Primal Scream. Creation Records. 1998. CRESCD 284.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Darklands - The Jesus and Mary Chain | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 21 June 2024
  15. ^ Abebe, Nitsuh. "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy / Darklands / Automatic / Honey's Dead / Stoned & Dethroned". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: the jesus and mary chain". www.robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  17. ^ a b c Sinclair, Paul (12 July 2011). "The Jesus and Mary Chain / 2CD+DVD Deluxe Editions / Full track listings". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  18. ^ Darklands (liner notes). The Jesus and Mary Chain. Blanco y Negro Records. 1987. BYN11.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  21. ^ "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 4, no. 38. 26 September 1987. p. 18. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  22. ^ "Charts.nz – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  23. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  26. ^ "The Jesus and Mary Chain Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  27. ^ "British album certifications – Jesus & Mary Chain – Darklands". British Phonographic Industry. 10 November 1989. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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