Length 58:36 Blowback
(2001) Vulnerable
(2003) Release date 20 June 2001 | Producer Tricky Artist Tricky Label Anti- | |
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Released 2 July 2001 (2001-07-02) Genres Trip hop, Electronica, Dancehall, Funk rock Similar Tricky albums, Trip hop albums | ||
Blowback is the 2001 fifth studio album by English rapper and producer Tricky. It features more accessible, popular song structures than his previous records. Tricky later said he "did Blowback for the money basically 'cause I was broke". Guest performers on the album included Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Josh Klinghoffer, and John Frusciante from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette, Ed Kowalczyk, and less known artists such as Hawkman, Stephanie McKay and Ambersunshower.
Contents
Tricky excess
Critical reception
Blowback received generally positive reviews from critics, although many of Tricky's longtime fans disliked it. According to Encyclopedia of Popular Music writer Colin Larkin, it was hailed as Tricky's best record since his 1995 debut Maxinquaye, while PopMatters critic Jeffrey Thiessen later called it "a great pop album nobody liked". Simon Price regarded Blowback as Tricky's best album since 1996's Pre-Millennium Tension and "his most accessible since Maxinquaye. He wrote in his review for The Independent at the time that the artist's move to New York "away from the petty politics of the music business" had resulted in "a dark, dense album of future-funk and deep dub". In The New York Times, Neil Strauss called it a radical departure from previous Tricky records, "direct and upfront, the poppiest production Tricky has ever mustered". NME reviewer Sarah Dempster was less receptive, expressing disappointment in Tricky's choice of guest artists, who she felt came off as "market-friendly gimmicks, novelties that will afford his selective ramblings a wider audience". Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo was even more critical, deeming much of the music "horrible" and plagued by Tricky's poor lapses in creative judgment, particularly the duets with Anthony Kiedis and Ed Kowalczyk.
Blowback was named the fourth best album of 2001 by Village Voice critic Robert Christgau. In retrospect, he viewed it as Tricky's most "songful" release, one that was "criminally neglected" by listeners. Bill Friskics-Warren later said Blowback was "an album of funk-rock by way of dancehall reggae" that relied on mainstream-rock guest performers but did not "forego incisiveness for accessibility, resistance for appeasement".
Track listing
- "Excess" – 4:43
- "Evolution Revolution Love" – 4:09
- "Over Me" – 2:57
- "Girls" – 4:21
- "You Don't Wanna" – 5:25
- "#1 Da Woman" – 2:40
- "Your Name" – 3:35
- "Diss Never (Dig Up We History)" – 2:50
- "Bury the Evidence" – 4:51
- "Something in the Way" – 3:24 (Nirvana cover)
- "Five Days" – 4:19 (With Cyndi Lauper)
- "Give It to 'Em" – 3:04
- "A Song for Yukiko" – 4:10
Track notes
Songs
1Excess4:43
2Evolution Revolution Love4:07
3Over Me2:59