Released 7 August 1995 Artist Black Grape Label Radioactive | Length 46:16 Release date 7 August 1995 | |
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It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah
(1995) Stupid Stupid Stupid
(1997) Genres Britpop, Alternative dance Producers Danny Saber, Stephen Lironi, Shaun Ryder, Gary Kurfirst Similar Shaun Ryder albums, Britpop albums, Other albums | ||
It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is the first album by British band Black Grape. Released in 1995, the album was a critical and commercial success, particularly in the UK, where it topped the UK Album Charts for two weeks and yielded two Top 10 hit singles and a third Top 20 hit.
Contents
The album was seen as something of a triumphant comeback for both Shaun Ryder and Bez, who had suffered from a decline in popularity and interest in their former band, the Madchester and pre-Britpop indie dance/rock innovators, the Happy Mondays. It's Great... represented what some considered an evolution of the Happy Mondays sound on their 1990 album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, with a stronger hip hop influence, down mostly to the rapping of Kermit, formerly of the band The Ruthless Rap Assassins. Radioactive Records released three singles from the album, all of which were commercial and critical successes in the UK. "Reverend Black Grape" was released first and reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart and was followed by "In The Name of the Father", which eclipsed the first single, reaching number 8 in the same chart. A third single, "Kelly's Heroes" also charted within the Top 20 UK Singles Chart, at number 17.
According to Ryder, the album title refers sarcastically to being free of mood-altering substances. The album art features a famous photograph of infamous international terrorist Carlos the Jackal colored in pop art style, and was inspiration for Issue 2 of the Image Comics series, Phonogram.
The opening lines of 'In the Name of the Father' are quoted in the novel The Demented Lands by Alan Warner.
The song "A Big Day In the North" was used as the opening song in the 1995 scifi movie Virtuosity with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
The song "Yeah Yeah Brother" featured in the film The Devil Wears Prada (2006). The line "It's Frothy Man" in the song is partly a reference to advertising the 1970s soft drink Cresta.
Throughout the album there are lyrical references to The Beatles.
The album was certified platinum by the BPI on 1 April 1996 and got nominated for the Mercury Prize, which lost to Pulp's Different Class.
Track listing
All lyrics written by Shaun Ryder and Danny Saber, except where noted.
Charts
Album – BPI (UK)
Singles – BPI (UK)
Personnel
Adapted from the It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah liner notes.
Songs
1Reverend Black Grape5:15
2In the Name of the Father4:23
3Tramazi Parti4:47