A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation
The Wombats Proudly Present A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, usually shortened to A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation, is the debut major studio album by English rock band the Wombats. It was released by 14th Floor Records on 5 November 2007.[2] Most of the songs first appeared on the band's 2006 Japan-only album Girls, Boys and Marsupials. A DVD to accompany the album includes footage of the band at the South by Southwest festival, along with music videos from their recent singles.
A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 5 November 2007 | |||
Recorded | Rockfield Studios, Monmouth, Wales Electric Lady Studios, New York City, United States Brick Lane, London, England RAK Studios, London, England | |||
Genre | Indie rock, post-punk, new wave | |||
Length | 44:24 | |||
Label | 14th Floor | |||
Producer | Stephen Harris, The Wombats, Jimmy Robertson | |||
The Wombats chronology | ||||
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Singles from A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 65/100[1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Digital Spy | [3] |
The Guardian | [4] |
LAUNCHcast | (7/10)[5] |
NME | (7/10)[6] |
Pitchfork Media | (5.9/10)[7] |
Spin | [8] |
stv.tv | [9] |
This Is Fake DIY | [10] |
Yahoo! Music UK | [11] |
The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios and reached No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart. It contains a pregap before the first track, which contains the band attempting to make wine glasses "ring" and extolling the virtues of the French wine Beaujolais, ending with them performing a mock advert for Beaujolais. The album had sold 335,361 copies in the UK as of April 2015.[12]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Matthew Murphy, except where noted; all music is composed by The Wombats, except where noted.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Tales of Girls, Boys & Marsupials" (lyrics by The Wombats) | 1:10 |
2. | "Kill the Director" | 2:42 |
3. | "Moving to New York" | 3:31 |
4. | "Lost in the Post" | 3:06 |
5. | "Party in a Forest (Where's Laura?)" | 3:27 |
6. | "School Uniforms" | 3:14 |
7. | "Here Comes the Anxiety" | 2:31 |
8. | "Let's Dance to Joy Division" | 3:11 |
9. | "Backfire at the Disco" | 3:13 |
10. | "Little Miss Pipedream" | 4:12 |
11. | "Dr. Suzanne Mattox PhD" (includes elements from the chorus of "Help Me, Rhonda", by the Beach Boys) | 3:33 |
12. | "Patricia the Stripper" | 4:01 |
13. | "My First Wedding" (track ends at 4:36. hidden track; Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials piano instrumentation version) | 6:38 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
14. | "Derail and Crash" | 3:29 |
15. | "Metro Song" | 3:51 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Let's Dance to Joy Division" (video) | |
2. | "Kill the Director" (video) | |
3. | "Backfire at the Disco" (video) | |
4. | "Moving to New York" (video) | |
5. | "The Wombats in Austin" | |
6. | "Found Footage" |
Personnel
- Matthew Murphy – vocals, guitar, synthesizers, piano
- Dan Haggis – backing vocals, drums, synthesizers, piano, stylophone, harmonica, melodica
- Tord Øverland-Knudsen – backing vocals, bass, synthesizers, cello
- Llangattock Primary School – kids choir on "Let's Dance to Joy Division"
- Ian McNabb - banjo
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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References
- "Reviews for A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation by The Wombats - Metacritic". Metacritic.
- Mason, Stewart. "A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation - The Wombats". AllMusic. Missing or empty
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(help) - Alex Fletcher. "The Wombats: 'A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation'". Digital Spy.
- Leonie Cooper. "CD: The Wombats, A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation". the Guardian.
- "LAUNCHcast review". yahoo.com.
- "NME Reviews - The Wombats: A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation". NME.
- "The Wombats: A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation". Pitchfork.
- Young, Jon (23 June 2008). "The Wombats, 'The Wombats Proudly Present…A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation'". Spin. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
- "stv.tv review". Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- Mutch, John (11 May 2007). "The Wombats - A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation: Album Review". This Is Fake DIY. Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- "Yahoo Celebrity UK". Yahoo.
- Jones, Alan (20 April 2015). "Official Charts Analysis: Paul Simon scores 6th No.1 with 15,487 sales". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "A Guide To Love Loss & Desperation". acharts.us.
- "The Wombats". billboard.com.
- "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 - 2008". officialcharts.com.
- "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
- "British album certifications – The Wombats – A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.