Tubthumper

Following the success of their previous two albums (Anarchy and Swingin' with Raymond, both of which reached the Top 75 on the UK Albums Chart),[1] Chumbawamba signed to EMI Records in hopes of reaching a larger audience. A second reason that the group left One Little Indian, their previous record label, was the label's opposition to their new sound: in a 1998 Rolling Stone interview, journalist Chris Mundy reported that the label had rejected Tubthumper and told the group to record a new record with a different sound.[2] The group stood by the album, however, and the album was ultimately picked up by EMI in England and Universal Records in the United States.[2]

A recurring lyrical theme on Tubthumping is social commentary, in particular class conflict.[2][3] However, critic Elisabeth Vincentelli opined that the group had "toned down some of the radical rhetoric", and that the album's lyrics, where they were previously had a "brusque directness", Tubthumper contained "oblique pathos".[4]

The song "One by One" has been described as an "elegiac tale of treachery" committed by politicians.[4]

Tubtumper incorporates a number of musical styles, including synth-pop, hip hop, jungle, and madrigals.[3] The album was noted for its presence of trumpet solos.[5][2] Music critic Robert Christgau likened the album's catchiness to that of the Spice Girls.[5] An album review by Rolling Stone compared the musical style of "Smalltown" to that of British alternative group Everything But the Girl, while deeming the album's overall genre "radio-friendly dance pop".[4] The Los Angeles Times concurred that the album was dance-pop.[6]

The album catapulted the group into the mainstream, released by EMI in the UK and in the US by Universal Records, and was noted for its departure from the group's typical style of outspoken punk rock in favor of a more mainstream sound.[4][7]

The cover for the album's US release was designed by Michael Calleia[8] at Industrial Strength Design[9] in New York City.

Tubthumper was Chumbawamba's most successful album in several respects. It spawned the worldwide hit "Tubthumping", which was a top 10 hit in the US,[15] the UK,[16] Sweden,[17] Norway,[18] and Belgium,[19] and a number 1 hit in Canada,[20] Italy,[21] Ireland,[22] and Australia.[23] The follow-up single, "Amnesia", also proved a commercial success, managing to reach the top 10 in the UK[16] and Canada. The album spawned a third single, "Drip Drip Drip", which failed to make an impression on any international chart but was met with positive critical reception.[24]

The album became a commercial success.[2] In the United States, it hit number 3 on the Billboard 200[25] and sold more than 3,200,000 copies, thanks in large part to the success of "Tubthumping;"[26] Canada, where the album reached number 2;[27] and the UK, where the album reached number 19.[1] The album also placed at number 17 on the American tally of top-selling albums of 1997.[28] Tubthumper remains the group's highest-charting album in all three territories; its sales in the US stand at 3,200,000.[26]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[29]
Chicago Tribune	[5]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[30]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[31]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[3]
Los Angeles Times	[6]
NME	6/10[32]
Rolling Stone	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[33]
Wall of Sound	41/100[34]

Tubthumper garnered praise from critics upon its release. Writing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it a "distinctive" album, concluding that "there's a handful of cuts scattered throughout the record that make the album worthwhile."[29] Entertainment Weekly's Tom Lanham wrote that "social commentary never tasted so sweet" and awarded the album a "B+".[3] Greg Kot, writing for the Chicago Tribune, praised the album and commented that the group "sounds way too smart to be so easily dismissed". He went on to call the album "twice as catchy... and four times as riotously subversive" as the Spice Girls' music.

Some critics were more lukewarm in their assessments of the album, however: Rolling Stone's Elisabeth Vincentelli awarded the album 3 stars and opined that the album's lyrics "have traded the brusque directness of yore for oblique pathos", though she did go on to praise "Smalltown" as being "coolly collected" and "Tubthumping" as having "a fist-in-the-air quality that would work equally well at a union rally and in an arena." She concluded that the album "may not enlighten the masses, but it'll make them dance".[4] Music critic Robert Christgau awarded the album a 3-star honourable mention rating and cited "Tubthumping" and "Amnesia" as highlights, with the note "Tub as platform, tub as cornucopia, tub as slop bucket".[30]

All tracks are written by Chumbawamba.

Adapted from album booklet[37] and AllMusic.[38]

The track "The Good Ship Lifestyle" samples from the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast. The interlude at the end of "Amnesia" was taken from a government-produced public service announcement on mad cow disease.[11]

• Tubthumper at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)