Uneasy Listening (Chumbawamba album)

Uneasy Listening is a compilation album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. It contains songs from the time of their first album Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records up to 1998.

Uneasy Listening
Compilation album by
Chumbawamba
Released1998
Recorded1986–1998
GenreAnarcho-punk, pop
Length74:38
LabelEMI (UK)
Chumbawamba chronology
Tubthumper
(1997)		 Uneasy Listening
(1998)		 WYSIWYG
(2000)

Release

The album was released in the United States in 1998, to expose American audiences to the group's music before "Tubthumping," as their preceding studio albums had received only a limited stateside release and the record labels were being uncooperative with regards to the group's preceding albums there.[1] The album compiles songs from the group's pre-Tubthumper albums, from Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records to Swingin' with Raymond, although the majority of the songs are from the group's two preceding albums, Anarchy and Swingin' with Raymond. However, the album contains one previously-unreleased song, "We Don't Go to God's House Anymore", which is based on a tune derived from the Alabama 3 song "U Don't Danse 2 Tekno Anymore".

The cover photograph depicts Buenaventura Durruti, an anarchist soldier and revolutionary who died fighting fascists in Spain in 1936.[2]

The album was initially released in 1998 as a German import, although it was re-released in 1999 and 2001 by EMI Music Distribution.[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Robert ChristgauA−[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

The album elicited highly favorable reviews upon its release. Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a grade of an "A-" and praised the album as "funny," opining that the collection also demonstrates that their music was "catchy" long before "Tubthumping" and noting that "the notes (in the booklet) are worth reading."[5] AllMusic awarded the album four out of five stars and praised the collection's inclusion of "Ugh! Your Ugly Houses," also commenting that "if you don't have the studio albums, this is the best place to start."[4] In the Rolling Stone Album Guide, the album holds a score of three and a half stars; critic Douglas Wolk felt that the album contains the group's "angriest," "funniest," and "most tuneful" songs in the group's repertoire, singling out the lyric "Nothing ever burns down by itself/Every fire needs a little bit of help" as the single best line on the record.[6]

Track listing

All tracks written and produced by Chumbawamba except where noted.[2][4]

# Title Length Original Album Year Notes
1 "...And in a Nutshell" 1:16 Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records 1986
2 "Mouthful of Shit" 3:38 Anarchy 1994
3 "Behave" 4:14 "Behave" single 1992
4 "Timebomb" 4:08 "Timebomb" single 1993 Single remix
5 "Morality Play in Three Acts" 4:06 "Homophobia" single 1994
6 "Enough Is Enough" 4:35 "Enough Is Enough" single 1993 Written and performed by Chumbawamba & Credit to the Nation
7 "On Being Pushed" 0:30 Anarchy 1994
8 "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire" 2:02 English Rebel Songs 1381-1914 1988
9 "Ugh! Your Ugly Houses!" 2:19 Swingin' with Raymond 1995
10 "Look! No Strings!" 5:00 Shhh 1992
11 "Big Mouth Strikes Again" 5:34 Shhh 1992
12 "This Girl" 3:42 Swingin' with Raymond 1995
13 "Smash Clause 28!" 4:46 "Smash Clause 28! Fight the Alton Bill!" single 1988
14 "Georgina" 2:24 Anarchy 1994
15 "Waiting, Shouting" 2:55 Swingin' with Raymond 1995
16 "Song of the Mother in Debt..." 6:10 Pox Upon the Poll Tax compilation 1989
17 "On the Day the Nazi Died" 1:20 N/A 1994 Previously unreleased live version
18 "Give the Anarchist a Cigarette" 4:00 Anarchy 1994
19 "Nothing Knocks Me Over" 3:04 "Portraits of Anarchists" EP 1996
20a "We Don't Go to God's House Anymore" 8:55 Previously unreleased 1998 Written by Chumbawamba and Alabama 3
20b "Harry's Ambient Mantra" (excerpt) (n/a) "Hat Trick for Harry" unreleased EP 1993 Hidden track. A brief portion of an otherwise unreleased ten-minute remix of "Happiness Is Just A Chant Away."

References
  1. "Chumbawamba FAQ's... Sort of Thing". Archived from the original on 2 December 1998. Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  2. "Uneasy Listening" album booklet
  3. ""Uneasy Listening" release history". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  4. Ogg, Alex. ""Uneasy Listening" review". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  5. Christgau, Robert. "Chumbawamba: Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  6. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 163. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone chumbawamba album guide.
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