WYSIWYG (album)

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) is the ninth studio album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Released after the massive success of their previous effort, Tubthumper, it commented on various aspects of the pop culture the band had inadvertently become a part of. It achieved this by the heavy inclusion of sound bites, pop culture and commercial culture references and even a small amount of self-parody.

WYSIWYG
Studio album by
Chumbawamba
Released4 April 2000
Recorded1999–2000
Genre
Length47:48
LabelEMI (UK)
Republic Records/Universal Records (United States)
Chumbawamba chronology
Tubthumper
(1997)		 WYSIWYG
(2000)		 Readymades
(2002)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
Lincoln Journal-Star[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
MTV Asia7/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Village VoiceA–[8]
Wall of Sound71/100[9]

Recording

About 8 months after the release of Tubthumper, Chumbawamba returned to the studio to work on a follow-up record. They recorded a full 10-song album,[10] but decided it was too similar to its predecessor, so they scrapped it and started over.[11]

Critical reception

The album was subject to polarized reviews from music critics upon its release. Some critics were extremely positive regarding the album. Robert Christgau awarded the album an "A-" and praised it as "an unslackening stream of infectious invective and simplistic satire," going on to praise "Hey Hey We're the Junkies".[8] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine also praised the album, giving it 4 stars and felt that although the album didn't contain any obvious hit singles and was rather short, concluding that the record "delivers far more than anyone could have expected, especially anyone that considered the group one-hit wonders."[1]

Some critics' feelings regarding the album were more mixed. MTV Asia gave the album 7 out of 10 and commented that the album was "very different" from its predecessor, going on to question the album's subtlety but concluding that the album demonstrates great range, positing that "all the eccentricities of the album, however, are offset by sweet melodies."[6] Entertainment Weekly, though praising the record's melodies and temper, felt that some of the songs' topics (such as album stickering and Rock Hudson) "are thumpingly dated."[3]

However, some critics were extremely negative regarding the album. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield awarded the album 1 and a half stars out of 5, commenting that the album sounds like "a self-imitating mishmash of shout-along choruses, tepid beats and confused eclectic diddling", deeming the album "bumbling adult pop".[7] Louis Pattison's review for Amazon.co.uk was also negative, deeming the songs "soulless" and "saccharine" and commenting that the album lacks subtlety and tact.[12]

Commercial performance

Upon its release, the album was a commercial failure for Chumbawamba, causing them to leave EMI a year later, due to disputes. However, in the United States, Republic/Universal handled releases for MUTT Records, especially Readymades, but dropped the band from the label in 2004, allowing them to sign onto Koch Records. As of August 2015, the album had sold 22,000 copies in the US.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Chumbawamba except where indicated.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm With Stupid" 2:55
2."Shake Baby Shake" 1:53
3."Pass It Along" 3:24
4."Hey, Hey, We're the Junkies" 1:57
5."The Health & Happiness Show" 1:07
6."I'm Coming Out" 2:47
7."I'm in Trouble Again" 2:29
8."Social Dogma" 1:08
9."WWW Dot" 1:34
10."New York Mining Disaster 1941"Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb1:57
11."I'm Not Sorry, I Was Having Fun" 3:03
12."Jesus in Vegas" 2:57
13."The Standing Still" 1:32
14."She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy" 3:11
15."Ladies for Compassionate Lynching" 1:23
16."Celebration, Florida" 3:13
17."Moses With a Gun" 0:25
18."The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Jerry Springer" 0:48
19."Smart Bomb" 2:31
20."Knickers" 0:21
21."Lie Lie Lie Lie" 2:32
22."Dumbing Down" 4:30
German edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
23."Just a Form of Music"3:07
24."Lest We Forget"1:25
25."Passenger List for Doomed Flight #1721"2:49
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
23."Passenger List for Doomed Flight #1721"2:49

Song Notes
  • "I'm With Stupid", "Hey, Hey, We're the Junkies", "Shake Baby Shake", and "The Standing Still" contain samples from Helter Stupid by Negativland.
  • A rock remix of "Pass It Along" was used in a Pontiac commercial, circa 2002.
  • "New York Mining Disaster 1941" is a cover of the Bee Gees' 1967 single.
  • The hidden track ends in Alice Nutter saying, "It's me trousers," and laughing, after which another voice says, "That's it."

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic and WYSIWYG liner notes.[14][15]

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. ""What You See Is What You Get" review". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
  3. Browne, David (2000-04-07). "WYSIWYG". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  4. Wartofsky, Alona (2000-04-28). "'Silver & Gold' rich with signature Neil Young sound". Lincoln Journal-Star.
  5. HOCHMAN, STEVE (2000-04-07). "This Time, Chumbawamba's Message Is Clear". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  6. Boey, Tricia. "Chumbawamba - WYSIWYG review". MTV Asia. Archived from the original on 12 December 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  7. Sheffield, Rob. "Chumbawamba: Wysiwyg Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  8. Christgau, Robert (2000-05-02). "Alt Lives!!". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  9. Graff, Gary. "Review: What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 15 April 2001. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  10. Moss, Corey. "Chumbawamba "Not Sorry" About Eclectic New Album". MTV. Viacom. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  11. Bessman, Jim. "Chumbawamba Aims New Social Barbs on New". Google Books. Nielsen Business Media/Billboard. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  12. Pattison, Louis. ""Wysiwyg" by Chumbawamba: Product Description". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  13. Hughes, John. "Lost in the '90s: Chumbawamba, "Amnesia"". PopDose. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  14. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Album Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  15. What You See Is What You Get liner notes
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