Don't Look Back in Anger

Classic Albums: Screamadelica. BBC documentary on the making of the album.

Primal Scream, Screamadelica
Creation
23 September 1991

With hundreds of blogs and downloading options, it is easy to forget how separated the American and British music scenes were just twenty years ago. If an Anglophile pop fan was lucky enough to live in a college town or large city, a record store would stock pricy import albums or even overseas weeklies suich as the NME or Melody Maker; the less fortunate had to settle for glimpses in the hipper mainstream press such as SPIN, or what MTV would play on 120 Minutes. Thus, though unusual today, in the early 1990s it was commonplace for an album to have a huge impact in Britain but scarcely leave a trace in the US.

This is precisely the case with Screamadelica. In its homeland, the album’s 20th anniversary was celebrated with numerous tributes placing it alongside Nevermind and Loveless in the ‘90s canon; here in the US, though, it remains overlooked and obscure.

One of the album’s most impressive achievements is that it works at all. As we have seen from previous entries, the concept of rock bands making club music was tired ground at this point, yielding increasingly lazy and mediocre music. One could therefore be forgiven for fetching a deep sigh at the prospect of another seeming cash-in, particularly as Primal Scream’s then-current incarnation took the form of unpopular MC5 hard rockers—not exactly the sort to embody the ‘feel good vibes’ of the acid house scene. Yet despite being so late to the scene, Screamadelica is a perfect expression of the fusion, surpassing anything that Madchester or baggy came up with.

 A vital element of its success is that Primal Scream were willing to give themselves up completely to the project, discarding any egotistic impulse to be the stars of the LP. Plenty of groups describe their works as ‘all about the music’, but this is a rare case of it being true. Here, ‘Primal Scream’ is more of a collective label than a band, as the album leans heavily on contributors. Indeed, Screamadelica is as much DJ Andrew Weatherall’s effort as the band’s. He provided the catalyst for the band’s new phase by introducing them to Ecstasy and clubs, and for the album itself by transforming their previous album’s ‘I’m Losing More Than I’ll Ever Have’ into the first single, ‘Loaded’ (which reached #19 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart). 

This isn’t to downplay the band’s contributions, but to say that an important contributions was—paradoxically—a willingness to remove themselves and let others take over. An indicative anecdote comes from a BBC making-of documentary:

Andrew Innes [Primal Scream bassist]: When he first did [the remix that became ‘Loaded’] , he was kind of too polite with it and too—even he’ll tell you—he didn’t want to ruin our song.

Weatherall: Innes came in, listened to it—visible disappointment—and he was like, ‘No, man, fucking destroy it.’ That was his very word. ‘Don’t even give a fuck’.

At a time when, in reaction to the synthpop of 1980s, rock still dismissively asserted the primacy and superiority of ‘authentic’ guitar music over the ‘fakeness’ and disposability of dance music, it is amazing a traditionalist band such as Primal Scream would be so (blessedly!) blasé about their own sound. As a result, one can listen to ‘Slip Inside This House’ or ‘Don’t Fight It, Feel It’ and never guess it came from an indie band. Unlike the Happy Mondays or its other peers, Screamadelica is not a rock band making rock music with house touches, but a rock band making a genuine house record.

The Stone Roses, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’
Silvertone
2 September 1991

I debated including ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ because, despite its release date, it isn’t actually a ’90s artefact, having been taken from the Roses’ 1989 debut. I’m uncertain as to why singles were still be released after so long, but I suspect it was to keep their name in the public, as a lengthy legal battle with the label held up any new material.

Two factors decided me in favour of inclusion: one, the Stone Roses were still au currant thanks to the (waning) Madchester/baggy boom, and second, it is one of the greatest singles ever. One would expect something brash and Oasis-like from the title, but much of the song is subdued and almost shy, particularly John Squire’s guitar work in the lengthy intro, which reminds me of small fish darting about, sending ripples through a pond.

COCTEAU TWINS Live in London, Town & Country Club 01/11/1990 Part 1/5 (by 4ad4ever)

MC Hammer documentary on the making of the not-so-classic Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em.