''A Different Kind of Tension'' is the third studio album by English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in September 1979 by record label

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

. It charted at number 26 in the United Kingdom and number 163 in the United States.

Recording and production

''A Different Kind of Tension'', under the guidance of English record producer

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father ...

and the management of Richard Boon, was recorded at

Eden Studios Eden Studios was a commercial recording studio, recording facility in west London. It opened in 1967, originally at 11 Eden Street in Kingston upon Thames (now under the Eden Walk shopping centre), before moving to 20-24 Beaumont Road in Chiswic ...

, mixed at Genetic Sound, mastered by George Peckham at Portland Recording Studio, and published worldwide in

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

format in 1979 and 1980 through

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

, and I.R.S. Records.Buzzcocks (1979). . United Artists Records – UAG 30260 The album was subsequently reissued many times, and first released in CD format in 1989 by I.R.S. featuring the 1981 6-track promo EP ''Pts. 1–3''. This same version was remastered in 1992. In 2008 (Europe) and 2010 (US) EMI and Mute Records released a 2-CD remastered version of the album featuring its associated singles, demo recordings, and the band John Peel's

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

shows of 23 November 1978 (recorded on 18 November 1978) and 28 May 1979 (recorded on 21 May 1979).

Album cover

The sleeve features a photograph of the band by Jill Furmanovsky amongst a montage of triangles. This continued the artistic theme established by

Malcolm Garrett Malcolm Leslie Garrett (born 1956) is a British graphic designer, and Creative Director of Images&Co, a communications design consultancy based in London, UK. He is Ambassador for Manchester School of Art and co-founder of the annual Design M ...

on the covers of ''

Another Music in a Different Kitchen ''Another Music in a Different Kitchen'' is the first studio album by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in March 1978 by the United Artists record label. This was the third line-up of Buzzcocks, with the guitarist Pete Shelle ...

'' (squares) and '' Love Bites'' (circles).

Critical reception

In a contemporary review of ''A Different Kind of Tension'',

Mikal Gilmore Mikal Gilmore (born February 9, 1951 in Portland, Oregon) is an American writer and music journalist. Writing career In the 1970s Gilmore began writing music articles and criticism for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. In 1999, his ''Night Beat: A Shado ...

of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' felt that the album suffered from repetitiveness, "resulting in a catchall of reworked riffs and static, similar tempos", while nonetheless praising it as their "most formidable record yet". In a retrospective review, ''Rolling Stone''s Jon Dolan called ''A Different Kind of Tension'' the best of the band's first three albums. In ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'', David Cavanagh observed that the album was divided between an unsurprisingly

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

-flavoured first half and an experimental second half which harkened to the future.

Track listing

Personnel

;Buzzcocks *

Pete Shelley Pete Shelley (born Peter Campbell McNeish; 17 April 1955 – 6 December 2018) was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He formed early punk band Buzzcocks with Howard Devoto in 1976, and became the lead singer and guitarist in 1977 wh ...

– guitar (left channel), vocals, keyboards * Steve Diggle – guitar (right channel), vocals *

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

– bass guitar * John Maher – drums ;Technical *

– producer/engineer * Nick Froome – second engineer * George Peckham – mastering *

Richard Boon James Richard Boon (born 6 July 1953) is the former manager of Buzzcocks and boss of the record label, New Hormones. Boon, a Leeds Grammar School friend of Howard Devoto, became the manager for seminal punk group Buzzcocks by default, after o ...

– management *

– artwork * Kevin Cummins – photography (Shelley) * Jill Furmanovsky – photography (group) * Peter Monks – photography (Maher) * Gervaise Soeurouge – photography (Garvey) * Judith Wrightson – photography (Diggle)

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Different Kind of Tension, A 1979 albums Buzzcocks albums Albums produced by Martin Rushent United Artists Records albums I.R.S. Records albums Nettwerk Records albums