''Babe Rainbow'' is the third album by British

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

The House of Love The House of Love are an English alternative rock band, formed in London in 1986 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Guy Chadwick and co-founder and lead guitarist Terry Bickers. They rose to prominence in 1987 with their first single " Shine On", r ...

: it was critically acclaimed by both '' Select'' and '' Spin''.

Background

''Babe Rainbow'' is the only House of Love studio album to feature Simon Walker (ex- Dave Howard Singers as well as being Chris Groothuizen and Pete Evans’ bandmate in My White Bedroom). Walker had replaced

Terry Bickers Terence "Terry" Robert Arthur Bickers (born 6 September 1965 in Kensington, London) is an English musician and songwriter. A guitarist and singer, he is best known for his work as the original lead guitarist with The House of Love (from 1986 ...

as lead guitarist in December 1989 and would himself leave the band in mid-1992 (to be replaced by Simon Mawby of

The Woodentops The Woodentops are a British rock band that enjoyed critical acclaim and moderate popularity in the mid-1980s. History The band formed in 1983 in South London with an initial lineup of Rolo McGinty (vocals, guitar, formerly of the Wild Swans a ...

). Former House of Love member Andrea Heukamp returned as a guest performer to add extra guitar and backing vocals. The album’s producer

Warne Livesey Warne Livesey (born 12 February 1959) is an English/Canadian music producer, mixing engineer, songwriter and musician. He has produced Midnight Oil, The The, Matthew Good Band and Deacon Blue. Life and career Warne Livesey started his career in ...

co-wrote two songs with Guy Chadwick – "You Don’t Understand" and "Feel" – which were the first House of Love songs not entirely written by Chadwick. Both were released as singles, as were "The Girl With the Loneliest Eyes" (which was released as a taster for the album) and "Crush Me". The album's title comes from a picture by Peter Blake which was also used for the cover artwork. The album was mixed by

Tim Palmer Timothy J. Palmer (born 4 October 1962, in North Shields) is an English record producer, audio engineer, guitarist and songwriter of rock and alternative music. He mixed Pearl Jam's debut album '' Ten'' (1991) and tracks on U2's album ''All T ...

at Townhouse Studios in London.

Reception

In his review for '' Select'' magazine, David Cavanagh wrote that band made "a heaven-sent album". He qualified it as "brilliant" and "gorgeous" and "as instinctively rock ' n ' roll as the Beatles, the Stones". In '' Spin'',

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine '' NME'', his writing credits have included ''On the Hour'', '' ...

wrote that the album "finds the House of Love entering the mainstream with their post-punk English alternative sensibilities intact". ''Babe Rainbow'' was not as popular as the first two House of Love albums, however, and signalled the start of the band's commercial decline.

Track listing

All songs written by Guy Chadwick unless otherwise noted # "You Don't Understand" - 3:48 (Guy Chadwick, Warne Livesey) # "Crush Me" - 3:46 # "Cruel" - 5:46 # "High in Your Face" - 4:41 # "Fade Away" - 3:24 # "Feel" - 3:54 (Guy Chadwick, Warne Livesey) # "Girl with the Loneliest Eyes" - 3:42 # "Burn Down the World" - 5:53 # "Philly Phile" - 4:21 # "Yer Eyes" - 4:11

Personnel

* Guy Chadwick - lead vocals, guitars, bass guitar *Simon Walker - guitars *Chris Groothuizen - bass guitar, backing vocals *Pete Evans –drums with *

- guitar,

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

, keyboards, backing vocals *Andrea Heukamp - guitar, backing vocals *

Pandit Dinesh Pandit Dinesh (born 29 May 1955) is a music composer and percussionist specializing in Indian rhythms. He uses the tabla, conga drums, and more. Dinesh is known for his collaborations with West India Company, Dizrhythmia, The Pax Trio, and Blanc ...

– tablas

References

1992 albums The House of Love albums Fontana Records albums Albums produced by Warne Livesey {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub