''Citizens of Boomtown'' is the seventh studio album by Irish band
The Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...
, released on 13 March 2020 via
BMG. It is the band's first album since 1984's ''
In the Long Grass'', and the first album to be recorded as four-piece band, as the keyboardist
Johnnie Fingers
Johnnie Fingers (born John Peter Moylett, 10 September 1956) is an Irish keyboardist and co-founding member of the new wave band The Boomtown Rats. He was notable for his attire of striped pyjamas on stage and his melodic piano style.
Backgroun ...
didn't return when the band was reunited in 2013. It is also the last album to feature longtime guitarist
Garry Roberts
Garrick Roberts (16 June 1950 – 9 November 2022) was an Irish musician best known as the lead guitarist with The Boomtown Rats, a band which came into being in 1976. He and Johnnie Fingers (Moylett) had decided to put a band together and, be ...
who died on November 8th, 2022.
Critical reception
''Citizens of Boomtown'' was met with mixed or average reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 58, based on 6 reviews.
Thomas H. Green of ''
The Arts Desk
''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of traditio ...
'' rated the album 3 out of 5 stars.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Bob Geldof; except where indicated
# "Trash Glam Baby"
– 3:52
# "Sweet Thing" – 3:10
# "Monster Monkeys" (Geldof, Pete Briquette) – 4:25
# "She Said No" – 3:55
# "Passing Through" (Geldof, Pete Briquette) – 4:35
# "Here's a Postcard" – 3:52
# "K.I.S.S." (Geldof, Pete Briquette) – 3:10
# "Rock 'n' Roll Yé Yé" (Geldof, Darren Beale) – 4:54
# "Get a Grip" – 4:00
# "The Boomtown Rats" (Geldof, Pete Briquette) – 5:20
Personnel
;The Boomtown Rats
*
Bob Geldof - vocals, guitar, harmonica
*
Garry Roberts
Garrick Roberts (16 June 1950 – 9 November 2022) was an Irish musician best known as the lead guitarist with The Boomtown Rats, a band which came into being in 1976. He and Johnnie Fingers (Moylett) had decided to put a band together and, be ...
- guitar
*
Pete Briquette
Patrick Martin Cusack (born 2 July 1954), known by the stage name Pete Briquette, is an Irish bassist, record producer and composer. He is a member of the Boomtown Rats and has also played in Bob Geldof's band.
Boomtown Rats
He was born in B ...
- bass guitar, keyboards, drum programming
*
Simon Crowe
Simon Crowe (born 14 April 1955, Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the Irish new wave band
The Boomtown Rats.
The original name of the Boomtown Rats was the "Nightlife Thugs". The name Boo ...
- drums, vocals
with:
*Darren Beale - lead guitar, Moog, backing vocals
*Paul Cuddeford - guitar on "Passing Through"
*Alan Dunn - keyboards, backing vocals
*Luciano Cusack, Serafina Cusack - backing vocals
;Technical
*Pete Briquette, Rob Barrie - recording
*Clemens Gritl - artwork
*Sagan Cowne - sleeve, design
Charts
See also
*
List of 2020 albums
The following is a list of albums, EPs, and mixtapes released in 2020. These albums are (1) original, i.e. excluding reissues, remasters, and compilations of previously released recordings, and (2) notable, defined as having received sign ...
References
2020 albums
The Boomtown Rats albums
BMG Rights Management albums
{{2020s-rock-album-stub