''Coup de Grace'' is the fourteenth studio album by

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origina ...

, released in 1998 by

Eagle Records Eagle Records is a British record label, a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment, itself a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. In the United Kingdom, the label's managing director is Lindsay Brown, former manager of Van Halen, while in the Un ...

. It was the last album to feature guitarist John Ellis, who left the band in 2000. The tracks on ''Coup de Grace'' represent a greater writing input from bassist

Jean-Jacques Burnel Jean-Jacques Burnel (born 21 February 1952) is an English musician, producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist with the English rock band The Stranglers. He is the last founding member to remain in the band. ...

than on more recent outings; he also sings four of the ten tracks. Heavily influenced by the band's troop-entertaining trips to such places as the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

and

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

, and (in Burnel's words) "life in general", the tracks covered such topics as the ravages of war, religious conflicts, and failed relationships. The album included the minimally-accompanied ballad "In the End". "Miss You" shares its title with a track on the previous Stranglers album ''

Written in Red ''Written in Red'' is the thirteenth studio album recorded by the Stranglers, released in January 1997 through the When! label. It was co-produced by Gang of Four's Andy Gill. The media launch-party for ''Written in Red'' was held on 13 Dec ...

'', but is a different song. The album failed to reach the official

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, their first such release not to do so.

Track listing

:Cat no/Label: EAGCD042/Eagle

Personnel

; The Stranglers * Paul Roberts – vocals, production *

– bass, vocals (lead vocals on 2, 5, 7, 9), production * John Ellis – guitar, production *

Dave Greenfield David Paul Greenfield (29 March 1949 – 3 May 2020) was an English keyboardist, singer and songwriter who was a member of rock band The Stranglers. He joined the band in 1975, within a year of its formation, and played with them for 45 years ...

– keyboards, programming, vocals (lead vocals on 1), production *

Jet Black Brian John Duffy (26 August 1938 – 6 December 2022), professionally known as Jet Black, was an English drummer and founding member of punk rock/ new wave band The Stranglers. He last performed with the band in 2015, and officially retired in ...

– drums, production ; Additional musicians * Lisa George – backing vocals (2) * Lizzie Deane – backing vocals (2) ; Technical * David M. Allen – production, engineering, Pro Tools * Chris Jarrett – engineering, programming * Matt Hay – engineering * Clare, Ben, Neil – engineering assistance * Trevor Dawkins – technician * Bruce Gooding – technician * Stuart Green – packaging

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums The Stranglers albums albums produced by David M. Allen