''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'' is the 21st

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the American rock band

Sparks Sparks may refer to: Places *Sparks, Georgia * Sparks, Kansas *Sparks, Kentucky *Sparks, Maryland * Sparks, Nebraska *Sparks, Nevada *Sparks, Oklahoma *Sparks, Texas * Sparks, Bell County, Texas * Sparks, West Virginia Books * ''Sparks'' (Raffi ...

Release

''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'' was as successful as their previous album, '' Hello Young Lovers'', in the UK, where it bettered the chart position, reaching No. 54 on the

UK Album 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 ...

. A limited edition version was released in a card sleeve in most territories and included a poster. Japanese editions included the bonus track "Brenda Is Always in the Way" as well as a DVD featuring five short films. Two singles were released. The first, "Good Morning" on May 12, 2008, was on iTunes, a first for the group. The second, "Lighten Up, Morrissey" in March 2009, appeared on a 7", backed with "Brenda Is Always In The Way". Neither single charted in the UK. ''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'' was also promoted in the UK by a number of live performances dubbed the "Sparks Spectacular": a record-setting twenty-date residency from May 16 through June 11, 2008 at London's Carling Islington Academy, where the group played each one of their previous twenty albums in its entirety in chronological order. The final appearance at London's

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

on June 13 premièred ''Exotic Creatures of the Deep''.

Re-release

In April 2022, a remaster was issued on LP, CD and digital as part of the five album "21st Century Sparks" collection on

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

. The CD and digital releases have five bonus tracks, including "Brenda Is Always In The Way" and "Islington N1". It entered the UK Independent Albums Chart at no. 10 and the UK Vinyl Album Top 40 at 37.

Track listing

Personnel

Russell Mael Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his far-reaching fa ...

– all vocals, engineering, mixing *

Ron Mael Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwriter and younger ...

– keyboards, programming, orchestrations, mixing *

Tammy Glover Tammy Glover is a television producer, film producer, and musician. She served as the VP of Production for Comedy Central from 2007 to 2011, Senior Vice President of Production for FremantleMedia and is currently the Head of Physical Production fo ...

– drums *

Dean Menta Dean Menta (born July 23 1966) is an American music editor and composer living in Los Angeles, California. Biography In 1995, Dean Menta became involved in the band DUH and appeared on their second album ''The Unholy Handjob''. Menta went on t ...

– guitars * John Thomas – mixing, engineering

Sparks Spectacular

For the 21-night "Sparks Spectacular" from May 16 through June 11, 2008 in London, Sparks played each of their albums in chronological order during the first twenty nights at the Carling Islington Academy, culminating in the première of their new album for the twenty-first concert on June 13, 2008 at

. Each night they performed an album in its entirety with an encore of a rare track, many of which had never been performed live before. The band asked fans to visit their website and vote for the track that they'd most like to hear the band perform during the second half of the 21st concert following the première of ''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'', though Russell Mael admitted that he and Ron would probably influence the poll a little. Fans who bought a "Golden Ticket" for entry into all 21 gigs also received a poster signed by the band and a CD single entitled ''Islington N1'', a reference to the postal address of the venue for the first 20 gigs. ;Exotic Creatures of the Deep second set # "Moustache" (from ''Angst in My Pants'') # "Looks Aren't Everything" # "Big Boy" (from ''Big Beat'') # "Goofing Off" (from ''Introducing Sparks'') # "Katharine Hepburn" # "Shopping Mall Of Love" (from ''Music You Can Dance To'') # "Those Mysteries" (from ''Introducing Sparks'') # " Dick Around" (from ''Hello Young Lovers'') # "Get in the Swing" (from ''Indiscreet'') # "Looks, Looks, Looks" (from ''Indiscreet'') # "Batteries Not Included" (from ''A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing'') # "Whippings And Apologies" (from ''A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing'') # "Change" (from ''Music That You Can Dance To)'' # "

This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" is a song by American pop band Sparks. Written by Ron Mael, it is the opening track on their third studio album ''Kimono My House'' (1974), and was the lead single from the album. Although it did not ...

" (from ''Kimono My House'')

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Sparks (band) albums Albums recorded in a home studio