''Friday the Thirteenth'' is a live album by the English rock band

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 origin ...

, released in 1997 by Eagle Records. To mark the twenty-first anniversary of their original recording contract with

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, ...

, the Stranglers played to a sold out Royal Albert Hall (London, UK) with an eighteen-piece string orchestra (the Electra Strings). ''Friday the Thirteenth'' presents part of the set (these songs, plus the remainder of the set can be found on the accompanying DVD release). Composer and musician

Jocelyn Pook Jocelyn Pook (, rhyming with "book"; born 14 February 1960) is an English composer and viola player. She is known for her scores for many films, including ''Eyes Wide Shut'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and '' The Wife''. Education Pook gradua ...

makes contributions to the songs "Waltz in Black", "Valley of the Birds", "Daddy's Riding the Range", "Golden Brown" and "No More Heroes".

Critical reception

Jack Rabid ''The Big Takeover'' is a bi-annual music magazine published out of New York City since May 1980 by critic Jack Rabid. History Establishment Jack Rabid and Dave Stein began publishing ''The Big Takeover'' in May 1980 as a fanzine dedicated to N ...

, writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, gave the album a negative one-and-a-half star review, calling its sound "clear but dull, flat, and lifeless," and the production "soulless." He also criticised vocalist Paul Roberts' performance, clearly not satisfied with him as replacement for original singer

Hugh Cornwell Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the ...

, calling him a "facile, slick hack." Rabid wrote, "hearing some damn great material butchered y Robertsis rock and roll sacrilege." On a positive note, Rabid felt that "the lovely string section adds a nice dimension, and the original three members remain solid and fierce." Rabid concluded that ''Friday the Thirteenth'' "is as welcome as vomit on the Albert Hall's beautiful red carpets."

Track listing

;2007 Japanese reissue bonus tracks

Extra tracks on DVD release

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes. ; The Stranglers * Paul Roberts – vocals *

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. ...

– bass, vocals * John Ellis – guitar, vocals *

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, vocals *

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 ; Additional musicians * The Electra Strings – strings *

– string co-ordination ; Technical * Recorded by the Manor Mobile * Max Bisgrove – mixing * Dave Conroy – digital editing * John McMurtie – photography * Mark Cunningham – additional photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friday the Thirteenth (Album) 1997 live albums The Stranglers live albums 2007 video albums Live video albums 2007 live albums Live albums recorded at the Royal Albert Hall