''Freaks'' (released with the subtitle ''Ten Stories About Power, Claustrophobia, Suffocation and Holding Hands'') is the second

studio 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 English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

, released on 11 May 1987 by

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the la ...

Release and aftermath

''Freaks'' was released in 1987 to little commercial success and features a much darker sound than its predecessor, '' It''. Russell Senior sings lead vocals on "Fairground" and "Anorexic Beauty". "Master of the Universe" was released as a single in an alternative version called the "sanitised version"; it replaces the word "masturbates" with "vegetates". "I Want You" is the only song from the album to have been performed live regularly, most notably during the UK Forest Tour in the Summer of 2002. The album was reissued and remastered by Fire Records in 2012 along with 1983's ''It'' and 1992's '' Separations''. This re-release took several delays as the first stated release date was 8 August 2011 while the albums finally came out on 13 February 2012. An announcement in the interim stated that the albums would be remastered with new bonus tracks to be added to the track listings as well as new artwork and liner notes from music journalist Everett True. The reissue bonus disc is in fact ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...

'' compilation aside from two tracks: "They Suffocate at Night" which appears on the album itself and "Master of the Universe (sanitised version)" which again appears on the album without censorship.

Track listing

Personnel

Pulp *

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

– lead vocals, guitar, drums on "Anorexic Beauty" *

Russell Senior Russell Senior (born 18 May 1961) is a British musician and the former guitarist and violinist of the band Pulp. Senior was born and grew up in Sheffield. Whilst at University in Bath, he formed the Dada Society (also known as the New Wave Soc ...

– violin, guitar, lead vocals on "Fairground" and "Anorexic Beauty" *

Candida Doyle Candida Mary Doyle (born 25 August 1963) is an English musician who is keyboard player and occasional backing vocalist with the band Pulp, which she joined in 1984. She joined her brother, drummer Magnus Doyle in the line-up replacing the prev ...

– organ, piano, backing vocals on "There's No Emotion" *Peter Mansell – bass, guitar on "Life Must Be So Wonderful" *Magnus Doyle – drums, percussion, guitar on "Anorexic Beauty" Additional personnel * Jonathon Kirk – mixing assistance * Graeme Durham – mastering * The Robert Winterman Design Group – sleeve design

References

*''Truth and Beauty: The Story of Pulp'' by Mark Sturdy (Omnibus Press)
AcrylicAfternoons

External links

''Freaks''
at

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(streamed copy where licensed) * {{Authority control 1987 albums Pulp (band) albums Fire Records (UK) albums