''More Songs About Love and Hate'' is the third studio album by
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band
the Godfathers
The Godfathers are an English rock band from London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River ...
, released in May 1989 by
Epic Records.
It reached number 49 on the
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 ...
.
The UK album cover shows
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
and
Elizabeth Taylor. It was the last Godfathers album to feature guitarist
Kris Dollimore
Kris Dollimore (born 2 January 1966) is an English rock guitarist, who is best known for being a founding member of the Godfathers as well as a member of the Damned and Del Amitri. He also performs and records as a solo artist.
Biography
Kr ...
, who was replaced by Chris Burrows for 1991's ''
Unreal World
''UnReal World'' is a roguelike survival freeware (shareware before 2013) video game set in a fictionalisation of Iron Age Finland. The game was first released in 1992 and continues to receive regular updates as of 2022. The game was released ...
''.
Critical reception
In a contemporary review in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', Mark Jenkins argued that the album lacks great songs, calling it "11 songs in search of a hit." He, however, felt that it is more consistent than its predecessor ''
Birth, School, Work, Death'', writing, "None of the material soars, but only "Another You" sounds disposable." Jenkins highlighted "Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues," a "change-of-pace" track with a "country flavor," as one of the album's best tracks. He concluded that ''More Songs About Love and Hate'' shows the band "sliding back into the amiable but underwhelming rut of such
pub rock also-rans as
Ducks Deluxe. The songs keep reaching for hooks - the submerged "yeah yeah yeahs" of "Pretty Girl," the pounding finale to "This Is Your Life," the bells that end the album-closing "Another You" - to distinguish generic melodies."
In a retrospective review,
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 ...
's
Mark Deming
Mark may refer to:
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* Finn ...
also felt that the album lacked an "instant classic single" like the title track from their previous album, but "otherwise it came close to matching that album's muscle and fury and confirmed the band had plenty of offer." Deming noted that the album had "just a dash more polish" than the band's previous work, and "their tough, meat-and-potatoes sound had picked up a bit more heft and precision along the way." He concluded that "while the songs on ''More Songs About Love and Hate'' aren't always as memorable as
'Birth, School, Work, Death'' there aren't any outright duds either," calling the album a "fine work".
Track listing
;Note
*Tracks 14-16 from ''Out on the Floor'' EP, 1990. Track 14 remixed by Steve Brown, tracks 15 and 16 remixed by
Keith LeBlanc.
Personnel
Adapted from the album liner notes.
;The Godfathers
*Peter Coyne – lead vocals
*Chris Coyne – bass, backing vocals
*
Kris Dollimore
Kris Dollimore (born 2 January 1966) is an English rock guitarist, who is best known for being a founding member of the Godfathers as well as a member of the Damned and Del Amitri. He also performs and records as a solo artist.
Biography
Kr ...
– guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
*Mike Gibson – guitar, backing vocals
*George Mazur – drums, percussion, backing vocals
;Additional musicians
*Harold Burgon - additional keyboards
;Technical
*
Vic Maile
Vic Maile (1943 – 11 July 1989) was a British record producer. After starting his career as sound engineer with Pye mobile studios for the Animals on their song "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", Maile worked with some of the biggest names in th ...
– producer
*Harold Burgon – engineer
*Mike Bisgrove – sound engineer
*
Andy Wallace – mixing
*Grant Louden – sleeve
*Jean Luke Epstein – sleeve
*Bleddyn Gutz – cover illustration
*Paul Cox – photography
Charts
;Chart performance for ''More Songs About Love & Hate''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:More Songs About Love and Hate
1989 albums
Albums produced by Vic Maile
Epic Records albums
The Godfathers albums