''Open All Night'' is the tenth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...

. It was released by Blue Star Music in March 1999.

Background

Following the moderate success of ''Fantastic Star'' Almond left his record label and released ''Open All Night'' on Blue Star Music, an independent label he founded for the purpose. The album features collaborations with

Siouxsie Sioux Susan Janet Ballion (born 27 May 1957), known professionally as Siouxsie Sioux, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. She was the lead singer of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1976–1996). They released 11 ...

and

Budgie Budgie may refer to: Arts * Budgie (album), ''Budgie'' (album), the debut album by the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie * Budgie (band), a Welsh heavy metal band from Cardiff * Budgie (musician) (born 1957), English drummer * Budgie (TV series), ''Bu ...

(from

The Creatures The Creatures were an English band formed in 1981 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and drummer Budgie (musician), Budgie of the group Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Creatures released their first extended play, EP ''Wild Things (EP), Wild Things'' in ...

) on the track "Threat of Love" and with

Kelli Ali Kelli Ali, also known as Kelli Dayton (born 30 June 1974), is a British vocalist, who was formerly the lead singer of the trip hop group Sneaker Pimps before going on to a solo career. Career Before Sneaker Pimps, Ali was part of a group called ...

, who was at that time the lead vocalist of the band

Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, ''Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an article ...

, on the track "Almost Diamonds". "Tragedy", "Black Kiss" and "My Love" were released as singles, but they did not chart. The American release of the album came with the bonus track "Beautiful Losers".

Critical reception

The ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' describe the songs on ''Open All Night'' as inhabiting "an evocative

Brel Brel may refer to: *Andrew Brel (born Andreas Broulidakis 28 September 1960), UK music producer * Jacques Brel (1929-1978), French-speaking Belgian singer *Daniel Brel (b. 1950), French accordionist *British Rail Engineering Limited British Ra ...

-meets-

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

landscape" with a "midnight blue melancholy". Touching on similar themes the review from ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a fortnightly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who co ...

'' describes ''Open All Night's'' "lush decadence and tragic dissolution". Elsewhere, reviewer

Keith Phipps ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

in his review for ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' magazine states that "Almond's songs have a creepy, dark quality" on this album.

Track listing

# "Night & Dark" (

, Neal Whitmore) – 6:10 # "Bedroom Shrine" (Almond, Oskar Paul) – 4:32 # "Tragedy (Take a Look and See)" (Almond, Whitmore) – 5:01 # "Black Kiss" (Almond, Whitmore) – 3:35 # "Almost Diamonds" (Almond, Whitmore,

) – 5:16 #* Guest Appearance Kelli Ali # "Scarlet Bedroom" (Almond, John Green) – 3:06 # "My Love" (Almond, Whitmore) – 3:45 # "Heart in Velvet" (Almond, Whitmore) – 4:14 # "Open All Night" (Almond, Whitmore) – 5:20 # "Threat of Love" (Almond, Whitmore) – 4:41 #* Guest Appearance:

(

and

) # "Bad People Kiss" (Almond, Douglass) – 3:34 # "Sleepwalker" (Almond, Whitmore) – 4:19 # "Midnight Soul" (Almond) – 3:51 ;Bonus track (in USA) # "Beautiful Losers" (Almond) – 4:57

Personnel

*Marc Almond –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and vocal arrangements *

Neal X Neal X (born Neal Whitmore) was the guitarist with the British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They had a No. 3 UK hit single with " Love Missile F1-11" in 1986. He has also worked as a sideman for Adam Ant and Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "M ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, effects, additional programming and assistant production *

Glen Scott Glen Scott (born Glenvin Anthony Scott on 29 August 1973) is a British producer, arranger, mixing engineer, singer-songwriter, and session musician. Glen Scott is currently living and working in London. He has worked with artists such as Jame ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

and

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*John Green – extra keyboards, string keyboards, pre-production and demo programming *Rick May – bass and

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Bill Miskimmin –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

*Oliver Langford –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

*Vladimir Asriev – violin *

Igor Outkine Igor Outkine (russian: Игорь Уткин, born 1964 in the Soviet Union) is an acoustic and midi accordionist and vocalist. His vocal and instrumental repertoire covers a wide range of music such as classical music, classical and opera, Neapo ...

–

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

*Elliott Douglass – piano *Henrique da Silva – macumba voice *Jorge Batista –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, Brazilian percussion and Orisha chant *Esteve Dasilva – Brazilian percussion *

Hossam Ramzy Hossam Ramzy ( ar, حسام رمزي; 15 December 1953 – 10 September 2019) was an Egyptian percussionist and composer. He worked with English artists like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Siouxsie Sioux, as well as with Arabic music artists like Ra ...

– Egyptian percussion *Tim Sanders –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

*Roddy Lorimer –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

*Simon Clarke –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

*Rebecca S Doe – string arrangement *Oliver Kraus –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

*Lucy Wilkins – violin *Sophie Sirota –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Ann-Marie Gilkes – backing vocals *Angela Morel – backing vocals *M Stewart – backing vocals *Richard Wayler – backing vocals

References

{{Authority control 1999 albums Marc Almond albums