''Performance and Cocktails'' is the second studio album by Welsh
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
Stereophonics
Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, Wales. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (bass guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Adam Zind ...
. It was released by
V2 on 8 March 1999. The name of the album comes from lyrics in the album's first song, "Roll Up and Shine", just like the previous album's name, ''
Word Gets Around
''Word Gets Around'' is the debut studio album by Welsh rock band Stereophonics. It was released on 25 August 1997 through V2 Records and reached number six in the UK Albums Chart, making it one of three Stereophonics albums not to reach numbe ...
'' came from lyrics in that album's final song.
The album was a surprise commercial success for Stereophonics but it received mixed reviews.
Recording
The songs were variously recorded at
Real World Studios
Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real Wor ...
in
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, Parkgate in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
and Rockfield in
Monmouth
Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...
.
Album cover
The cover photograph was taken by
Scarlet Page
Scarlet Lilith Eleida Page (born 24 March 1971) is an English photographer. She is the daughter of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and Charlotte Martin, a French model.
Childhood
Born in London, she grew up in England, and stayed at both Plump ...
in autumn 1998 at a football pitch under the
Westway in London, and was inspired by an earlier
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American portrait photographer best known for her engaging portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid photo of Jo ...
photograph of a couple kissing outside a prison. The British journalist
Tony Barrell did extensive research in 2007 to find the female model in the foreground. In the
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
on 11 November 2007, he revealed the previously unknown identity of the model as 27-year-old mother-of-two Lucy Joplin. In an interview with Barrell, Joplin explained that the "faraway look" in her eyes was the result of an evening consuming
absinthe
Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historical ...
and
opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
, and that she was paid just £75 in cash for the shoot. The name of the then 23-year-old male model is Kipp Burns on loan from Mannique models, King's Road.
Track listing
Reception
Critical response
''Performance and Cocktails'' received generally mixed reviews. At
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 databas ...
, Jason Damas criticised the album for not being as consistent as ''
Word Gets Around
''Word Gets Around'' is the debut studio album by Welsh rock band Stereophonics. It was released on 25 August 1997 through V2 Records and reached number six in the UK Albums Chart, making it one of three Stereophonics albums not to reach numbe ...
''; he did however praise "T Shirt Sun Tan", "She Takes Her Clothes Off" and "
Pick a Part That's New
"Pick a Part That's New" is a song by Welsh rock band Stereophonics. It was released on 3 May 1999 as the third single from their second studio album, ''Performance and Cocktails'' (1999). The single reached number four on the UK Singles Chart a ...
", calling them the highlights of the album.
Brent DiCrescenzo from ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' had a generally negative review of the album, comparing Stereophonics to
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.”
The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
and by summarising the album as, "Basically, what ''Performance and Cocktails'' boils down to is loud music engineered and crafted for Britain's summer festival circuit that practically guarantees a perennially muddy experience."
Similarly, Barry Walters of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' also compared the band to Oasis, stating, "
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
sound like Oasis trying to be
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
."
Commercial performance
''Performance and Cocktails'' gave Stereophonics three straight top five singles in the British charts with "
The Bartender and the Thief
"The Bartender and the Thief" is a song by Welsh rock band Stereophonics, written by the band in April 1998. The song is the second track on their second album, ''Performance and Cocktails'' (1999). "Bartender" was the first single taken from '' ...
" reaching number-three, and both "
Just Looking
''Just Looking'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama film. Directed by Jason Alexander and written by Marshall Karp, it stars Ryan Merriman, Gretchen Mol, Peter Onorati, and Patti LuPone. The film's plot follows Lenny, a teenage boy from the Bronx ...
" and "Pick a Part That's New" reaching number-four. The album itself was a success, topping the UK Albums Chart selling 119,954 copies in its first week and going on to become the fifth best selling album in the UK in 1999. Such was the album's persistence, that it re-entered the UK charts over four years after its initial release, reaching number twenty-five in January 2004.
Legacy
With sales of over 2.5 million, ''Performance and Cocktails'' is the Stereophonics' second best-selling album (after ''
Just Enough Education to Perform
''Just Enough Education to Perform'' is the third studio album by Welsh Rock music, rock band Stereophonics. Released on 11 April 2001, the album topped the UK Albums Chart with 140,000 copies sold. and spawned three top-ten singles in the form o ...
'', which has sold over 3.5 million).
The record has been certified 5× Platinum in the UK and Platinum in Europe.
It has spent a total of 101 weeks in the UK top 100 charts.
The album is seen as one of the best albums in 90s British rock history. At the ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
'' awards in 1999, ''Performance and Cocktails'' won the "Best Album" award and Stereophonics further won "Best British Band" the same year. On their "Albums of the Year" list, the record was placed at number 5. Listeners at
Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio is a British National radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Absolute Radio Network. It broadcasts nationally across the UK via Digital audio broadcasting and on 1215 kHz MW.
History
1993–1997: Virg ...
voted for their album of the decade and ''Performance and Cocktails'' ranked at number 27. On the radio's shortlist it was included as one of the albums that helped define the sound of the 90s along with
Word Gets Around
''Word Gets Around'' is the debut studio album by Welsh rock band Stereophonics. It was released on 25 August 1997 through V2 Records and reached number six in the UK Albums Chart, making it one of three Stereophonics albums not to reach numbe ...
At the
Mercury Music Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
awards, the album was nominated for the 1999 prize but was only listed as a "Shortlisted nominee." "Pick a Part That's New" was used in a
BT advert for their unlimited broadband deal.
Re-release
On 24 August 2010, Stereophonics announced on their website that ''Performance and Cocktails'', along with ''Word Gets Around'', were to be re-released.
To accompany the re-releases, Stereophonics performed all the songs on both the albums at the
Hammersmith Apollo
The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...
on 17 and 18 October 2010. They were released on 18 October 2010 and were made into two forms:
Deluxe: The original album on one disc and a bonus CD featuring 12 b-sides and rare tracks.
Super-deluxe: The album on one disc (as listed above) and two bonus CDs (one with 15 b-sides and the other includes 10 rare tracks), artcards and a replica of Kelly Jones' notebook.
Personnel
Stereophonics
*
Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones (born 3 June 1974) is a Welsh singer-songwriter and a founding member, lead singer, and guitarist of the rock band Stereophonics.
Early life and debut
Kelly Jones was born youngest of three boys for Beryl and Arwyn Jones in the s ...
– vocals, guitar
*
Richard Jones – bass guitar
*
Stuart Cable
Stuart James Cable (19 May 1970 – 7 June 2010) was a Welsh rock drummer and broadcaster, best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics.
Early life
Cable was born in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on 19 May 1970. When he was 10 ...
– drums
Additional
* Marshall Bird –
hammond,
Rhodes piano
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...
, piano,
mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
*
Astrid
Astrid is a feminine given name of Scandinavian origin, a modern form of the name Ástríðr. Derived from the Old Norse Ássfriðr, a compound name composed of the elements (a god) and (beautiful, fair).
Variants
* Assan (diminutive) (Swed ...
– backing vocals on "I Stopped to Fill My Car Up"
Technical
* Bird & Bush – producer,
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
,
mixing on "She Takes Her Clothes Off"
* Al Clay – mixing
* Ian Cooper –
mastering
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
Singles
Year-end charts
Certifications
, +Certifications
References
;Notes
;Footnotes
External links
Performance and Cocktails at stereophonics.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Performance And Cocktails
Stereophonics albums
1999 albums
V2 Records albums