''Stigma'' is the second studio album by English alternative band EMF, released in 1992. It yielded two UK hit singles: "They’re Here" (no. 29) and "It’s You" (no. 23). The follow-up to the commercially successful '' Schubert Dip'', ''Stigma'' failed to make the UK top 10 Album Charts (peaking at no. 19), and perhaps worse, was only in the charts for two weeks (its predecessor reached no. 3 and charted for 19 weeks). "It's You That Leaves Me Dry" was re-mixed and re-titled "It's You" for the single release.

Reception

Geoff Orens of

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 three-and-a-half stars out of five, feeling that the overall mood and lyrical themes of the album were different from what would have been expected by fans: "For a fan base ready for more ' Unbelievable's however, ''Stigma'' was far from enticing and unfortunately sold less than hoped, leading to EMF's less-than-grand return to the foray of pop on '' Cha Cha Cha''."

Track listing

All songs written by EMF, except where noted. #" They're Here" - 4:22 #"Arizona" (James Atkin,

Ian Dench Ian Alec Harvey Dench (born 7 August 1964) is an English songwriter and musician. He was the guitarist and principal songwriter for EMF, who scored a major international hit reaching number 1 in the United States with " Unbelievable" in 1991. ...

) - 4:05 #"It's You That Leaves Me Dry" (Atkin, Dench) - 3:54 #"Never Know" (Atkin, Dench) - 4:02 #"Blue Highs" (Dench) - 3:48 #"Inside" (Atkin) - 3:26 #"Getting Through" (Dench) - 4:23 #"She Bleeds" (Dench) - 4:05 #"Dog" - 3:56 #"The Light that Burns Twice as Bright..." - 4:09

Personnel

EMF

*James Atkin:

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 withou ...

, guitars *

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 strin ...

s, keyboards *Derry Brownson: sampling, keyboards *Zac Foley:

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Mark de Cloedt: drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Guest musicians

P.P. Arnold PP, pp or Pp may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pianissimo'', a music term meaning ''very quiet'', from musical dynamics * Production code for the 1967–1968 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Enemy of the World'' * Police Procedural - a subgen ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

on "Arizona", "It's You That Leaves Me Dry", "Blue Highs", "Inside" and "The Light that Burns Twice as Bright..."

References

1992 albums EMF (band) albums Parlophone albums {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub