''Velveteen'' is the second studio album 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

Transvision Vamp Transvision Vamp were an English pop rock band. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James, the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s, particularly in 1989. James, the lead singer and focal-point of the group, attracted medi ...

, released on 20 September 1989 by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

. The album includes the single "

Baby I Don't Care "Baby I Don't Care" is a song by English pop rock band Transvision Vamp and the first single taken from their second album, ''Velveteen''. It was released in 1989 and remains their highest-charting single, peaking at number three in both the Unit ...

", which reached number 3 in the United Kingdom and Australia. ''Velveteen'' reached number 1 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 ...

and number 2 in Australia, where it became the 39th best-selling album of the year. An accompanying video album, titled ''The Velveteen Singles'', features the videos for all four singles released from the album, as well as behind-the-scenes footage.

Critical reception

Jeff Clark-Meads, reviewer of British music newspaper ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'', said that the band is more successful with loud and fast songs. He noted with satisfaction that "there are enough tracks here with pace and raunch to carry the casual listener through the slower, limits-of-ability-defining tracks," and summarized: "Indeed, as a package the album has life, verve and muscle and will appeal to anybody who finds the band's singles attractive."

Track listing

All tracks written by Nick Christian Sayer, except where noted. # "

" – 4:37 # " The Only One" – 4:19 # " Landslide of Love" – 3:48 # "Falling for a Goldmine" (Sayer, Marcus Myers) – 4:28 # "Down on You" – 4:20 # "Song to the Stars" – 1:50 # "Kiss Their Sons" – 4:16 # "

Born to Be Sold "Born to Be Sold" was the ninth single to be released by UK band Transvision Vamp. It became a hit in late 1989, peaking at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. Critical reception Members of Swing Out Sister left ironic review on this single for B ...

" – 3:44 # "Pay the Ghosts" – 4:37 # "Bad Valentine" – 3:45 # "Velveteen" – 9:51

Personnel

;Transvision Vamp *

Wendy James Wendy James (born 21 January 1966) is an English singer-songwriter most notable for her work with the pop band Transvision Vamp. Transvision Vamp Born in London to Norwegian parents, James was adopted soon after birth. She left home at the ag ...

– vocals * Nick Christian Sayer – guitar *

Dave Parsons David Guy Parsons (born 1964) is a British rock musician who is best known as the original bassist for English grunge band Bush. Life and career Before joining the grunge band Bush, was a member of punk band The Partisans, and alternative r ...

– bass * Tex Axile – keyboards * Kevin Armstrong – guitar with: *

Richard Niles Richard Niles is an American composer, arranger, record producer, guitarist, broadcaster, and journalist. Biography Early years Niles was born May 28, 1951, in Hollywood. He is the son of Tony Romano, a composer, singer, and guitarist who writ ...

- string arrangements on "Landslide of Love" and "Velveteen" ;Technical *Ben Kape, Philip Bagenal - engineer *

Peter Ashworth Peter Ashworth is an English photographer. Ashworth initially specialized in music photography, between 1979 and 2000. In the 1980s, he worked with many UK artists including The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Soft Cell, Jimmy Page and The A ...

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References