''Voices of Babylon'' is the third studio album by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

band

The Outfield The Outfield were an English rock band based in London, England. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for their hit single, " Your Love". The band's lineup consisted of guitarist John Spinks, vocalist and bassist ...

, released during the spring of

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and which spawned an

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous single. It was the group's last album to feature drummer Alan Jackman until the release of ''Replay'' in 2011. It was also their final album on the Columbia label. Following the album's release, and with their commercial success slipping, the band parted ways with Jackman and hired Paul Read as a replacement for the album's

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

. This album features a unique script similar to what is known as the

Pigpen cipher The pigpen cipher (alternatively referred to as the masonic cipher, Freemason's cipher, Napoleon cipher, and tic-tac-toe cipher)Barker, p. 40Wrixon, p. 27 is a geometric simple substitution cipher, which exchanges letters for symbols which are fr ...

. On the album cover, the script says "OUTFIELD" and the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

show the title of each album track in that script. Cipher key used for Voices of Babylon album cover and liner notes

Track listing

Voices of Babylon ''Voices of Babylon'' is the third studio album by the British band The Outfield, released during the spring of 1989 and which spawned an eponymous single. It was the group's last album to feature drummer Alan Jackman until the release of ''Rep ...

" #"My Paradise" #"Part of Your Life" #"Shelter Me" #"The Night Ain't Over" #"No Point" #"Taken By Surprise" #"Reach Out" #"Makin' Up" #"Inside Your Skin" All songs were written by John Spinks, except for "Taken By Surprise", which was written by John Spinks and Tony Lewis.

Personnel

Tony Lewis Anthony Robert Lewis CBE (born 6 July 1938) is a Welsh former cricketer, who captained England, became a journalist, went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage between 1986 and 1998, and became president of the Marylebone C ...

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 ...

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 ...

*John Spinks -

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 ...

, vocals,

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 ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

*Alan Jackman -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Additional musicians

David Kahne David Kahne is an American record producer, musician, composer, and former record company executive. Professional career Kahne started his musical career as a working musician and soon became Director of A&R for America's first punk and new ...

- keyboards, producer

Singles

The album's title track was a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit single, peaking at #25 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #2 on the

Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart.

Billboard Charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

Billboard.com. Accessed May 14, 2008. The second-single "My Paradise" peaked at #72 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, not achieving the expected success. "Part of Your Life" was released as a

promotional single A promotional recording, or promo, or plug copy, is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as ...

, but failed to gain significant airplay. "The Night Ain't Over" was released as a single in Canada, featuring a previously unreleased track "Better Get Ready" as the B-Side.

External links

References

{{Authority control The Outfield albums 1989 albums Albums produced by David Kahne Albums produced by David Leonard (record producer) Columbia Records albums