''Wishville'' is the fifth and final studio album by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Catherine Wheel Catherine wheel may refer to: * wheel or breaking wheel, an instrument of torturous execution originally associated with Saint Catherine of Alexandria * Catherine wheel (firework), a firework that rotates when lit Arts and entertainment * Cather ...

, released 23 May 2000 by Columbia Records. It was the band's only album not to feature bassist Dave Hawes, who was fired prior to its recording. Without a permanent bassist, the band focused on guitar-centered hard rock arrangements. The album's only single was "Sparks Are Gonna Fly".

Release

''Wishville'' was also released in a deluxe edition featuring special packaging and a second CD of live recordings, recorded live 11 July 2000 in New York.

Reception

''Wishville'' has received a mixed-to-negative reaction from critics. A negative review came from

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 ...

, which wrote: "You'd be hard pressed to get the Catherine Wheel of 1992 or even 1997 to do more than sneeze at the majority of the album. Most of these songs wouldn't have seen the mixing process at any earlier point in their career. ..Though the record contains some of the most spartan arrangements the band has composed, much of it seems forced and awkward. The lyrics are no help, containing

Rob Dickinson Robert Dickinson (born 23 July 1965) is a British musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter previously of the band Catherine Wheel.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 664-5 Dickinson was raised ...

's weakest songwriting." ''

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 ...

s review was highly negative, describing it as "absolutely terrible, a total abomination".

Track listing

#"Sparks Are Gonna Fly" – 4:16 #"Gasoline" – 4:22 #"Lifeline" – 4:29 #"What We Want to Believe In" – 4:50 #"All of That" – 4:40 #"Idle Life" – 4:26 #"Mad Dog" – 4:04 #"Ballad of a Running Man" – 4:50 #"Crème Caramel" – 4:32 Deluxe edition bonus disc #"Lifeline"– 4:56 #"Crank"– 3:37 #"Fripp"– 7:22 #"Ma Solituda" (with Andrew Montgomery of Geneva on Vocals)– 5:45 #"Heal"– 7:21 #"Future Boy"– 7:40 #"Intravenous"/"Little Muscle"– 8:00

Singles

* "Gasoline" ** US promo CD single **# "Gasoline" – 4:22 * "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" ** UK promo CD single **# "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" (Radio Edit) – 3:44 **# "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" (

Danny Saber Danny Saber (born 1966) is a musician in Los Angeles. He is an audio engineer, record producer, and remixer as well. He is a former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur. He plays organ, and keyboards, and is a prominent Los Angeles DJ. Sa ...

Remix) – 4:33 ** US promo CD single with tracks from previous albums **# "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" (Album Edit) – 3:47 **# "Sparks Are Gonna Fly" (Radio Edit) – 3:43 **# "Delicious" – 4:15 **# "Judy Staring at the Sun" – 3:57 **# "Waydown" – 3:14 **# "Crank" – 3:46 **# "Black Metallic" – 7:18

Personnel

; Musicians: *

–

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 ...

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 ...

, bass *Brian Futter – guitar, bass, vocals *Neil Sims – bass,

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 ...

, drums, loops, vocals *

Tim Friese-Greene Timothy Alan Friese-Greene is an English musician and producer. He worked with the band Talk Talk from 1983 to their breakup in 1991. He currently releases solo albums under the name "Heligoland". He is the grandson of filmmaker Claude Friese-Gre ...

– organ,

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 keybo ...

*Sara Lee – vocals ;

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

: *Rob Dickinson – producer *Jason Corsaro –

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 limit ...

*Mike Shipley – mixing *

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other ar ...

– cover art *Peter Curzon – cover art *Stephen Stickler –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

*Rupert Truman – photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000 albums Catherine Wheel albums Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Tim Friese-Greene