''World Outside'' is the seventh studio album by the 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

the Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene ...

, released 1 July 1991 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in the US. It includes the single " Until She Comes", which hit No. 1 on the US

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in September 1991. "Don't Be a Girl" was the second single.

Production

Completed in seven weeks, the album was produced by

Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album ''Viva Hate'' following the spl ...

and the band.

Knox Chandler Knox Chandler is an American musician known primarily as a guitarist, though he also plays cello, keyboards and other instruments. He has worked extensively as a session musician. In the early to mid-1970s, Chandler attended the Hammonasset Scho ...

contributed on guitar. The three core band members tried to be more open to collaborating with the additional musicians, rather than always directing how songs should be played. The band started recording a week after their tour for '' Book of Days'' ended, and used few overdubs. Singer Richard Butler constructed lyrics that were more personal than on previous albums. He decided to use cello on some tracks after growing tired of employing a saxophone. "All About You" was edited down from two jams that totaled 30 minutes.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that "there is once more the bracing tension of understated melodic elegance scraping against understated musical discord." The ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'' determined that the band "maintains the most irresistible aspects of its art-rock sound including the melancholy underbelly, but it also focuses them into a commanding pop songs." The ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' opined that "Richard sings wearily of romance in ruins... It's all so shoulder-shrugging boring." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' deemed the album "a crafty return to the edgy, intelligent rock of its earliest incarnation." ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' called it "B-level pop songs." The ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' panned the "sameness in synth sounds, sameness in melodies, sameness in meter." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' concluded that "the album is leavened by a significantly keener sense of melody and somehow pulled into focus by the context of the times." The ''

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of September ...

'' listed the album as one of the 10 best of 1991.

Track listing

All songs written by

. # "Valentine" – 4:47 # "In My Head" – 3:30 # " Until She Comes" – 3:50 # "Don't Be a Girl" – 3:46 # "Sometimes" – 4:14 # "Tearing Down" – 5:22 # "There's a World" – 4:45 # "Get a Room" – 3:45 # "Better Days" – 4:32 # "All About You" – 4:01

Personnel

;The Psychedelic Furs * Richard Butler –

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 ...

John Ashton John Ashton may refer to: Entertainment * John Ashton (composer) (1830–1896), Welsh musician * Will Ashton (John William Ashton, 1881–1963), British-Australian artist and art director * John Rowland Ashton (1917–2008), English author * John ...

–

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 ...

Tim Butler Timothy George Butler (born 7 December 1958) is an English musician and songwriter. He is the bass player, and co-founder of the Psychedelic Furs. He is also the youngest of three brothers. Richard, the eldest, is the lead singer of the Psych ...

– bass Additional personnel *Don Yallech –

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 ...

– guitar *

Joe McGinty Joe McGinty is an American composer, keyboardist and arranger who was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. McGinty is most widely known for his five years as the keyboardist for The Psychedelic Furs (after a brief stint with Robert Hazard in Philade ...

– keyboards

Charts

References

{{Authority control The Psychedelic Furs albums 1991 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Stephen Street