''The Original Soundtrack'' is the third studio album by the English rock band

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group featured t ...

. It was released in 1975 and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. ''The Original Soundtrack'' includes the singles " Life Is a Minestrone", and " I'm Not in Love", the band's most popular song. The album received good reviews when originally released on LP, 8-Track and cassette by Mercury Records in March 1975. It was ranked number 976 in ''

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'' (2000).

Background

The album was recorded and produced by the band at Strawberry Studios in 1974 with Eric Stewart engineering and mixing. The album was the first to be released by Mercury Records after signing the band for $1 million in February 1975. The catalyst for the deal was that the record executives had heard one song – "I'm Not in Love". Eric Stewart recalled: The rest of the album, which was already complete, was released just weeks later. The artwork was designed by Hipgnosis and illustrated by artist

Humphrey Ocean Humphrey Ocean (born 22 June 1951) is a contemporary British painter. Early life Humphrey Ocean was born Humphrey Anthony Erdeswick Butler-Bowdon, on 22 June 1951 in Sussex, England. He went to Ampleforth College and in 1967 went to Tunbridge ...

Release

The album has been reissued on several occasions with bonus tracks including b-sides and single edits and has been remastered.

Reception

''The Original Soundtrack'' was a critical and commercial success reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 15 in the US Ken Barnes gave the album a rave review in '' Rolling Stone'', commenting, "Musically there's more going on than in ten

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albums, yet it's generally as accessible as a straight pop band (though less so than the two preceding 10cc LPs)." He particularly praised the album for being ambitious without being excessive or pretentious, and for its lyrical content. '' Village Voice'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

panned the album, remarking of the song "I'm Not in Love": "stretching your only decent melody (a non-satirical love song) over six tedious minutes, is that a joke?" The first single "Life Is a Minestrone" was another UK Top 10 for the band, peaking at No. 7. Their biggest success came with the song that sold the album, "I'm Not in Love", which gave the band their second UK No. 1 in June 1975, staying there for two weeks. The song also provided them with their first major US chart success when the song reached No. 2.

Track listing

Bonus tracks on the 1997 CD edition

Additional bonus tracks on Japanese edition

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of the album. ; 10cc * Eric Stewart – lead (1–6) and backing vocals (1, 3–5, 7, 8), electric (3–8) and steel guitars (1, 3), Fender Rhodes electric piano (2, 4, 6), piano (3, 4, 6), organ (8), percussion (8) * Lol Creme – lead (1, 3, 7) and backing vocals (all tracks), piano (all but 3), Fender Rhodes electric piano (1, 7), organ (3),

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

(5), percussion (1, 4, 7, 8), electric (4, 7) and acoustic guitars (6),

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(3, 5), vibraphone (1), violins (5),

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

(6),

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

(8) * Graham Gouldman – lead (1, 3, 8) and backing vocals (all but 8), bass guitar (all tracks), electric (2–4, 7, 8) and acoustic guitars (6, 7), percussion (1), double bass (5), autoharp (6), mandolin (8) * Kevin Godley – lead (1, 3, 5) and backing vocals (all tracks), drums (1, 3, 4, 6, 7), bass drum (5), timpani (1, 5), marimba (5), timbales (7), bongos (8), percussion (1, 4, 6–8), Moog synthesizer (2), cellos (5) ; Technical *

– production * Hipgnosis – cover design *

– cover illustration

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Original Soundtrack, The 10cc albums 1975 albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Mercury Records albums Albums recorded at Strawberry Studios