''Achtung Bono'' is the tenth album by UK

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, released in 2005. In 2010, a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

campaign was mounted with the aim of saving BBC 6 Music from threatened closure and, as a sign of protest, to get "Joy Division Oven Gloves" from ''Achtung Bono'' to No. 6 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 12 April 2010. In the event, it entered the Singles Chart that week at No. 56 and the Independent Singles Chart at No. 3. Whether or not the campaign was influential, BBC 6 Music was saved.

Critical reception

Reviews were generally favourable: * Stewart Mason,

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 ...

: "One of their finest albums". * Roger Holland, ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'': "''Achtung Bono'' is a worthy addition to the HMHB canon". * Ben Granger, ''

Spike Magazine ''Spike Magazine'' is an internet cultural journal which began in 1995, founded by its editor Chris Mitchell in Brighton, England. Updated monthly, its motto is "picking the brains of popular culture", though it has an intellectual inclination. D ...

'': "This is probably not one of Half Man Half Biscuit’s best albums. And yet its still fantastic". * Dom Passantino, '' Stylus Magazine'': "UK album of the year, by a landslide".

Track listing

Notes

* The album title is a satirical reference to the title of the 1991 album ''

Achtung Baby ''Achtung Baby'' () is the seventh studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 18 November 1991 on Island Records. After criticism of their 1988 release ''Rattle and Hum'', U2 shifte ...

'' by Irish rock band U2 and to its singer Bono. *

Restless legs syndrome Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease (WED), is generally a long-term disorder that causes a strong urge to move one's legs. There is often an unpleasant feeling in the legs that improves somewhat by moving them. This ...

is a poorly understood neurological disorder. * Until 1 April 2009, gas fitters in the UK had to be "Corgi registered" to practise their trade. Corgi stands for the Council for Registered Gas Installers; since replaced by Gas Safe. * Chatteris is a small town in Cambridgeshire. * "Shit Arm, Bad Tattoo" has been suggested to refer to the cover of the eponymous second album by the Libertines, released 2004. Nigel Blackwell of Half Man Half Biscuit has, however, denied such a connection. Date . * ''Upon Westminster Bridge'' is an 1802 poem by

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

(17701850). *

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...

is a major bridge over the

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in central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. *

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

were an influential band from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The song satirises band merchandising. * "Asparagus Next Left" is the sort of sign that can be seen on British country roads advertising farm products for sale at the farm gate. * "Depressed Beyond Tablets" is from a line in the "Crime" episode of Chris Morris's controversial TV comedy ''

Brass Eye ''Brass Eye'' is a British satirical television series parodying current affairs news programming. A series of six episodes aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001. The series was created and presented by Chris Morris, written ...

''. * "Bogus Official" is asterisked on the album track listing as a 'Public information tune'. * Twydale is a fictional person. * The title "We Built This Village on a Trad. Arr. Tune" parodies that of the 1985 song "

We Built This City "We Built This City" is a 1985 song by American rock band Starship. It was released as their debut single on their album '' Knee Deep in the Hoopla''. It was written by English musicians Martin Page and Bernie Taupin, who were both living in Lo ...

(on rock and roll)" by Starship. * "Trad. Arr." is short for "traditional, arranged (by)", and is often attached to recordings of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

References

External links

* The oldest-established Half Man Half Biscuit fansite. * The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project. {{Authority control 2005 albums Half Man Half Biscuit albums