''Endless, Nameless'' is the third studio album by English rock band

The Wildhearts The Wildhearts are an English Rock music, rock band, formed in 1989 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band's sound is a mixture of hard rock and melodic pop music, often described in the music press as combining influences as diverse as the Beatl ...

, released in 1997. It was the band's first release on

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

and their only full album with guitarist Jef Streatfield. The songs " Urge" and "

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

" were released as singles. The album reached no. 41 on the British album chart.

Background

The album shares its title with the

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

song " Endless, Nameless", though Wildhearts songwriter

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

claims this is a coincidence and he was not previously aware of the song. However, some music journalists doubt this claim because of the band's well-known struggles with drugs during that period, while the album shares its noisy and unstructured nature with the Nirvana song. Recording was marred by heavy drug use among all the band's members, with bassist Danny McCormack often absent from the sessions, though he performed his first-ever lead vocal on "Anthem". The album was influenced by the popular

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

and

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten and Chrom ...

of the period, which Ginger attempted to combine with the band's previous pop and hard rock sounds with the assistance of new producer Ralph Jezzard, with the result of rock-oriented songwriting often buried by unexpectedly distorted and noisy production. The album's sound has divided the band's fan base. "Heroin" is a cover of "Heroine" by

Dogs D'Amour The Dogs D'Amour are an English bluesey hard rock band formed in London in 1983. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla. Their music has been described as a mixture of the Rolling Stones, the ...

. The Japanese version of the album featured a cover of the

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

song " Pump It Up". The album was reissued in 2010 with several songs that had originally served as B-sides for the "Urge" and "Anthem" singles.

Reception

During a 2018 interview with ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'', Ginger declared that ''Endless, Nameless'' is his favorite Wildhearts album, explaining: "I love ''Endless, Nameless'' most because it was a statement of pure intent. We wanted to make something challenging that didn’t pander to commercialism, and we did it. Most people think it’s just noise, but I’m very proud of that noise we made." The album was dismissed by many fans and reviewers upon its release, but some retrospective reviews have praised it as a forceful musical statement.

Track listing

All songs written by

except "Heroin" which is originally by

(as "Heroine").

Personnel

- vocals, guitar, bass * Jef Streatfield - guitar, bass * Ritch Battersby - drums * Danny McCormack - bass, lead vocals on "Anthem"

References

{{Authority control The Wildhearts albums 1997 albums Mushroom Records albums Albums produced by Ralph Jezzard