Primal Scream - Screamadelica (1991)

With enough good material to surpass most compilation albums Screamadelica redefined these Glaswegian rascals and in the process became one of the seminal albums of the 1990’s. It’s one of those all encompassing albums that takes in strands as diverse as dance, rock and dub and blends them into a heady mix that titillates every time. As one of the tunes so eloquently puts it, as you listen you must not fight it, just feel it. Fronted by the elegantly wasted waif Bobby Gillespie Primal Scream certainly had the creative spark to mark them out from the crowd but lacked the nuance to communicate their ideas. So when they recruited producer Andrew Weatherall the alchemy that up to that point had eluded them poured forth like a monsoon. Within the space of 12 blissed out classics Primal Scream transformed from indie upstarts to genre defining dance gurus. Weatherall’s steady hand is stamped over three quarters of the album, for the rest Primal Scream delightfully revert to type.

Things get off to an energetic start on ‘Movin’on Up’, as Bobby screams ‘I was blind, now I can see’ you get the feeling that this may be the beginning of something a bit different. ‘Movin’on Up’ bleeds the sound of the Stones, with an unfiltered energy percolating through every octave. Within the blink of an eye, the band completely change tact. It’s as if the drugs were finally starting to kick in. ‘Slip Inside This House’ is the Happy Mondays with trademark lazy vocal delivery over a bulging beat. With your headphones on it almost feels like your head is about to spontaneously combust. The requisite piano riff was a nod to the dance scene at the time where no production was complete without a trip to the ivories. Taken from the same template but with several tablespoons of acid thrown in for good measure ‘Don’t Fight It, Feel It’ is a chariot ride through the Hacienda. Denise Johnson takes the helm as the motley crew of whistles, drum machines and several hundred cosmic sounds from Jupiter combine to spring clean a path through your cranium. It never fails to light the fire at any party. After that electric trip comes that very rare beast, the glorious comedown. ‘Higher Than The Sun’ has been remixed, spliced and reinvented many times but the results generally come knocking on the originals door. This is what those nudies would have bathed in had Woodstock occurred in a particularly dry spell. Finding a piece to outdo ‘Higher Than The Sun’s complete ascent into altitudes normally frequented by kites would be an onerous task were it not for ‘Inner Flight’ and its spaced out demeanour forever finding unique ways to colour your imagination.

‘Come Together’ remains Primal Scream’s greatest gift to us. Over 10 minutes Malcolm X tries to get his words in edgeways over some of the sweetest processed beats this side of a kilo of sugar. This is an album worth of sounds by itself, a true original that so often meant that Primal Screams shows resembled quasi-religious experiences. As Malcolm holds hands with Denise Johnson’s 32 ‘Come Together’s it’s as if no other piece of music will ever reach this sonic exuberance. If that wasn’t enough Andrew Weatherall turns the raw materials that was the Scream’s single ‘I’m Losing More Than I Ever Had’ into a fully functioning dance classic. At this point the album changes tact as lush valleys of sound replace mountains peak highs. ‘Damaged’ reintroduces the guitar into proceedings, as a backdrop to Gillespies plundering of his own emotions. It’s a case of steadying the ship before we flashback to the enormous rushes of before. ‘I’m Coming Down’ is almost self explanatory save to say that the lazy brass interludes drift so perfectly into the mix it seems that the ensemble at this point were incapable of putting a foot wrong. To ram the point home ‘Higher Than The Sun’ is given a second airing but this time it comes as a dub symphony in two parts. Jah Wobble furnishes a pummelling bass line and Bobby supplies a voice riding a pirouetting feather. For 7 minutes you’re likely to lose the plot but rereads always reward in the most unexpected of ways. Before you snap out of the carnival of sound ‘Shine Like Stars’ perfectly tags the preceding contents with the neatest of endings.

Perhaps in flying so close to perfection Primal Scream burnt themselves out as the follow-up 'Give Out But Don't Give Up' was an unmitigated disaster as they returned to their rocky roots. Over time the band have made up good ground but the sustained beauty of Screamadelica has yet to be eclipsed. The unadulterated joie-de-vivre that pours forth from the albums grooves is the sound of one of the best albums ever produced. This is a piece of work that ebbs and flows with an intoxicated glee. You’ll slouch, you’ll groove, you’ll shake and finally, in true Gillespie style, you’ll make like a flapping penguin. It’s one of those rare treats that never grows tiresome, it’ll be something to play to your kids to have them retracting those cruel ‘has been’ taunts.

Rating: 9.5/10

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