Another Grey Area Explained

Another Grey Area
Type:Studio album
Artist:Graham Parker
Cover:Anothergreyarea.jpg
Released:15 March 1982
Recorded:Record Plant, New York City
Genre:Rock
Label:RCA (UK & Europe)
Arista (USA & Canada)
Vertigo (New Zealand)
Producer:Jack Douglas, Graham Parker
Prev Title:The Up Escalator
Prev Year:1980
Next Title:The Real Macaw
Next Year:1983

Another Grey Area is the first solo album by Graham Parker. It was released in 1982 on the Arista label. The album was produced by Jack Douglas and Graham Parker, and features Nicky Hopkins on acoustic piano.

Parker said Another Grey Area was a "beautiful" album, saying, "I've always been striving to make a record that sounds beautiful. I think Another Grey Area sounds beautiful. ... the perspective is just full. Everything is in the right place. It's not a question of sound. When I say sound, I mean putting instruments in the right perspectives, so you get a bass in the slot, so the whole thing holds together". Parker also claimed that the album featured better singing than his previous albums.[1]

Another Grey Area, despite positive reception in the United States, was heavily criticized in Parker's home country of the United Kingdom. He reflected, "In England, the critics are panning it. They hate it. Because they're prejudiced. They've also missed the point of the lyrics. They think the songs are cop-outs, but they're not listening. They're listening to the fact that there isn't Graham Parker & the Rumour with the band being angry. You made the point exactly: the band was playing angrily as well and it wasn't necessary".

Track listing

All tracks composed by Graham Parker.

Side 1

  1. "Temporary Beauty" - 3:54
  2. "Another Grey Area" - 3:01
  3. "No More Excuses" - 4:31
  4. "Dark Side of the Bright Lights" - 3:38
  5. "Can't Waste a Minute" - 3:30
  6. "Big Fat Zero" - 2:47

Side 2

  1. "You Hit the Spot" - 3:31
  2. "It's All Worth Nothing Alone" - 4:05
  3. "Crying for Attention" - 4:07
  4. "Thankless Task" - 4:13
  5. "Fear Not" - 3:30

40th Anniversary Edition Bonus Tracks (2022, Iconoclassic Records)

  1. "Habit Worth Forming" - 3:10
  2. "You Hit the Spot (Extended Version)" - 3:51
  3. "No More Excuses (Version)" - 2:47
  4. "You Hit the Spot (Live Version)" - 4:25
  5. "Another Grey Area (Live Version)" - 4:22

Charts

Chart (1982)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] 98
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company)40
United States (Billboard 200)[3] 52

Personnel

Personnel per Another Grey Area liner notes.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Geoffrey Himes . Graham Parker: Rock's Last Angry Man Reflects on Life after the Rumour . Musician . https://web.archive.org/web/20200626174852/https://homepages.uni-regensburg.de/~dej09534/gparker/articles/muscn82.htm . 16 May 2019. 26 June 2020 .
  2. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 229.
  3. Web site: allmusic.com . Billboard . [{{AllMusic|class=album|tab=charts-awards/billboard-album|id=r14846|pure_url=yes}} ''Squeezing Out Sparks'' – Graham Parker > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums ]. 7 January 2012 .
  4. Another Grey Area. Graham Parker. 1982. Liner notes.

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