Everyone's Got One Explained

Everyone's Got One
Type:	Album
Artist:	Echobelly
Cover:	echobelly ego.jpg
Released:	22 August 1994
Studio:	A residential studio in Chipping Norton
Genre:	Britpop
Length:	41:16
Label:	Rhythm King
Producer:	Simon Vinestock
Next Title:	On
Next Year:	1995

Everyone's Got One is the debut studio album by English rock band Echobelly. Released to a favourable response from critics,^[1] the album reached number 8 in the UK Albums Chart in September 1994. On 21 July 2014, a 2CD expanded edition of the album was released by 3 Loop Music which featured B-sides and previously unreleased live material.

Background

Reflecting her fascination for wordplay, lead singer Sonya Madan titled the album Everyone's Got One, with the first letter of each word spelling "EGO", a common theme throughout the album.

Madan wrote the songs "Today, Tomorrow, Sometime, Never" and "Call Me Names" about her feelings of alienation due to her Indian heritage: "Even though I have a brown skin, I didn't feel Asian. I felt alien".^[2] "Father Ruler King Computer" discusses her anger towards arranged marriages: "I was brought up, I've been told, that a husband is the goal. What connotations in these loaded words, a spinster and a bachelor, I am whole all by myself, I don't need nobody else."^[2] Other topics covered in her lyrics include empowering women ("Give Her a Gun"), self-confidence ("I Can't Imagine the World Without Me"), a friend's abortion ("Bellyache"), and loneliness ("Close… But").^[2]

Critical reception

The Independent wrote that "it's Madan's appeal upon which the group's fortunes most heavily rest: a natural, androgyne beauty, her voice is the single most noteworthy aspect of their sound, possessing an elegant clarity bizarrely at odds with the music's darker intentions."^[3] The Guardian deemed the album "brisk Blondie-ish power-pop."^[4]

In 2017, Pitchfork placed Everyone's Got One at number 48 on their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".^[5]

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.^[6]

Echobelly

• Sonya Madan – vocals
• Glenn Johansson – guitars, mandolin, additional vocals
• Debbie Smith – guitar
• Alex Keyser – bass, piano, whistle
• Andy Henderson – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Barbara Snow – trumpet ("I Can't Imagine the World Without Me")
• Lino Robinson – piano, string arrangements ("I Can't Imagine the World Without Me")
• Miles Bould – percussion ("Taste of You")
• Audrey Riley – cello ("Taste of You", "Cold Feet Warm Heart")
• Simon Vinestock – production (besides "Insomniac"), re-mixing ("Insomniac")
• Clive Martin – production, engineering ("Insomniac")
• Ronen Tal – engineering (besides "I Can't Imagine the World Without Me" and "Insomniac")
• Nick Addison – engineering ("I Can't Imagine the World Without Me")
• Alan Moulder – mixing ("I Can't Imagine the World Without Me")
• Maria Mochnacz – photography
• Stylorouge – designer

2014 reissue bonus disc

• Echobelly – performance, production (tracks 1–4, 7–8)
• Juju Midget – didgeridoo ("Bellyache")
• Huw Warren – cello ("Sleeping Hitler")
• Dick Meany – production (tracks 1–4)
• Clive Martin – production, engineering (tracks 5–6)
• Nick Addison – engineering (track 7)
• Dick Meany – mixing (track 8)
• Simon Vinestock – production (track 9)
• Sam Cunningham – production (tracks 10–11)
• Miti Adhikari – engineering (tracks 10–11)

External links

• Everyone's Got One at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Echobelly . 15 May 2008 . 27 May 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110527080343/http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/echobelly-biography . dead .
2. News: Mistiaen . Veronique . Daring to Be Different . . 27 November 1994 . 17 July 2017.
3. News: Gill . Andy . Echobelly Everyone's Got One . The Independent . 18 Aug 1994 . Pop Music.
4. News: Sullivan . Caroline . Echobelly Everyone's Got One . The Guardian . 26 Aug 1994 . Features.
5. Web site: The 50 Best Britpop Albums . . 29 March 2017 . 17 July 2017.
6. CD Booklet