Vibrate You Explained

Vibrate You
Type:studio
Artist:King Adora
Cover:King Adora, Vibrate You album artwork.jpg
Recorded:November – December 2000 at Sawmills Studios (Golant, Cornwall)
Genre:Punk rock, hard rock, glam rock
Length:36:26
Label:Superior Quality Recordings
Producer:John Cornfield
Next Title:Who Do You Love?
Next Year:2004

Vibrate You is the debut studio album by King Adora. It was released on 21 May 2001[1] on Superior Quality Recordings and reached number 30 on the UK Albums Chart.[2] Produced by John Cornfield at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall, the album received mixed to negative reviews from critics upon its release.

Background

Writing and recording

Writing for the album began when Matt Browne and Martyn Nelson formed King Adora in Birmingham, England in 1998. The first song the pair wrote was Friday Night Explodes, which explored their experiences of working all week and getting "trashed" every Friday night. After signing to Superior Quality Recordings in 2000, the band released the Bionic/The Law, Big Isn't Beautiful and Smoulder singles, playing the singles and other newly written songs at their live shows. An attempt at recording the album was halted at the request of Superior Quality Recordings due to the band's drunkenness, resulting in the decision to send the band to the secluded Sawmills Studios in Cornwall in late 2000.[3] John Cornfield was chosen to produce and mix the record. The surroundings at Sawmills proved to be a welcome change of pace for the band, finding inspiration from images on the walls of the studio's previous clients (The Stone Roses, Muse, The Verve) and putting on a Christmas party, which was featured in Melody Maker.

According to Browne, the album took "six or seven weeks" to record.[4] The band arrived at the studio with the majority of the songs already written and arranged. Ten songs recorded in the sessions are present on the album, with previous singles Bionic, The Law and Big Isn't Beautiful (originally recorded and produced by Chris Sheldon) being re-recorded, to add "a little bit more balls".[5] Smoulder was unchanged from its single version, which had been produced and mixed by John Cornfield. Cornfield recalled that the band were "pretty good at getting themselves vibed up, into it and going for it" and that he tried to push them into more of an "angry rock" direction, away from their glam roots. An "Elvis impression" was included on We Are Heroes, allegedly without the band knowing. The Mevo Gissey Choir was used on Music Takes You, with the band stating "we were going to get a big gospel choir in and try some other things, but we said we wanted something really powerful and deep". Bassist Robbie Grimmit commented that the song was "our rock epic".[6] Future single Suffocate was written during the sessions and dealt with the death of Browne's girlfriend. Dabrowski revealed the band "tried" to record cover versions at the sessions.[7] Two previously released b-sides were included on an enhanced version of the album as bonus tracks.[8] The enhanced version also included an EPK (featuring home video footage) and music videos for Big Isn't Beautiful, Smoulder, Suffocate and Bionic. The album was mastered by Kevin Metcalfe at The Soundmasters, London.

Musical style and influences

The band's style on the album is rooted in glam rock, punk rock and hard rock. The band members credited Pavement, Sonic Youth, Pixies as the bands that made them want to be musicians, also stating "we had a fascination with the New York scene in the 70s going all the way up to the grunge scene". The band pointed out that their sound was a combination of their four personalities, saying "when we used to rehearse, it was whatever comes naturally on stage, just do it. If we ever wrote a song that was three and a half minutes, we'd rehearse it twice and think 'this is so boring and long'. So we'd get rid of choruses and just make it more immediate". The music press noted elements of Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, T-Rex, David Bowie, Blondie and early Manic Street Preachers in the band's music.[9] The band also added "futuristic electro-elements" to their sound.[10] Drum machines were present on the album, featuring on Aftertime, The Law, We Are Heroes, Music Takes You and Suffocate. Synthesisers featured on Friday Night Explodes and We Are Heroes, while a police siren sample was utilised on The Law.

Title and themes

The album title Vibrate You is taken from the lyrics of the opening track, Smoulder. Themes present on the album include sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll, relationships, self-obsession, sleaze and anorexia. Browne stated that Big Isn't Beautiful "was from the point of view from an anorexic male. It's quite honest, but because it's controversial, people get a bit angry about it".[11] The band described Friday Night Explodes as being "a speed and alcohol fuelled celebration of excess, placing drugs on their rightful pedestal. A sort of pre-band autobiography".[12] Bionic, Aftertime, We Are Heroes and Music Takes You celebrated the bond between the band members and their fans. Many of the songs dealt with various forms of sex, including The Law ("sex with a policewoman"), Supermuffdiver (oral sex) and Asthmatic (auto-erotic asphyxiation). Whether is "anti-machismo", "anti-lad culture" and "about feeling comfortable in expressing yourself". Smoulder and Suffocate explored relationships filled with despair, fear and desire.

Reception

The album received mixed reviews, the Southern Reporter commenting "how can you quibble at a band who expend more energy in 40 minutes than Pink Floyd did in a career? What's more it's not wasted effort".[13] The NME's review was mixed, Steven Wells stating that "to send King Adora over the top with a record like this would be tantamount to murder".[14] Drowned In Sound were less positive, rating the album 4/10.[15] Allmusic gave the album 2.5/5, saying the band were "in danger of riding off into the sunset as the neo-glam indie equivalent of the Rutles".[1] The Guardian were negative, stating "the Adora (who named themselves after a vibrator) are too tentative to carry off either the look or the sound".[16]

Legacy

Matt Browne would look back on the album with disdain in the years following its release, saying "I probably would have used different recording techniques, possibly included a couple of different songs, some songs I didn’t feel were that strong and the artwork I absolutely loathed".[17] He also went on to say that "songs like Whether and Aftertime could have been brought out better. They’re both good songs, but I feel they could have been made a lot heavier. I don’t feel (John Cornfield) who produced it really got to grips with those songs".

Track listing

Enhanced CD bonus tracks

Personnel

Production

Singles

Tour

King Adora began their tour supporting Vibrate You in late January 2001 and wrapped up in mid-December. The biggest headlining show of the tour came on 19 May, when demand forced the band's London gig to be moved from the Mean Fiddler to the Astoria.[18] Setlists for the tour consisted of material from Vibrate You, with b-sides also receiving airplay, including Scream And Shout, Don't Trust The Ones You Love, Freak, Aceface and White Noise Babies. Music Takes You was the only song from the album not played on the tour. New songs were premiered later in the tour (including Born To Lose, Love So Volatile, Asleep and Come) and would see release on the band's second album Who Do You Love? in 2004. Other new songs played on the tour, but never officially released, included The Chase and Tokyo Honey.

DateCityCountryVenue
United Kingdom Leg #1
GlasgowUnited KingdomKing Tut's Wah Wah Hut
AberdeenGlow 303
EdinburghVenue
ManchesterRoadhouse
NME Brat Awards
LondonUnited KingdomAstoria
United Kingdom Leg #2
LiverpoolUnited KingdomLomax
SheffieldLeadmill
HullAdelphi
Stoke-on-TrentSugarmill
NorthamptonRoadmender
LeicesterCharlotte
ExeterCavern
PortsmouthWedgewood Rooms
NorwichArts Centre
BirminghamAcademy 2
LondonDingwalls
CoventryColosseum
LeedsRocket
LondonSound Republic
YorkFibbers
BedfordEsquires
LondonGarage
BirminghamJug Of Ale
NorwichArts Centre
OxfordZodiac
SheffieldLeadmill
LiverpoolStanley Theatre
NewcastleUniversity
EdinburghVenue
GlasgowKing Tut's Wah Wah Hut
DundeeOn East Air
AberdeenGlow 303
ManchesterHop & Grape
LeedsCockpit
BrightonConcorde 2
ColchesterArts Centre
CardiffClwb Ifor Bach
ExeterCavern
PortsmouthWedgewood Rooms
LeicesterCharlotte
LondonAstoria[1]
YorkFibbers[2]
LondonScala
Supporting Queens Of The Stone Age
NorwichUnited KingdomUniversity of East Anglia
FolkestoneLeas Cliff Hall
NewportNewport Centre
BirminghamAcademy
PortsmouthGuildhall
ManchesterAcademy
LondonBrixton Academy
United Kingdom Leg #3
BristolUnited KingdomFleece & Firkin
BaladoBalado Park[3]
EdinburghPrinces Street Gardens[4]
NorthamptonRoadmender
Asia
Chiba CityJapanChiba Marine Stadium[5]
OsakaMaishima Sports Island[5]
TokyoLiquid Rooms
United Kingdom Leg #4
ReadingUnited KingdomLittle John's Farm[6]
LeedsBramham Park[7]
GlasgowGlasgow Green[8]
BirminghamSanctuary[9]
PeterboroughMetropolis Lounge
LondonRex
BirminghamAcademy 2
LondonElectric Ballroom
ManchesterHop & Grape
GlasgowKing Tut's Wah Wah Hut

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dean Carlson . Vibrate You – King Adora | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards . AllMusic . 21 May 2001 . 15 June 2014.
  2. Book: Roberts, David. British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records Limited. 2006. 1-904994-10-5. London. 302.
  3. Who Do You Love? The King Adora Story . 27 October 2012 . Lewis, Ben (Director) . Siwel Productions . Documentary.
  4. Web site: Interviews . 9 May 2001 . Members.tripod.com . 15 June 2014.
  5. Web site: Interview Two . Angelfire.com . 15 June 2014.
  6. Web site: Interview One . Angelfire.com . 1 May 2001 . 15 June 2014.
  7. Web site: Exclusive Interview . Members.tripod.com . 11 February 2001 . 15 June 2014.
  8. Web site: King Adora – Vibrate You (CD, Album) at Discogs . Discogs.com . 15 June 2014.
  9. Web site: Drew . Clive . King Adora (Maxi Browne) Interview / In Depth // Drowned In Sound . https://web.archive.org/web/20100117154610/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/8716 . 17 January 2010 . Drownedinsound.com . 30 January 2004 . 15 June 2014.
  10. Web site: A review . Repeatfanzine.co.uk . 15 June 2014.
  11. Web site: Radio 1 – One Live Birmingham – King Adora Webchat . BBC . 24 October 2001 . 15 June 2014.
  12. Web site: Official Song Interpretations . Beepworld3.de . 15 June 2014.
  13. Web site: Various Press . Angelfire.com . 15 June 2014.
  14. Web site: NME Album Reviews – King Adora : Vibrate You . Nme.Com . 9 May 2001 . 15 June 2014.
  15. Web site: Easthope . Jane . Album Review: King Adora – Vibrate You / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound . Drownedinsound.com . 9 June 2001 . 15 June 2014 . 20 December 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131220104851/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/2593/reviews/1310-king-adora-vibrate-you . dead .
  16. Web site: Pop CD releases | Culture . The Guardian . 11 May 2001 . 15 June 2014.
  17. Web site: King Adora (Maxi Browne) Interview / In Depth // Drowned In Sound . Drew . Clive . 30 January 2004 . Drownedinsound.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124331/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/8716-king-adora-maxi-browne-interview . 2 April 2015 . 15 June 2014.
  18. Web site: King Adora Land – News Archive . Angelfire.com . 15 June 2014.
  19. Web site: Radio 1 – One Live in Birmingham – Gig Listings . BBC . 5 October 2006 . 15 June 2014.