From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Off with Their Heads is the third album by English rock
band Kaiser
Chiefs, and was released on 20 October 2008 in the UK, and on
25 August 2009 for the US.
The first single from the album was "Never Miss a
Beat", released two weeks before the album.[1]
The album charted at number two on the UK Albums Chart during the week of 26
October 2008 and at number 16 in the Irish Albums Chart of the week of
the 24 October.[2]
Album
information
The album features guest appearances from several people: Lily Allen contributes
backing vocals on "Always Happens Like That" and "Never Miss a
Beat" (she previously covered "Oh My God" on her first
mixtape and later with Mark Ronson on his album Version),
three members of the English indie band New Young
Pony Club also feature on backing vocals on "Never Miss a
Beat", Sway DaSafo
raps one verse of "Half the Truth", and James Bond composer David Arnold (who performed with the band
at 2007's BBC Electric Proms) also appears on
the album.
"Never Miss a Beat" and "You Want History" premiered on the
band's UK Arena Tour in the Winter of 2007.
The lyric "Off with Their Heads" appears in the first verse of
"Like It Too Much". The album was uploaded with 30 second previews
of each song, apart from "Never Miss a Beat" which included a
full recording, on the music social networking site Last.fm on 9 October 2008.
It is unknown whether any further singles will be released from
the album for the time being due to lead singer Ricky Wilson pursuing
a career in TV presenting.[3]
Never Miss A Beat appeared on Pro Evolution 2010, as did
previous single Ruby, from Yours Truly, Angry Mob.
Reception
- Allmusic – 4
stars out of 5 – "The band rails against stupidity and conformity
like they did on Yours Truly, Angry Mob, but
this time they know that while it's smart to be witty, it's even
smarter to be insidiously catchy."
- Rolling
Stone (p.126) – 4 stars out of 5 – "Off with Their Heads
is great British pop in the dynamic lethal-irony tradition of the
mid-Sixties Kinks, the early Jam and, with that vintage-New Wave
tone of Nick Baines' keyboards, XTC's 1979 album, Drums and
Wires."
- Rolling
Stone (p.91) – Ranked #21 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best
Albums of 2008.
- Alternative Press (p.146) – 4
stars out of 5 – "'Addicted to Drugs' is brilliant, from its cheeky
quotes of Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to Love' to Wilson's darkly
comic portrayal of junkies in love."
- Mojo (p.104) – 3 stars out of 5 –
"[T]heir third album is again packed with the sort of boisterous
melodies and niggling synth-hooks that can top charts and fill
stadiums."
- Clash (p.121) – "'Half the Truth'
somehow pulls off a charming Blackpool pier sound and even
concludes with a little unexpected grime."
Track
listing
All tracks written by Nick Hodgson, Ricky Wilson, Andrew White, Simon Rix and Nick Baines.
- "Spanish Metal" – 2:19
- "Never
Miss a Beat" – 3:08
- "Like It Too Much" – 3:23
- "You Want History" – 3:45
- "Can't Say What I Mean" – 2:49
- "Good
Days Bad Days" – 2:53
- "Tomato in the Rain" – 3:51
- "Half the Truth" – 3:44
- "Always Happens Like That" – 3:12
- "Addicted to Drugs" – 3:53
- "Remember You're a Girl" – 2:37
Limited
edition bonus disc (live at Elland Road)
- "Can't Say What I Mean" – 3:27
- "Never Miss a Beat" – 3:12
- "You Want History" – 4:48
- "Half the Truth" – 4:12
Best Buy
bonus tracks
- "Sooner or Later"
- "Never Miss a Beat (Run Hide Survive Remix)"
Personnel
- Ricky Wilson – vocals
- Andrew White – guitar
- Simon Rix – bass
- Nick Baines – keyboards
- Nick Hodgson –
drums, vocals
- Lily Allen – backing
vocals ("Never Miss a Beat"), guest vocals ("Always Happens
Like That")
- Anne-Marie Chirema – backing vocals
("Never Miss a Beat", "You Want History")
- Lou
Hayter – backing vocals ("Never Miss a Beat", "You Want
History")
- Sarah Jones – backing vocals
("Never Miss a Beat", "You Want History")
- Thomas Bowes – violin
("Like It Too Much")
- Ralph De Souza – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Jonathan Evans-Jones – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Peter Hanson – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Ian Humphries – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Steve Morris – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Helen Paterson – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Tom Pigott-Smith – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Rose Warren-Green – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Debbie Widdup – violin ("Like It Too Much")
- Garfield Jackson – viola
("Like It Too Much")
- Andy Parker – viola ("Like It Too Much")
- Jon Thorne – viola ("Like It Too Much")
- Jonathan Williams – cello
("Like It Too Much")
- Tony Lewis – cello ("Like It Too Much")
- Paul Kegg – cello ("Like It Too Much")
- David Lloyd – djembe
("Good Days Bad Days")
- Dave Guy – trumpet
("Tomato in the Rain")
- Sway DaSafo –
guest vocals ("Half the Truth")
- Mark Ronson – producer, engineer,
agogo bells ("Addicted to Drugs")
- Eliot James –
producer, engineer
- Raj Das – assistant engineer
- Tim Goalen – assistant engineer ("Never Miss a Beat", "Like It
Too Much", "You Want History")
- Samuel Navel – assistant engineer
- Tom Morris – assistant engineer
- Andy Wallace – mixing ("Spanish Metal",
"Never Miss a Beat", "You Want History", "Can't Say What I Mean",
"Tomato in the Rain", "Half the Truth", "Addicted to Drugs",
"Remember You're a Girl")
- John O'Mahoney – mix engineer ("Spanish Metal", "Never Miss a
Beat", "You Want History", "Can't Say What I Mean", "Tomato in the
Rain", "Half the Truth", "Addicted to Drugs", "Remember You're a
Girl")
- Jan Petrov – mix assistant ("Spanish Metal", "Never Miss a
Beat", "You Want History", "Can't Say What I Mean", "Tomato in the
Rain", "Half the Truth", "Addicted to Drugs", "Remember You're a
Girl")
- Cenzo
Townshend – mixing ("Like It Too Much", "Good Days Bad Days",
"Always Happens Like That")
- Neil Comber – mix assistant ("Like It Too Much", "Good Days Bad
Days", "Always Happens Like That")
- John Davies – mastering
- Geoff Foster – strings recording ("Like It Too
Much")
- Chris Barrett – assistant engineer ("Like It Too Much")
- David Arnold –
string arrangement
("Like It Too Much")
References
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