Doubt is the second album by British rock band Jesus Jones, released on 21 January 1991 through Food Records. The label witnessed the success of their debut album Liquidizer (1989) and wanted more hit-sounding music from the band. Frontman Mike Edwards wrote new material on their tour bus and in hotel rooms; they recorded some of it in early 1990, before touring resumed. After the conclusion of a tour of the United Kingdom, the band spent a week in May 1990 recording the bulk of their next album at Matrix Studios in London. Edwards produced the majority of the tracks, with Food Records co-founder Andy Ross and Martyn Phillips producing one song each.
Doubt is a techno-rock album that refines the sample-heavy approach of Liquidizer. During the making of it, they listened to music from the likes of the KLF, Janet Jackson and Mel and Kim. Edwards, who had been consuming a large amount of popular music wanted it be a reaction to Liquidizer, exploring the influence of dance music had over rock. His lyrics had been compared to that of the Kinks frontmant Ray Davies, while the album's psychedelia overtones evoked the Beatles' late 1960s period and contemporary baggy acts the Charlatans and Happy Mondays.
"Real, Real, Real" was released the lead single from Doubt in March 1990; over the next few months, Jesus Jones performed at various festivals, before embarking on their first tour of North America in September 1990. That same month, "Right Here, Right Now" was released as the second single from the album, which was later promoted with a UK tour. The track would be released in the United States in December 1990, while "International Bright Young Thing" became the third single from Doubt that same month. Following an appearance at the Great British Music Weekend, "Who? Where? Why?" was released as the album's fourth single in February 1991. The band promoted it with tours of the UK and US; MTV would help to give the band a boost in popularity in the latter territory.
Doubt received generally positive reviews about the songwriting, though some critics were less enthusiastic about it. It reached number 25 on the US Billboard 200 and topped the UK Albums Chart, and later certified platinum in the US. "Real, Real, Real", "Right Here, Right Now", "International Bright Young Thing" and "Who? Where? Why?" all reached the top 40 in the UK, with "International Bright Young Thing" charting the highest at number seven. In the US, "Real, Real, Real" and "Right Here, Right Now" peaked at number four and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. Toledo Blade included it on their list of the year's best releases; it and "Right Here, Right Now" would be nominated for Grammy Awards. The song earned an award from the BMI and PRS for being the most played track at college radio.
Background and writing Jesus Jones released their debut studio album Liquidizer was released through Food Records in October 1989. The band's emergence happened concurrently with the Madchester movement that birthed Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses. Jesus Jones were being tagged as grebo by the music press, alongside contemporaries Gaye Bikers on Acid and Pop Will Eat Itself, much to the chagrin of frontman Mike Edwards. Despite this, the band received acclaim from publications, while the album would peak number 32 in the UK Albums Chart. Its singles "Info Freako" and "Never Enough" both charted at number 42 on the UK Singles Chart, while "Bring It Down" reached number 46. By the end of the year, they had a publishing deal and a manager;Edwards 2019, p. 22 Edwards was confident about this success, though mentioned that it quickly shifted into scrutiny, "doubt and a lack of self-confidence. I looked around at what we'd done and thought 'Have we just fooled everybody? Are we really that good?
Spurred on by this initial success, Food Records wanted to make Jesus Jones even more popular, urging them to make hit-sounding music. Edwards had started writing material for the next album while the label was busy with releasing Liquidizer, which had been issued in the United States by SBK Records. In that territory, three of the album's songs received significant airplay from alternative radio stations.Mena 1998, p. 44 They did not have much time to work on songs as they toured incessantly, forcing them to write while travelling. Edwards brought along a Roland sampler and keyboard to craft tracks on their tour bus. Off-days were spent in hotel rooms, where they were able to have a writing set-up.
Recording Jesus Jones recorded new material in early 1990 prior to touring in Romania, shortly after the revolution, and across mainland Europe with the Cramps.Edwards 2019, p. 23 Jesus Jones embarked on a short, five-date tour of the UK in May 1990, with support from Ned's Atomic Dustbin.Mann ed. 1990, p. 37 According to the album booklet, the bulk of the album was recorded in seven days in May 1990, but the mixing process "took a bit longer". In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Edwards said that recording took only six days. He said it was listed as seven to "make it seem credible, and also there's that tiresome religious connotation, 'On the seventh day we rested. Food Records gave the band unlimited funds, with them opting to recorded in a cheaper studio, using only a portion of the time they took on the first album. More money was spent on the mixing process and making remixes than recording itself. Keyboardist Iain Baker said Edwards was in a stressful environment, having to deliver on expectations placed on him. As such, practically every demo they had was "pressed into service, every idea had to be used" for the album.
Sessions were held at Matrix Studios in London, and due to the short time they had, they ended up completing three tracks per day. Edwards produced the majority of the songs with Clive Goddard acting as the engineer. Food Records co-founder Andy Ross produced "I'm Burning", while Martyn Phillips engineered and produced "Right Here, Right Now". The latter collaboration came about as the band enjoyed his work with the Beloved. Edwards showed Phillips a version of the track, which had samples taken from "Sign o' the Times" (1987) by Prince. As Phillips had previously got into trouble for using a sample without authorization with the Beloved, he went about altering "Right Here, Right Now". John Fryer mixed the songs, while Phil Harding and Ian Curnow remixed and did additional production on " International Bright Young Thing" and "Real, Real, Real". Baker said the latter two individuals offered "some pop gloss" to the two tracks. He remarked that the rest of the band were more enthusiastic about the production since it provided "some bass as well as treble", compared to the "tinny blast" of Liquidizer.
Composition and lyrics
Music and themes Doubt continued the sample-heavy direction of Liquidizer, but refined it; where the latter had found sounds and other miscellaneous audio clips, the band wanted the tracks on Doubt to be anchored around samples. The advancement of technology allowed gave them more ways of toying with samples, ranging from reversing to pitch shifting and altering the structure. The members of Jesus Jones had slowly become aware of what Baker dubbed "the sample wars", exemplified by the Turtles suing De La Soul. He said that they wanted to showcase that sample was not about stealing someone else's music, but instead making new sounds from it. Nick Duerden in The Rough Guide to Rock wrote that it melded "screaming guitars with samples, white noise and techno dynamics", while PopMatters critic Matthew Chabe said they "drop[ped] the wall-of-noise for chiming guitars and Beatle-esque melodies" after the first track. The New York Times Jon Pareles wrote that the album "layers on swirls of sound that recall late-1960's psychedelia," in particular the Beatles late 1960s period, which Doug Iverson of Toledo Blade compared to baggy acts the Charlatans and Happy Mondays.Iverson 1991, p. E3 While complimenting its cohesive nature, Baker saw it was their "most disjointed" release due to its creation and having to ask Food Records if it was to their liking.
Musically, the sound of Doubt has been described as techno-rock. Parry Gettelman of Orlando Sentinel said that the "melodies are stronger, and the mixes are more radio-friendly – with vocals right up front", giving the album "stronger pop leanings" than what was heard on Liquidizer. Edwards said the band intentionally made Doubt to serve as a reaction to its predecessor: "making a strong statement about what rock music should be about in the '90s, which I think has less to do with the dance-rock sound than the influence of dance music on rock music, the techniques of dance music". Edwards had been consuming a substantial amount of popular music, from Mel and Kim to Janet Jackson, which he tried to emulate with the album. Alongside this, Baker said they would often be listening to Chill Out (1990) by the KLF while on tour.
Edwards said the album's title partially stemmed from the intensive interviews, where he was being quizzed on "everything the band and I had done and were doing" when promoting Liquidizer, which coincided with him dealing with depression. Steve Hochman of Los Angeles Times wrote that Edwards' lyricism came across with an "wit and sentimental eye in the tradition" of Ray Davies from the Kinks. Baker thought that the stressful process of making the album shaped its narrative direction, explaining that in lieu of the tracks themselves "telling a story, the process of writing actually became the story". He went on to say that the songs were representations of the locations they visited, individuals they interacted with, the uplifting outlook which they had from being a new act, alongside the "uncertainty, the fear of failure, and the doubt" they faced.
Tracks Doubt opens with "Trust Me", the shortest song on the album, recalling the sound of Liquidizer and Time's Up (1990) by Living Colour with its acid house groove and wall of sound guitarwork. The song was influenced by samples of Formula One racing cars driving on a race track, which Edwards had taped off a television with a cassette recorder. Baker said they sped up the sound bites until they "sounded like demented wasps."Baker 2022, p. 6 "Who? Where? Why" uses an Eastern melody, extrapolated from an African-esque chant that Edwards found on a tape of African music that he learned from the Willesden Library in London. Baker said that a portion of that sample is played normally before it loops itself repeatedly. They had written it shorted after getting signed, as they became aware of the expectations from press outlets. The dance-rock track "International Bright Young Thing" mixes the tape loop experimentation of "Tomorrow Never Knows" (1966) by the Beatles with the contemporary beats from dance music.Doggett 2015, p. 554 The song remained lyric-less until the band were on a flight from Tokyo, Japan, serving as a summarization of fans they encountered while traveling around the world. Edwards described "I'm Burning" as a "re-occurrence of the B-side that was too good syndrome", where he tried to sound like the Icicle Works. Select writer Neil Perry thought that it showed an evolution of the band's sound, "now a little tighter with the bluster and rush but still full blast on atmosphere".