The Charlatans is the fourth studio album by the British rock band the Charlatans, released on 28 August 1995 through Beggars Banquet Records. Following a holiday, vocalist Tim Burgess and guitarist Mark Collins wrote material for their next album at Burgess' place in Chalk Farm. The band then absconded to Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales, with producer Steve Hillage. After preparing several mixes of the album, none of which they liked, Hillage was fired, and engineer Dave Charles was brought in. Further recording was then done at the nearby Rockfield Studios.
"Crashin' In" was released as the album's lead single in December 1994. Following a tour of the United Kingdom in April 1995, "Just Lookin" and "Bullet Comes" were released as a double A-side single in May 1995. Over the next few months, the band played at various festivals in Spain, Stockholm and the UK, including Glastonbury and T in the Park. "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" was released as the album's third single in August 1995, which was followed by a tour of the United States. They then toured mainland Europe prior to a UK tour at the end of the year; they went on another UK trek in early 1996, playing lesser-known locations around the country.
The Charlatans received generally favourable reviews from music critics, some of whom praised the musicianship; retrospective comments by journalists said it helped prolong the band's career. It topped the album charts in both Scotland and the UK, in addition to charting in Sweden. All three of the album's singles peaked within the top 40 in both Scotland and the UK, with "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" charting the highest at numbers 5 and 12, respectively. Melody Maker, NME, and Select included the album on their lists of the year's best releases, with Melody Maker going so far as to include it on their list of the best 100 albums of all time.
Background and writing The Charlatans released their third studio album, Up to Our Hips, in March 1994 through Beggars Banquet Records. It came out around the time that the Britpop and lad culture scenes began emerging.Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 100Robb 1998, p. 219 Up to Our Hips charted within the top 10 album charts in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. The band promoted the album with a tour of the United States, festivals in Brussels and the Netherlands, and a few UK shows with Gene.Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 103–4Robb 1998, p. 206 Further touring engagements were cancelled due to a cyst growing on bassist Martin Blunt's buttocks; the band subsequently took a break for a few weeks.Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 104
While on a week-long holiday in Costa del Sol, Spain, with their respective girlfriends, vocalist Tim Burgess and guitarist Mark Collins began a songwriting partnership.Burgess 2013, p. 110 They had previously collaborated the year before, writing "Another Rider Up in Flames" for Up to Our Hips. They mapped out what ideas they had, with Collins saying that they wanted to avoid including "any downers on the [next] album". Upon returning to the UK, Collins would spend time at Burgess' residence in Chalk Farm, taking to sleeping on his floor. The pair would compose songs with a guitar and a drum machine, recording the proceedings on a four-track recorder. Collins said they purposely challenged themselves to write eight songs a week, eventually accumulating 30 songs in total.Wilson 1997, p. 29
Recording At the suggestion of Steve Hillage, the Charlatans went to record at Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales.Wilson 1997, p. 31Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 107 Hillage was enlisted to produce the album, having previously worked on Up to Our Hips, despite being annoyed that Burgess had disregarded that album as "bollocks".Robb 1998, p. 230 "Crashin' In" was among the first four songs recorded during the sessions, being started and completed within a single weekend. Between midnight and 4 a.m, the band would sit around and listen to music that one of them enjoyed; author Dominic Wills, in his book The Charlatans: The Authorised History (1999), said "each member had an ulterior motive: by bombarding the others with their own personal favourites, they could surreptitiously alter the sound of the tracks the band were presently recording". Blunt soon became aware of Burgess and Collins' fixation on country and western music, which was shifting the songs away from the funk-oriented grooves and mod sound that he preferred. Several arguments rose from this, with Blunt refusing to concede until they settled on a resolution that he liked. Burgess explained the situation as: "You come up with something that's fairly straight and then Martin puts his bit in and completely removes it". Collins also pushed American folk and rock songs onto the rest of the band.
Before Christmas 1994, Hillage made various mixes of the album for the band to listen to. They were not satisfied with the proceedings and learned that Hillage had been occupied with other recording jobs, which left them feeling annoyed that he was not committing his attention to them.Wilson 1997, p. 32 They promptly fired Hillage, much to the chagrin of Burgess, who had hoped to facilitate a long-term working partnership with him after having issues trusting anyone when making their second studio album Between 10th and 11th. Collins said their label proposed that the band should produce themselves, to which he remarked, "I'm not sure if that's them being stingy bastards or whether they have total faith in us". Blunt, on the other hand, was confident about the proposal, having learned about technology from Flood when making Between 10th and 11th.Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 112
Engineer Dave Charles was selected instead, receiving high praise from Collins.Wilson 1997, p. 33 They recorded the backing track to "Here Comes a Soul Saver" at The Coach House room at the nearby Rockfield Studios, which had been made over three takes and switched together from the best two of those. They attempted to mix the album at The Strongroom in London between 12 and 25 January 1995, but were not happy with the results, at the cost of £15,000. They went back to Monnow Valley, where they spent two weeks, before moving to Rockfield Studios and eventually returning to Monnow Valley, finishing mixing in early March 1995. Hillage is credited as a producer, alongside the band and Charles, for the majority of the tracks, save for "Here Comes a Soul Saver", "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over", "Tell Everyone", and "Thank You", which were produced by the band and Charles. Hillage received sole producing credit on "Crashin' In". Charles mixed and edited all of the songs; the band helped co-mix "Crashin' In".
Composition and lyrics
Overview Musically, the sound of The Charlatans has been described as Britpop and power pop.Burgess 2013, p. 178 AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that the band "incorporat[ed] heavy dance elements without losing its core sound". Nude as the News co-founder Troy Carpenter said the music was a "cross between Blur and, say, Check Your Head-era Beastie Boys." Collins said it was influenced by various 1960s acts such as the Beach Boys circa Surf's Up (1971) and Holland (1973), the Beatles and the Who, as well as more contemporary acts by the likes of Beck and the Beastie Boys. Alongside this, Burgess was getting heavily into hip hop, particularly the work of Wu-Tang Clan. Wills wrote that they drew from all of their "previous influences as well as their deep knowledge of Americana".
In addition to his regular role, Burgess played distorted bass on "Tell Everyone" and "Toothache" as he felt that there was "not enough bass" on their albums. The album's title went through multiple names, including Crashin' In, Crashin' Out, Live It Like You Love It, Look at Us, Nine Acre Court, Smiling, and You Start a Riot. During the initial writing phase, Burgess referred to it as First Shag in Ages, referring to a quote by Irvine Welsh. This title appeared on vinyl versions of the album, written between the leadout grooves.Burgess 2013, p. 109 Wills said the band decided to self-title it as they "finally felt themselves to be in control".Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 109
Tracks "Nine Acre Court" came about following an evening spent clubbing in Bristol; its title referred to flats in Salford, where Collins' girlfriend lived, and he wrote some material for the album.Wills; Sheehan 1999, p. 108 The song's introduction was taken from a tape that drummer Jon Brookes had made of himself walking around Oxford Street in London before being stopped by members of the Jesus Army, ending with the sound of a bus turning up.Robb 1998, p. 232 Burgess did not appear on the track as he had to "entertain an A&R man [from Beggars Banquet] that everyone was trying to avoid". "Feeling Holy" existed as an instrumental that Blunt, Brookes, and keyboardist Rob Collins had written for sometime, which Burgess felt came across as akin to "Jesus Hairdo", a track from Up to Our Hips. Wills wrote that "Just Lookin" was "concerned [with] the death of youth spirit in the UK", which Burgess attributed to Tories being in power as well as Burgess being told that he would not amount to anything during his upbringing. He wanted it to evoke "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) by Bob Dylan, while the chorus was similar to "Bring On the Lucie (Freda Peeple)" (1973) by John Lennon. Burgess wrote the lyrics in a pub on Wardour Street in London; Mark Collins thought his guitarwork in it recalled P. P. Arnold's version of "Angel of the Morning" (1967).Burgess 2019, p. 55
"Crashin' In" discusses Burgess moving to London and attempting to get people to go on a night out, even though they had no interest in doing so. Tim Mohr of Consumable Online compared it to the work of Oasis, with its lyrics from a "mildly threatening, slightly acidic point of view". Burgess said "Bullet Comes" was inspired by Dr. John's Gumbo (1972) by Dr. John, and features a mixture of loops with off-kilter beats from Brookes. When making the song, Burgess,Burgess 2019, p. 68 discussing "Here Comes a Soul Saver", said it had a country atmosphere to it, in the vein of Neil Young. He mentioned that a lot of country songs dealt with "struggle and survival, [...] trouble and joy, and that felt like what had happened to us over the years". "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over" evoked "Ramble On" (1969) by Led Zeppelin; Brookes was unable to record drums for it as he had injured his foot during a game of football, prompting a drum track to be made out of a loop, which did not appear in the track until the halfway point.Robb 1998, p. 233 The Charlatans based the song around the title phrase as sung in "Bring On the Lucie (Freda Peeple)".
"Tell Everyone" is an acoustic ballad about Burgess' faithfulness to his girlfriend, Chloe Walsh. Collins felt it was reminiscent of Faces and used a cheap guitar for the acoustic part, as he felt his other guitar "sounded too posh". The swamp rock song "Toothache" recalled Led Zeppelin's version of "When the Levee Breaks" (1929). The song was almost left off the album, as Collins did not like his guitar playing on it until he was persuaded by Burgess. "No Fiction" evolved out of a jam session between Burgess and Collins; the pair took four months to convince Blunt it was worthy of inclusion. It discussed being immersed in life and the evolution of the band. Burgess said it was influenced by Young's After the Gold Rush (1970) and On the Beach (1974) albums. Wills said "See It Through" was an "appeal to and an anthem for all the outsiders, the misfits, the northerners, the ugly, the Scots, [and] the weirdos". The album's closing track, "Thank You", is an instrumental written by Blunt as a form of appreciation for their supporters over the years.Robb 1998, p. 234 Charles could be heard at the 14-second mark uttering the title phrase as Burgess handed him a microphone.