Laid (album)

Background and writing

James's fourth studio album Seven, which was released in February 1992, sold a million copies worldwide. It peaked at number two in the UK with three of its four singles – "Sound", "Born of Frustration", and "Ring the Bells" – reaching the top 40 of the UK singles chart. "Born of Frustration" was successful on the United States Billboard Alternative Airplay chart, where it reached number five. The band headlined their only United Kingdom show of 1992 to a crowd of 30,000 at the Alton Towers leisure park.

Following this, trumpeter Andy Diagram, who wanted to have other opportunities and missed his girlfriend, left the band, which continued as a six-piece outfit. James supported Neil Young on nine of his US west-coast shows with an acoustic set. They continued touring the US, playing acoustic instead of electric shows as they had intended. Their record company was angered by this decision and threatened to withdraw funding for the tour, but changed their mind after a staff member attended a show. After returning to the UK, James started writing material for their next album.

Production

James wanted to work with producer Brian Eno since their debut studio album Stutter (1986). Vocalist Tim Booth said Eno was "a bit busy and he'd call back in a couple of years." Eno listened to the tapes while on holiday after his wife said she was a fan of James. He became interested in the band after hearing a rough version of "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)". In August 1992, Eno telephoned the band, saying he liked their music and went to the UK to work with them. Eno made recordings of the rehearsals to assess the quality of the songwriting. In comparison to Seven, which took several months to record, the six-week recording schedule was intended to provoke spontaneity and capitalized on Eno's limited availability of four days a week.

Eno arrived at the studio two hours earlier than everyone else so he could listen to the rehearsal tapes. Fenner handled most of the recording; he and Eno were assisted by engineer Ben 'Jude' Findlay. "P.S." was recorded by Steve 'Doc' Williams with assistance from Mike Jones and additional recording by Fenner. One day, when Eno was not in the studio, guitarist Larry Gott took on his role and the band recorded "One of the Three", which Eno did not like. During the sessions, Eno had a second studio set up so the band could experiment during downtime. The results of this were later released as the album Wah Wah (1994). Gott said Eno had tapes continuously recording during the process in case they came up with an idea they liked. Bassist Jim Glennie said Eno often encouraged them to experiment, making them "realise that this imperfection was a good thing". Fenner mixed most of the recordings except for "Everybody Knows" and "Low Low Low", both of which were mixed by Markus Dravs.

Composition and lyrics

The folk and pop rock sound of Laid recalls the band's earlier material and has a dreamier atmosphere with sparse arrangements.Citations for the album's sound:

• Folk recalling earlier works and dreamy atmosphere:
• Folk:
• Sparse arrangements:
• Folk and pop rock: Booth said the band's acoustic touring with Young influenced the album; "You're naked, you're vulnerable, but it's exhilarating ... It's not an acoustic record, but it's a stripped down sound". Eno contributed additional bass and keyboards to the recordings; he and Martine McDonagh, the band's manager and Booth's former partner, sang additional vocals on "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)", "Dream Thrum", and "Five-O".

"Out to Get You" was originally recorded as the B-side to "Lose Control" (1990), which James forgot about until reviving it for the tour with Young. "Out to Get You" sets the tone for the rest of album with Glennie's octave notes, Gott's blues-lite guitar parts, and minimal percussion from Baynton-Power. The song's first-person narrator rues a love over which he is paranoid. "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)" is the most rock-centric track on the album with its fast-paced acoustic strumming. During recording, Eno "went white and sat down" as Booth sang, later stating he had "just experienced one of the highlights of my musical life". It is the only song on album on which keyboardist Mark Hunter played another instrument (a melodica) as well as keyboards.

"One of the Three" is inspired by the experiences of John McCarthy, Brian Keenan, and Terry Waite, who were taken as hostages in Lebanon, and by a scene in Waiting for Godot (1953) in which three characters are on crosses.

The folk influenced track "Five-O" is about a belief in the narrator's partner in a long-term relationship. "Everybody Knows" is about helping a depressed person; "Knuckle Too Far" evolved from a jam session the band had with Bruce Mitchell of the Durutti Column. Originally known as "Bruce Jam," Glennie said this version was "very sparse with nothing going on".

Booth said "Low Low Low" was influenced by the idea only one gene separates humans from apes; he said, "I swing from seeing human beings as apes to seeing them as divine depending on what day you catch me". The band initially discarded the song for sounding too much like pop until Eno encouraged the band to continue working on it. Booth's rushed vocals are the result of attempting to encapsulate "that feeling of an intense relationship [that is] out of control". "Lullaby", which was originally called "Just Human", tackles the effects of child abuse suffered by a friend of Booth's. The album closes with "Skindiving", an ambient track that is about a person delving deeply into a certain frame of mind.

Release

Partway through the recording process, James played a one-off show in Bath, Somerset, where they debuted many of the album's tracks. James supported Young at Finsbury Park, London, on 8 July 1993. The band then performed at the WOMAD festival on 28 August 1993 and travelled across the US with the festival. "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)" was released as a single on 30 August 1993 with "America" and "Building a Charge" as extra tracks. The music video for "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)" was directed by Tim Pope. It expanded on the song's water theme and depicts the band miming the lyrics in a water tank at Pinewood Studios. McDonagh starred in the video, standing in as an extra guitarist.

Laid was released in the UK on 27 September 1993 through Fontana Records. They snacked on bananas as they awaited their manager's return with food. Glennie joked the audience "could read into it as a subtext about prostituting ourselves by selling what we do".

Booth and Eno wanted the outtake "The Lake" on Laid but were outvoted by the rest of the band. The song, as well as "America", was included on the Japanese edition of the album. "Laid" was released as a single with "Wah Wah Kits", "The Lake", and "Seconds Away" on 1 November 1993. The following week, a second version of the single, including live versions of "Laid", "Five-O", "Say Something", and "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)," was released. Zanna directed the music video for "Laid", in which Booth is handcuffed in a laundromat as the other band members enter and leave. In December 1993, the band went on their first tour of the UK in two years.

"Sometimes (Lester Piggott)", "Say Something", and "Laid" were included on the band's first and fourth compilation albums, The Best Of (1998) and Fresh as a Daisy – The Singles (2007). "Out to Get You", "Five-O", and "Laid" were included on the band's third compilation album The Collection (2004). The music videos for "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)", "Say Something" (two versions), and "Laid" were included on the career-spanning box set The Gathering Sound (2012). Laid was reissued on CD in 2001, with the addition of live versions of "Laid", "Sometimes", and "Five-O", and a remix of "Say Something". Laid was re-pressed on vinyl in 1999, 2015, and 2020. It was released in 2015 in a deluxe box set (with Wah Wah) alongside numerous alternative takes, demos, and radio sessions. The same year, Laid was reissued on its own with a disc of highlights from the box set.

Reception

Laid was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. AllMusic reviewer Ned Raggett wrote that the album's quieter sound "turned out not merely to be a nice way to undercut expectations, but a creative benchmark for the group, arguably its artistic peak".

Entertainment Weekly writer Josef Woodard said the "[q]uirky numbers blend with dream interludes and droll carnality in this juicy alternative to the Alternative Parade." The Washington Post Mark Jenkins liked Eno's attempt to "recapture some of the delicacy of the band's initial work", offering up an album that is "not quite so bombastic as its immediate predecessors." The San Diego Union-Tribune contributor James Herbert noted while Booth's "acerbic observations and wounded-troubadour vocals wend through all 13 tracks", they are mainly "set to more brooding tunes that burble with atmosphere", and that Eno "indulge[d] in too much atmospheric dabbling." Johnny Dee of NME disliked Eno's production for "strip[ping] the songs of personality, and zip, inadvertently creating un-songs", and said these "sleep-inducing meanderings lull the listener into such a smoky kind of boredom." The Audiophile Voice Mark Block expressed a similar sentiment: "I find the 'atmos' a little too smoky for my taste, but did it get in the way? No, but just barely". Calgary Herald writer Don McSwiney, meanwhile, praised Eno's work, as it made the band come across a "lot slicker, its rougher edges smoothed out and replaced with BIG production values likely with an eye to capitalizing on the modest success of its last effort".

Laid charted at number three in the UK, "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)" charted at number 18 in the UK "Laid" charted at number 25 in the UK In the US, "Laid" peaked at number three on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart, at number 57 on the Radio Songs chart, and number 61 on the Hot 100. "Laid" was certified platinum by the BPI in 2021, and was included on lists of the decade's best songs compiled by PopMatters and uDiscoverMusic. Clash included "Out to Get You" and "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)" on their list of the top 10 best James songs.

Accolades

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Booth, Larry Gott, and Jim Glennie. All recordings produced by Brian Eno.

1. "Out to Get You" – 4:26
2. "Sometimes (Lester Piggott)" – 5:10
3. "Dream Thrum" – 4:47
4. "One of the Three" – 4:08
5. "Say Something" – 3:26
6. "Five-O" – 5:25
7. "P.S." – 5:04
8. "Everybody Knows" – 3:28
9. "Knuckle Too Far" – 4:39
10. "Low Low Low" – 2:51
11. "Laid" – 2:36
12. "Lullaby" – 3:49
13. "Skindiving" – 5:41

Personnel

Personnel per booklet. James

• Tim Boothvocals
• Larry Gottguitar, additional vocals (track 1)
• Mark Hunterkeys
• Jim Glenniebass
• Saul Daviesviolin, guitar
• David Baynton-Powerdrums

Additional musicians

• Brian Enoadditional bass, keyboards, additional vocals (tracks 2, 3 and 6)
• Martine McDonaghadditional vocals (tracks 2, 3 and 6)
• The Kitchenettesadditional vocals (track 10) Production
• Brian Enoproducer
• Benedict Fennerrecording (all except track 7), mixing (all except tracks 8 and 10), additional recording (track 7)
• Markus Dravsmixing (tracks 8 and 10)
• Steve 'Doc' Williamsrecording (track 7)
• Mike Jonesassistant
• Ben 'Jude' Findlayassistant engineer

Design

• Jane Gottoriginal art
• Nigel Schermulyphotography
• Kevin Westenbergcover photography
• Jamescover typography
• Stylorougedesign

Charts

Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

References

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