It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah

by Black Grape

Overview

When Happy Mondays fell apart in 1992, most observers assumed that Shaun Ryder would never recover from his numerous drug addictions. No one could have ever predicted that he would return to the top of the charts three years later, relatively fit and healthy, with a new band that fulfilled all of the promises of his old group. Black Grape is what Happy Mondays always were, only better. Leaving behind the stiff musicianship that plagued even the best Mondays records, Black Grape's debut, It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah, is a surreal, funky, profane, and perversely joyous album, overflowing with casual eclecticism and giddy humor. Working with a band that is looser and grittier than the Mondays, Ryder sounds reinvigorated, creating bizarre rhymes that tie together junk culture, drug lingo, literary references, and utter nonsense. Ryder's lyrics have always been freewheelingly impenetrable, but now he's working with Kermit, a rapper that is the equal of his skills. Even better, the music has deep grooves and catchy pop hooks that come straight out of left field. From the blaring harmonica of the triumphant "Reverend Black Grape" and the trippy sitars of "In the Name of the Father" to the seedy, rolling "Shake Your Money" and the stinging guitars of "Tramazi Parti," It's Great is filled with music that goes in unconventional directions without ever sounding forced. Not only is It's Great When You're Straight a triumphant return for Ryder and his sidekick Bez, it's the first album they have ever recorded that justifies all of the hype. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	02/02/2024
Label:	Music On Vinyl
UPC:	0600753989388
Rank:	31035

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Black Grape   Primary Artist
Stephen Lironi   Keyboards,Slide Guitar,Organ (Hammond)
Bez   Maracas
Joe Strummer   Featured Artist
Ged Lynch   Drums,Percussion
Martin Slattery   Saxophone
Keith Allen   Featured Artist
Danny Saber   Bass,Keyboards,Organ (Hammond)
Paul "Kermit" Leverage   Vocals
Helen Vigneau   Vocals (Background)
Psycho   Vocals
Paul "Wags" Wagstaff   Guitar
Anthony Guarderas   Bass
Shaun Ryder   Vocals

Technical Credits

Carl McCarthy   Composer
Shaun Ryder   Producer,Composer
Stephen Lironi   Composer,Producer,Programming
Ted Jensen   Mastering
Joe Strummer   Composer
John Lydon   Composer
Phil Ault   Engineer
Richard Norris   Composer
Tom Lord-Alge   Mixing
Manmade   Composer,Composer
Pat Carroll   Photography
Keith Allen   Composer
Danny Saber   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Gary Kurfirst   Executive Producer
Ewan Davis   Engineer
Ian Bendelow   Composer
Martin Mittler   Composer
Michael Scherchen   Engineer,Programming
Paul Leveridge   Composer
Shaun Syder   Composer
Spencer Birtwistle   Composer
Glenn Matlock   Composer
Paul Thomas Cook   Composer
Stephen Philip Jones   Composer
Martin Neil Gordon Wright   Composer