Sense (The Lightning Seeds album)

Sense
Album cover for Sense (1992)
Studio album by
the Lightning Seeds
Released6 April 1992
Recorded1991
StudioRob's Front Room, Liverpool
GenreAlternative rock, indie pop
Length42:17
LabelVirgin
MCA (US/Canada)
ProducerIan Broudie, Simon Rogers[1]
The Lightning Seeds chronology
Cloudcuckooland
(1990) 		Sense
(1992) 		Jollification
(1994)
Singles from Sense
  1. "The Life of Riley"
    Released: 2 March 1992[2]
  2. "Sense"
    Released: 18 May 1992[3]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[6]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[7]
NME4/10[8]

Sense is the second album by English musical group the Lightning Seeds, released in 1992.[9] It was produced by Ian Broudie and Simon Rogers.[10]

Background

"The Life of Riley", released as a single in 1992, was written for Broudie's son Riley.[11]

The album's second single, "Sense", was co-written by Broudie and Specials singer and long-time writing partner Terry Hall. The single includes a track written by Broudie and Paul Simpson from their time as Care, "Flaming Sword", as a B-side. Hall released a re-recorded version of "Sense" with himself on vocals in 1994.

In 2009, an instrumental version of "Sense" was used in BMW's Story of Joy advertisement. The instrumental version of "The Life of Riley" also appeared on BBC's Match of the Day, soundtracking football high points.[5]

Critical reception

Trouser Press called the album a "disgruntled production extravaganza" and "a strange achievement but not an unpleasant one".[1] The Washington Post wrote that "the pop-rock sound of the previous album, though not utterly transformed, has become softer, vaguer, more liquid".[12]

Commercial performance

The album reached No. 50 on the UK Albums Chart and the singles, "The Life of Riley" and "Sense", charted at No. 28 and No. 31, respectively.[13]

Track listing

All songs written by Ian Broudie (except where stated).

  1. "Sense" – 4:12 (Broudie, Terry Hall)
  2. "The Life of Riley" – 4:05
  3. "Blowing Bubbles" – 4:16
  4. "A Cool Place" – 2:57
  5. "Where Flowers Fade" – 5:03 (Broudie, Hall)
  6. "A Small Slice of Heaven" – 3:50 (Broudie, Hall)
  7. "Tingle Tangle" – 3:22
  8. "Happy" – 4:33 (Broudie, Ian McNabb)
  9. "Marooned" – 4:40
  10. "Thinking Up, Looking Down" – 5:19

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Sense
Chart (1992) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 83
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] 50
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 53
US Billboard 200[16] 154

Certifications

  • United Kingdom (BPI): Silver (1 July 1997)

References

  1. ^ a b "Lightning Seeds". Trouser Press. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 29 February 1992. p. 21.
  3. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 16 May 1992. p. 19.
  4. ^ Parisien, Roch. "The Lightning Seeds: Sense > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  5. ^ a b Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 235.
  6. ^ "Sense". EW.com.
  7. ^ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 673.
  8. ^ Williams, Simon (18 April 1992). "Long Play". New Musical Express. p. 28.
  9. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. 2 November 2003. ISBN 9781858284576 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ "The Lightning Seeds | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  11. ^ "Dave Simpson finds out where Ian Brodie has been all these years". The Guardian. 30 April 2009.
  12. ^ Jenkins, Mark (24 January 1992). "New Psychedelics Under the Influence" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  13. ^ a b "Lightning Seeds | full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  14. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 165.
  15. ^ "Charts.nz – The Lightning Seeds – Sense". Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  16. ^ "The Lightning Seeds Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 20 August 2022.