Together We're Stranger

Together We're Stranger
Studio album by
No-Man
Released2 September 2003
Recorded2001 to 2003
GenrePost-rock, art rock, ambient
Length47:11 (CD)
53:45 (2-Disc Edition, 2014 Remaster 1-Disc Edition)
LabelSnapper Music
ProducerTim Bowness, Steven Wilson
No-Man chronology
Returning Jesus
(2001) 		Together We're Stranger
(2003) 		Schoolyard Ghosts
(2008)
CD/DVD-A
Digitally Remastered CD-DVDA
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Classic rock(8/10)[2]
Eastern Daily Press[3]
Uncut[4]

Together We're Stranger is No-Man's fifth studio album released by the Snapper Music label in 2003.

The first four songs are linked to form a 28-minute suite of continuous music with recurring lyrical and musical themes. The remaining three songs feature acoustic guitar and clarinet-dominated arrangements and are amongst the band's most stripped-down and intimate recordings.[citation needed] In keeping with other No-Man releases, the title track reuses the musical basis of a previous Steven Wilson work: that of "Drugged" from his first Bass Communion album. The chord progression in "The Break-Up For Real" would later be reused by Wilson for songs on Porcupine Tree's 2009 album, The Incident.

The album was released in a limited edition white vinyl format on the Dutch label Tonefloat in November 2005 and in February 2007 on Snapper Music as a two disc CD/DVD edition comprising a remastered 5.1 DVD-A surround sound mix, high resolution 24 bit stereo of the album and additional bonus material. In 2014 was released a remaster (by Steven Wilson) single-disc edition on the Kscope label, includes 2 bonus tracks "Bluecoda" and "The Break-up for Real – drum mix".

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Together We're Stranger"8:31
2."All the Blue Changes"7:48
3."The City in a Hundred Ways"2:23
4."Things I Want to Tell You"9:03
5."Photographs in Black and White"10:03
6."Back When You Were Beautiful"5:07
7."The Break-up for Real"4:11
8."Bluecoda" (vinyl bonus track later included on the high resolution stereo and surround mixes of the two disc Snapper edition and on 2014 remaster 1-disc edition; originally placed before "Photographs in Black and White")2:36
9."The Break-up for Real – drum mix" (vinyl bonus track later included on the high resolution stereo and surround mix of the two disc Snapper edition and on 2014 remaster 1-disc edition; originally replaced the other version on the single LP editions, then was included in addition to the original mix on the double LP pressing)3:58

Two disc Snapper edition

The two disc edition (on Snapper Music) comes with the original stereo mix on CD and a DVD featuring the album in 5.1 DVD-A surround sound and in high resolution 24 bit stereo, with bonus tracks "Bluecoda" and "The Break-up for Real – drum mix" as well as the video for "Things I Want to Tell You"[5] and a photo gallery. Both "Bluecoda" and "The Break-up for Real – drum mix" later appeared on the compilation album All the Blue Changes – An Anthology 1988–2003 and on the 2014 Remaster version of the album, released by Kscope label.

Personnel

with:

  • Michael Bearpark – guitar solo (1)
  • Stephen Bennett – noise (1), organ and cymbal (6)
  • Ben Castle – clarinet, bass clarinet, flute
  • Peter Chilvers – space-bass (1,2), bass (6)
  • Roger Eno – harmonium (5,8)
  • David Picking – trumpet (1,2), electronics (1,2,3,4), percussion (2,5,9)

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Classic rock review
  3. ^ Eastern Daily Press review
  4. ^ Uncut review
  5. ^ "music video directed by Stephen Bennett". 12 June 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.