Wild and Lonely

Wild and Lonely
Studio album by
the Associates
Released24 March 1990 (1990-03-24)
Genre
Length47:17
LabelCirca
Producer
The Associates chronology
Perhaps
(1985) 		Wild and Lonely
(1990) 		The Glamour Chase
(2002)
Singles from Sleight of Hand
  1. "Fever"
    Released: April 1990
  2. "Fire to Ice"
    Released: August 1990
  3. "Just Can't Say Goodbye"
    Released: January 1991

Wild and Lonely is the fourth studio album by the Scottish act the Associates.[2][3][4][5] The album was released on 24 March 1990 by AVL/Virgin subsidiary Circa Records, a label MacKenzie had signed to after WEA/Warner rejected the fourth Associates album The Glamour Chase (with only MacKenzie's cover of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" emerging from this album while under contract to WEA, when it was released as a single and put on the Vaultage From The Electric Lighting Station compilation). Wild and Lonely was produced by Australian record producer Julian Mendelsohn, it peaked at No. 71 on the UK Albums Chart. Three singles were released from the album: "Fever", "Fire to Ice" and "Just Can't Say Goodbye", all of which failed to chart in the UK Top 40, peaking at numbers 81, 92 and 79 respectively.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Entertainment WeeklyD+[8]

Wild and Lonely was poorly received by critics.

Ira Robbins, writing for Entertainment Weekly, wrote "Scotland's Associates have ended a lengthy recording hiatus with a glossy, shallow album that sounds seriously out of step. Where most high-tech dance-pop now follows the soothing groove of Soul II Soul, the Associates — more precisely, singer-songwriter Billy Mackenzie plus a load of session players — cling to a dramatic delivery and chattering, generally overloaded arrangements."[8] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Ned Raggett wrote, "There's some of the same relative musical ennui, where everything is perfectly pleasant but rarely striking. Even more distressing, more than once, said music is little more than late-'80s glossy yup-funk that is singularly unappealing in its boredom, often saved only by Mackenzie's performing bravura and nice production touches [...] Happily, the worse moments don't define the album, and when at its best, Wild and Lonely serves up a fine selection of new Mackenzie classics."[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Billy Mackenzie

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Fire to Ice"4:35
2."Fever"4:49
3."People We Meet"4:25
4."Just Can't Say Goodbye"5:33
5."Calling All Around the World"4:20
Side B
No.TitleLength
6."Where There's Love"4:44
7."Something's Got to Give"4:53
8."Strasbourg Square"4:41
9."Ever Since That Day"4:48
10."Wild and Lonely"4:29
Total length:47:17

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Wild and Lonely liner notes.[9]

Musicians

Production and artwork

Charts

Chart Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 71

References

  1. ^ "Associates, The – Nostalgia Central". Nostalgiacentral.com. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Random Jukebox: the Associates cover Blondie's Heart of Glass". Stevepaffrod.com. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  3. ^ "A Beginner's Guide to BILLY MACKENZIE - THE ELECTRICITY CLUB". Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  4. ^ The Glamour Chase: The Maverick Life of Billy Mackenzie by Tom Doyle (published by Birlinn General ISBN 9781846972096)
  5. ^ "Wild and lonely". Recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  6. ^ "ASSOCIATES | full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  7. ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "Wild and Lonely – The Associates | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b Robbins, Ira (28 September 1990). "[Wild and Lonely review]". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  9. ^ Wild and Lonely (CD booklet). the Associates. Circa. 1990.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ "ASSOCIATES | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 21 June 2020.