''Angels with Dirty Faces'' is the third album of English musician Tricky, released in 1998. The title is taken from the film of the same name.

Music and lyrics

"Broken Homes" features English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. "Carriage for Two" features the guitar playing of Anthrax guitarist

Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax. Ian is the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroo ...

. Various tracks features the guitars of

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

. "The Moment I Feared" is a cover of the

Slick Rick Richard Martin Lloyd Walters (born January 14, 1965), better known as Slick Rick, is an English-American rapper and record producer. He rose to prominence with Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. Their songs " The Show" and " ...

track of the same name.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', David Browne viewed ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' as Tricky's best album since his 1995 debut ''

Maxinquaye ''Maxinquaye'' is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky, released on 20 February 1995 by 4th & B'way Records, a subsidiary of Island Records. In the years leading up to the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited ro ...

''. He described it as an "alluring sonic blur" that preserved his previous music's mesmeric sounds yet felt "more adventurous, rhythmically and musically, than its predecessors".

Simon Price Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British music journalist and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''The Independent on Sunday'' and his book ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)''. Career Writer Pric ...

hailed it as Tricky's most cogent work since his debut album: "Simultaneously challenging and gorgeously formed, it's a brilliant mix of defiance and achievement." ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'' critic Robert Christgau said it was a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

album with a live band on every song, no samples, and "grimy" productions that complemented Tricky's anti-social themes, making for a difficult but interesting listen: In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, Stephen Thomas Erlewine was less enthusiastic about the record. He wrote that while Tricky had expanded his signature dub-inspired

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

sound with rhythmic elements from

hardcore hip hop Hardcore hip hop (also hardcore rap) is a genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Run-DMC, Schoolly D, Boogie Down Productions and Public Enemy, it is generally ch ...

and

jungle music Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and ...

, ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' was "slightly different but essentially the same" as his previous album ''

Pre-Millennium Tension ''Pre-Millennium Tension'' is the second album from English rapper and producer Tricky, released in 1996. It was a conscious effort by Tricky to depart away from the trip hop label with which critics had described his previous music. The album ...

''. As of September 2003 it has sold 113,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Track listing

Personnel

* Design, Photography By anipulationnbsp;– AP;D * Drums – Perry Melius (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 9 to 11) * Engineer – Ethan Allen (tracks: 2, 6, 8, 10 to 12) * Engineer dditional Mixingnbsp;– Jack Hersca (tracks: 2 to 4, 6 to 12) * Assistant engineer – Chipman Verspyck (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 9 to 12), Mark Fraunfelder (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Serge Tsai * Guitar – Scott Ian (tracks: 1, 5, 9 to 12) * Keyboards, Producer, Photography By alaroid Illustration – Tricky * Mastered By – Howie Weinberg * Mixed By – Susan Rogers (tracks: 2, 3, 5 to 12), Tricky (tracks: 2 to 12) * Cover Photography –

Barron Claiborne Barron Claiborne is an American photographer and cinematographer who grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. He began taking photographs at the age of ten. After moving to New York in 1989 he began assisting established photographers such as; Richard Av ...

* Vocals –

Martina Topley-Bird Martina Gillian Topley-Bird (''née'' Topley; born 7 May 1975) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, '' Maxinquaye'' (1995). S ...

(tracks: 3, 5, 6, 8 to 10), Tricky (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 12) * Written-By – Tricky (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 6, 8 to 12) *

Pete Briquette Patrick Martin Cusack (born 2 July 1954), known by the stage name Pete Briquette, is an Irish bassist, record producer and composer. He is a member of the Boomtown Rats and has also played in Bob Geldof's band. Boomtown Rats He was born in B ...

- bass *Gareth Bowen - keyboards *Jack Hersca - bass, guitar *

Jane Scarpantoni Jane Scarpantoni (born 1960)https://www.myheritage.com/names/jane_scarpantoni is a classically trained American cello player who has played on a number of alternative rock albums. She was a member of Hoboken, New Jersey's Tiny Lights in the mid-1 ...

- cello *Gene Lake, Calvin Weston - drums *Lorenza Ponce - violin *

, Patrice Serapiglia - guitar *Doug Wieselman - flute *

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includin ...

- double bass

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

* 1998 albums Tricky (musician) albums Island Records albums {{1990s-electronic-album-stub