''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 Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automat ...

. "Carriage for Two" features the guitar playing of

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

guitarist

Scott Ian Scott Ian (born Scott Ian Rosenfeld, December 31, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist, lyricist and co-founder of the thrash metal band Anthrax (American band), Anthrax, of which he is the sole continuous member. Ia ...

. 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 music, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notab ...

. "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 as part of Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew in the mid-1980s. His 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 online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

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

Maxinquaye ''Maxinquaye'' is the debut studio album by English rapper and producer Tricky (musician), 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 frust ...

''. 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 books ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)'' and ''Curepedia: An ...

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 publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

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 Wale ...

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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

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

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

sound with rhythmic elements from

hardcore hip hop Hardcore hip-hop (also known as hardcore rap) is a subgenre 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 gen ...

and

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

, ''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 Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

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 * 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 (musician), Tricky's debut album, ''Maxi ...

(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 Ba ...

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

* {{Authority control 1998 albums Albums recorded at Compass Point Studios Tricky (musician) albums Island Records albums