"Big Isn't Beautiful" is the second single by British

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band

King Adora King Adora was a rock group formed in Birmingham, England in 1998. The band released debut album '' Vibrate You'' in May 2001 (charting at No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart) and follow-up '' Who Do You Love?'' in March 2004. The band was notab ...

, released on 31 July 2000 by Superior Quality Recordings and reaching number 94 on the UK Singles Chart. It courted some controversy for its portrayal of

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

and was remade for the band's 2001 debut album, '' Vibrate You''.

Writing and recording

''Big Isn't Beautiful'' was recorded at

Great Linford Manor Linford Manor, also known as Great Linford Manor, is a seventeenth-century mansion or manor house converted into a recording studio complex in Great Linford, a district in Milton Keynes, England. It is now owned by Pete Winkelman who is chairm ...

in Great Linford, Buckinghamshire in the first half of 2000 and was produced and mixed by

Chris Sheldon Chris Sheldon (born 25 September 1962) is an English record producer, particularly of rock music based in London, England. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Big Country, Feeder, Therapy?, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize, Pi ...

. The song featured the first use of piano by

and also included

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

samples, which were credited on the single's sleeve to "

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

Themes

''Big Isn't Beautiful'' is written from the point of view of an

anorexic Anorexia nervosa (AN), often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by Calorie restriction, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. Individuals wit ...

male, the band stating it was about "self-obsession and self-loathing at its most destructive". Singer Matt Browne responded to criticism: "Just because you’re not singing about something safe, people say, ‘you can’t do that’. People just misunderstood the perspective I was writing from. The title supposed to be tongue in cheek. It's just a song." He went on to say ''Big Isn't Beautiful'' "just deals with that

obsessive compulsive Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Obsession (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Fixation (psychology), persist ...

sort of personality, it's not meant to be offensive in the slightest, it's very heartfelt and sincere as far as I'm concerned and I'm very very proud of what I wrote".

B-sides

Two

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

s were released on the single, ''Scream And Shout'' and ''Comfortable''. Both songs were recorded at

Woodbine Street Recording Studios Woodbine Street Recording Studios is a recording studio located in the town of Leamington Spa, England. There are two recording rooms, the first being the main 31 square metre one. The second is a 13.6 square metre 'live' room which is wood panell ...

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and produced by the band. John Rivers engineered the recordings. ''Scream And Shout'' was regularly played at the band's live shows and was included as a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

on the

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version of the band's debut album, '' Vibrate You''.

Video

The ''Big Isn't Beautiful'' release was accompanied by King Adora's first

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, directed by Moritz. Part of the video was shot in the window of a branch of

Ann Summers Ann Summers is a British multinational retailer company specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with 80 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphas ...

, across

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from the Astoria in

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, the venue at which the band would perform the biggest headlining gig of their career in 2001.

Reception

The

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

gave the song a mixed review, saying "after a couple of minutes of these standard-issue, pirouetting

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

chords, Browne's self-dramatising vocals, only the most soft-hearted wouldn't feel the urge to shove a

pork pie A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, usually served either at room temperature or cold (although often served hot in Yorkshire). It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock ...

in his mouth". The Tip Sheet named it their record of the week, commenting "we're not sure how offensive it is, but it's certainly more interesting than average and anyway, we can't really bring ourselves to worry about it because we like the tune so much".

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

were positive ("a-Pop-lectic fuzz-fest, a delicious velvet-wrapped parcel of punkish ambiguity") but elected to give the single only 2/5.

Track listing

CD

# "Big Isn't Beautiful" # "Scream And Shout" # "Comfortable"

7"

# "Big Isn't Beautiful" # "Scream And Shout"

Personnel

* Matt Browne – vocals, rhythm guitar * Martyn Nelson – lead guitar * Robbie Grimmit – bass *

Dan Dabrowski King Adora was a rock group formed in Birmingham, England in 1998. The band released debut album '' Vibrate You'' in May 2001 (charting at No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart) and follow-up '' Who Do You Love?'' in March 2004. The band was notabl ...

– drums

Production

* ''Big Isn't Beautiful'' – Produced and mixed by

* ''Scream And Shout'', ''Comfortable'' – Produced by King Adora, engineered by John Rivers

References

{{authority control 2000 singles King Adora songs 2000 songs