''Blow'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, also known very briefly as the Lorries, are an English rock band formed in Leeds in early 1981 by guitarist and songwriter Chris Reed, vocalist Mark Sweeney, bassist Steve Smith and drummer Mick Brown. After breaking up ...

, released in 1989, and their last LP on the

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album pro ...

offshoot label,

Situation Two Situation Two (a.k.a. Situation 2) was a British independent record label founded in 1981 by Peter Kent as an offshoot of the Beggars Banquet Records, Beggars Banquet label. The name is a reference to Bauhaus (band), Bauhaus's old management ...

, in the UK. In the US it was released by Beggars Banquet/

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

. The album was a slight change in direction for the band. While it still had the band's customary swirling rush of

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

s, pounding

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, loud bass and Chris Reed's deep growling

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, the songs were a little slower, with stronger, more conventional

melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

sweetened by occasional female

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. Reed's

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

were less downbeat, almost optimistic. As critics noted, overall ''Blow'' is a warmer album than the band's previous, somewhat dour offerings; the Lorries left their specious

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

trappings behind for good. ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' noted: "There is a strong pop element in the songs` melodies and structures, a danceable energy in faster numbers and some crisp, ringing guitar work in slower tunes. The material, including Reed's flat, low vocals, is still moody, but there is a separation between instruments-and between instruments and vocals-that steers the proceedings well clear of anything that could be labeled wall-of-gloom." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' agreed, stating that "''Blow'' takes the band a giant step forward in terms of melodicism and diversity of sound. Staying clear of the old monochromatic wall of noise, the production gives them plenty of punch and much more warmth..." The change may have resulted in better reviews but the sales were not impressive; Beggars Banquet dropped the band the following year.

Track listing

Personnel

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry: *Chris Reed -

, keyboards *David "Wolfie" Wolfenden - guitar *Leon Phillips -

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, keyboards *"Chill" Chillington -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, keyboards with: *Jilly Myhill -

(1-3) *Steve Hagarth - keyboards (5) *Dick Adland - drums (5-6) *Tim Lewis - keyboards (8)

References

{{Authority control Red Lorry Yellow Lorry albums 1989 albums Beggars Banquet Records albums Situation Two albums