''Endless, Nameless'' is the third studio album by English rock band The Wildhearts, released in 1997. It was the band's first release on

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

and their only full album with guitarist Jef Streatfield. The songs " Urge" and "

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

" were released as singles. The album reached no. 41 on the British album chart.

Background

The album shares its title with the

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

song " Endless, Nameless", though Wildhearts songwriter

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

claims this is a coincidence and he was not previously aware of the song. However, some music journalists doubt this claim because of the band's well-known struggles with drugs during that period, while the album shares its noisy and unstructured nature with the Nirvana song. Recording was marred by heavy drug use among all the band's members, with bassist

Danny McCormack Danny McCormack (born 28 February 1972 in South Shields) is an English singer and bassist. Biography McCormack became the bass player in The Wildhearts in 1991, and soon relocated to London with the band, enjoying success during their commerc ...

often absent from the sessions, though he performed his first-ever lead vocal on "Anthem". The album was influenced by the popular

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

and

industrial rock Industrial rock is a fusion genre that fuses industrial music and rock music. It initially originated in the 1970s, and drew influence from early experimental and industrial acts such as Cromagnon, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten a ...

of the period, which Ginger attempted to combine with the band's previous pop and hard rock sounds with the assistance of new producer

Ralph Jezzard Ralph Jezzard (born 16 January 1966 in South London) is a British music producer based in London, England. History Jezzard started playing in bands at the age of 14 including Case. At 16 he started working at Wickham Studios in South London ...

, with the result of rock-oriented songwriting often buried by unexpectedly distorted and noisy production. The album's sound has divided the band's fan base. "Heroin" is a cover of "Heroine" by Dogs D'Amour. The Japanese version of the album featured a cover of the

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

song " Pump It Up". The album was reissued in 2010 with several songs that had originally served as B-sides for the "Urge" and "Anthem" singles.

Reception

During a 2018 interview with ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'', Ginger declared that ''Endless, Nameless'' is his favorite Wildhearts album, explaining: "I love ''Endless, Nameless'' most because it was a statement of pure intent. We wanted to make something challenging that didn’t pander to commercialism, and we did it. Most people think it’s just noise, but I’m very proud of that noise we made." The album was dismissed by many fans and reviewers upon its release, but some retrospective reviews have praised it as a forceful musical statement.

Track listing

All songs written by

except "Heroin" which is originally by Dogs D'Amour.

Personnel

- vocals, guitar * Jef Streatfield - guitar * Ritch Battersby - drums *

- bass, lead vocals on "Anthem:

References

{{Authority control The Wildhearts albums 1997 albums Mushroom Records albums