''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'' is the 21st studio album by the American rock band Sparks.

Release

''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'' was as successful as their previous album, '' Hello Young Lovers'', in the UK, where it bettered the chart position, reaching No. 54 on the

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Offici ...

. A limited edition version was released in a card sleeve in most territories and included a poster. Japanese editions included the bonus track "Brenda Is Always in the Way" as well as a DVD featuring five short films. Two singles were released. The first, "Good Morning" on May 12, 2008, was on iTunes, a first for the group. The second, "Lighten Up, Morrissey" in March 2009, appeared on a 7", backed with "Brenda Is Always in the Way". Neither single charted in the UK. ''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'' was also promoted in the UK by a number of live performances dubbed the "Sparks Spectacular": a record-setting twenty-date residency from May 16 through June 11, 2008 at London's Carling Islington Academy, where the group played each one of their previous twenty albums in its entirety in chronological order. The final appearance at London's

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...

on June 13 premiered ''Exotic Creatures of the Deep''. Appearing on an episode of music producer

Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He has worked with acts including Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Air, Paul McCartney, U2, R.E.M., Pavement, Roger Waters, Arcade Fire and ...

From the Basement ''From the Basement'' is a British web television series created by the record producer Nigel Godrich. It features live music performances by artists in a studio without a host or audience. Development In September 2006, it was announced that ...

'', Sparks performed a short set of material from ''Exotic Creatures'', concluding with "Propaganda/At Work, at Home, at Play" from their 1974 album ''

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

''. As was typical in the

webseries A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short screenplay, scripted or Improvisation, non-scripted online videos, generally in Episode, episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), w ...

which originally aired from 2006 to 2009, the performance is notable in that the show was in-studio and did not feature an audience.

Re-release

In April 2022, as part of the "21st Century Sparks" collection on BMG, a series of reissues of Spark's studio albums from 2000's '' Balls'' to 2009's ''

The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman ''The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman'' is the 22nd album by American rock group Sparks, released in August 2009. The duo's first work in the radio musical genre, the album is built around an imaginary visit to Hollywood by Swedish film director Ing ...

'', ''Exotic Creatures'' was remastered on LP, CD, and digital. The CD and digital releases have five bonus tracks, including "Brenda Is Always in the Way" and "Islington N1". The album entered the UK Independent Albums Chart at no. 10 and the UK Vinyl Albums Chart at no. 37.

Track listing

Personnel

Russell Mael Russell Craig Mael (born October 5, 1948) is an American singer best known as the lead singer for the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he formed in 1971 with his elder brother Ron Mael. Mael is known for his wide vocal range, in particular his f ...

– all vocals, engineering, mixing *

Ron Mael Ronald David Mael (born August 12, 1945) is an American musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is the keyboard player and principal songwriter in the band Sparks (band), Sparks, which he founded with vocalist, occasional songwrit ...

– keyboards, programming, orchestrations, mixing * Tammy Glover – drums *

Dean Menta Dean Menta (born January 1, 1966) is an American music editor and composer living in Los Angeles, California. Biography In 1995, Dean Menta became involved in the band DUH and appeared on their second album ''The Unholy Handjob''. Menta went o ...

– guitars * John Thomas – mixing, engineering

Sparks Spectacular

For the 21-night "Sparks Spectacular" from May 16 through June 11, 2008 in London, Sparks played each of their albums in chronological order during the first twenty nights at the Carling Islington Academy, culminating in the première of their new album for the twenty-first concert on June 13, 2008 at

. Each night they performed an album in its entirety with an encore of a rare track, many of which had never been performed live before. The band asked fans to visit their website and vote for the track that they'd most like to hear the band perform during the second half of the 21st concert following the première of ''Exotic Creatures of the Deep'', though Russell Mael admitted that he and Ron would probably influence the poll a little. Fans who bought a "Golden Ticket" for entry into all 21 gigs also received a poster signed by the band and a CD single entitled ''Islington N1'', a reference to the postal address of the venue for the first 20 gigs. ;Exotic Creatures of the Deep second set # "Moustache" (from ''Angst in My Pants'') # "Looks Aren't Everything" # "Big Boy" (from ''Big Beat'') # "Goofing Off" (from ''Introducing Sparks'') # "Katharine Hepburn" # "Shopping Mall of Love" (from ''Music You Can Dance To'') # "Those Mysteries" (from ''Introducing Sparks'') # " Dick Around" (from ''Hello Young Lovers'') # "Get in the Swing" (from ''Indiscreet'') # "Looks, Looks, Looks" (from ''Indiscreet'') # "Batteries Not Included" (from ''A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing'') # "Whippings and Apologies" (from ''A Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing'') # "Change" (from ''Music That You Can Dance To)'' # " This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" (from ''Kimono My House'')

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Sparks (band) albums Albums recorded in a home studio