''Holy Smoke'' is the fourth solo studio album by English musician Peter Murphy. It was released on 14 April 1992 through

Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels. History In 1977, spurred by the prevailing D ...

. Produced by

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a t ...

, the album features contributions from

Alison Limerick Alison T. Limerick (born 1959, Stepney) is a British singer-songwriter who scored success in the 1990s with the club anthem " Where Love Lives", which was her solo debut and a No. 3 hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play in 1991. Biography Lime ...

, Jonathan Carney,

Audrey Riley Audrey Riley is an English cellist and string arranger. Career Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn. She was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of the Family Cat. Ril ...

and The Hundred Men, his backing band since 1988's '' Love Hysteria'' album. Although the album didn't meet with the commercial success of its predecessor, ''

Deep Deep or The Deep may refer to: Places United States * Deep Creek (Appomattox River tributary), Virginia * Deep Creek (Great Salt Lake), Idaho and Utah * Deep Creek (Mahantango Creek tributary), Pennsylvania * Deep Creek (Mojave River tributary ...

'' (1990), it peaked at number 108 on ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The lead single off the album, " The Sweetest Drop", peaked at number 2 on Billboard

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart.

Critical reception

Ned Raggett of

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 ...

was mixed in his assessment of the album. He stated: "Released in the initial craze of the

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 ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

mega-crossover, ''Smoke''s elegant ballads and angular, arty rockers simply didn't fit in." Nevertheless, he also described the album as "quite a strong release, due to "avoiding any cloning of ''

'' or " Cuts You Up" in favor of a different approach meant to bring out the band's live power more directly." He also praised Mike Thorne's production work, commenting that it gives the album "a crisp, solid punch throughout, even during its quieter moments." Bill Wyman of ''

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, ...

'' also praised the albums "sophisticated" production, calling it as "lush and very adult." He also wrote: "When the music and lyrics come together, it's almost touching, as on the sardonically named "Hit Song", which sounds to me like a vampire pleading for his mortality back."

Track listing

Personnel

* Peter Murphy – vocals, production, composition, guitar (6); keyboards (7) ;The Hundred Men *

Terl Bryant Terl Bryant is an English drummer, percussionist and musician who has produced a number of his own works and is credited for touring and recording with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Iona and Peter Murphy amongst others. Biography Originally ...

– drums, percussion * Eddie Branch – bass * Paul Statham – bass (6); acoustic guitar (7); keyboards * Peter Bonas – guitar, acoustic guitar ;Additional musicians * Gini Ball – strings (9) * Jonathan Carney – strings (9) * Zoe Caryl – backing vocals (4, 9) *

– vocals (4, 9) * Chris Pitsillides – strings (9) *

– strings (9) * Rick Shaffer – guitar (5, 8) * John Vartan –

ney The ney ( ; ) is an end-blown flute that figures prominently in traditional Persian, Turkish, Jewish, Arab, and Egyptian music. In some of these musical traditions, it is the only wind instrument used. The ney has been played for over 4,500 ye ...

(1);

zurna The zurna is a double reed wind instrument played in Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka. It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Ass ...

(1); tambura (7) ;Other personnel *

– production,

synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

* Jason Appleton – production assistant * Jack Skinner – mastering * Fernando Kral – engineering, mixing *

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

– photography * Stuart Every – assistant engineer * Laura Janisse – production assistant

Chart positions

;Album ; ;Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 albums Peter Murphy (musician) albums Albums produced by Mike Thorne Beggars Banquet Records albums