''In Ribbons'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by English

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Pale Saints Pale Saints were an English alternative rock and shoegaze band formed in 1987 in Leeds by singer-bassist Ian Masters, guitarist Graeme Naysmith and drummer Chris Cooper.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 9 ...

, released on 23 March 1992 by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

. It peaked at number 61 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, 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 O ...

Critical reception

Jack Rabid of ''

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 ...

'' called ''In Ribbons'' "alluring and attractive, rich in complexity and raw emotion."

Martin C. Strong Martin Charles Strong (born 1960 in Musselburgh) is a Scottish music historian known for compiling discographies of popular music including ''The Great Rock Discography''. Strong has been described in broadsheet newspaper profiles as a "compile ...

wrote that "the subtlety of its shredding chords and sporadic sonic dreamscapes were let loose all over the shop." '' MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' wrote that the album "immaculately balances wide-screen guitars and soft melodies." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' included ''In Ribbons'' in a 2007 list of "essential"

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

albums. In 2016, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked ''In Ribbons'' at number 34 on its list of the 50 best shoegaze albums of all time.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. * Pale Saints (Meriel Barham, Chris Cooper, Ian Masters, and Graeme Naysmith) – all instruments (except cello),

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

Additional musicians * Hugh Jones – arrangement *

Caroline Lavelle Caroline Lavelle is an English singer-songwriter and Cello, cellist who has created three solo albums and contributed vocals, music, and production help to many other artists and bands. Career Lavelle studied at the Royal College of Music in L ...

– cello Production * Phil Ault –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

* Goetz Botzenhardt – engineering * Alan Branch – engineering * Steve Bray – engineering * Kevin Hurley – engineering * Hugh Jones –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, engineering * John O'Donnell – engineering * Paul Tipler – engineering Design * Chris Bigg – sleeve design * Matt Heslop – portrait photography *

Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship wit ...

– sleeve design * Pirate –

model making A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototy ...

* Kevin Westenberg –

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

photography

Charts

References

External links

* 1992 albums Pale Saints albums Albums produced by Hugh Jones (producer) 4AD albums {{1990s-alt-rock-album-stub