''Save Your Face'' is the debut

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 British

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 ...

group Feline and was released worldwide in 1997. It was preceded by "Just As You Are", the video of which was picked up by

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

. The following year, the album was repackaged, retitled as ''Feline'' and expanded with two newly recorded tracks produced by Feline guitarist Drew Richards. Three of the ''Save Your Face'' tracks were remixed by

Chris Sheldon Chris Sheldon (born 25 September 1962) is an English record producer, particularly of rock music based in London, England. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Big Country, Feeder, Therapy?, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize, Pi ...

for the new release, which was preceded by "Sun In My Eyes" and the cancelled "Drama Queen".

Recording sessions

Feline recorded the bulk of ''Save Your Face'' over three weeks in December 1996 at

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

in London, England, with producer David M. Allen, who was known for his work on

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

's '' Disintegration'' and ''

Wish A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used. Sociology Several cu ...

''. Allen was chosen to produce the record because the band purposely did not want to sound like their influences. The album was mixed by Pat Collier in London's Eden Studios, while a further two tracks ("Just As You Are" and "Not What It Seems") were mixed by

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

at South Beach Studios in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Extra material was recorded for use as

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

and a charity album

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

The Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...

The Air That I Breathe "The Air That I Breathe" is a ballad written by the British-Gibraltarian singer-songwriter Albert Hammond and the English songwriter Mike Hazlewood. It was initially recorded by Hammond on his debut album, '' It Never Rains in Southern Californi ...

". Photography for the original album package was taken by Perou, with art direction and design by Andy Vella. At the start of 1998, Feline recorded new material self-produced by Drew ("Drama Queen" and "Bad Habit"), both of which were mixed by

, who also remixed "Sun In My Eyes", "Fantasy World" and "Can't Help Myself". On 3 August, ''Save Your Face'' was re-released under the title ''Feline''. The new edition was repackaged and expanded with the new Chris Sheldon tracks.

Single releases

On 4 August 1997, the first single from ''Save Your Face'', "Just As You Are" was released in the UK, backed with b-sides "Highway", "Shape Changing" and "Two Minds" on

CD maxi A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especiall ...

and

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

. "Just As You Are" spent a single week on the Official Charts at No. 81. "Just As You Are" was later issued in Europe on

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

(featuring "Highway") and CD maxi (featuring all three extra tracks). The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "Just As You Are" was directed by

Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...

and featured the band

morphing Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes (or morphs) one image or shape into another through a seamless transition. Traditionally such a depiction would be achieved through dissolving techniques on film. Si ...

into insects and other animals. Despite the use of CGI, the video cost the label £67,000. On 11 May 1998, Chris Sheldon's new mix of "Sun In My Eyes" was released as a single on two CD singles and 7" vinyl. The first CD featured new recordings "Innocent Smile" and "Rumour Mill", while the second CD included "The Air That I Breathe" and "Germaine" (which had been only released in Japan prior). "Sun In My Eyes" peaked at #81 on the single chart the following week. In Europe, "Sun In My Eyes" was released as a single CD maxi. Newly recorded ''Feline'' cut "Drama Queen" was scheduled for single release on CD and 7" on 6 July 1998, however the single was cancelled after promos were distributed to the music press. B-sides were stated in reviews as "Wake The Dead" (05:46), "Live With Me" (3:50) and "Wheel" (05:21)"Upcoming Single Releases", ''Music Week'', issue dated July 4th, 1998 These have as yet gone unreleased.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Performances *

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 ...

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 ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, Juno: Georgina Prebble ("Grog") *

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 ...

, guitar synth, programming,

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 ...

: Drew Richards *Guitar: Eduardo L. Garcia *

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 ...

, backing vocals: Steve Drew *Drums: Mig (On "Drama Queen" and "Bad Habit") Production * Recorded at Olympic, Matrix, Raezor, Sarm West and Trident Lodge studios. * Produced by David M. Allen, except "Drama Queen" and "Bad Habit" produced by Drew Richards. * Mixed at Eden Studios in London, United Kingdom by Pat Collier, except
"Just As You Are" and "Not What It Seems" mixed at Southbeach Studios, Miami, Florida by Tom Lord-Alge and
"Drama Queen" and "Bad Habit" mixed by Chris Sheldon.

Release history

References

Credits and personnel taken from sleeve notes to both ''Save Your Face'' and ''Feline''.

External links

Grogography: Flinch, Feline + Ultraviolet tracks
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Die So Fluid
official website {{Authority control 1997 debut albums Albums produced by David M. Allen Albums produced by Chris Sheldon