''Sexplosion!'' is the third studio album by industrial

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

band

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (often shortened to Thrill Kill Kult or TKK) is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based in Chicago and founded by Groovie Mann (born Frankie Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (born Marston Daley). ...

. It was originally released in 1991 on

Wax Trax! Records Wax Trax! Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago. It began as a record shop in Denver, Colorado, opened by life partners Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, who sold the store in 1978 and moved to Chicago. In November of that y ...

. Described by lead vocalist Groovie Mann as their "sexy" album, ''Sexplosion!'' is one of the band's biggest commercial and critical successes.

Background

Vocalist Groovie Mann called ''Sexplosion!'' the group's "sexy" album in 1995, adding that it was "total disco". He said it was intended as an open-ended fantasy for listeners and that it was genderless in its suggestions.

Release

''Sexplosion!'' was released in 1991 on

and became one of the most successful releases in the label's history, selling more than 61,000 copies within six weeks of the album's June 1 release. The title track peaked at No. 10 on the ''

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'' Dance/Club Play Songs on October 26, 1991. The song "Sex on Wheelz" peaked at No. 15 on the same chart on July 27, 1991, as well as reaching No. 23 on the

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. "Sex on Wheelz" appeared on the latter chart again, with its

Cool World ''Cool World'' is a 1992 American Adult animation, adult Live-action animation, live-action/animated hybrid fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi and written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt, ...

soundtrack remix, when it peaked at No. 17 on August 15, 1992.

Reception

''Sexplosion!'' was well received by critics. 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 ...

said it was the band's best album, calling it a clever blend of pop music sensibilities and trashiness. He went on to say the album mostly concerned itself with "who is doing whom and whether or not there will be enough spangles, muscle boys, and cocktails available." He noted with approval its lounge music vibe in places, as well as its sampling of theme songs from

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

movies including '' Thunderball''. He particularly praised the album's hit single "Sex on Wheelz" for its "nutty stomp and leer" and called it "as compressed and propulsive a celebration of fornication and driving as anything else America has ever come up with."

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' was similarly enthusiastic, and began his review by saying, "This record has absolutely no redeeming social value whatsoever, and it's wonderful." He went on to call the album a blend of "sleaze ... camp ... and neon stylishness", and said it is all about having adult fun.

Touring

The band toured in support of the album in July 1991. Eric Brace of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' said the live show was quite strong considering how devoted to camp the band is. He noted Groovie Mann's vocals and the excessive use of smoke machines as the show's primary weak points, while praising the performances of the instrumentalists in the group.

Track listing

Personnel

*Groovie Mann – vocals *Buzz McCoy – programming, guitar *Sekret Dezyre (Laura Dame) – vocals *

Shawn Christopher Shawn Christopher is an American house music singer from Chicago, Illinois. Career She was a touring backing vocalist for R&B singer Chaka Khan from 1982 to 1985. She was also a member of the industrial dance band known as My Life with the ...

– vocals (7)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1991 albums My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult albums Interscope Records albums