It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah
| It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah | ||||
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| Studio album by Black Grape | ||||
| Released | 10 October 1995 | |||
| Genre | Alternative dance, Britpop | |||
| Length | 46:16 | |||
| Label | Radioactive Records | |||
| Producer | Danny Saber, Stephen Lironi, Shaun Ryder, Gary Kurfirst (exec.) | |||
| Black Grape chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau |  [2] |
It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah is the first album by British band Black Grape. It was released in 1995. The album was seen as something of a triumphant comeback for both Shaun Ryder and Bez (both formerly of Happy Mondays). The album represented what some considered an evolution of the Happy Mondays sound on their 1990 album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, with more of a hip hop influence, down mostly to the rapping of Kermit, formerly of the band The Ruthless Rap Assassins. The album was a critical and commercial success.[citation needed]
According to Ryder, the album title refers sarcastically to being free of mood-altering substances.[3] The album art features a famous photograph of infamous international terrorist Carlos the Jackal colored in pop art style, and was inspiration for Issue 2 of the Image Comics series, Phonogram.
The opening lines of 'In the Name of the Father' are quoted in the novel The Demented Lands by Alan Warner.
The song "A Big Day In the North" was used as the opening song in the 1995 scifi movie Virtuosity with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.
The song "Yeah Yeah Brother" featured in the film The Devil Wears Prada (2006). The line "It's Frothy Man" in the song is partly a reference to advertising the 1970s soft drink Cresta.[4]
Throughout the album there are lyrical references to The Beatles.
The album was certified platinum by the BPI on 1 April 1996 and got nominated for the Mercury Prize, which lost to Pulp's Different Class.
Contents
Track listing
All lyrics written by Shaun Ryder and Danny Saber, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Reverend Black Grape" (Ryder) | 5:12 |
| 2. | "In the Name of the Father" | 4:21 |
| 3. | "Tramazi Parti" (Ryder, Stephen Lironi, Paul Levedge) | 4:45 |
| 4. | "Kelly's Heroes" | 4:22 |
| 5. | "Yeah Yeah Brother" | 4:10 |
| 6. | "A Big Day in the North" | 4:10 |
| 7. | "Shake Well Before Opening" | 5:40 |
| 8. | "Submarine" (Ryder) | 3:50 |
| 9. | "Shake Your Money" | 4:13 |
| 10. | "Little Bob" | 5:33 |
Singles
- "Reverend Black Grape"
- "In The Name Of The Father"
- "Kelly's Heroes"
Personnel
Adapted from the It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah liner notes.[5]
- Shaun Ryder - vocals
- Kermit - vocals
- Psycho - vocals
- Helen Vigneau - backing vocals
- Paul "Wags" Wagstaff - guitar
- Anthony Guarderas - bass
- Ged Lynch - drums, percussion
- Danny Saber - guitars, bass, keyboards, hammond organ, programming, mixing, engineering, production
- Stephen Lironi - keyboards, hammond organ, slide guitar, programming, production
- Martin Slattery - saxophone
- Michael Scherchen - programming, engineering
- Bez - vibes/dance
- Phil Ault, Ewan Davis - additional engineering
- Tom Lord-Alge - mixing
- Ted Jensen - mastering
| Preceded by | UK number one album 19 August 1995 – 1 September 1995 |
Succeeded by Said and Done by Boyzone |
