{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Back in Denim | type = Album | artist = Denim | cover = BackInDenim.jpg | alt = | released = 11 November 1992 | recorded = May 1990–July 1992 | studio = Bark, RAK, Abbey Road, London | genre = Glam rock, pop | length = 49:51 | label = Boy's Own Recordings | producer = John Leckie, Brian O'Shaughnessy | next_title = Denim on Ice | next_year = 1996 }}
'''''Back in Denim''''' is the debut album by British rock band Denim.
==Background== British rock band Felt broke-up in 1989,<ref name=AMBritpop>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/allmusic-playlist-britpop|title=AllMusic Playlist: Britpop|work=AllMusic|author=Sendra, Tim|date=11 April 2013|accessdate=8 November 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001191517/http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/allmusic-playlist-britpop|archivedate=1 October 2015}}</ref> while frontman Lawrence had been living in Brighton.<ref name=Guardianarticle>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/21/denim-britpop-band|title=Denim: Britpop's less successful fabric|author=Hodgkinson, Will|work=The Guardian|date=21 October 2010|accessdate=8 March 2016|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308233612/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/oct/21/denim-britpop-band|archivedate=8 March 2016}}</ref> Finding Brighton to be unpleasant,<ref name=Guardianarticle/> he moved to New York in early 1990.<ref name=MojoJG>Wilkinson 2005, p. 122</ref> Lawrence soon started to reminisce about his childhood in the 1970s.<ref name=Guardianarticle/> He proceeded to visit a pawn shop and buy a guitar, which he would use to compose ''Back in Denim''.<ref name=Guardianarticle/> He eventually grew homesick and soon moved to London.<ref name=MojoJG/> Lawrence formed Denim with a variety of "session men and ageing glitter-rockers", several of whom were members of The Glitter Band.<ref name=Buckley369>Buckley, ed. 2003, p. 369</ref> Lawrence had been receiving calls from major labels,<ref name=Guardianarticle/> but decided to sign with dance-oriented record label Boy's Own Recordings, who had signed a distribution deal with London Records.<ref name=MojoJG/> His decision to sign with them was based on his notion that "rock music was finished, and DJs could get our records into the charts."<ref name=Guardianarticle/>
==Production and composition== While Felt's albums were recorded with a minuscule budget for small independent labels, Lawrence had "the chance to make the album I'd always wanted" for a major label.<ref name=MojoJG/> Between May 1990 and July 1992, ''Back in Denim'' was recorded and mixed with producer John Leckie.<ref name=MojoJG/>{{#tag:ref|Lawrence had worked with Leckie previously on Felt's ''The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories'' (1984), which Leckie produced and engineered.<ref name=SIPAOSSSleeve>{{cite AV media notes|title=The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories |others=Felt |year=1984|type=Sleeve|publisher=Cherry Red|id=B-RED 63}}</ref>|group="nb"}} At one point, Lawrence was banned from the studio and had pushed Leckie to breaking point, which resulted in him exclaiming: "I've worked with Phil Spector and John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but I can't take this any more. You're madder than any of them."<ref name=MojoJG/> Eventually, before threatening to disown the recordings, he finished the proceedings with Brian O'Shaughnessy.<ref name=MojoJG/> The amount of money that went into making the album had made Boy's Own Recordings go bankrupt.<ref name=Guardianarticle/>
The album's sound has been described as glam rock<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/denim-on-ice-mw0000550597|title=Denim on Ice|author=Phares, Heather|work=AllMusic|accessdate=8 November 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224083818/http://www.allmusic.com/album/denim-on-ice-mw0000550597|archivedate=24 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jun/21/go-kart-mozart-hot-dog-streets-review|title=Go Kart Mozart: Go Kart Mozart Are On the Hot Dog Streets – review|author=Petridis, Alexis|work=The Guardian|date=21 June 2012|accessdate=8 November 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223150046/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jun/21/go-kart-mozart-hot-dog-streets-review|archivedate=23 December 2015}}</ref> and pop.<ref name=Guardianreview/> Tim Sendra of AllMusic claimed that for ''Back in Denim'', Lawrence "channeled his love of simple punk, huge hooks, novelty songs, and slagging everyone".<ref name=AMBritpop/> ''Mojo'' review Roy Wilkinson commented that the album's "wistful examination of Britain and knowing adoption of pop styles from other eras" laid the groundwork for Britpop.<ref name=MojoJG/> The album was complete with "glam and pop hooks machined to perfection with the best in 1990s recording science".<ref name=MojoJG/> "Middle of the Road" features a sample of Middle of the Road's version of "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep".<ref name=AMBritpop/>
==Release and reception== {{Album ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name=AMreview>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/back-in-denim-mr0001181946|title=Back in Denim|author=Hage, Erik|work=AllMusic|accessdate=8 November 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006094546/http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/back-in-denim-mr0001181946|archivedate=6 October 2016}}</ref> | rev2 = ''The Guardian'' | rev2Score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref name=Guardianreview>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/apr/21/popandrock.shopping2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060422143807/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0%2C%2C1757369%2C00.html#article_continueThe|title=Guardian Unlimited Arts - - Denim, Back in Denim|archive-date=22 April 2006|work=The Guardian|author=Petridis, Alexis |date=21 April 2006|url-status=live|access-date=8 November 2015}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Stylus Magazine'' | rev3Score = A<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/denim/back-in-denim.htm |title=Denim - Back in Denim - Review - Stylus Magazine |work=Stylus Magazine |accessdate=8 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235241/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/denim/back-in-denim.htm |archivedate=3 March 2016 }}</ref> }} It was released in November 1992<ref name=MojoJG/> on Boy's Own Recordings.<ref name=AMreview/> London Records wanted to release the album's title track as a single, but Lawrence requested to re-record the song's chorus, to which London Records cut funding for further studio time.<ref name=MojoJG/> "Middle of the Road" was released as a single, with the B-sides "Ape Hangers", "Robin's Nest", and an instrumental version of "Ape Hangers" titled "The Great Grape Ape-Hangers",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/middle-of-the-road-mr0002175560 |title=Middle of the Road - Denim | Release Info |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=2017-07-07 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006095417/http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/middle-of-the-road-mr0002175560 |archivedate=2016-10-06 }}</ref> in January 1993.
The album was received well by critics but was commercially poor.<ref>{{cite web |author=Biography by Mark Deming |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/denim-mn0000237529/biography |title=Denim | Biography & History |publisher=AllMusic |date=1997-08-31 |accessdate=2017-07-07 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027211528/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/denim-mn0000237529/biography |archivedate=2016-10-27 }}</ref> ''Trouser Press'' wrote that "''Denim'' is so well-made and sublimely thought through that even indefensible perversity suits it fine."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=denim|title=TrouserPress.com :: Denim|work=trouserpress.com|accessdate=8 November 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530054753/http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=denim|archivedate=30 May 2012}}</ref>
In retrospect, Lawrence commented "The tills were closed. [...] This was my masterpiece and I would fight to death to get it right. If that meant it was going to end up selling 25 copies, then that was the way it had to be."<ref name=MojoJG/> The album was reissued in May 2006 on West Midland's Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red. Norwegian band Turbonegro covered "Back in Denim" as a bonus track at 2007 album ''Retox''.
In 2017, ''Pitchfork'' ranked ''Back in Denim'' at number 50 in their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barlow|first1=Eve|title=The 50 Best Britpop Albums|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/|website=Pitchfork|accessdate=29 March 2017|date=29 March 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329070732/http://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10045-the-50-best-britpop-albums/|archivedate=29 March 2017}}</ref>
==Track listing== All songs written by Lawrence.
#"Back in Denim" – 3:59 #"Fish and Chips" – 3:17 #"Bubblehead" – 4:43 #"Middle of the Road" – 4:12 #"The Osmonds" – 8:08 #"I Saw the Glitter on Your Face" – 3:34 #"American Rock" – 6:26 #"Livin' on the Streets" – 4:31 #"Here Is My Song for Europe" – 3:41 #"I'm Against the Eighties" – 7:20
==References== ; Footnotes {{reflist|group="nb"}}
; Citations {{reflist|2}}
;Sources {{refbegin}} * {{cite book|editor1-last=Buckley|editor1-first=Peter|title=The Rough Guide to Rock|date=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|location=London|isbn=1843531054|edition=3rd|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse}} * {{cite journal|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Roy|title=Filter Buried Treasure: Jean Genius|journal=Mojo|date=May 2005|publisher=Emap|location=London|issn=1351-0193}} {{refend}}
==External links== {{MusicBrainz release group|id=d4a10c03-a0e8-3709-a585-83ddb88a9a91|name =Back in Denim}}
{{Felt}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1992 debut albums Category:Denim (band) albums Category:Junior Boy's Own albums Category:Albums produced by John Leckie