{{Infobox album | name = Secrets on Parade | type = Studio | artist = Tim Christensen | cover = Tim Christensen - Secrets on Parade.jpg | alt = | released = 27 September 2000<ref>Poulsen, Jan Opstrup (2000). [http://gaffa.dk/anmeldelse/16778 "Tim Christensen - Secrets on Parade"]. ''GAFFA''. {{in lang|da}}</ref> | recorded = December 1999<ref name="gaffa1999">Tuxen, Henrik (1999). [http://www.e-pages.dk/gaffa/1999-11/4 "Fremadpegende retrohjerte"] (Progressive retro heart). ''GAFFA'', 1999(11), 4. {{in lang|da}}</ref> through March/April 2000<ref name="gaffa2000">Elsnab, Peter (2000). [http://www.e-pages.dk/gaffa/2000-10/ "Guldfuglen er landet på begge fødder"] (Golden bird has landed on both feet). ''GAFFA'', 2000(10), 19–20. {{in lang|da}}</ref><br />Puk Recording Studios (Gjerlev near Randers)<br />Grapehouse studio (Copenhagen) | venue = | studio = | genre = Rock | length = {{Duration|m=54|s=24}} | label = EMI | producer = Nick Foss<br />Tim Christensen | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = Honeyburst | next_year = 2003 }}
'''''Secrets on Parade''''' is the debut solo album by Danish singer-songwriter Tim Christensen, released on 5 October 2000<ref>Discogs (2010). [http://www.discogs.com/Tim-Christensen-Secrets-On-Parade/release/499187 "Tim Christensen - Secrets On Parade (CD, Album)"]. Retrieved on 12 October 2010.</ref> on CD and vinyl. It is considered the transitional work between the music he made with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy and his solo music.<ref name="gaffa2000" /> Before its release, Christensen described the album as: "a rock album with material that is more timeless rather than time-typical [as was the case with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy] with room for solid rock, a glittery edge, and some ballads."<ref name="gaffa1999" /> The vinyl edition of the album was re-released through the record label Parlophone on April 19, 2014.<ref>[http://soundstation.dk/data/products/136172.aspx "Tim Christensen - Secrets on parade - 2014 Danish Parlophone label 12-track LP & 2-track 12" Single"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424231123/http://soundstation.dk/data/products/136172.aspx |date=2014-04-24 }}. ''Sound Station''.</ref>
== Background == Christensen went through a difficult time in 1998–99, dealing with the break-ups with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy<ref name="gaffa2003">Winther, Anne (2003). [http://www.e-pages.dk/gaffa/2003-9/58 "Tim Christensen: Giv ham en million, og han vil investere i et nyt køkken"] (Tim Christensen: Give him a million and he will invest it in a new kitchen). ''GAFFA'', 2003(9), 58. {{in lang|da}}</ref> and with singer Pernille Rosendahl,<ref name="gaffa2000" /> with whom he had been in a relationship since 1995.<ref name="gaffa2003" /> He used songwriting as a form of therapy to overcome this, putting his feelings and thoughts to words as one normally would do in a diary, but instead of lying hidden in a drawer somewhere, his secrets are literally on display.<ref name="gaffa2000" /> Since his songwriting was derived from these personal experiences, the lyrics are rather direct.<ref name="gaffa2003" /> Christensen says, "I simply think it was written in a simple and straightforward way, almost bordering to banal."<ref name="banal">Tuxen, Henrik (2003). [http://www.e-pages.dk/gaffa/2003-9/20 "På grænsen af det banale"] (Bordering to banal). ''GAFFA'', 2003(9), 20. {{in lang|da}}</ref>
The songs are rather ambiguous as to whether they refer to Dizzy Mizz Lizzy or Pernille Rosendahl.<ref name="gaffa2000" /> However, the song "King's Garden", after a literal translation of Kongens Have, is known to refer to both as coincidentally both break-ups happened there and he admits to avoid going near the place.<ref name="gaffa2000" /> "Secrets on Parade", "Prime Time" and "Caterpillar" had already been written for a third album by Dizzy Mizz Lizzy,<ref name="gaffa2000" /><ref>BNN (12 November 2009). [http://sites.bnn.nl/page/thatslive/bio/70200 "Tim Christensen in That's live"]. Sound clip: "Interview".</ref> and are not related to these troubles.
The album was "decidedly a solo record"<ref name="gaffa2000" /> but the process was also markedly different, explained by Christensen as follows: "This was the first time I was without sparring partners, and I would definitely have bounced some things off of them. At the same time, I went into the studio without completed arrangements, unlike with Dizzy Mizz Lizzy where everything was pre-arranged and there was simply not a single strophe that we did not know of how they should be played."<ref name="gaffa2000" /> This also meant more time was spent in the studio, in total nearly four months.<ref name="gaffa2000" />
== Reception == The album was successful in Denmark,<ref>[http://www.e-pages.dk/gaffa/2003-6/8 "Cd'er på vej"] (CDs along the way). ''GAFFA'', 2003(6), 8. {{in lang|da}}</ref> selling nearly 60,000 copies<ref name="banal" /> and securing a solo career for Christensen. Allegedly, Mary, Queen of Denmark is among the fans.<ref>Tuxen, Henrik (2004). [http://www.e-pages.dk/gaffa/2004-1/22 "Året, der gik: Tim Christensen"] (The year that went: Tim Christensen). ''GAFFA'', 2004(1), 22.</ref>
The singles "Get the Fuck Out of My Mind" and "Love Is a Matter of...." became hits. The latter would be covered by Will Young on for ''Friday's Child'' (2003) as "Love Is a Matter of Distance",<ref name="dion">Fogde, John (9 September 2007). [http://gaffa.dk/nyhed/10985 "Céline Dion indspiller Tim Christensen"] (Celine Dion records Tim Christensen). ''GAFFA''. {{in lang|da}}</ref> and this version has appeared on several karaoke albums. The song "21st Century High" appeared on the soundtrack of the 2000 Danish movie Flickering Lights.
Aside from Christensen himself finding solace in his music, the album has had a profound effect on others dealing with grief as well. Christensen says, "There are really many who have responded to Secrets On Parade that it was almost therapeutic for them."<ref name="banal" /> He thinks this is because the lyrics cover the topics so explicitly: "When someone finds himself in a depressed state, I think that very direct words penetrate through much easier. One needs something that reaches out. It simply makes it easier to console oneself with."<ref name="banal" />
== Track listing == All lyrics by Tim Christensen and Marcus Winther-John, except where noted. {{track listing | all_writing = Tim Christensen | all_lyrics = | all_music = Tim Christensen | headline = Secrets on Parade | total_length = 54:24 | title1 = Secrets on Parade | note1 = | length1 = 4:40 | title2 = Get the Fuck Out of My Mind | note2 = | length2 = 4:24 | title3 = Time Is the Space Between Us | note3 = | length3 = 4:41 | title4 = Love Is a Matter of... | note4 = Lyrics: Christensen | length4 = 2:55 | title5 = Watery Eyes | note5 = Lyrics: Christensen | length5 = 3:08 | title6 = Falling to Pieces | note6 = Lyrics: Christensen / Jonathan Stibbard | length6 = 4:55 | title7 = Let's Face It | note7 = | length7 = 3:18 | title8 = Prime Time | note8 = Lyrics: Christensen | length8 = 4:20 | title9 = Stranger | note9 = Lyrics: Christensen / Stibbard | length9 = 4:31 | title10 = 21st Century High | note10 = | length10 = 5:21 | title11 = Caterpillar | note11 = Lyrics: Christensen | length11 = 8:17 | title12 = King's Garden | note12 = | length12 = 4:00 }}
{{track listing | headline = Japan bonus track | title13 = Misty Mono | note13 = Lyrics: Christensen | length13 = 4:24 }}
== Personnel == * Tim Christensen – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, Mellotron, producer<br />''Additional instruments:'' Wurlitzer electric piano, Moog synthesizer, talk box, guitar synthesizer, vocoder, glockenspiel, timpani, piano, baritone guitar, guitar zither, Spanish guitar * Lars Skjærbæk - guitars (on track 3, 5, 7, 10), slide guitar (on track 12) * Fredrik Damsgård - bass (on all tracks except 1, 2, 4, and 5) * Laust Sonne - drums (on all tracks except 4)
;Additional musicians * Jonathan Stibbard - drums (on track 4), percussion (on track 4) * Rune Olesen - percussion * Henke Lindstrand - string arrangements, Wurlitzer piano (on track 12)
;String section (on track 1, 9, 11) * Tobias Durholm - violin * Mikkel Futtrup - violin * Sune Ranmo - viola * Ingemar Brantelid - cello
;Production * Rune Nissen-Petersen – recording engineer, mixer (track 4) * René Cambony - recording engineer * Lars Overgaard - mixer * Nick Foss – producer * Nikolaj Vinten – mastering * Jakob Tranberg (PowerPlant) – cover art * Morten Larsen – photography
== Notes == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Secrets On Parade}} Category:2000 debut albums Category:Albums produced by Nick Foss Category:EMI Records albums Category:Tim Christensen albums