With all the recent hoo-ha woohoo Screamadelica-fever surrounding the announcement that Primal Scream are to play London in November, we decided to take a walk down memory lane and celebrate what has been termed ‘the defining musical statement of the 90s‘.
Since its release in September, 1991, Screamadelica has been often hailed as one of the greatest albums ever – in 1998 Q Magazine readers voted it the 27th greatest album of all time and the album also appeared in Channel 4’s list of the 100 Greatest Albums. Screamadelica scooped the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992 while the late Paul Cannell’s cover design was recently chosen as one of the Royal Mail’s ten classic rock album stamps.
Screamadelica was released to universal acclaim, which has remained and even risen ever since, following Select magazine’s lead of voting it the top album of the 90s. ‘We’ve actually made a classic record which people will be able to listen to in 40 years time and it will sound as relevant as it does now,’ said Bobby Gillespie at the time. Well, 20 years later this ceratainly seems to suggest that this is the case.
Having reached the halfway mark, Primal Scream are bringing Screamadelica into the 21st century for a whole new trip, which will only happen once. The band have never performed some of the songs live before while many have not been played for years.
Although I was was only a wee nipper when this was released and more likely to be found listening to ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ rather than an epic genre-eclectic dance album, I came to appreciate the songs a decade later. For this reason, the album can only be described as a timeless and can be appreciated almost anywhere, not just on a sweaty dancefloor.
Re-live the magic! Listen to some of the tracks and pack your bags…we’re off to London!