Hot Shots II

For the parody movie unrelated to the album, see Hot Shots! Part Deux.

Hot Shots II is the second studio album by the Scottish musical group The Beta Band, released on 16 July 2001. Colin "C-Swing" Emmanuel and the band co-produced the album. The band's previous work had used dense experimentation but Hot Shots II had a minimal style influenced by R&B, hip hop and electronica.

Hot Shots II
Studio album by The Beta Band
Released	16 July 2001 (2001-07-16)
Genre	Electronic rock
Length	51:51
Label	Regal
Producer	The Beta Band Colin Emmanuel
The Beta Band chronology
The Beta Band (1999) Hot Shots II (2001) Heroes to Zeros (2004)

Mason later said the album was "us doing what we promised to do and making something completely incredible, that didn't sound like anything else. Nothing else that's ever come after it has ever sounded like it. It's got good, fleshed out and complete songs on it."^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[4]
The Guardian	[5]
Muzik	4/5[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork	8.6/10[8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Spin	7/10[11]
Uncut	8/10[12]

Pitchfork placed Hot Shots II at number 118 on its list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[13] The album is also included in the 2010 edition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[14] Kludge ranked it at number 1 on its list of top 10 albums of 2001.^[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by The Beta Band, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Squares"	The Beta Band David Mackay Sylveer Van Holmen Raymond Vincent	3:46
2.	"Al Sharp"		3:34
3.	"Human Being"	The Beta Band Carole King Toni Stern	4:31
4.	"Gone"		3:41
5.	"Dragon"	The Beta Band Egol L. Frauenberger Carlos Diernhammer	4:56
6.	"Broke"		4:40
7.	"Quiet"		4:49
8.	"Alleged"		5:31
9.	"Life"		3:51
10.	"Eclipse"		6:37

Japanese / US edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Won"	The Beta Band Harry Nilsson	5:57

Charts

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[16]	11
UK Albums (OCC)[17]	13
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[18]	1
US Billboard 200[19]	200
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[20]	14
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[21]	11

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue
Japan	7 July 2001	Toshiba EMI	CD	TOCP 65723
United Kingdom	16 July 2001	Regal Zonophone Records	CD	REG59CD
United States	17 July 2001	Astralwerks	CD	ASW 10446