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Swimmer (The Big Dish album)
1986 studio album by The Big Dish From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Swimmer is the debut studio album from Scottish pop band The Big Dish, which was released by Virgin in 1986.
The album contains three singles: "Slide", "Prospect Street" and "Christina's World". "Christina's World" reached No. 84 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1987 and "Slide" peaked at No. 86 in May 1987.[2]
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Critical reception
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On its release, Music & Media picked Swimmer as one of their "Albums of the Week" during October 1986. They described the songs as "alternating between guitar-influenced and atmospheric, melodic material". They also noted Lindsay's "strong vocals" which "lift the material up to a higher plane".[7] Billboard noted the band's "strong song sense" but added that "what may catch ears is the vocalizing of David Byrne sound-alike Steven Lindsay."[8] Cash Box wrote, "Lindsay's whispy voice and strong-based songwriting recommend the group to a wide audience. The band is at its best on heartfelt, melody-rich songs like 'Prospect Street' and 'Slide'."[9]
Paul Massey of the Evening Express noted, "Warmth and sincerity are the trademarks of Lindsay's mellow pop and the single 'Slide' is simply great."[10] Martin Wells of the Derby Evening Telegraph described Swimmer as containing "some delightful Orange Juice/Lloyd Cole-style pop songs".[11]
Brant Houston of the Hartford Courant described Swimmer as "a persuasive effort but sometimes too tidy". He added, "The songs are often sprightly, with '60s-like choruses that keep afloat the tunes that tend toward the moribund."[12] Jim Zebora of the Record-Journal as "accessible, insistent pop" but that the band "has a tendency to fall into mediocrity with many songs".[4]
In a retrospective review, William Ruhlmann of AllMusic considered the album's material to be "tasteful, cultured and a bit dull". He commented, "The guitars chime, the machine-made beats burble, and Lindsay contemplates existence, but there is a difference between swimming and treading water that he doesn't seem to recognize."[3]
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Track listing
All tracks are written by Steven Lindsay except "Second Swimmer" by Lindsay and Brian McFie.
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Personnel
The Big Dish
- Steven Lindsay – vocals, guitar, keyboards
- Brian McFie – lead guitar, second guitar
- Raymond Docherty – bass
Additional musicians
- Ian Ritchie – programming, saxophone
Production
- Ian Ritchie – producer (tracks 1–3, 6–7, 9–11, 13)
- Chris Sheldon – engineer (tracks 1–3, 6–7, 9–11, 13)
- Paul Hardiman – producer (track 4)
- Glyn Johns – producer (tracks 5, 12)
- The Big Dish – producers (track 8)
Other
- Gary Wathen – art direction
- Red Ranch – design
- Heather Angel – photography
Charts
References
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