Foxbase Alpha

Infobox Album
Name = Foxbase Alpha
Type = Album
Artist = Saint Etienne


Released = start_date|1991|9
Recorded = 1990, 1991
Genre = House Alternative rock Synthpop Ambient house Electronica
Length = 58:29
48:27 (UK Version)
Label = Heavenly - HVNLP1
Producer = Saint Etienne
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:i60e4j170waw link]
Last album =
This album = "Foxbase Alpha"
(1991)
Next album = "So Tough"
(1993)
Misc = Singles
Name = Foxbase Alpha
Type = album
single 1 = Only Love Can Break Your Heart
single 1 date = start_date|1990|5
single 2 = Kiss And Make Up
single 2 date = start_date|1990|9
single 3 = Nothing Can Stop Us
single 3 date = start_date|1991|5
single 4 = Only Love Can Break Your Heart
single 4 date = start_date|1991|8
single 5 =
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"Foxbase Alpha" is the debut album by British band Saint Etienne, released in 1991.

The album was recorded in a style which is close to the house music sound of the time, but songs like "Nothing Can Stop Us" and "Wilson" display the group's characteristic love of '60s pop and several samples. Longer songs like "Stoned to Say the Least" and "Like the Swallow" are reminiscent of ambient house akin to The Orb. Like its follow-up "So Tough", "Foxbase Alpha"'s songs are bridged by samples from films or by short songs. At the time of recording, Sarah Cracknell was not fully part of group, and as a result she does not sing on "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", which is sung by Moira Lambert.

"Foxbase Alpha" was shortlisted for the inaugural Mercury Music Prize.

ingles

The album includes one of the group's best-known songs: a cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart". The cover is relatively faithful to the original but is arranged in 4/4 (as opposed to the original's waltz time), with a driving piano-bass-drum section. Andrew Weatherall later remixed the song to further emphasise the dub bassline; this remix was featured on both releases of the single and on the compilation "Casino Classics". The follow-up single "Kiss and Make Up" is also a (comparatively obscure) cover version of a song written and originally recorded by The Field Mice. Ian Catt was the engineer/co-producer on both versions."Carnt Sleep" contains bass lines lifted completely from "Wicked Cant Run This Dub" by Glen Brown & King Tubby, and "Nothing Can Stop Us", one of the group's most famous singles, features a very prominent sample of Dusty Springfield's track, "I Can't Wait to See My Baby's Face", from her 1967 album "Where Am I Going?." "Nothing Can Stop Us" was later covered by Kylie Minogue.

Different versions

The UK release omits "People Get Real" and "Kiss and Make Up", both of which later appeared on the collection "You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone". By the time of the U.S. release of the album, the group had rerecorded "Kiss and Make Up" with Cracknell, and thus included it on the album.

Track listing

CD: Heavenly / HVNLP1CD (UK)

# "This is Radio Etienne" – 0:42
# "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" – 4:29
# "Wilson" – 1:59
# "Carnt Sleep" – 4:43
# "Girl VII" – 3:46
# "Spring" – 3:43
# "She's the One" – 3:09
# "Stoned to Say the Least" – 7:42
# "Nothing Can Stop Us" – 4:21
# "Etienne Gonna Die" – 1:32
# "London Belongs to Me" – 3:57
# "Like the Swallow" – 7:41
# "Dilworth's Theme" – 0:38

CD: Warner / 9-26793-2 (US)

# "This is Radio Etienne" – 0:42
# "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" – 4:29
# "Wilson" – 1:59
# "Carnt Sleep" – 4:43
# "Girl VII" – 3:46
# "Spring" – 3:43
# "She's the One" – 3:09
# "People Get Real" – 4:44
# "Stoned to Say the Least" – 7:42
# "Nothing Can Stop Us" – 4:21
# "Etienne Gonna Die" – 1:32
# "London Belongs to Me" – 3:57
# "Kiss and Make Up" – 5:14
# "Like the Swallow" – 7:41
# "Dilworth's Theme" – 0:38

Credits

* Sarah Cracknell - Vocals.
* Bob Stanley - Roland Jupiter, Korg M1, Tambourine.
* Pete Wiggs - Prophet 5, Emax sampler, Bongos.
* Ian Catt - Guitars, Keyboard Programming.
* Moira Lambert - Vocals on "Only Love Can Break Your Heart".
* Harvey Williams - Bass on "Only Love Can Break Your Heart".
* Pete Heller - Additional programming on "Kiss and Make Up".

Miscellanea

The young woman on the cover of "Foxbase Alpha", Celina Nash, also turns up in Saint Etienne's 1993 album "So Tough"; she is the waitress that can be heard on "Chicken Soup". She is also in the video for the Pulp song "Babies".

The dialogue heard in the track "Etienne Gonna Die" is from the movie "House of Games".

Singles

Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Neil Young cover)May 1990

Only Love Can Break Your Heart (Re-release)August 1991