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Jollification

1994 studio album by the Lightning Seeds

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Jollification is the third album by English rock band the Lightning Seeds. All songs were written by Ian Broudie, with contributions on some tracks from Alison Moyet, Ian McNabb and Terry Hall.

Four tracks from the album were released as singles in the UK: "Lucky You", "Marvellous", "Change" and "Perfect". It peaked at number 12 in the UK Albums Chart, and gained platinum certification in December 1995.

01Background

In 1989 Ian Broudie began recording alone under the name Lightning Seeds and achieved success with the psychedelic and synthpop hit "Pure", from the album Cloudcuckooland, which reached the UK Top 20. The same year "Joy" and "All I Want" were also released but failed to make an impression. "Pure" had some success in the United States Billboard Top 40, reaching No. 32. Both "Pure" and "All I Want" also reached the Modern Rock Tracks top 10. In 1991 Broudie returned to song-writing and moved labels from Rough Trade to Virgin.

02Writing and recording

By the end of 1993, Broudie had completed the third Lightning Seeds album Jollification, which included contributions from Terry Hall, Simon Rogers, Alison Moyet and Ian McNabb. A promotional tour began in August 1994 with their line-up consisting of, guitarist Paul Hemmings, drummer Chris Sharrock, bassist Martyn Campbell and keyboardist Ali Kane. The tour benefited from the success of the second single from the album "Change", which reached No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming Lightning Seeds' second UK top twenty hit. The album Jollification became a critical success and the other singles taken from this album ("Lucky You", "Marvellous" and "Perfect") all made noticeable impact. Mark Farrow's album cover featured the use of computer graphics to create an enormous strawberry and depicting seeds with superimposed human faces.

03Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Music Week
Select

Jollification was released in the UK on 5 September 1994 and in the US on 20 December 1994. Jason Damas for AllMusic felt that the album is "occasionally too produced", but called it Broudie's "strongest batch of songs yet".

04Track listing

All songs written by Ian Broudie (except where stated).

  1. "Perfect", 3:28
  2. "Lucky You", 4:20 (Broudie, Terry Hall)
  3. "Open Goals" (sample by Aaron Neville, George Porter Jr., Joseph Modeliste, Leo Nocentelli), 3:49
  4. "Change", 4:03
  5. "Why Why Why", 4:14
  6. "Marvellous", 5:31
  7. "Feeling Lazy", 3:55 (Broudie, Ian McNabb)
  8. "My Best Day", 5:00 (Broudie, Alison Moyet)
  9. "Punch & Judy", 3:17
  10. "Telling Tales", 2:52

"Open Goals" contains a sample from "Look-Ka Py Py" as recorded by The Meters.

05Personnel

The Lightning Seeds
  • Ian Broudie, vocals, all instruments (except as noted), producer
  • Simon Rogers, all instruments (except as noted), producer
Production
Additional musicians
  • Clive Layton, Hammond organ, piano
  • Marina Van-Rooy, vocals on "Why Why Why"
  • Alison Moyet, vocals on "My Best Day", backing vocals
  • Terry Hall, backing vocals
  • Ian McNabb, backing vocals
  • Carl Brown, backing vocals
  • Simon Fowler, backing vocals
Other personnel
  • Mark Farrow, design
  • Debra Burley, co-ordination
  • Andy Earl, photography

06Charts

Weekly charts

Chart performance for Jollification
Chart (1994-1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) 141
Scottish Albums (Official Charts) 8
UK Albums (Official Charts) 12

Year-end charts

1995 year-end chart performance for Jollification
Chart (1995) Position
UK Albums (OCC) 26
1996 year-end chart performance for Jollification
Chart (1996) Position
UK Albums (OCC) 74

07Singles

Release date Single Peak
8 August 1994 "Lucky You" #43
2 January 1995 "Change" #13
3 April 1995 "Marvellous" #24
10 July 1995 "Perfect" #18
9 October 1995 "Lucky You" (re-release) #15

08Certifications

  • United Kingdom (BPI): Silver (1 July 1995), Gold (1 August 1995), Platinum (1 December 1995)
Watch videos about JollificationExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Jollification, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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