Walking Wounded

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This article is about the album by Everything but the Girl. For other uses, see Walking Wounded (disambiguation).

Walking Wounded
Studio album by
Everything but the Girl
Released6 May 1996 (1996-05-06)
Recorded1995
Studio
Genre
Length52:18
Label
Producer
Everything but the Girl chronology
Amplified Heart
(1994) 		Walking Wounded
(1996) 		Temperamental
(1999)
Singles from Walking Wounded
  1. "Walking Wounded"
    Released: 8 April 1996
  2. "Wrong"
    Released: 17 June 1996
  3. "Single"
    Released: 23 September 1996
  4. "Before Today"
    Released: 17 February 1997

Walking Wounded is the ninth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 6 May 1996 by Atlantic Records in the United States and Virgin Records in Europe. The album saw the group adopting a more electronica-based style, following the success of the remixed version of "Missing" from their previous album, Amplified Heart.

Four tracks from the album were released as singles, including the drum and bass-influenced "Walking Wounded" and the house-influenced "Wrong", which became top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, as well as the downtempo track "Single", which set Tracey Thorn's emotionally direct vocal against breakbeats, organ and strings,[1] and "Before Today".

Composition[edit]

According to Pitchfork's Ruth Saxelby, Walking Wounded draws on downtempo, drum and bass and trip hop music, "compressing the wide open space of those then-nascent sounds into a pop format".[2] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album was informed musically by trip hop and techno, albeit eschewing the "free-form song structures" traditionally associated with those genres.[3] Treble writer Adam Blyweiss viewed it as a refinement of Everything but the Girl's earlier sophisti-pop sound that "replaced many of the duo's acoustics with reasonable digital facsimiles".[4]

Walking Wounded marked a change in the duo's approach to writing songs. Ben Watt produced various instrumental tracks, while Tracey Thorn wrote lyrics after listening to the completed tracks.[5] In producing the tracks, Watt utilised samples from sources such as Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and Stan Tracey's "Starless and Bible Black".[5] Thorn later recalled: "We really believed in ourselves and that comes across in the sound. We'd finally got to the point where we realised what our strength was: the softness and warmth of my voice against urban beats; the warm and cold, the soft and hard contrast. We got it perfect on this record; it was our pop triumph."[5]

Release[edit]

Walking Wounded was the duo's highest-charting album, until 2023, reaching number four in the United Kingdom and number 37 in the United States. By February 1997, it had sold 750,000 copies worldwide, according to Billboard.[6] The album went on to sell over 1,300,000 copies worldwide.[7]

The album's cover art is unusual in that it features the barcode on both the front and back of the album.

Walking Wounded was reissued by Edsel Records as a two-disc deluxe set on 4 September 2015.[8] On 8 November 2019, the album was re-released on vinyl by Buzzin' Fly Records.[9]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Tribune[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA[11]
The Guardian[12]
Mojo[13]
Music Week[14]
NME6/10[15]
Pitchfork9.0/10[2]
Rolling Stone[16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[17]
Spin9/10[18]

Assessing the album in his review for AllMusic, editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "At its core, Everything but the Girl is a pop group, which means it automatically abandons the free-form song structures that characterize most of trip-hop and techno. In a sense, that dilutes the impact of the music, but the duo found a way around that by seamlessly incorporating the rhythms into carefully crafted songs. They work the same ground as Massive Attack, but their songwriting is more accessible and less adventurous than the groundbreaking Bristol group. Furthermore, Everything but the Girl never approaches the tarnished glamour of Portishead, the kineticism of Björk, or the brilliantly evocative soundscapes of Tricky. Essentially, the beats are used as window dressing -- the group's music hasn't changed that much."[3]

Retrospectively reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Ruth Saxeby discussed it in context with the rest of the group's oeuvre; "Each Everything But the Girl album has its own style and story, but the one on which Thorn and Watt’s individual gifts shine brightest is the one on which they stripped everything back. They shared their knottiest feelings, created dialogue with skeletal new sounds, and made the record in a much more insular way than they ever had previously. Its timely sonics and emotionally wrought themes spoke as much to teenagers, myself included, as it did the band’s adult contemporaries (Bristol drum ‘n’ bass head Roni Size gave it thumbs up)."[2]

Walking Wounded was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[19]

Track listing[edit]

Walking Wounded track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Before Today"Ben WattWatt4:18
2."Wrong"Tracey ThornWatt4:36
3."Single"ThornWatt4:38
4."The Heart Remains a Child"ThornThorn3:50
5."Walking Wounded"Watt
6:05
6."Flipside"WattWatt4:33
7."Big Deal"ThornWatt4:29
8."Mirrorball"ThornWatt3:27
9."Good Cop Bad Cop"ThornWatt4:54
10."Wrong" (Todd Terry remix)ThornWatt4:45
11."Walking Wounded" (Omni Trio remix)Watt
  • Wales
  • Coxon
6:43
Total length:52:18
Deluxe edition disc 1 track listing
No.TitleLength
12."Corcovado"3:54
13."Before Today" (live)6:30
14."Single" (live)4:51
15."Wrong" (live)7:00
Total length:74:33
Deluxe edition disc 2 track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Mirrorball" (demo)3:31
2."Flipside" (demo)3:56
3."Above the Law" (demo)4:24
4."Speeding Car Side On" (instrumental demo)4:02
5."Walking Wounded" (Dave Wallace remix)8:19
6."Wrong" (Mood II Swing dub)8:54
7."Wrong" (Deep Dish remix)4:03
8."Single" (Photek remix)5:18
9."Single" (Brad Wood Memphis remix)4:42
10."Before Today" (Nellee Hooper remix)5:42
11."Before Today" (Adam F remix)4:14
12."Before Today" (Chicane remix)6:25
13."Before Today" (Dillinja remix)4:57
14."Mirrorball" (DJ Jazzy Jeff Sole Full remix)4:28
15."Corcovado" (Knee Deep Classic Club Mix Ben Watt vocal re-edit)6:19
Total length:79:14

Personnel[edit]

Credits for Walking Wounded adapted from liner notes.[20]

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

Certifications for Walking Wounded
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[36] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[37] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[38] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Press release for 'Single' , September 1996
  2. ^ a b c Saxelby, Ruth (3 March 2019). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Walking Wounded – Everything But the Girl". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  4. ^ Terich, Jeff; Blyweiss, Adam; Bossenger, A. T.; Prickett, Sam (24 April 2014). "10 Essential Sophisti-pop albums". Treble. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Small Town Girl". Record Collector. No. 479. May 2018. p. 64. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Who's Selling Where". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 8. 22 February 1997. p. 46. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  7. ^ "About". EBTG.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Deluxe Re-Issues of Walking Wounded and Temperamental out Sep 4". EBTG.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Everything But The Girl – Walking Wounded (Vinyl LP)". Unmade Road. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  10. ^ Kot, Greg (30 May 1996). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded (Atlantic)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  11. ^ Farber, Jim (24 May 1996). "Walking Wounded". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  12. ^ Garratt, Sheryl (10 May 1996). "CD of the week: Everything But the Girl". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Segal, Victoria (February 2020). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Mojo. No. 315. p. 105.
  14. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Music Week. 27 April 1996. p. 10. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". NME. 4 May 1996. p. 56.
  16. ^ Hardy, Ernest (13 June 1996). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  17. ^ Sarig, Roni (2004). "Everything but the Girl". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 288–89. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  18. ^ Huston, Johnny (July 1996). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Spin. Vol. 12, no. 4. p. 88. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  19. ^ Dimery, Robert, ed. (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
  20. ^ Walking Wounded (liner notes). Everything but the Girl. Atlantic Records. 1996. 82912-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  22. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Ultratop.be – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  24. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2988". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  26. ^ "Lescharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  28. ^ "Charts.nz – Everything but the Girl – Temperamental". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  29. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  31. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  32. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  34. ^ "Everything but the Girl Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  35. ^ "Year list Album (incl. Collections), 1996". Sverigetopplistan (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  36. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  37. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  38. ^ "British album certifications – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

External links[edit]

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