All Set
| All Set | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Buzzcocks | ||||
| Released | 14 May 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1996 | |||
| Studio | Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California | |||
| Genre | Pop punk | |||
| Length | 40:43 | |||
| Label | I.R.S. | |||
| Producer | Neill King | |||
| Buzzcocks chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau |  |
All Set is the fifth studio album by English pop punk band Buzzcocks. After standardising their line-up of vocalists and guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Phil Barker for the band's previous album Trade Test Transmissions (1993), the band's first record since their reunion in 1989, the band toured relentlessly which inspired the band–especially Shelley–to create a new album. Hiring longtime punk rock producer Neil King to produce and engineer All Set, the band recorded in Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, a studio where then-huge pop punk bands like Green Day, to whom Buzzcocks had been a big influence, had recently recorded music engineered by King.
The album is a departure from the band's earlier material, retaining a pop punk style but adding regular unusual arrangements and instruments in many songs, with varying songs including a Hammond organ, quirky rhythms, strings and synths. Changes are especially evident in the album's three songs written by Diggle, who had written and recorded three further songs with the band for the album but which were accidentally left off the album when it was handed for publishing, although the unreleased songs were released as bonus tracks in the Japanese release. As such, All Set leans heavily onto Shelley's material. Barker's drumming style was said to show more flair, whilst the record is said to "reflect their maturity and approach to relationships that the early singles just couldn't."
The album was released in May 1996 by I.R.S. Records in most markets, a label the band signed to in order for their music to be better distributed. However, the label closed two months after the album's release, making All Set the label's last release, and abruptly ending the album's promotion. As such, it was not a commercial success. However, it was a critical success, with critics praising the manic and melodic juxtaposition, memorability of its songs and vitality. Music journalist Colin Larkin said the album "confirmed the Buzzcocks' latter-day renaissance." A remastered version of All Set was released in the box set Classic Album Series in 2014.
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