Apple Venus Volume 1
| Apple Venus Volume 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by XTC | ||||
| Released | 17 February 1999 | |||
| Recorded | January–August 1998 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 50:09 | |||
| Label | Cooking Vinyl | |||
| Producer | Haydn Bendall, Nick Davis | |||
| XTC chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Apple Venus Volume 1 | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| The Guardian |  |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| NME | 7/10 |
| Pitchfork | 8.2/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 8/10 |
| The Village Voice | B+ |
Apple Venus Volume 1 is the thirteenth studio album by the English rock band XTC, released in February 1999. It was the first on the band's own Idea Records label through Cooking Vinyl and distributed in the United States by TVT Records. Peaking at #42 in the UK, the album features self-described "orchustic" (orchestral and acoustic) arrangements. It came seven years after the group's previous LP Nonsuch (1992), in which time songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding had amassed a large stockpile of material.
The album was the last to include Dave Gregory as a member of the band. He departed during the recording sessions — as did producer Haydn Bendall. In late 1999, XTC released Homespun, which contains demos from Apple Venus. This was followed in 2002 with Instruvenus, containing the backing tracks of Apple Venus.
In 2003, Mojo ranked Apple Venus at number 47 in its list of the "Top 50 Eccentric Albums". The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
As with the two previous albums, the album's title appears to have been taken from the lyrics of a song on the previous album, in this case "Then She Appeared" from Nonsuch: "Then she appeared / Apple Venus on a half open shell".
The album was the first time the band had released anything since going "on strike" against their label, Virgin Records.Apple Venus Volume 1 was originally supposed to be a double album, but Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding were convinced to break the album up into two, with the orchestral material on Apple Venus Volume 1 and the other material released on Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2). The material for both albums was largely written in the aftermath of Nonsuch. While Partridge continued to write new material, all of Moulding's material was older songs that were submitted for earlier projects and rejected.
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