Celebrate the Bullet
| Celebrate the Bullet | ||||
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| Studio album by The Selecter | ||||
| Released | 27 February 1981 | |||
| Studio | Horizon Studios, Coventry | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:29 | |||
| Label | Chrysalis Records | |||
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| The Selecter chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Colin Larkin | |
| Robert Christgau | B– |
| Trouser Press | (mixed) |
Celebrate the Bullet is the second album by British ska band The Selecter, released in February 1981 on Chrysalis Records after the band had left the 2 Tone label. The album was recorded with producer Roger Lomas, who plays bass on some songs, and frequently seeks a more slow, eclectic sound, with new wave influences. Band members Charley Anderson and Desmond Brown, uncomfortable with the new approach, left the band during production and after the release of 1980 single "The Whisper" to form the band The People. They were replaced by keyboard player, James Mackie, and bass player, Adam Williams. Ian Dury and the Blockheads bassist Norman Watt-Roy played bass on the title track and "Washed Up And Left For Dead".
The album's lyrical content is frequently bleak, taking inspiration from early 1980s racial and social conflicts, economic problems and war. Upon release, the album was a critical and commercial failure. The release of the title track as a single unintentionally coincided with the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, and "at such a time it would have been a brave radio producer who would have earmarked a track titled 'Celebrate the Bullet' for a prime time slot." As a result, the single and album flopped and the band subsequently split up. Nonetheless, the album has more recently been reappraised, and is considered by lead singer Pauline Black to be among the band's best work. Captain Oi Records remastered the album in 2001.
The Selecter's debut album Too Much Pressure (1980), with its blend of ska, reggae and punk and socio conscious lyrics, was a critical and commercial success; however, the aftermath of its release was fraught with problems for the band. Their relationship with 2 Tone Records was diminishing, who were releasing merchandise without band consent, and also felt "there were not enough avenues for them to broaden their musical horizons again this was due to the huge success of 2 Tone." During these events, the group "admitted that they were less than happy" with Too Much Pressure, which they felt was the product of what their singer Pauline Black recalled was "a life-span, which was telescoped down into a very short space of time". The band left the label and signed a direct deal with its parent label Chrysalis to record their second album, Celebrate the Bullet. They recorded a non-album single, "The Whisper", which was a Top 40 hit.
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