Gold Afternoon Fix
| Gold Afternoon Fix | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by The Church | ||||
| Released | 22nd February 1990 | |||
| Recorded | Ocean Way Recording Studios Los Angeles, CA 1989 |
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| Genre | Alternative rock, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic rock, dream pop | |||
| Length | 57:17 | |||
| Label |
Mushroom (Australia) Arista (International) |
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| Producer | Waddy Wachtel and The Church | |||
| The Church chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Rolling Stone | |
Gold Afternoon Fix is the sixth album by the Australian psychedelic rock band The Church, released in February 1990. It was their second album for Arista Records in the US and was expected to capitalise and build on the success of 1988's Starfish. The album saw considerable promotion upon its release, but despite moderate success in the US, with the single "Metropolis" reaching the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, the release failed to deliver mass commercial appeal.
Following their tour for the Starfish album in 1988, the band members went home for a four-month break before reconvening to begin work on the next album. Arista demanded demos of all the tracks before the official recording process could begin. Consequently, the band was tired of the material by the time the recording sessions commenced in late 1989. Further difficulties arose when the band wanted ex-Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones to produce, but the record label wanted to team the band again with L.A. session musician Waddy Wachtel and engineer Greg Ladanyi, not wanting to change what had been a winning formula. Arista feared a Jones/Church collaboration might turn out too arty and non-commercial and vetoed the venerable musician in favour of the safer (and commercially tested) Wachtel, although Ladanyi was left out. Band members repeatedly noted how much they had disliked recording Starfish. That album's song "North, South, East And West" had been an indictment of Los Angeles' shallower aspects.
The recording sessions for the album were particularly fraught and in-band tensions led to drummer Richard Ploog being ostracised. While some of the bare, open sound that characterised Starfish punctuates the recording, the use of programmed drums instead of Ploog's live performances on all but three tracks resulted in the album being criticised as somewhat stiff and cold. According to biographer Robert Dean Lurie, the demo recordings for Gold Afternoon Fix were more successful than the finished album, despite their roughness. Ploog left the group for good following the recording and former Patti Smith Group drummer Jay Dee Daugherty was brought in for the tour.
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Wikipedia