Kilimanjaro (The Teardrop Explodes album)

Kilimanjaro
Studio album by The Teardrop Explodes
Released	10 October 1980
Recorded	Rockfield Studios, Monmouth
Genre	Neo-psychedelia, Post-punk
Length	39:45
Label	Fontana
Producer	Bill Drummond & David Balfe, as The Chameleons except track 3 Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley, tracks 10 & 12 Mike Howlett
The Teardrop Explodes chronology
Kilimanjaro (1980) Wilder (1981)
Singles from Kilimanjaro
"Sleeping Gas" Released: February 1979 "Bouncing Babies" Released: June 1979 "Treason (It's Just A Story)" Released: February 1980 "When I Dream" Released: September 1980 "Reward" Released: January 1981 "Treason (It's Just A Story) (Remixed Version)" Released: April 1981 "Ha-Ha I'm Drowning" Released: August 1981
Alternative cover
The "Mount Kilimanjaro" cover

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Q
Record Collector
Uncut
The Village Voice	B

Kilimanjaro is the debut album by the neo-psychedelic Liverpool band The Teardrop Explodes, released on 10 October 1980. It contains versions of the band's early singles – "Sleeping Gas", "Bouncing Babies", "Treason" & "When I Dream" – as well as their biggest hit, "Reward". The album also includes the song "Books" – originally a song by Julian Cope's previous band, The Crucial Three, it was also recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen (as "Read it in Books", released on the b-side of their debut single, and featured on some versions of Crocodiles). In 2000 Q magazine placed Kilimanjaro at number 95 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

The original working title for Kilimanjaro was Everyone Wants To Shag The Teardrop Explodes (this was later used for the CD release of demos for the band's never-finished third album). When originally released, the album featured a shadowy photograph of the band on the sleeve, but this was later changed to a cover showing Mount Kilimanjaro, the mountain after which the record was named. When the album was subsequently released on CD the cover artwork reverted to the original.

In 2000 Cope gave his blessings to re-release Kilimanjaro with a selection of bonus tracks (mainly single b-sides), original artwork, a remastered sound, and full lyrics and essays. A deluxe 3-disc edition followed in 2010, including original singles, b-sides and radio session recordings.

All tracks composed by Julian Cope, Gary Dwyer and Michael Finkler; except where indicated

The original release did not include "Reward", which was added to later pressings after it became a hit single early in 1981. The reverse of the LP album sleeve had a different running order to that of the record itself.

The album was reissued with a new sleeve (the "Zebra" or "Mountain" sleeve), with "Reward" added as an extra track following "Second Head" in the running order. This reissue of the album was also remixed – most noticeably on "Went Crazy" and a longer version of "When I Dream".

This release featured the original sleeve photos and the following track listing.

This version of the album dropped "Second Head" and "Bouncing Babies" from the UK track line-up, but included "Suffocate" and "Reward" - the latter featuring a 12-second instrumental intro not included on the various UK releases of the song. This U.S. version of the album was reissued in the early 1990s on CD, LP and cassette by the New Jersey-based independent label Skyclad (LUCKY 7), but featuring the "Zebra" sleeve.