The Beautiful Game (compilation album)
| The Beautiful Game | ||
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| Compilation album / studio album by various artists | ||
| Released | 20 May 1996 | |
| Recorded | 1990–1996 | |
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| Length | 78:42 | |
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| Singles from The Beautiful Game | ||
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The Beautiful Game, subtitled The Official Album of Euro '96, is an album of music by various artists released in 1996 by RCA and BMG Records as the official companion album to the UEFA Euro 1996 football tournament in England. The album, a mix between a compilation album of previously released material and a studio album of new material, it features twenty-two different artists, most of them being English football or football-related songs. It reflected the then-current popularity of Britpop and Cool Britannia. The album was co-ordinated by the London-based Music & Media Partnership for the host body, the English Football Association. Music & Media's managing director Rick Blaskey, executive producer of music for Euro '96, says "its clear that two cultures of music and football have never been so close. Consequently, as this country has such a rich heritage in both, it seemed right, it seemed only right to use music to celebrate England hosting Euro '96".
The album was released on 20 May 1996 in the UK by RCA and BMG and on 27 May in other European countries. RCA also revealed plans to release the album in Japan, declaring that it would "sell there purely on its content". It was a commercial success, peaking at number 10 in the UK Compilation Chart. Of the singles released from the album, the most successful was by far Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds' "Three Lions", the Official Song for the England Football Team for the tournament, which spent three weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. Music writer John Harris recognizes that the album arrived at the peak of "beer'n'footy culture" that was "bolted on to Britpop", saying that the album captures how the build-up to UEFA Euro 1996 "caught the imagination of the UK's musicians."
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