The Beta Band (album)
| The Beta Band | ||||
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| Studio album by The Beta Band | ||||
| Released | 21 June 1999 | |||
| Recorded | 1999 | |||
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| Length | 62:02 | |||
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| The Beta Band chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| CMJ New Music Monthly | (favourable) |
| Pitchfork | (8.6/10) 1 Jul 99 |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| Rolling Stone |
8 Jul 99
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The Beta Band is the official studio debut album of The Beta Band, released in 1999 on Regal Records. The album followed the critically acclaimed compilation of their first three EPs titled The Three E.P.'s (1998). With high anticipation for The Beta Band, the band originally planned to record the album in four separate continents, but financial constraints slimmed the recording locations down; however, the album was still recorded in a variety of locations. The band approached creating the songs in a variety of ways, sometimes forming songs from single melodies, sometimes bringing together other strands of music, among other forms.
The album builds upon the experimental nature of their EPs, and is often seen as a particularly intricate, experimental and layered album, with a variety of different influences, sound effects, instrumentation and song structures. Based more-so around beat and rhythm than prior releases, the numerous different styles and influences incorporated into The Beta Band include psychedelia, hip hop and blues. Vocalist Steve Mason described his lyrics as fitting but without narrative interests. The band also recorded an ambient bonus disc of two long compositions, but decided not to include the disc in the final release.
Upon its release, the band infamously called the album "fucking awful," largely blaming time constraints. Upon its release, it reached number 18 on the UK Albums Chart. Critics were favourable towards the album, although many found the album particularly messy and disappointing after the EPs. In later years however, several critics have found the album to be underrated and have praised its ambitions.
In 1997 and 1998, Scottish-based The Beta Band recorded their first releases, three EPs, Champion Versions, The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos, which were met with high critical acclaim. After signing to Regal Records, a subsidiary of EMI's label Parlophone, the three EPs were released together as the album The Three E.P.'s in September 1998, which similarly was met with mass critical acclaim. They signed to Astralwerks in the United States in 1999 who released The Three E.P.'s there. According to one journalist, "over the course of [the E.P.s], multi-instrumentalists John Maclean, Steve Mason, Robin Jones and Richard Greentree have drawn upon trip-hop beats, ambient drones and strange variants on Pink Floyd's introspective balladry to create a sound uniquely their own." The writer felt that The Three E.P.'s "served as a fabulous taster for the band's self-titled debut."
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