WYSIWYG (album)
| WYSIWYG | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by Chumbawamba | ||||
| Released | 4 April 2000 | |||
| Recorded | 1999-2000 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:48 | |||
| Label |
EMI (UK) Republic Records/Universal Records (United States) |
|||
| Chumbawamba chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
  link
|
| Amazon.com | (negative) link |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ link |
| HybridMagazine.com | (positive) link |
| InMusicWeTrust.com | B+ link |
| Kansas City Pitch | (positive) link |
| MTV Asia | (7/10) link |
| Robert Christgau | A- |
| Rolling Stone |
 link
|
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) is the ninth studio album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Released after the massive success of their previous effort, Tubthumper, it commented on various aspects of the pop culture the band had inadvertently become a part of. It achieved this by the heavy inclusion of sound bites, pop culture and commercial culture references and even a small amount of self-parody.
About 8 months after the release of Tubthumper, Chumbawamba returned to the studio to work on a follow-up record. They recorded a full 10-song album, but decided it was too similar to its predecessor, so they scrapped it and started over.
The 23 tracks (some songs being fully formed, some short, experimental and sample heavy) flow into one another almost without stop, and musical and lyrical themes are repeated throughout causing the album to much more tighly constructed than previous efforts and could be considered a concept album.
The cover art follows the 'What You See Is What You Get' concept. It appears to be the head of a dog, but is actually a small part of a larger photo of two dogs copulating when the insert is opened up fully.
This was a commercial failure for Chumbawamba, causing them to leave EMI a year later due to disputes. However, in the United States, Republic/Universal handled releases for MUTT Records, especially Readymades, but dropped the band from the label in 2004, allowing them to sign onto Koch Records. As of August 2015, the album had sold 22,000 copies in the US.
All songs written by Chumbawamba (except as noted). Unlisted tracks appear in italics.
Bonus tracks on some versions
Also appearing
...
Wikipedia