Wild Opera
| Wild Opera | ||||
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| Studio album by No-Man | ||||
| Released | September, 1996 31 May 2010 |
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| Recorded | August, 1994 | |||
| Genre | Trip hop, art rock | |||
| Length | 55:09 | |||
| Label | 3rd. Stone Ltd., Kscope | |||
| Producer | Tim Bowness, Steven Wilson | |||
| No-Man chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Wild Opera | ||||
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| 2010 Edition | ||||
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Cover of the remastered edition
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    |
| Hot Press | (11/12) |
| Melody Maker | (favourable) |
| Music Week | |
Wild Opera is No-Man's third studio album which displays art rock, trip hop and dub influences that were developed from improvisatory writing sessions.
In 1996, No-Man announced their return on a new label 3rd Stone Ltd., home of Spacemen 3 and Bark Psychosis. This was led by the Housewives Hooked On Heroin single (a Hot Press "Single of the Fortnight"), a taster for the Wild Opera album which followed that autumn.
Wild Opera was a far darker, more beat-driven and wilfully exploratory recording than Flowermouth, with lyrics and moods musing on a fractured, threatening and often crushing world. No-Man's taste for melancholy balladry and cinematic art rock soundscaping was still in evidence, but this time it was joined by savage industrial dance, luscious trip hop and odder pop excursions than the band had ever attempted before.
Most of the album had emerged from a series of semi-spontaneous improvisations recorded over a few hours, rather than planned-out attempts at songwriting. The raw results of three such sessions appeared on the album, revealing new and more direct No-Man working methods. Wild Opera was a reinvention presented to a press that were still coming to grips with the band's re-emergence, and consequently reviews were mixed and often confused. Over the years the album would become an insidious musical force, gradually gaining more underground attention.
The title track itself is unlisted and appears as a 'hidden' bonus track.
One of the Wild Opera tracks -"Dry Cleaning Ray"- was released as a single in 1997. It also spawned the Dry Cleaning Ray mini-album. Even more eclectic than its predecessor, Dry Cleaning Ray presented drastically reworked Wild Opera material, Gainsbourg covers, left-field remixes (such as "Punished For Being Born", Muslimgauze's reinvention of "Housewives Hooked On Heroin"), and freefalling instrumental moments. It also offered new songs such as "Sicknote".
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