Untitled and UnPOLLed: Belly's Excellent 2nd Album 'KING'

i thought we had polled this but all i could find was the star vs. king thread. where i was (and am) completely on the side of king. i go back to this as much as any other '90s alt-rock record, and more than most of them.

(and that's the infamous lowest-selling-cover of RS ever.)

The boys in Belly sure were pretty.

This has aged very well. I went with "Untitled and Unsung"; it's sexy as hell ("Wanna know why I can't sleep...")

where's surm???

I think it's between "Super-Connected" and "Seal My Fate" for me, although I too love this album top-to-bottom and thought Glyn Johns took a whole lot of unnecessary shit for his production, which really made Tanya's huge choruses sound terrific. For now I'm going to go with "Seal My Fate" for Tom Gorman's awesome guitar lines.

But now I'm thinking "Red" or "The Bees." Damn it.

the only time the mix fails the band is on "Super-Connected," actually: the drums sound like shit. The band played Letterman or Leno at the time and they roared through "Super-Connected"; I finally got what they were trying to do.

agree, "super-connected" doesn't take off the way it should. love the song, tho.

i have eternal love for "now they'll sleep," but i think i'll vote the title track. it's such a great, grown-up, sexy song.

and i like how metal the first half of it sounds in this live clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UtGEup_PsU

some really good lyrics on this record, too. "covered in honey/showered in beer" is a great two-line evocation of adolescence.

I get how guys like surm think Star has the voodoo. All those acoustic arpeggios and lyrics about witches, ballerinas, and squirrels. But on King she finds a correlative for the force of her imagination.

(and that's the infamous lowest-selling-cover of RS ever.)

so much for "grunge" - good album, tho.

I'm with the "Star"-all-over-"King" crowd but the singles of "King" were solid. A great live album/boot from this tour would be welcome to hear these songs in a different context.

This album is really underrated (though I would still side with Star). Gonna have to think about this - I think when I put it on I'll be going, "oh, no, THIS one is the best!" for, ooh, the first 8 tracks.

the letterman superconnected

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF9VypEfQ88&feature=related

god tanya was so pretty, that mix of next-level pretty and the girl you had a crush on at school pretty

alfred, fwiw, Feed the Tree is my least favorite track on Star by far, and fuck the squirrel reference. i think you make an interesting point regarding the scope of this record, but i think even tho the magic of Star came with a little more simplicity, it was more visionary than this. admittedly, super-connected makes that argument a bit harder cuz it's so good.

my fav song used to be Red, but i think i'd say super-connected now! will def have to listen and get back to u though.

fyi, i tried to reply to this thread last night, and as i was typing, my computer died! woohoo!

Thanks for the yt, tipsy! S-C is still my fav album track, despite the wanting drums. it's just one of those songs that makes my stomach turn with how good it is.

Voted for "Seal My Fate" but I always get confused regarding whether I prefer the single or album version. Both Belly albums are great - althought for different reasons; quirky ethereal Star versus rocky threatening King - as is the Best Of compilation which has most of their b-sides.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

didn't see this. woulda voted for now they'll sleep

No one voted for Judas My Heart, tisweird.

I'd vote for "King" now. Tremendous song.

"Judas My Heart"!!

The piano.

Judas My Heart is undoubtedly the highlight

beautiful and understated song that stands the test of time, kind of like the breeders' drivin' on 9

Now They'll Sleep 0
Puberty 0

Two other great songs with 0 votes. But then, so many great songs!

Bummed to have missed this; love this album. I'd probably vote King or Red*, though I have soft spot in my heart for Li'l Ennio.

It actually pains me to think of all the songs that got goose-egged here

*I was just thinking about this album the other day, with all the Sublime revives: I was reminded that my favorite song off of their s/t was "Seed", even though it was probably a bit rapey, precisely because all the tempo changes in the song remind of Red and King (itself a little bit of a creepy song)

King isn't creepy, it's sexy!

I remember reading something about how people thought it was about pedophilia back in the day. And Tanya tried to provide an explanation of what it was about--something about a young prince and trying the light the ocean from underneath--that I remember thinking even back then that was on the incoherent side

i have never heard this album.

That is surprising!!!

I don't think I voted in this but I probably would have voted "Now They'll Sleep" and I'm surprised nobody else did.

It's so good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlFzWn_-EdQ

Tanya and Gail reunited! This is so lovely and heart-warming.

http://youtu.be/a6EUH1Kfl8A

the whole of Belly's catalogue is on Spotify. This may seem unnecessary given that they have an eighteen track Best Of based on two LPs and a collection of b-sides, but said Best Of is missing two of their greatest songs, namely the b-sides "Diamond Ribcage" and "Baby's Arm."

Wish I could track down a good rip of that live version of Judas My Heart - the clear vinyl of Seal My Fate sounds terrible.

ACUTELY
I HEARD IT

^^^

Sometimes I think Tanya Donnelly was the Dawn Richard of the 90s

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm.

This record tho

The other night I figured out that Tanya penned my 2nd favorite rock tune of all time. Was b moment for me

That cover is epic

Silverfish 0

oh man what

That was always the ONLY track I was on the fence about but tbh it sounds better now

Can't get over how badass TD looks on that cover. She really brought something entirely new.

The last track on this album used to make me cry so hard

Now eyes burn circles in the dark
And when the mirror talks to me, I listen with my heart
Kind of common cry
Kind of common living lie

Got tickets to the Chicago show on the King 30th anniversary tour. The only other time I’ve seen them was on the original King tour lol. Looking forward to it!

omg I had no idea they were touring???? but will they play Star tracks? did they already do a Star anniversary tour?

I don’t think they did a Star tour, but might have missed it. And yeah I think they’re doing all of King + other stuff. Details here: https://bellyofficial.com/home/blog/7537796/king-30th-anniversary-us-shows

Picked up the new vinyl of King, my one RSD purchase. Sounds great of course. I love pretty much every song, but this one is hitting for me today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8VlIoHYEiw

Saw them in Chicago last night, super fun show. They did all of King, but they rejiggered the song order, which made for a much better live show. They also seemed to be having fun.

ACUTELY
I HEARD IT

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, April 22, 2013 9:01 PM