The White Room
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The White Room | ||
Studio album by The KLF | ||
Released | March 1991 | |
Recorded | Trancentral The Village, Dagenham Lillie Yard, London Matrix, London Mixing: Lillie Yard, London The Townhouse, London The Manor, Oxfordshire |
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Genre | Electronica | |
Length | 45:05 | |
Label | KLF Communications | |
Producer(s) | The KLF | |
Professional reviews | ||
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The KLF chronology | ||
Chill Out (1990) |
The White Room (1991) |
The Black Room (Unreleased) |
The White Room was a 1991 worldwide No. 1 hit album by British house music group The KLF. It was also the name of a film made by the group two years earlier but never released. The White Room LP was originally due to be released in 1989 as the soundtrack to the film, but the release of both was cancelled at the last moment. Most of the songs on the 1989 version turned up again on the 1991 LP in significantly remixed form, but of the original mixes recorded for the film soundtrack, only the single "Kylie Said To Jason" and a version of "Build A Fire" saw legitimate commercial release.
Contents |
[edit] Context
The White Room is also the name of a road movie about the KLF's search for the mystical White Room which will enable them to be released from their contract with Eternity. It was filmed in the Sierra Nevada region of Spain using the money that the duo made as The Timelords with the 1988 UK novelty pop No. 1 "Doctorin' the Tardis".
The White Room was supposed to be followed by a darker, harder complementary album called The Black Room.
[edit] 1989 soundtrack album
[edit] Track listing
- "Kylie Said To Jason [Edit]" – 4.05
- "3 a.m. Eternal" – 4.24
- "Go To Sleep" – 3.44
- "Make It Rain" – 3.43
- "Church Of The KLF" – 3.58
- "No More Tears" – 3.26
- "Build A Fire" – 5.02
- "The Lovers' Side" – 4.24
- "The White Room" – 4.31
- "Born Free" – 3.02
[edit] 1991 album
[edit] Reviews
The All Music Guide said that The White Room "represents the commercial and artistic peak of late-'80s acid-house"[1] and Q magazine called it "strikingly imaginative" and "a more subtle form of subterfuge" than previous works.[2] A retrospective review by Splendid Magazine thought some of the tracks to be filler and the album "silly" in places, but were extremely impressed by the "Stadium House" songs. "As providers of perverse, throwaway, three-minute pop-song manna," they concluded, "the KLF were punk rock, the Renaissance, Andy Warhol and Jesus Christ all rolled into one."[3]
In 1993, NME staff and contributors voted the album the 81st best of all time.[4][5] The Guardian listed it at the 89th best British album of all time[6] and Scotland on Sunday listed the album in their "Essential 100".[7] Readers of Scotland's Is This Music? magazine voted The White Room the 44th best "Scottish" LP of all time.[8] In 2000 Q magazine placed it at number 89 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
[edit] Track listing
Running times are given for the version of The White Room released outside North America. In the North American Arista release, samples of crowd noise from U2's Rattle and Hum album, used to segue between the "Stadium House" tracks, are removed, leading to abrupt and awkward transitions between these tracks; additionally, "Last Train to Trancentral" and "No More Tears" are shortened.
- "What Time Is Love?" (LP Mix) – 4:37
- "Make It Rain" – 4:06
- "3 a.m. Eternal" (Live at the S.S.L.) – 3:14 sample
- "Church of The KLF" – 1:42
- "Last Train to Trancentral" (LP Mix) – 6:04
- "Build a Fire" – 4:39
- "The White Room" – 5:14
- "No More Tears" – 9:24
- "Justified and Ancient" – 4:43
[edit] Personnel
- Jimmy Cauty - production, performance and programming
- Bill Drummond - production, performance, vocals and programming
[edit] Additional performers
- Nick Coler - keyboards, additional programming; backing vocals ("3 a.m. Eternal")
- Maxine Harvey - vocals, backing vocals (except "What Time Is Love?", "Justified and Ancient")
- Black Steel - vocals, scat singing; bass guitar ("No More Tears", "Justified and Ancient"), piano ("No More Tears")
- Ricardo Lyte - rap ("3 a.m. Eternal" and "Last Train To Trancentral")
- Isaac Bello - rap ("What Time Is Love?")
- Tony Thorpe - breaks, samples
- Duy Khiem - tenor saxophone ("Make It Rain"), clarinet ("3 a.m. Eternal")
- Graham Lee - pedal steel ("Build A Fire")
- P. P. Arnold
[edit] Notes & references
- ^ Bush, J., The White Room review, All Music Guide (link)
- ^ George, Iestyn, The White Room review, Q magazine, March 1991 (link)
- ^ Harrison, A., The White Room review, Splendid Magazine (link)
- ^ http://microsites.nme.com/top100/site/90.html
- ^ http://microsites.nme.com/reviews/top100.html
- ^ "The top 100 British albums", The Guardian (Manchester), 2 May 2000, p9.
- ^ "Essential 100 CDs - Part 3", Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh), 29 April 2001, p19.
- ^ "The Razz Rock: Grand prize for Fan Club ; Album named best of all time", Daily Record (Glasgow), 1 April 2005, Features section, p43.
The KLF |
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Bill Drummond | Jimmy Cauty |
Also known as |
The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu | The Timelords | K Foundation | One World Orchestra | 2K | K2 Plant Hire |
Main albums |
1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?) | Who Killed The JAMs? | Chill Out | The White Room |
Related articles |
Discography | Films | The Manual | Disco 2000 | Space | The Black Room | The K Foundation Burn a Million Quid |