the Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space poll

tbh their entire career is kind of one awesome megasong

Pillbox, it was the St Andrew's Hall show and yeah, it was hot, but I'm from Memphis so I didn't even really notice tbh.

I even went to the signing at the record store earlier in the day.

At Play it Again in Royal Oak, no? If I recall correctly, the owner of that store had befriended JS & sort of acted as ambassador for all things space-rock/shoegaze in the Detroit area. I've been to Spiritualized signings there too, but I think that was during the Pure Phase tours.

lol small world gets ever smaller on the internet.

er.. it might have been Neptune Records at that point. I don't remember when they changed the name of the store, but it was right around then.

Correct me if I'm wrong... I always got the impression that this was the album that "broke" them in the UK because:

a) by 1997 britpop was definitively over, grand and lushly produced statements were the order of the day, and this did "overblown" much more effectively than Be Here Now (while also providing a bridge between the britpop era and then, say, the crossover of Mercury Rev the following year); and

b) 1997 was also a big era for people latching onto rock albums as "comedown" albums, and while the dance audience that might have gotten into this album probably was smaller than the rock audience that would have been into it anyway this generated a certain a level of feedback loop momentum. See also: Chemical Bros remix of "I Think I'm In Love".

For both of the above reasons, the album felt twinned with Urban Hymns at the time - only, like, much better. But at any rate if there was gonna be a year that Spiritualized would cross over, it was 1997.

okay if I'd played this before the poll closed, I certainly would have voted "Cop Shoot Cop", omg

Tim F OTM

It was in Royal Oak, don't remember the name. But I do remember salivating over all the (OMG OOP RARE!!!VINYL!!!) shoegaze and psych records.

Correct me if I'm wrong... I always got the impression that this was the album that "broke" them in the UK because:

a) by 1997 britpop was definitively over, grand and lushly produced statements were the order of the day, and this did "overblown" much more effectively than Be Here Now (while also providing a bridge between the britpop era and then, say, the crossover of Mercury Rev the following year); and

post-britpop yes, but i don't think "BHN" had much to do with it. it came out before then, almost simultaneously with "ok computer". iirc both were sold as "pushing sonic boundaries" and whatnot (despite the trad instrumentation, obvious debt to the past, etc, of LAGWAFIS). very similar to mercury rev tho, yeah, in that you could read the music press in the mid-90s and not have heard of either band, but then they blew up lke crack in the 80s.

b) 1997 was also a big era for people latching onto rock albums as "comedown" albums, and while the dance audience that might have gotten into this album probably was smaller than the rock audience that would have been into it anyway this generated a certain a level of feedback loop momentum. See also: Chemical Bros remix of "I Think I'm In Love".

otm. cf chemical bros remix of that one mercury rev track.

For both of the above reasons, the album felt twinned with Urban Hymns at the time - only, like, much better. But at any rate if there was gonna be a year that Spiritualized would cross over, it was 1997.

― Tim F, Monday, March 15, 2010 7:37 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark

exactly. plus the girlfriend switcheroo context.

ugh Chemical Bros responsible for so much mid-90s garbage

wtf is wrong with you, srsly

it came out before then, almost simultaneously with "ok computer". - iirc Ladies/Gents, OK Computer & the Bittersweet Symphony singles were released at the exact same time. It was a gigantic chunk of my pizza-delivery earnings I dropped on UK imports that day!

they were certainly within a week or two of each other, may-june time. iirc the og LAG cd gives the release date? but ii also rc that it might be wrong.

og LAG cd - wasn't the special packaging version (cardboard box case w/ single-CD blister pack) available exclusively for at least a few weeks before the *normal* CDs were released? I was a sucker for all of J Spaceman's promo gimmicks back then (& admittedly several of them were pretty damn cool). That cardbox was just a pain in the ass, though.

actually, now that I think about it, this album is responsible for my ILX username: when I started my account, I glanced around the room I was in to find a random object to name myself after & settled on the packaging for this album, which never fit properly in my CD shelves & always sat conspicuously on top of them.

Yeah, I waited until the regular was out.(xpost)

OK, who has the d/l of the twelve 3" CD individual tracks version to hand?

my buddy (who pretty much has as "complete" a Spacemen 3/Sp/Sp/etc. collection one could hope to have, into which years of gathering & 1000s of $$ has gone into) has this, still unopened. I'm sure he'll be buying this ridiculous new thing as well.

FOPP in the UK were selling AMAZING GRACE for fifty pence at one point, so don't expect riches

ha, yeah, but I've just moved 4,000 CDs and am keen to never do it again. And I've got the concave face sculpture version of LICD, thought there might be some overspill interest from the pillbox reissue

my buddy (who pretty much has as "complete" a Spacemen 3/Sp/Sp/etc. collection one could hope to have, into which years of gathering & 1000s of $$ has gone into) has this, still unopened. I'm sure he'll be buying this ridiculous new thing as well.

I never went as far as the 12x3" pillbox, but I do have the 1xCD pillbox (unopened!) and the originally released promo CD with the "Elvis" track.

My brother was working for Vital distribution at the time, who Dedicated went through, and he had a chance to win one of the 12x3"CD pillboxes at a staff meeting, but missed out. He would've given it to me; I've still not quite forgiven him. He's actually got a framed silver disc of this somewhere because of how well it did.

I remember seeing this listed as being on the NME stereo for weeks and weeks and weeks in spring 1997, prior to its release. Think it finally came out in late May? Urban Hymns was late August/September, and I think OKC was June/July time. The three are definitely tied up in my mind, with this being the best (by some considerable distance).

Jeez, I really want a good recording of the full live Ladies and Gentlemen sets. Apparently there's a very high-quality recording form Oct 12, 2009 @ Royal Festival Hall--anyone heard this one or others?

Apparently there's a very high-quality recording form Oct 12, 2009 @ Royal Festival Hall

yep, this is on dime and sounds great. taper was sitting in one of the fancy boxes they have so crowd noise is thankfully minimized.

Will definitely pick it up. I'd love some good Spz recordings but all the ones I've heard were Acoustic ZZZZZZZZZlines ones or just really mellow (like the Royal Albert Hall discs). Recommendations welcome!

I agree with Tim F's analysis except for Be Here Now, which represented the death of one phase rather than a bridge to another. I remember OK Computer, L&G and Urban Hymns being the big, serious post-Britpop triumvirate, leading to many strained references to the impact of Princess Diana's death, the 9/11 of its day for critics looking for real-world ballast in their reviews.

I loved that one-a-year run of L&G, Deserter's Songs and The Soft Bulletin. I got to thinking that every year there'd be another game-changing classic from a group of underappreciated indie veterans.

Chems mix deserves a YouTube embed. Lovelovelove the bit at 5:07 where Pierce appears just so the drums can kick in on the word "falling".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ8bfsL-awY

i've till got the blisterpack, like wrapping for a giant pill, and the advisory sheet on taking your medication

bassline on 'come together' is still sick, that bubbling ebbing descending bottoming out over and over

All the hating on the mad guitar squall in "Cop Shoot Cop" itt makes me want to throw things.

ladies and gentleman we are talking bollocks in space

this is like the fucking best thing tbh

not Hawkwind level best thing but best thing these kids did

in that general soupy sea of drone/snore/shleep/drugs endlessness

Christ has this album aged well.

no idea why it was reissued in 2010 tbh

To get the proper version of the title track on it.

I did get that twelve disc version, one was missing so it was a tenner.

'All of my thoughts"' is about a minute longer.

Y'know, I still think this record is easily as good as OK Computer, and felt just as ambitious as that record even at the time. It's a superior "break-up record" to Blur's 13 too, IMO.

Remember when they won that Brit award, and Kate left her table where she was sitting with The Verve to go up with Jason and the rest of the band, smile, and then went back to her table again?

Shortest band reunion ever.

No, I don't! Did that even happen? I can't remember Spiritualized being nominated for a Brit in 1997/1998. I know The Verve definitely were.

Looked it up, it was the NME awards, back when they got televised I guess.

Ah, right! Yeah, that makes sense... NME put this record ahead of OK Computer in their EOY list, iirc!

Shortest band reunion ever.

The Fatboy Slim tape off the front of the already-split Kate / Jason LAGWAFIS NME cover still holds up imo

It's been almost 20 years, month for month, and against all odds I now enjoy this album far more than I used to. It has… aged well?

Best album packaging ever.

The packaging hasn't aged as well as the album, mine is in tatters.

Was gonna say, mine's completely knackered too.

Same. Squashed and warped to buggery.