Emergency on Planet Earth is the debut studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 14 June 1993 under Sony Soho Square. Prior to its release, the band debuted in 1992 with "When You Gonna Learn" under Acid Jazz Records, and front-man Jay Kay was given a major-label deal with Sony Music. The album was produced as Toby, Stuart and Kay formed the band and is characterised by its acid jazz foundations, layers of instrumentation and socially charged lyrics.
Critical reviews of the album were generally positive and noted its 1970s stylings. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and sold over 1,200,000 copies worldwide. Its single "Too Young to Die" peaked at number 10 in the UK Singles Chart. A remastered version of the album was released in 2013 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the album's release, including a new vinyl release.
Background and composition
Critics have noted the layers of instrumentation on Emergency on Planet Earth, including its horn and string arrangements and the digeridoo, which "few '70s soul artists employed", according to J.D. Considine. Praising Kay's vocals, Christopher Dawes of Melody Maker said "Stevie Wonder and Aaron Neville were the instant reference points." Entertainment Weekly described the album as helping the band "turn out gritty organic grooves with enthusiasm." – "it laid the foundations for an acid-jazz sound that the band would continue to build upon for the next decade and a half." Mike Zwerin of The New York Times called the album "a rare treasure, contemporary pop music with mass potential worth a detour". Tony Parsons of The Daily Telegraph stated that the band "take[s] every cliche in the soul handbook and somehow turn it into a thing of beauty. [Kay] calls women 'sexy ladies' and says things like 'you blow my mind' and 'no more wars,' yet somehow these stale sentiments are rendered fresh and fragrant and really rather wonderful."
A Billboard Magazine reviewer argued that "although Kaye tries to bring a modern vibe to his music, mostly he operates within '70s parameters." David Sinclair of The Times wrote that the band "have recorded a debut which combines youthful brio with musicianship of the very highest order. And, so long as one takes the absurdly earnest, politically correct tone of the lyrics with a sizable pinch of salt, it's a lot of fun too." Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post questioned the band's socially charged lyrics, and further wrote of the album: "Derived from the lush, silky '70s funk and soul of Philadelphia International and Stevie Wonder, Jamiroquai's sound is about as revolutionary as a nonreturnable bottle of Pepsi."
Accolades
A year after the album's release, Jamiroquai were nominated for Brit Award for Best New Artist, Best British Group and Best British Dance Act. Emergency on Planet Earth was nominated for Best British Album and the music video for "Too Young to Die" was nominated for Best British Video. In 1996, Mixmag placed the album at number 17 in its The 50 Best Dance Albums of All Time list. Fnac ranked the album at 229 in its 1000 Best Albums of All Time and listed it as a Key album in The Ideal Discography: 823 Indispensables Albums (2015). In their year-end lists, The Face ranked it at number 14, while Musikexpress ranked it at number 34. The album also was listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
Note: Original 2LP pressings of Emergency follow the above track list with the three extended mixes. All re-pressings contain the CD version of the album.