Hate (The Delgados album)

Hate is the fourth studio album by Scottish rock band the Delgados. It was first released on 14 October 2002 by Mantra Records. Following the release of their third studio album The Great Eastern, the band performed music during an art show by Joe Coleman. It served as the catalyst for their next album, giving vocalist and guitarist Alun Woodward the urge to write more honest material. Recording was mainly held at CaVa Sound Studios in Glasgow, Scotland, with Dave Fridmann, Tony Doogan, and the band as producers. Additional recording was done at Chem19 Studios, also in Glasgow, and at Tarbox Road Studios in Cassadaga, New York. Described as an orchestral pop album, Hate continued the sound of The Great Eastern.

Hate received generally favourable reviews from critics, some of whom found it to be an improvement on The Great Eastern. It charted at number 27 in Scotland, and number 57 in the United Kingdom. Its lead single "Coming in from the Cold" peaked at number 55 in Scotland, and number 82 in the UK. The second single, "All You Need Is Hate", charted at number 72 in the UK, and number 73 in Scotland. "Coming in from the Cold" was released on 14 October 2002, which was followed by two UK tours in late 2002 and early 2003. Hate was released in the United States in January 2003. "All You Need Is Hate" was released on 17 February 2003; the band embarked on a tour of the United States in April 2003, which was followed by another UK trek, and a stint in Europe with Doves.

Background and production

The Delgados released their third studio album, The Great Eastern, in April 2000 through their own label Chemikal Underground. When making it, the band were unable to finish it initially. Vocalist and guitarist Alun Woodward felt the mixes sounded "hideous [...] flat and never went anywhere". Producer Dave Fridmann was brought in to re-work the material; the resulting album was full of strings and related orchestral instrumentation.

The catalyst for the Delgados' next album came from an art show by Joe Coleman that the band performed music for. His paintings centred on blood, violence and death, among other topics; Woodward said they showed life in its true form, "and they're difficult things". This gave him the "desire to be honest" when writing material for the band's upcoming album. Discussing the album's title, Pollock said "some aspects of life have to do with [hate]. Like the struggles of people and the negative emotions in life". Woodward said the album centred around "a lot of negativity, but I think once you actually listen, these are songs which say, 'I’m an alright guy, but I’m a bit of a dickhead, right, and I can see that in myself. Dominic Farr came up with the brass arrangements across the album. The band wrote the majority of the string arrangements; they collaborated with Malcolm Lindsay on "If This Is a Plan", while he solely did "The Drowning Years". Its lavish strings and distorted backing track, topped off with Pollock's upbeat vocals, set the tone for the rest of the album. "All You Need Is Hate" deals with misanthropy; it title is a parody of "All You Need Is Love" (1967) by the Beatles. The song itself evoked the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" (1967), and leans into R&B. "Coming in from the Cold" lacks the orchestration found on most of the tracks in lieu of straightforward pop in the style of Coldplay and Travis. According to vocalist and guitarist Emma Pollock, it is a "tale about how dangerous it can be to bring up a child without love and affection because it can all turn upside down later on in life". A version of "Child Killers", along with "Never Look at the Sun", had been performed for Coleman's exhibition. On the same day, Hate was released through Mantra Recordings. The band opted not to release it through Chemikal Underground due to not having the necessary funds, and were not willing to take support away from others acts on the label. Up to this point, Mantra had released the band's past releases in the United States. The Japanese edition includes "Coalman" and "Crutches" as extra tracks. Later in the same month, Woodward and Savage spent time DJing while on tour with the Polyphonic Spree.

The Delgados went on a three-week UK tour at end of 2002 supporting Doves, and then embarked on a headlining stint of their own in January and February 2003. To enhance the songs live, the band were accompanied by Barr on cello, Cross on violin, Lewis Turner on keyboards, and other individuals. Hate was released in the US on 21 January 2003, which included the bonus tracks "Coalman" and "Mad Drums", alongside the music video for "Coming in from the Cold". "All You Need Is Hate" was released the album's second single on 17 February 2003, with "Mad Drums" and a cover of "Mr. Blue Sky" (1977) by the Electric Light Orchestra as the B-sides. The band went on a trek to the US in April 2003, and another UK tour the following month, leading up to the benefit event Concern Concert for Africa. They embarked on a 30-date tour of Europe with Doves.

| rev1 = AllMusic

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| rev2 = The Austin Chronicle

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| rev3 = Drowned in Sound

| rev3score = 9/10

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4score = A−

| rev5 = The Guardian

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| rev6 = Los Angeles Times

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| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 8.1/10

| rev8 = Q

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| rev9 = Rolling Stone

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| rev10 = Spin

| rev10score = 8/10

Hate was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 20 reviews.Los Angeles Times writer Kevin Bronson highlighted Fridmann's production style for adding "cinematic [...] flourishes" that made his past work memorable, "but it is restraint that makes the Delgados' tightrope act work". "All You Need Is Hate" charted at number 72 in the UK, and number 73 in Scotland. Playlouder ranked the album at number 14 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2002. Stylus included the album on their list of The Top 50 Albums of 2000–2005.

Track listing

All songs written by the Delgados.

The Delgados

Stewart Henderson – bass
Emma Pollock – guitar, vocals
Paul Savage – drums, percussion
Alun Woodward – guitar, vocals

Additional musicians

The Delgados – programming, other instruments, samples, noises, string arrangements (all except track 4), choir arrangements (tracks 1 and 8), choir (track 10)
Capella Nova – choir
Rebecca Tavener – soprano
Libby Crabtree – soprano
Anne Lewis-Mezzo – soprano
Paul Rendall – tenor
Nicholas York-Jones – baritone
Noel Mann – bass
Alan Tavener – director
Dominic Farr – trumpet, brass arrangements

Additional musicians (continued)

James Woods – trumpet
Chris Cruikshank – baritone saxophone
Andrew Fraser – trombone
Mark Traynor – trombone
Denis Kane – trombone
Greg Lawson – violin
Vuk Krakovic – violin
Charlie Cross – violin, viola
Alan Barr – cello
Diana Clark – double bass
Camille Mason – flute
Lauren Lambell – piano, keyboards
Lewis Turner – piano, keyboards
Dave Fridmann – additional bass guitar (track 9)
Malcolm Lindsay – harp, string arrangements (tracks 4 and 11), choir arrangements (tracks 1, 3 and 8)

Production and design

Joe Coleman – touch paper lit
Dave Fridmann – producer, mixing, additional recording
Tony Doogan – producer, recording
The Delgados – producer
William of Deans – assistant
Michael Bannister – assistant
Michael Ivins – assistant
Andy Miller – additional recording
Chris Blair – mastering
James Luckett – photography

Charts

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|+ Chart performance for Hate

!scope="col"| Chart (2002)

!scope="col"| Peak position

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Hate at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)