Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (stylised in sentence case) is the third studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized, released on 16 June 1997. The album features guest appearances from the Balanescu Quartet, the London Community Gospel Choir and Dr. John.

Background

The album's title is from the philosophical novel Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, the context being:

The album itself was recorded shortly after the break-up of Spiritualized's Jason Pierce and Kate Radley, the band's keyboard player. Radley had secretly married Richard Ashcroft of The Verve in 1995. Pierce, however, maintains that much of the album, including "Broken Heart" and "Cool Waves", had been written before the breakup. "If you write a song like ['Broken Heart'], you have to make it feel like what it's like to have a broken heart," he said. "That's what making albums is all about. Otherwise it's just field recordings."

The title track features lines sung by Pierce through a high-pass filter imitating the spacecraft communications of the Apollo program, including the Quindar tones in between lines. Original pressings had a version of the song that incorporated the lyrics and melody of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love." The Presley estate initially objected to this, and a remixed version appeared on the commercial release, with new lyrics. However, Spiritualized continue to use both sets of lyrics in live performances. The 2009 reissue restored the version with the Presley lyrics, with the proviso that Presley's song would be included in the title with parentheses. Further reissues have since reverted the retitling.

Album closer "Cop Shoot Cop..." references lyrics from John Prine's "Sam Stone", incorporating variations on a key line from that song's chorus.

Recording

In the summer of 1995, Jason Pierce and Sean Cook entered Moles Studio in Bath, England, to start work on demo recordings with resident engineer Trevor Curwen. Pierce would develop his ideas into complete songs during this period. A few weeks later, recording of the album proper began in earnest, with all of the band members present. Working on 24-track tape synchronised to an Atari sequencer allowed Pierce to build up sequenced tracks from samples of live playing, coupled with some parts gleaned from the demo sessions. The full band line-up, including John Coxon on guitar, performed live over this sequenced backbone. neo-psychedelia, shoegaze, gospel,

Releases

The artwork was designed by Pierce in collaboration with Mark Farrow. A special edition of the album was packaged in a box designed to resemble prescription medicine, complete with a booklet containing "dosage advice" and a foil blister pack containing the CD. A limited edition was also released, featuring each of the 12 songs in its own individually wrapped 3-inch CD, inside a large blister pack and box.

In 2020, record club Vinyl Me, Please announced they would reissue the album on blue colored vinyl in September of the same year. This was the first "artist-approved" vinyl reissue of the album.

Critical reception

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space was released to widespread acclaim from music critics. Melody Maker reviewer Ian Watson called it "one mind-blowing perspective-fusing supernova of an album" and "the only truly modern blues record of the decade, a record that redefines notions of bittersweet and love–hate to the point where everyday emotions seem very small indeed." Paul Moody of NME hailed the album as "a seismic tour de force" and found that Pierce had managed to draw upon "an army" of musical influences and "create an entirely new noise out of the wreckage." later awarding it a "one-star honorable mention".

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space reached number four on the UK charts, during the height of the Britpop period. The album went on to be named the NME album of the year at the end of 1997, beating other critically acclaimed albums such as Radiohead's OK Computer and the Verve's Urban Hymns. Select and Vox named Ladies and Gentlemen the second best album of the year, while Melody Maker and The Face named it the fifth best. The album ranked at number 13 on Uncuts year-end list, and Q named it as one of the year's 50 best albums. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space also ranked at number 17 on The Village Voices year-end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.

Legacy

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space has since been acclaimed as one of the best albums of the 1990s on various publications' decade-end lists. In 2009, Pitchfork ranked it at number 55 on their list of the top 100 albums of the 1990s. In their 2022 update, Pitchfork ranked it number 86 on their list of top 150 albums of the 1990s. In 2010, the album was also named one of the 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years by Spin. As of March 2010, the album has sold over 111,000 copies in United States. To coincide with the shows, a remastered legacy edition of the album with new artwork was released on 30 November 2009 in three formats: a one-disc release of the original album; a three-disc release featuring the original album and two bonus discs containing demos, instrumental versions, and session mixes of the album's songs; and a special collector's edition release limited to 1,000 copies consisting of twelve 3" mini CDs, each containing one of the original album's songs, and the aforementioned two CDs of bonus content. Reviewing the reissue, Pitchfork critic Grayson Haver Currin wrote that on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Pierce "unequivocally reached the height of his recorded powers." When ranking the band's discography, Stereogum said, "[This] was always destined to be number one. Because Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is a perfect album."

In 2019, Far Out ranked the album number 29 on their list of "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time". The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 156 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2024, Paste ranked the album number 140 on their list of "The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Spiritualized

  • Jason Pierce – vocals, guitars (Fender Telecaster, Fender Jaguar, Vox Starstream, Gibson Firebird), hammered dulcimer, piano, autoharp
  • Kate Radley – organs (Farfisa Compact, Vox Continental), piano, Roland D-20 synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Sean Cook – Fender Jazz bass guitar, harmonica
  • Damon Reece – drums, percussion, timbales, bells, timpani

Additional musicians

  • John Coxon – guitars (Fender Jaguar, Gibson Firebird), melodica, Roland JD-800 synthesizer
  • Ed Coxon – violin
  • B.J. Cole – pedal steel guitar
  • Angel Corpus Christi – accordion
  • Andy Davis – Hammond organ
  • Dr. John – piano and backing vocals on "Cop Shoot Cop..."
  • Simon Clarke – flute, baritone saxophone
  • Tim Sanders – tenor saxophone
  • Terry Edwards – tenor saxophone
  • Roddy Lorimer – trumpet, flugelhorn
  • Neil Sidwell – trombone
  • Tim Jones – French horn
  • The Balanescu Quartet (Alexander Balanescu, Clare Connors – violins; Kathy Burgess – viola; Sophie Harris – cello)
  • London Community Gospel Choir – choir

Technical

  • Jason Pierce – arrangement, horn arrangements, string arrangements, choral arrangements, production, mixing
  • John Coxon – production on "Stay with Me" and "The Individual"
  • Darren Allison – engineering, mixing
  • Chad Bamford – engineering, mixing
  • Mads Bjerke – engineering, editing, post-production
  • Trevor Curwen – engineering, mixing
  • John Leckie – engineering, mixing
  • Patrick McCarthy – engineering, mixing
  • Patrick McGovern – engineering, mixing
  • Carl Nappa – engineering
  • Darren Nash – engineering, assistant engineering, assistant mixing
  • Lem Lattimer – assistant engineering
  • Chris Scard – assistant engineering
  • Ray Staff – mastering
  • Simon Clarke – horn arrangements
  • Clare Connors – string arrangements
  • Ed Coxon – horn arrangements
  • Basil Hughes – choral arrangements
  • Tim Sanders – horn arrangements

Singles

  • "Supplementary Dosage" (June 1997; US promo-only CD)
  1. "Cop Shoot Cop" (Live)
  2. "Shine a Light" (Live)
  3. "Electric Mainline" (Live)
  4. "Cool Waves" (Instrumental)
  5. "The X-Files Theme"
  • "Broken Heart" (July 1997; UK promo-only CD)
  1. "Broken Heart" (Instrumental)
  • "Electricity" (28 July 1997)

:CD1

  1. "Electricity" (Edit)
  2. "Take Your Time" (Live)
  3. "All of My Tears" (Live)
  4. "Cool Waves" (Instrumental)

:CD2

  1. "Electricity"
  2. "Cop Shoot Cop" (Live)
  3. "Shine a Light" (Live)
  4. "Electric Mainline" (Live)
  • "I Think I'm in Love" (2 February 1998)
  1. "I Think I'm in Love" (Edit)
  2. "I Think I'm in Love" (The Chemical Brothers Remix)
  3. "I Think I'm in Love" (The Chemical Brothers Instrumental)
  • "Come Together" (17 July 1998)
  1. "Come Together" (Richard Fearless Remix)
  2. "Come Together" (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix)
  • The Abbey Road EP (14 August 1998)
  1. "Come Together" (Abbey Road Version)
  2. "Broken Heart" (Abbey Road Version)
  3. "Broken Heart" (Instrumental; Abbey Road Version)

Charts

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! scope="col"| Chart (1997)

! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position

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References

  • An archive of music press reviews for Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space at the official Darren Allison website
  • Soul Kitchen Magazine An extensive interview with Darren Allison about the recording of Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space