The Return of the Space Cowboy is the second studio album by English funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai. The album was released on 17 October 1994 under Sony Soho Square. The album continues the musical direction of their debut, Emergency on Planet Earth (1993), and is characterised by its complex songwriting as a result of Jay Kay's creative block mid-production. Its lyrics addressed street life, hope, loss, Kay's drug use, and social matters regarding Native Americans and youth protests.
Critical reviews of the album were generally positive, with some considering it an improvement from Jamiroquai's first album. It ranked at number 2 in the UK and was certified platinum in the country, with 1,300,000 copies sold worldwide. Its singles "Half the Man" and "Stillness in Time" reached number 15 and number 9, respectively, on the UK Singles Chart, while "Space Cowboy" and "Light Years" peaked at number 1 and number 6 on the US Dance Charts, respectively. The album was reissued in 2013 in remastered form with bonus material.
Background and composition
thumb|left|upright|[[Jay Kay performing with Jamiroquai, ]]
Derrick McKenzie auditioned to be the drummer for Jamiroquai by recording the opening track, "Just Another Story", with the band in one take. McKenzie replaced the band's original drummer, Nick Van Gelder, who failed to return from holiday. In the song, Jay Kay "extemporises a street tale ... midway between rapping and singing."
The album was recorded at Townhouse, Battery, and Falconer studios, all located in London. As the band started to record, Kay suddenly fell into a second-album syndrome worsened by his increasing drug use. The songwriting process was complex for the band, as Kay was often dissatisfied with the results, leading to songs being scrapped or rewritten. The Latin-tinged "Stillness in Time" was written when Kay was at his lowest point in recording the album. He said that "the sweetness of [the song] was really wishful thinking; a hope that things would get better." "Half the Man" is a mid-tempo track about Kay's twin brother who died shortly after birth: "[In] that sense I always have a part of me being missing, but it also doubles up really nicely as a love song".
With the band's songwriting going back and forth between harder and softer songs, they shifted to writing "Light Years", a track Kay described as having a "very heavy vibe". Halfway through recording the album, Kay found his turning point when he wrote the final track, "Space Cowboy", while his drug use was "completely out of control and I was losing my mind". In the United States, it released in 1995 under the Work Group. The single peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart and was their first number one on the US Dance Chart. The single contains remixes by David Morales, which further put the single in club circulation. "Half the Man" was released as the album's third overall single, on 7 November 1994. The track reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song was number six on the Dance Chart. "Stillness in Time" was the album's fifth overall single, released on 19 June 1995. The track peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart,
Reception
Critics have said The Return of the Space Cowboy continues the style of Jamiroquai's 1993 album Emergency on Planet Earth, and some have considered it an improvement in comparison, Entertainment Weekly described the band as "a funk-making machine with a bright future in the past", Writing of the lyrics, Sonia Murray of The Atlanta Constitution opined that "Jamiroquai challenges our numb response to violence, the lure of material trappings, even 'the shame of [his] ancestry' with a spirit so unencumbered and personal that these searing messages feel like engaging talks over coffee."
Neil Spencer of The Guardian commented: "Most of this second album still sounds like vintage Stevie Wonder and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, but Kay's vocals are as snappy and engaging as his extrovert persona". David Sinclair wrote that the album "combines intricate arrangements with several long, free-form workouts crammed with virtuoso performances." Andy Gill of The Independent found several of the tracks too long.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Jay Kay and Toby Smith, except where noted.|group=nb
| total_length = 65:44
| all_writing =
| title1 = Just Another Story
| note1 =
| writer1 =
| length1 = 8:49
| title2 = Stillness in Time
| writer2 =
| length2 = 4:15
| title3 = Half the Man
| writer3 =
| length3 = 4:48
| title4 = Light Years
| writer4 =
| length4 = 5:53
| title5 = Manifest Destiny
| writer5 =
| length5 = 6:19
| title6 = The Kids
| writer6 =
| length6 = 5:08
| title7 = Mr. Moon
| writer7 =
| length7 = 5:28
| title8 = Scam
| writer8 =
| length8 = 7:00
| title9 = Journey to Arnhemland
| writer9 =
| note9 = instrumental
| length9 = 5:19
| title10 = Morning Glory
| writer10 =
| length10 = 6:21
| title11 = Space Cowboy
| note11 =
| writer11 = Kay
| length11 = 6:25
Personnel
Credits adapted from album liner notes.
- Adrian Bushby – engineering
- Martin Harrison – mixing on "Light Years" (Live at the 'Theatre du Moulin', Marseille, December 1994)
- Creative Hands – design
- Eddie Monsoon – photography
- Chris Nash – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Weekly chart performance for The Return of the Space Cowboy
!Chart
!Position
|-
|align="left"|Australian ARIA Album Chart
|42
|-
|align="left"|Austrian Albums Chart
|22
|-
|align="left"|Dutch Albums Chart
|37
|-
|align="left"|French SNEP Albums Chart
|4
|-
|align="left"|German Media Control Albums Chart
|37
|-
|align="left"|Japanese Oricon Albums Chart
|23
|-
|align="left"|Swedish Albums Chart
|17
|-
|align="left"|Swiss Albums Chart
|9
|-
|align="left"|UK Albums Chart
|2
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Year-end chart performance for The Return of the Space Cowboy
!Chart (1993)
!Position
|-
|align="left"|French Albums Chart
|31
|}