Tiger Bay is the third studio album by English indie dance band Saint Etienne. It was released by Heavenly Recordings. In an interview with Record Collector, band member Bob Stanley stated that the title is a reference to the 1959 film Tiger Bay.
The album is described by Bob Stanley as "an album of modern folk songs done in twentieth century styles like techno and dub". "Like a Motorway", for example, blends Kraftwerk-style techno with the melody from the nineteenth century folk song "Silver Dagger". Some of the songs, such as "Marble Lions" and "Former Lover" forsake electronics for classical folk instrumentation and orchestral arrangements. One, "Western Wind", is a traditional English folk song.
Background
The band wrote most of the songs in the Forest of Dean, in the hope that the countryside would inspire folk ideas. The original intention was for all the songs to be about death.
The American edition of the album replaced the UK cover art with a photograph of the band smartly dressed at a table. It does not include the "Western Wind"/"Tankerville" suite. In place of the cut songs is the single "I Was Born on Christmas Day" and remixes by Daniel Abraham of "Hug My Soul" and "Like a Motorway".
The Japanese edition of the album was retitled as 哀しみ色のムーヴィー (Pale Movie), and included the bonus tracks "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Pale Movie (Lemonentry Mix)".
Tiger Bay was reissued in 1996 by Creation Records, in part because of Saint Etienne's absence from the music scene, but also because of their formal move to Creation Records. The reissue featured another new cover, this time showing Giuditta del Vecchio (from the film Léolo); the back shows a picture of the group. The inner sleeve was updated, and includes a short commentary on the album by journalist and friend of the group Simon Price, as well as a new selection of photographs with a summery theme. The album itself features a slightly shuffled track listing. "Marble Lions" is moved to appear after "Pale Movie". The second occurrence of "Western Wind" is removed completely; instead "Tankerville" fades into "Boy Scouts of America". "Former Lover" is also edited, although less noticeably, with only the opening guitar chords being removed. The reissue also features four extra tracks – "I Buy American Records", "Grovely Road", "Hate Your Drug" and the single edit of "He's on the Phone".
In 2010 the album was re-released once more. The new deluxe version reinstates the original sleeve art and includes a booklet with an interview with Bob Stanley and additional bonus disc containing a number of demos and all of the B-sides.
Response
In his review for Select, Stuart Maconie hailed Tiger Bay as Saint Etienne's "best album yet" and highlighted its "almost criminally opulent variety of musical backdrops", and the latter suggesting "Pale Movie" was "a hit in the waiting room." Chicago Tribune critic Brad Webber complimented the album's "soothing amalgamation of lush instrumentals and hypnotic, house-music beats", In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau simply listed it as a "dud".
The British release of Tiger Bay was commercially successful and reached #8 on the UK Albums Chart. Three singles were released, but none matched the popularity of those from their previous album. The first, "Pale Movie", peaked at No. 28.
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Dave Thompson lauded Tiger Bay as "the peak" of Saint Etienne's early work, and "everything that two generations of post-Beatles wannabes have labored to create, but have always been too in awe to complete: a melding of mood with momentum, emotion with eccentricity, and an endless succession of divine verses sliding into sad and sexy hooks."
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