Fruit of Life
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| Fruit of Life | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1993 at Real World, Box, Wiltshire, England and at Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California, U.S. | |||
| Genre | Folk rock[1] | |||
| Length | 56:01 | |||
| Label | DGC[2] | |||
| Producer | Tchad Blake | |||
| Wild Colonials chronology | ||||
| ||||
Fruit of Life is the debut album by the Wild Colonials, released in 1994.[3][4] "Spark" was released as a single and was a radio hit.[5][6] The band supported the album with a North American tour, including shows with Toad the Wet Sprocket and Grant Lee Buffalo.[7][8]
Recorded partly at Real World Studios, the album was produced by Tchad Blake.[9][10] Chad Smith and Pete Thomas contributed to the album.[11][12] Frontwoman Angela McCluskey wrote or cowrote nine of the album's 10 songs.[13] "Dear Mike" is a homage to Mike Scott.[14] "Don't Explain" is a cover of the Billie Holidays song.[15] "Rainbow" borrows from Carmen.[16]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [17] |
| Los Angeles Daily News |  [1] |
| Los Angeles Times | [18] |
| The Republican | [19] |
| The Tampa Tribune | [16] |
The Los Angeles Times praised McCluskey's "throaty Scotswoman vocals, and a violin-dominated, Celtic-friendly sound that's warm even by coffeehouse standards."[18] The Record wrote that "the restrained musical backdrop—mostly piano, acoustic guitar and occasional horns—serves McCluskey's rich voice perfectly."[20] The Tampa Tribune deemed Fruit of Life "the freshest debut album since last year's Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? by the Cranberries."[16]
The News Tribune stated that "Irish chanteys, American R&B and folk styles are merged with Middle Eastern and even African rhythms."[21] The State advised: "Call it world folk, more compelling than a cowboy junkie, more tantalizing than 10,000 maniacs."[22] The Republican noted that "much of the lyrical content here is dark, and the music ranges from the deeply brooding to undeniably uplifting."[19]
AllMusic called the album "an inventive pastiche of a variety of folk and pop influences."[17]
Track listing
All songs written by various members of the Wild Colonials except for the Billie Holiday cover "Don't Explain".
- "Girl" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon/Roewe) – 6:28
- "Spark" (McCluskey/Shark) – 4:20
- "Heaven & Hell" (McCluskey/Roewe) – 5:20
- "Philadelphia Story" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon) – 4:52
- "Mission" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon/Roewe/Bernard) – 6:05
- "Alice" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon/Roewe) – 4:58
- "Rainbow" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon) – 5:12
- "Don't Explain" (Holiday/Herzog) – 6:46
- "Victim" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon/Roewe) – 5:59
- "Dear Mike" (McCluskey/Shark/Cantelon/Roewe) – 6:13
