Once Upon a Time in the West (album)

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Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in the West cover
Studio album by Hard-Fi
Released Flag of Germany August 30, 2007
Flag of Ireland August 31, 2007
Flag of the United Kingdom September 3, 2007
Flag of the United States September 18, 2007
Recorded 1st December 2006 - May 2007
Genre Indie, Alternative
Length 37:54
Label Warner Music
Producer Wolsey White
Richard Archer
Professional reviews
Hard-Fi chronology
In Operation
(2006)		 Once Upon a Time in the West
(2007)		 Once Upon a Time in December
(2007)
Alternate covers
"Once Upon a Time in the West" Japanese Cover
"Once Upon a Time in the West" Japanese Cover

Once Upon a Time in the West is the second album from Staines-based British band Hard-Fi. It was released on September 3, 2007[1] on Necessary/Atlantic and Warner Music UK. It reached #1 in the UK in the first week of its release, unlike its predecessor, Stars of CCTV, which took about 5 months to do so. It also reached #5 in the European Top Albums.

The first track to be released was "Suburban Knights", on August 20, 2007,[2] reaching #7 in UK charts and a download only release on August 13, 2007.[3] This was followed by "Can't Get Along (Without You)" on November 12, 2007[4] [5] which wasn't as successful, only charting at #45[6] not even making top #40 and thus being Hard-Fi's least successful single in the UK Charts to date. On the other hand, it reached #1 in Peru, one week after being released and staying there for two weeks. On the March 10, 2008. 'I Shall Overcome' became the third single to be released from Once Upon a Time in the West, again the single showed to be a success in Peru, reaching #4 and hitting #35 in the UK singles chart

The album's cover artwork has received some mixed publicity, however, mostly negative, after the band opted — against the advice of their major label company — to not have any artwork on it. The band's frontman, Richard Archer, stated the band wanted "to break the rules".[7]

Contents

[edit] History

Hard-Fi were approaching a new stage in their career. Commercially successful, the West London four-piece worked on a second album. 'Stars of CCTV' was eventually followed by the eagerly anticipated 'Once Upon A Time In The West'.

After recording their debut, it sold over 1 million copies worldwide and soaring to #1, it spawned the radio mainstay hit singles: 'Cash Machine', 'Hard to Beat' and 'Living for the Weekend'.

Nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize and Best British Group at the 2006 BRITs, in a matter of months Hard-Fi had become one of Britain's biggest bands. Their first major tour sold out in, according to some reports, a record 15 minutes. They played London's Brixton Academy for 5 consecutive nights - making them one of the few bands to do so alongside The Clash, Bob Dylan and The Prodigy. According to the band on their official podcast, they could have sold anywhere up to eight if it wasn't for Ashcroft performing there.

Straight after the tour had finished they had released In Operation which highlighted their gig at the London Astoria on a CD/DVD format, it was now time to go back into the studio with a number of demos. Although the band were offered to work in the Abbey Road Studios, however they decided after searching for a studio that would suit them, that they would keep their "Cherry Lips" studio, which earned its name from the colour used to paint the walls. The band expanded the studios to have more space.[8][9]

The album was pretty much written, the band had a demo of nearly every song on the demo. The band had about ten songs that he thought were suitable for the album among fity others but Richard Archer decided that he wanted to spend at least a year concentrating on those ten, re-working the songs and just trying to improve them. To help them improve the songs, the band would play new songs live to see some reception towards what they had been working on and then seeing what they could add or take off.

Through a video podcast, which was broadcasted through YouTube, MySpace and iTunes, the band uploaded episodes of how things were going, offering a taste of what was to come and what recording was like among other things such as Ross giving a step to step guide on how to make the perfect cup of tea.

Shortly before the album's release, it was revealed that the band had a fall out with the record company when the band did not want to meet their demands. Archer made clear that he did not want to rush the recording of the album which caused negative tensions between them and their bosses. He told The Sun;

"The label were breathing down our necks as soon as we started this album. When we were recording, the label wanted it yesterday. They didn't want to take any chances. We built our own studio for the sessions so everything took a little longer than expected. We were in there working, experimenting with our new setup and the label weren't hearing anything. They started freaking out and talking about pulling the plug and putting us in a new studio with a new producer. I had to tell them to get a f**king grip."[10]

The first single from the album was Suburban Knights, released on 20 August. The single had its first play on 18 June 2007 at 19:20 (BST) on Radio 1. The album Once Upon A Time In The West was finally released on 3 September 2007. The band launched the album on the midnight of release at Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street, London with a performance of a selected number of songs followed by a CD signing.[11] The following day the band performed at Maida Vale Studios to a small audience who earned their tickets through promotion. [12][13]

On Sunday 9 September, 'Once Upon A Time In The West' went straight in at #1 in the Album Charts giving the band a second #1 album following Stars of CCTV. However, the album was met with a mixed response from both fans and critics. Consequently, it dropped to #6 in its second week, #20 in the third week and #33 in the week after that, before leaving the top 40.

[edit] Further information

The name of the album was chosen as the band had been watching a lot of westerns on their tour bus, being big fans of Ennio Morricone they decided it was perfect as they go on stage to "Man With The Harmonica" every night.[14] Other titles, now deemed by Archer as "silly" were "Bat Out of Staines" and "Songs In The Key Of Staines".[15]

Tracks on the album include the 70's ska-inspired "We Need Love", and "Tonight". "The latter is a big piano-driven number – it had a few incarnations before it became what it is, but it's about the possibility of night time. "History is made at night." said Archer.[16] Meanwhile, the former harks back to The Specials and was inspired by Billy Bragg's novella "The Progressive Patriot". Other tracks include the R&B-influenced "Can't Get Along (Without You)", "Help Me Please" – a track written about the death of Archer's mother – plus, "I Shall Overcome" which echoes an early The Clash, along with the lead single "Suburban Knights".

The album leaked to peer-to-peer networks on the August 23, 2007; however, this did not stop it from going to #1 in its first week of release.

"Tonight" went to #6 in Q's Top 50 Essential Downloads, where they described the song as "Richard Archer's written his first power ballad, all piano , surging chorus and lyrics about "feeling alive". If Chris Martin dropped his aitches, this is what he'd sound like."[17]

[edit] Cover Art

The cover art of the album has received both good and bad criticism, but mostly bad. It has a plain yellow background with the album title at the top, and NO COVER ART written in large, white letters below. It has been slated as one of the worst of all time,[18][19] however, top cover art designer Peter Saville has described it as "a 'White Album' for the digital culture."[20][21]

On Gonzo with Zane Lowe, they were discussing worst cover art ever, Gonzo mentioned Once Upon a Time in the West, but Zane Lowe disagreed, "I didn't find it that bad, I mean sure it was perhaps a little too over thought but I don't think it's that bad and Hard-Fi have already had enough criticism about it as it is"

When asked about the cover art, Richard Archer said, "We all sat down as a band with our manager and thrashed it out over beers. The record company wanted a picture of us coming out of a helicopter... We said no."

"At the end of the day do you want the same old boring stuff? or do you want something different?"

[edit] Reception

The album has received a mixed response from critics. Review compendium site 'Metacritic' recorded seven reviews with scores of 80 or above, but nine reviews scored at 60 or below. Its overall rating on said site was 70, ranking it lower than their debut Stars of CCTV which is rated at 74. An example among the positive reviews was Q's, which gave the album four stars and quoted "goodbye Staines, hello big league".

In terms of charts, after Suburban Knights, the album did not see any more success. This is most probably due to the unsuccessful singles which has led the album to have only stayed on the UK Album Chart for 9 weeks compared to Stars of CCTV's 52 weeks.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Richard Archer.

  1. "Suburban Knights" — 4:29
  2. "I Shall Overcome" — 4:16
  3. "Tonight" — 3:55
  4. "Watch Me Fall Apart" — 2:51
  5. "I Close My Eyes" — 2:26
  6. "Television" — 3:40
  7. "Help Me Please" — 3:12
  8. "Can't Get Along (Without You)" — 2:58
  9. "We Need Love" — 4:02
  10. "Little Angel" — 2:52
  11. "The King" — 3:14

[edit] Bonus tracks

[edit] Bonus

By placing the Once Upon a Time in the West CD in a PC CD/DVD drive you can access a special Hard-Fi microsite. The site has a two videos and some extras.

Also available are mobile wallpapers.

[edit] Trivia

The King was used by the BBC during a Montage for Tennis player Tim Henman's retirement.

Suburban Knights is heard playing in the "caf" in one episode of Eastenders. It is also used as background music in the Channel 4 show Shipwrecked, and on BBC's Match of the Day season 2007-2008.

[edit] Credits

Mixed by Spike Stent (Oasis, U2, Björk and Madonna).

[edit] Charts

Chart (2007) Peak
position
UK Albums Top 75[22] 1
Ireland Albums Top 75[23] 3
World Albums Top 40[24] 21
World Albums Top 40[25] 21
Germany Albums Top 50[26] 39
Swiss Albums Top 100[27] 49
Austria Albums Top 75[28] 51
Dutch Albums Top 100[29] 73
France Albums Top 150[30] 99
Preceded by
"Hand Built by Robots" by Newton Faulkner		 UK number one album
September 9, 2007 - September 15, 2007		 Succeeded by
"Graduation" by Kanye West

[edit] Alternative Covers

Japan, CD
UK (CD Promo), "HMV" Slipcase

[edit] Singles

Cover Information
"Suburban Knights"
"Can't Get Along (Without You)"
"I Shall Overcome"

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hard-Fi : Discography
  2. ^ Hard-Fi : News
  3. ^ Hard-Fi : News
  4. ^ Hard-Fi : News
  5. ^ Hard-fi - Can't Get Along (without You) - Music Charts
  6. ^ Hard-fi - Can't Get Along (without You) - Music Charts
  7. ^ Uncovered: Hard-Fi say no to artwork. (Peter Guy: Getintothis)
  8. ^ YouTube - Hard-Fi - Rockin' The City Video Podcast Part Five
  9. ^ Hard-Fi fell out with their record label
  10. ^ Hard-Fi fell out with their record label
  11. ^ The Wild West Comes To Virgin (HTML). Hard-Fi HQ.
  12. ^ WIN TICKETS TO INTIMATE RADIO 1 SHOW (HTML). Hard-Fi HQ.
  13. ^ Steve Kemp interview (HTML). Aced Magazine.
  14. ^ Hard-Fi - Once Upon a Time in the West Review
  15. ^ Hard-Fi - Once Upon a Time in the West Review
  16. ^ www.hmv.co.uk/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=626746
  17. ^ Q50 - Tonight / Hard Fi
  18. ^ Guardian Unlimited: Arts blog - music: Always judge an album by its cover
  19. ^ Hard-Fi's 'subversive' artwork slammed by NME readers | News | NME.COM
  20. ^ Hard-Fi Timeline (HTML). Channel 4.
  21. ^ Hard-Fi News (HTML). Crud Magazine.
  22. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  23. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  24. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  25. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  26. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  27. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  28. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  29. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  30. ^ Hard-fi - Once Upon A Time In The West
  31. ^ Hard-fi - Suburban Knights - Music Charts
  32. ^ Hard-fi - Suburban Knights - Music Charts
  33. ^ Hard-fi - Suburban Knights - Music Charts
  34. ^ Hard-fi -Can't Get Along (without You) - Music Charts
  35. ^ Hard-fi -I Shall Overcome - Music Charts
v • d • e
Hard-Fi
Richard Archer · Ross Phillips · Kai Stephens · Steve Kemp
Studio albums
Stars of CCTV · Once Upon a Time in the West
Singles
Other releases
Cash Machine (EP)  · Sessions@AOL (EP)  · In Operation (DVD) / CCTVersions (Remix Album)  · Once Upon a Time in December (Limited Edition Live CD)
Related articles
Languages