| K | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Kula Shaker | ||||
| Released | 16 September 1996 October 22, 1996 |
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| Recorded | January–May, 1996 at Eden, RAK, Townhouse, Chipping Norton, Livingston, The Pierce Room, Wessex, Maison Rouge, Eastcote Studios | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic rock, Britpop | |||
| Length | 48:51 (not including 13:04 silence) | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | John Leckie, Shep & Dodge, Crispian Mills | |||
| Kula Shaker chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [2] |
| Robert Christgau | C [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ [4] |
| Rolling Stone | favorable [5] |
K is the debut album by Kula Shaker, released on 16 September 1996. When it was released, it became the fastest selling debut album in Britain since Oasis's Definitely Maybe. The album reached the #1 position in the UK charts, however in America it stalled at #200 in the Billboard charts.
The track "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There" is a homage to Jerry Garcia and his band The Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead's psychedelic rock style is an influence on Kula Shaker's first and second albums. The hidden track after "Hollow Man" is a recording of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, speaking about his own guru.
The cover art (by comic-book artist Dave Gibbons) consists of various images related to the letter K, including: John F. Kennedy, Lord Kitchener, Karl Marx, Gene Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Ken Dodd, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Danny Kaye, Kal-El (Superman), Boris Karloff (as Frankenstein), Krishna, King Kong, Martin Luther King, Jr., 2 Knights (a pair of Keys on one of them), a Kettle, Kali, the Kaiser, Nikita Khrushchev, Grace Kelly, the number 11 (symbolizing K) and Rudyard Kipling's book Kim.
In 1998 K was placed at number 44 on Q's 100 greatest albums of all time list. In 2011, K once again made into a Q Magazine list for the 250 Greatest Albums of All Time.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hey Dude" | 4:10 |
| 2. | "Knight on the Town" | 3:25 |
| 3. | "Temple of Everlasting Light" | 2:33 |
| 4. | "Govinda" | 4:57 |
| 5. | "Smart Dogs" | 3:16 |
| 6. | "Magic Theatre" | 2:38 |
| 7. | "Into the Deep" | 3:49 |
| 8. | "Sleeping Jiva" | 2:02 |
| 9. | "Tattva" | 3:46 |
| 10. | "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry Was There" | 5:42 |
| 11. | "303" | 3:08 |
| 12. | "Start All Over" | 2:35 |
| 13. | "Hollow Man Parts 1 & 2" | 6:10 (plus 0:12 hidden track after – 13:04 silence) |
| Preceded by New Adventures in Hi-Fi by R.E.M. |
UK number one album 28 September 1996 – 11 October 1996 |
Succeeded by Natural by Peter Andre |
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