Riot City Blues

Riot City Blues
Studio album by Primal Scream
Released	June 5, 2006
Recorded	June, 2005
Genre	Rock
Length	41:28
Label	Sony Records
Producer	Youth
Primal Scream chronology
Dirty Hits (2003) Riot City Blues (2006) Beautiful Future (2008)

Riot City Blues is the eighth studio album by Primal Scream, released on June 5, 2006. On this album, Primal Scream leaves its electronic element behind and returns to more traditional rock and roll. The album features Will Sergeant (Echo & the Bunnymen) on "When The Bomb Drops" and "Little Death", Warren Ellis (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dirty Three) on "Hell's Coming Down" and Alison Mosshart (The Kills) adding vocals to "Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)" and "Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar". The debut single, "Country Girl", became the band's highest charting in their career, while the album charted at #5 in the UK. "Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)" and "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely" were also released as singles in 2006.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
ARTISTdirect	link
The Guardian	link
The Independent	link
Pitchfork Media	(2.3/10) link
Q	July, 2006 (p. 110)
Rolling Stone	link

The album was released to varying reviews. A particularly scathing review by Pitchfork claimed that the album was "...flat and dead. It's as if Primal Scream have run completely out of ideas and so they've reverted to the detestable fallbacks of honking harmonicas and bar-band choogles, acting like college freshmen who just discovered blues." While The Guardian said "...Primal Scream are the kind of band that would probably snap there's no such thing as a guilty pleasure, only good music and bad music. But their eighth album undermines that claim. On the one hand, it is conservatism dressed up as rebellion, derivative, self-parodic and very, very, stupid. On the other, it boasts an energy and a shamelessness that demands you abandon your vast array of reservations. No mean feat."

Track listing

1. "Country Girl" (4:31)
2. "Nitty Gritty" (3:38)
3. "Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar" (3:14)
4. "When The Bomb Drops" (4:34)
5. "Little Death" (6:22)
6. "The 99th Floor" (3:50)
7. "We're Gonna Boogie" (2:52)
8. "Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)" (3:58)
9. "Hell's Comin' Down" (3:27)
10. "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely" (5:06)
11. "Stone Ya to the Bone" (US bonus track)
12. "Gimme Some Truth" (US bonus track)
13. "Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar (Live)" (US bonus track)
14. "Country Girl" (Non Censored) (CD-ROM Track) (US bonus track)

2009 Japan Reissue

A two-CD edition of Riot City Blues was released as part of a deluxe series consisting of their fourth through eighth albums. The first disc includes original album with six bonus tracks; the second includes an additional seven B-sides and remixes, including "Stone My Soul" and "Carry Me Home", previously released on the Dixie-Narco EP in 1992.

Disc 1

1. "Country Girl" (4:31)
2. "Nitty Gritty" (3:38)
3. "Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar" (3:14)
4. "When The Bomb Drops" (4:34)
5. "Little Death" (6:22)
6. "The 99th Floor" (3:50)
7. "We're Gonna Boogie" (2:52)
8. "Dolls (Sweet Rock and Roll)" (3:58)
9. "Hell's Comin' Down" (3:27)
10. "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely" (5:06)
11. "Stone Ya to the Bone" (2:30)
12. "To Live Is to Fly" (Townes Van Zandt cover) (3:41)
13. "Gimme Some Truth" (2:28)
14. "It's Not Enough" (3:33)
15. "Zeppelin Blues While Thinking Of Robert Parker" (3:21)
16. "Gamblin' Bar Room Blues" (5:17)

Disc 2

1. "Country Girl (Beans & Fatback Mix)" (4:28)
2. "Suicide Sally & Johnny Guitar (Live)" (3:03)
3. "Bloods (Two Lone Swordsmen Mix)" (3:53)
4. "Dolls ((Some Spiders White Light Returned With Thanks) Demo Mix)" (4:17)
5. "Sometimes I Feel So Lonely (Bomb The Bass Mix)" (4:33)
6. "Stone My Soul" (3:01)
7. "Carry Me Home" (5:16)

Musicians

• Bobby Gillespie - vocals
• Andrew Innes - guitars, mandolins, banjo, Moog synthesizer
• Martin Duffy - piano, organ, harmonium, harmonica
• Robert Young - guitars, harmonica
• Gary 'Mani' Mounfield - bass guitar
• Darrin Mooney - drums, percussion
• Alison Mosshart - additional vocals on tracks 3 and 8
• Will Sergeant - guitar on tracks 4 and 5
• Chris Allen - hurdy gurdy on track 5
• Warren Ellis - violin on track 9
• Juliet Roberts, Sharlene Hector, Sylvia Mason-James and John Gibbons - backing vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5 and 10
• Richard Beale - French horn on track 10