Wiki
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Release Date
1990
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Length
7 tracks
Track-by-track information from the Bomp Records liner motes:
"By the end of 1985, Spacemen 3 found
themselves in a frustrating dilemma. After three years together, Spacemen 3 was the premiere band of the growing Rugby scene. Their notorious live shows generated attention in the local music press and with the fans, but an actual recording contract remained elusive. Getting people interested in twenty-minute showers of pure guitar white-noise was rather difficult and if that didn't scare the labels away, the band's radical public stance in favor of intelligent drug use didn't endear them much either.
An early set of demos was recorded a year earlier when the band was just a trio with Sonic and Jason on guitar and Natty Brooker on drums, but despite their best efforts, no label took interest. Months would go by without gigs. Bass player Pete Bain (a.k.a. Bassman) joined, dropped out, and then rejoined the band again.
The break finally came soon after the band recorded another set of demos at Carlo Morrocco's studio set in the rolling hills outside of Northampton in January 1986. The whole band and all their gear would cram into Sonic's Mini- Metro and drive the twenty-odd miles to the studio each day for the three days it took to record. Recording live with a minimum of overdubs, the band used their meager studio time to develop their original songs.
Pat Fish of The Jazz Butcher had been around to a few of the band's shows in Northampton, enjoyed what he heard, and played a copy of the demos on his band's tour bus where Dave Barker from Glass Records took interest. Barker contacted the band, and signed them to a two album contract over three years. The resulting Sound Of Confusion LP was completed in five days flat-three days recording, two days mixing-in Birmingham for a cost of only £800
and released in July 1986.
Most of the songs here are from the '86 Northampton demos. Recording in 16-track for the first time, the band felt that these sessions were more representative of their sound than the subsequent Sound Of Confusion album.
Chris Barrus Los Angeles, 1994
Sound Of Confusion
Originally appearing in 1984 on the first demo tape, this version was recorded in Northampton. The song was subsequently renamed to "Walkin' With Jesus" and recut again for the Sound Of Confusion album, but the band was unhappy with the results and left it off. This version was eventually released in November 1986 as Spacemen 3's first single. In 1987, the song was dramatically rearranged, recut and remixed for their second album, The Perfect Prescription.
2:35
Another song which originally appeared on the 1984 demo tape. This version was recorded in Northampton and subsequently released in two different versions.
Losing Touch With My Mind
Sonic plays bass on this song which was recorded during the Northampton demos.
Amen
Some of the lyrics in "Amen" came from a traditional song called "Fixin To Die" which the band had recorded on their first demo tape back in 1984 when they were a trio with Sonic, Jason, and Natty. The song eventually went through another change and finally appeared as "Hey Man" on the Sound Of Confusion album.
That's Just Fine (vocal version) Originally recorded during the Northampton demo sessions, but remixed later at VHF Studios in Rugby. This is the original version of the song with the vocals still intact. The vocals were deliberately left off because the band planned to re-record them, but due to time constraints the remixing was never completed. The instrumental version was eventually released as a B-side to "Take Me To The Other Side" two years later.
Come Down Easy
Recorded during the Northampton demo sessions. Written at the last minute, it would go through a number of changes before appearing in its released version on The Perfect Prescription.
Mary Anne
Cover version of a Juicy Lucy song called "Just One Time."
Feel So Good
After Sound Of Confusion was released, the band went back to Northampton to re-record "Rollercoaster" as no one was really happy with the released version. "Feel So Good" was written then and came out of a Sonic and Jason guitar jam. A different version was released as a B-side to the "Walkin' With Jesus" 12-inch single. As Sonic recalls: "This was written during the previous September in Jason's garden at the house he shared with Natty Brooker, Tim Morris- Spacemen's first drummer-and (later on) Rosco, on a sun-drenched, stoned afternoon. The afternoon ended with one Spaceman submerged in ice cold water after overindulging and overdosing, moaning 'Lord, I ain't gonna die today… Lord I ain't gonna die.”
2:35 (with feedback)
This alternate version of "2:35" was also recorded in the first Northampton sessions. According to Sonic, Bassman didn't like the feedback mix and insisted that another version be remixed.
Hey Man
An unreleased outtake from Sound Of Confusion.
It's Alright
Bo Diddley cover recorded during a rehearsal in February 1987. The band had been playing this song regularly as part of their live set as early as 1985. Natty Brooker had left the band by this point. Stewart Roswell (a.k.a. Rosco) stepped in as a temporary replacement and eventually stayed throughout 1987. Eventually the song was redone by Sonic as a 1993 single with his current band, Spectrum.
2:35 (alternate take)
Also recorded during the February 1987 rehearsals.
Things'll Never Be The Same
Although not released until September 1987 as a B-side to the "Transparent Radiation" 12-inch single, this song had been part of the band's set for three years. This version was recorded live.
Copyright 1994 by Bomp Records Cover concept by Sonic Boom Inside photos by Travis Threlkel & Kim Stringfellow
Graphic Design by Greg Shaw (with thanks to Sonic Boom and Joe Foster)
Dedicated to the memory of Father Yod"
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