Squeeze Albums (14)
What The Critics Say
Following a brief period of arty, self-conscious indulgence, Squeeze decided to return to the more straight-ahead pop of their classic period. Babylon and On strips back a bit and, although the return is a welcomed one, much of the material misses the mark, and the move seems a little forced. Flaws aside, there are some moments of inspiration, and the near-novelty of "Hourglass," unfortunately not one of those moments, became the band's biggest Stateside hit. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide
'Live at Royal Albert Hall'
Release Date 12/28/1999
Tracks 9
Label Polygram International
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What The Critics Say
Released in the thick of Brit-pop mania in 1995, it would have seemed that Squeeze's eleventh album Ridiculous might have benefited by the peak interest for all things bright, Beatlesque, and British. Certainly, their label felt that way, pushing the band as the forefathers of Brit-pop, a statement that certainly had some merit, as Glenn Tilbrook's music pulled together strains of classic '60s guitar pop and new wave in a manner not dissimilar to Blur, whose Damon Albarn wrote character vignettes not at all dissimilar to those of Chris Difford -- something that the duo acknowledged by covering Blur's "End of a Century" as a B-side for "This Summer," the first single to be pulled from Ridiculous in Britain (the album also happened to have a song called "Great Escape," which just happened to be the title of Blur's sequel to Parklife.) All this hubbub was, like so much marketing, necessary to distinguish a record that for most would seem like just another solid Squeeze record to anyone who wasn't a longtime fan. For those longtime fans, Ridiculous is different than its predecessors Play and Some Fantastic Place but in gentle, subtle ways, chief among them the stripped-down, matter of fact production that is just slightly crisper and livelier than its immediate cousins. This simpler sound could also be due somewhat to the second departure of Paul Carrack from the band's ever-revolving keyboards seat, but at this point it was a given that Squeeze was Difford and Tilbrook's show, even if they let bassist Keith Wilkinson have a tune on the record with "Got Me." Although relations between the two longtime collaborators were getting a little bumpy -- largely due to Difford taking his lyrics to other musicians -- they wound up with a handful of their greatest latter-days songs here. Leading the pack were the first two singles, the hazy, dreamy "This Summer" and the joyous "Electric Trains" which deftly manages to side-step easy nostalgia in favor of keenly observed detail. These aren't the only highlights here: there is delicate, loving "Daphne," a wistful take on father-and-son bonds on "Walk Away," the jangling "Grouch of the Day" which evokes Rubber Soul, plus a couple of traded vocals with Difford and Tilbrook that suggest everything was hunky dory between the pair. Although things would soon quickly unravel -- they lasted just one more record before taking a decade-long hiatus -- here on Ridiculous, Squeeze was still humming along nicely and it stands as a testament to the enduring quality of their craft that the album is every bit as enjoyable as many of the records they released since their post-Difford & Tilbrook reunion. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The band's tenth proper album reunites the core of Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford with former member Paul Carrack and adds drummer Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello & the Attractions). Their classic sound is still there through the melodic power pop of "Third Rail" to the blue-eyed soul of "Loving You Tonight" (nearly a rewrite of "Tempted"). Another in a series of commercial sleepers, but definitely worth a listen. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide
'A Round & A Bout (Live)'
Release Date 4/27/1990
Tracks 15
Label Capitol
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Recorded on 1990's Frank tour in England, this live album finds the band still having fun playing their nearly ten-year-old classics. A nice companion to their greatest hits. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
One of Squeeze's most mature and thoughtful albums, 1991's Play might be a bit pretentious in spots -- the liner notes are written out as a theatre script, with the songs laid out as dialogue -- but it's probably Squeeze's best post-reunion album. Shorn of the misguided experiments of Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti and the naked chart ambitions of Babylon and On and Frank, Play is a simple and low-key collection of songs charting (loosely; this is less of a concept album than many reviews claimed at the time) the dissolution of a love affair. Reduced to a quartet by Jools Holland's departure for a career as a BBC television presenter (the group's South London homeboy Steve Nieve, tour keyboardist Matt Irving, and more implausibly, Bruce Hornsby provide the keyboards), the group play with a loose, R&B-inflected casualness. Producer Tony Berg, unfortunately, occasionally obscures that character by drowning the songs in strings and mass backing vocals (including special appearances by Michael Penn, Wendie Colter, and Spinal Tap's Michael McKean and Christopher Guest!), but the Difford/Tilbrook songs are mostly strong enough to withstand the onslaught. "The Truth" and the downcast "Walk a Straight Line" are particular highlights. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Squeeze finally had a big hit with 1987's Babylon and On but its 1989 follow-up, Frank, was its better, a superior showcase of their strengths as a band and Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook as songwriters. Despite the success of Babylon and in particular its punchy hit single, "Hourglass," Squeeze decided to scale back the sound of Frank, moving away from the glassy, cavernous Babylon -- a production immediately evocative of its times -- in favor of a relatively unadorned, clean sound, one that highlights the crispness of Difford and Tilbrook's songs and Squeeze's interplay. Both are crucial to the success of Frank, feeding off of each other in a way that none of their previous records quite showcased. Early peaks like Argybargy and East Side Story had depth and energy, but Frank has a quiet, lived-in confidence, never drawing attention to Tilbrook's melodicism, Difford's sharp lyrics, or the group's warm, sympathetic interaction, particularly the easy-rolling keyboards of Jools Holland. Jools departed after Frank, so it's appropriate that he's given a sendoff in the form of his original New Orleans jump blues "Dr. Jazz," a friendly, rollicking rocker that fits in nicely with Difford and Tilbrook's pop, which never strays far afield from their signatures, whether it's the bright, effervescent "If It's Love," the sly bid for feminine sympathy "She Doesn't Have to Shave," the tongue-in-cheek shuffle "Slaughtered, Gutted and Heartbroken," or the cheerful country two-step "Melody Motel." The songs may be recognizably within the duo's comfort zone but they're pushing just beyond it, notably on the intricately structured "Peyton Place" -- whose instrumental bridge is another fine spotlight for Jools -- and the cascading "Love Circles." Even these songs feel relaxed in a way Babylon and On never did -- indeed, it's remarkable that Squeeze aren't shooting for another big hit just after "Hourglass" -- and that's what makes Frank so quietly enjoyable: it's a modest record with Squeeze doing what they do best, which is plenty good indeed. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti marked not only a re-formation of the band but also a reunion with Jools Holland. And while history and a dated production style haven't been particularly kind to the album, it is not without its merits. True, it is marred by much of the overblown ambition that undercut Sweets from a Stranger and the Difford & Tilbrook album, but several of the songs -- especially the often overlooked "King George Street" -- are real gems in the classic Squeeze tradition, and the move toward "sophistication" is more fully realized and effective. A flawed but certainly worthwhile album, Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti deserves reassessment. ~ Chris Woodstra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Sweets from a Stranger can be summed up by the title of one of the best songs on Squeeze's fifth album: this is where the hangover strikes, where the band's rapid progression finally caught up with it. It's as much mental as it's musical, as it's clear that Squeeze were tired out from touring, from all the carousing -- nearly every song here has a reference to drinking or its aftermath -- from the roundabout of keyboard players that led to Paul Carrack bailing after just one album (replaced here by Don Snow), perhaps even from all the acclaim that led to no big hits, so they wound up largely ditching the pop classicism of East Side Story for a gangly new wave experimentalism that contains none of the nervy energy of Cool for Cats. Worst of all, almost all their missteps -- the thundering electronic drums of "Out of Touch"; the stiff, self-conscious disco of "Strangers on the Shore" and its wannabe Bowie cousin, "On the Dance Floor" -- are all piled up toward the beginning, burying the times where the band pulls it together. Momentum starts to shift on the self-styled saloon song "When the Hangover Strikes" -- its smoky Sinatra-isms standing out starkly next to the ham-fisted new wave dance that surrounds it -- and things roll smoothly for a while, peaking with the sublime "Black Coffee in Bed" -- a post-breakup tune that could have easily slid onto East Side Story -- but continuing with the galloping "I've Returned" and its less frenetic equal, "His House Her Home," before closing with the shimmering, gorgeous "Elephant Ride." These are the moments that provide a strong connection to the Squeeze of East Side Story, and that band can still be heard elsewhere on Sweets from a Stranger beneath the new wave clatter, but the whole thing adds up to a knackered affair. Squeeze needed a breather and they took one after this, disbanding for a few years while Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook pursued other avenues. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
