674. Happy Mondays - Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
















Track Listing

1. Kinky Afro
2. God's Cop
3. Donovan
4. Grandbag's Funeral
5. Dennis And Lois
6. Bob's Yer Uncle
7. Step On
8. Holiday
9. Harmony

Review

Another great Mancunian album on this list, the Happy Mondays really typify the sound of Madchester in the late 80s, early 90s and no album is more emblematic of that than this one, with what are possibly their three greatest hits in Step On, Kinky Afro and Loose Fit.

But the album doesn't live only of great singles, the rest of it is equally good with some great lyrics and some pretty dirty songs (check out Bob's Yer Uncle for a prize example). Music inspired by Ecstasy but that is brilliant enough to be enjoyed with no chemical enhancements.

This is really the pinnacle of Manchester music, from here on out nothing would ever be as good, yes there is plenty more of Morrissey and Oasis on this list but they do not hold a candle to what came before. So a sad farewell to the best albums of one of the cities with the best music. Hey, maybe the renaming Barry Adamson entry will be like a call from beyond the grave for Manchester music, you never know. Watch this space.

Track Highlights

1. Step On
2. Loose Fit
3. Kinky Afro
4. Bob's Yer Uncle

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In 2000 Q magazine placed Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches at number 31 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2005, the album was voted the 51st greatest album of all time by Channel 4 viewers.

Step On: