Honey's Dead

Honey's Dead is the fourth studio album by the Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, released in 1992 on Blanco y Negro Records. It marked a return to a more abrasive sound for the group, as well as incorporating elements of alternative dance. The title refers to one of the band's early hits, "Just Like Honey", and is intended to demonstrate a complete departure from their earlier musical style.

Honey's Dead
Studio album by
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Released22 March 1992[1]
Recorded1991
StudioThe Drugstore
GenreAlternative rock, noise rock
Length42:39
LabelBlanco y Negro, Def American Recordings
ProducerWilliam Reid, Jim Reid
The Jesus and Mary Chain chronology
Automatic
(1989)		 Honey's Dead
(1992)		 The Sound of Speed
(1993)
Singles from Honey's Dead
  1. "Reverence"
    Released: February 1992
  2. "Far Gone and Out"
    Released: March 1992
  3. "Almost Gold"
    Released: June 1992
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Los Angeles Times[3]
NME9/10[4]
Pitchfork6.9/10[5]
Q[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Select5/5[9]

The album's first single, "Reverence", attracted some controversy for the lyrics "I want to die just like Jesus Christ", and "I want to die just like JFK". Banned by Top of the Pops, the track peaked at #10 in the UK charts and received airplay in the United States on alternative radio stations.

Honey's Dead was recorded in the band's London studio, the aptly named "Drugstore", with accomplished engineer Flood and future JaMC producer Alan Moulder on board (not to mention a considerably larger bankroll).

Alternative and campus radio stations picked up "Far Gone and Out" which remains one of the band's most popular singles to date, peaking at #23 in the band's native UK. The Mary Chain shared the bill during parts of Lollapalooza 1992 in the U.S. with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ministry, Lush, Ice Cube and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Anheuser Busch even used the samples of "Sugar Ray" as a background bed for their Bud Ice television commercials in 1993.[10]

Honey's Dead was on the short list of nominees for the 1992 Mercury Prize. The album posts a close second in sales to (1994) release Stoned & Dethroned (which contains the hit single "Sometimes Always" with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star). The Reid brothers alternate between singing duties on tracks (most likely coinciding with songwriting duties).

Artwork

The album cover art features a detail from the painting Ophelia (First Version) by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Arthur Hughes.[11][12]

As of May 1998 the album has sold 122,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.[13]

Track listing

All songs written by Jim Reid and William Reid.

LP (BYN 26) and Cassette (BYNC 26)

Side one

  1. "Reverence" – 3:40
  2. "Teenage Lust" – 3:06
  3. "Far Gone and Out" – 2:51
  4. "Almost Gold" – 3:19
  5. "Sugar Ray" – 4:41
  6. "Tumbledown" – 4:10

Side two

  1. "Catchfire" – 4:47
  2. "Good for My Soul" – 3:05
  3. "Rollercoaster" – 3:46
  4. "I Can't Get Enough" – 2:56
  5. "Sundown" – 4:59
  6. "Frequency" – 1:19

CD (BYNCD 26)

  1. "Reverence" – 3:40
  2. "Teenage Lust" – 3:06
  3. "Far Gone and Out" – 2:51
  4. "Almost Gold" – 3:19
  5. "Sugar Ray" – 4:41
  6. "Tumbledown" – 4:10
  7. "Catchfire" – 4:47
  8. "Good for My Soul" – 3:05
  9. "Rollercoaster" – 3:46
  10. "I Can't Get Enough" – 2:56
  11. "Sundown" – 4:59
  12. "Frequency" – 1:19

Notes

  • Track 6: Contains a sample of Einstürzende Neubauten's "Tanz Debil" (Kollaps, 1981) starting at 1:25 and lasting for roughly 18 seconds.
  • Track 9: Is listed as "copyright 1990" (while the rest of the album is "copyright 1992"), but the version here is not the original 1990 EP version. This version features live drums (presumably by Monti) and does not have the echo on William Reid's voice, and is likely a re-recorded version from the album sessions.

Personnel

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Additional personnel

References
  1. "Honey's Dead | The Jesus & Mary Chain". Archived from the original on 5 August 2014.
  2. Raggett, Ned. "Honey's Dead – The Jesus and Mary Chain". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  3. Cromelin, Richard (26 April 1992). "The Jesus and Mary Chain 'Honey's Dead' Def American". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  4. Maconie, Stuart (21 March 1992). "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Honey's Dead". NME.
  5. Abebe, Nitsuh (4 August 2006). "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy / Darklands / Automatic / Honey's Dead / Stoned & Dethroned". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  6. "The Jesus and Mary Chain: Honey's Dead". Q (68): 80. May 1992.
  7. Robbins, Ira (14 May 1992). "Honey's Dead: The Jesus and Mary Chain". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 March 2005. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  8. Sisario, Ben (2004). "The Jesus and Mary Chain". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 429–30. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Perry, Andrew (May 1992). "Resurrection: The Reid brothers' apocalyptic second coming". Select (23).
  10. "Ice Draft from Budweiser Commercial". YouTube. 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  11. "Pre-Raphaelite paintings used in front covers". Rate Your Music. Archived from the original on 23 November 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  12. "File:Arthur Hughes - Ophelia (First Version).JPG - Wikimedia Commons". Commons.wikimedia.org. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  13. "Billboard". 9 May 1998.
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