Let It Ride (Shed Seven album)

Let It Ride is the third studio album by the British rock band Shed Seven, released in June 1998 via Polydor Records, and was the band's first LP to be written solely by Rick Witter (lyrics) and Paul Banks (music).[1]

Let It Ride
Studio album by
Shed Seven
Released1 June 1998
Recorded1996–1998, Olympic Studios, London; Ric Rac Sound Studio, Leeds; RAK Studios, London
GenreRock, alternative rock
Length50:39
LabelPolydor
ProducerStephen Street, Chris Sheldon, Dave Leaper
Shed Seven chronology
A Maximum High
(1996)		 Let It Ride
(1998)		 Going for Gold
(1999)
Singles from Let It Ride
  1. "Chasing Rainbows"
    Released: 11 November 1996
  2. "She Left Me on Friday"
    Released: 2 March 1998
  3. "The Heroes"
    Released: 11 May 1998
  4. "Devil in Your Shoes (Walking All Over)"
    Released: 10 August 1998

The album features Clint Boon of the Oldham-based band, Inspiral Carpets, on keyboards, and Heather "Lady Galadril" Findlay, of the fellow York-based band, Mostly Autumn, on vocals.[1]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
NME(6/10)[3]
The Guardian[4]

Let It Ride garnered a mixed reception upon release. At the time the Shed's were deemed to be taking on a 'new', punchier sound following first hearings of their comeback single, "She Left Me on Friday", with various reviewers drawing comparisons to both Black Grape[4] and Blur. The NME, who labelled the song "the most fiendishly clever Blur parody ever",[3] went on to liken the album's sound to that of both The Rolling Stones and The Stone Roses in their lukewarm review;[3]

Wombling somewhere between The Rolling Stones and The Stone Roses (check the title track and 'In A Hole' [sic]) you get the sneaking feeling that the band members themselves are still more entertaining than the music they make, but face up to it, kiddoes, any group who can sell 250,000 copies of 'A Maximum High' whilst retaining all the credibility and sophistication of a Millets cagoule must have something going for them.

Writing for The Guardian in June 1998, Caroline Sullivan saw Let It Ride as an improvement on the band's previous album, stating that "it aspires to bigger things, and almost gets there [whilst] singer Rick Witter has even acquired a raspiness that complements the beefy music".[4]

Chart performance

Album

Let It Ride spent a total of 7 weeks in the UK album chart, peaking at number 9 on 13 June 1998, giving the band their second consecutive Top 10 album release.[5]

Singles

It spawned four UK hit singles for the band with "Chasing Rainbows", "She Left Me on Friday", "The Heroes" and "Devil in Your Shoes (Walking All Over)" all placing in the Top 40 of the Singles Chart. "She Left Me on Friday" was the most successful of the four, peaking at number 11 on 14 March 1998.[5]

Track listing

All tracks written by Witter/Paul Banks.

UK version
No.TitleLength
1."Return"6:27
2."Let It Ride"5:00
3."The Heroes"5:43
4."Halfway Home"3:40
5."Devil in Your Shoes"5:27
6."She Left Me on Friday"3:32
7."A Hole"4:10
8."Drink Your Love"5:03
9."Stand Up and Be Counted"4:52
10."Chasing Rainbows"4:25
11."Goodbye"2:14
  • Track 10 is an alternate mix to the single version originally released in 1996, reworked by Stephen Street.

Japanese version

The Japanese album release, along with a different album cover, featured a different running order with 2 additional bonus tracks, "Slinky Love Theme" and "Happy Now", which were to be found as b-sides on the UK single releases of "The Heroes" and "Devil in Your Shoes (Walking All Over)", respectively.

No.TitleLength
1."Return"6:27
2."Let It Ride"5:00
3."The Heroes"5:43
4."Halfway Home"3:40
5."Devil in Your Shoes"5:27
6."Slinky Love Theme"4:27
7."She Left Me on Friday"3:32
8."A Hole"4:10
9."Drink Your Love"5:03
10."Happy Now"5:12
11."Stand Up and Be Counted"4:52
12."Chasing Rainbows"4:25
13."Goodbye"2:14
2014 Edition Bonus Disc
No.TitleLength
1."The Skin I'm In" (B-side to Chasing Rainbows) 
2."In Command" (B-side to Chasing Rainbows) 
3."You" (B-side to She Left Me On Friday) 
4."My Misspent Youth" (B-side to She Left Me On Friday) 
5."Slinky Love Theme" (B-side to The Heroes) 
6."She Left Me On Friday" (demo version) 
7."Disco Down" (live on Top of the Pops 1999) 
8."Chasing Rainbows" (demo version) 
9."Devil In Your Shoes" (demo version) 
10."Better Late Than Never" (demo version) 
11."She Left Me On Friday" (Adrian Sherwood dub remix) 
12."The Heroes" (Parr Street session version 1999) 
13."Chasing Rainbows" (A Maximum High, 15th Anniversary EP version 2011) 

2014 Remaster released 4 August 2014

Personnel

Shed Seven
  • Rick Witter – lead vocals
  • Paul Banks – guitars, keyboards, harmonica
  • Tom Gladwin – bass
  • Alan Leach – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

References
  1. Let It Ride album liner notes
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Let It Ride, Shed Seven". Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  3. 'Shed Seven : Let It Ride', NME Online Review, May 1998
  4. Sullivan, Caroline. "Review: Shed Seven – Let It Ride (Polydor)". Friday Review (5 June 1998): 16.
  5. "SHED SEVEN – full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
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