Vanguard (album)

Vanguard is the second album by the British musician Finley Quaye, released in 2000.[2][3] It followed a tumultuous period in Quaye's life.[4] It is thought that Quaye received £2 million for the album, which was considered in retrospect to have been a major setback in his career after the success of Maverick A Strike.[5][6]

Vanguard
Studio album by
Released2000
LabelEpic[1]
ProducerFinley Quaye, Kevin Bacon, Jonathan Quarmby
Finley Quaye chronology
Maverick a Strike
(1997)
Vanguard
(2000)
Much More Than Much Love
(2000)

The album peaked at No. 35 on the UK Albums Chart.[7] Its first single was "Spiritualized", which was inspired by the birth of Quaye's third child.[8][9]

Production

The album was produced by Quaye, Kevin Bacon, and Jonathan Quarmby.[10] It was recorded in London over a period of four months.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Dayton Daily NewsC+[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[13]
NME[14]
Vibe[15]

NME wrote that "there’s something about Vanguard's playful disregard for convention that recalls Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica, perhaps the most infamous work within the rock field to thumb its nose at description while giving pretension the big swerve."[14] The Austin Chronicle noted that "Quaye has not only taken the basic trappings of reggae to an entirely different place, he's also molded a thoroughly modern, transglobal sound that transcends the limitations any one genre might impose."[16] The Independent determined that "the coherence of his Maverick A Strike debut seems to have drained away, leaving little more than a series of aimless rock'n'reggae grooves jessied-up with studio effects and sprayed with pointless verbal jetsam."[17]

Entertainment Weekly thought that "Quaye’s thoroughly urbanized, half-mad brand of African roots music is alive, well, and wonderfully prickly."[13] The Guardian called Vanguard "a fascinating, eclectic album that goes far beyond the promise of the debut, establishing Quaye as an unignorable 21st-century talent."[18]

AllMusic wrote: "Envision a penny dreadful being sung aloud inside a pub while Roni Size tries to squeeze drunken gospeltronica out of his sequencer banks."[12]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Finley Quaye; except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Broadcast" 2:55
2."Spiritualized" 3:36
3."The Emperor"Quaye, Adhi Propfh, Jonathan Quarmby, Kevin Bacon3:27
4."Burning" 2:45
5."Everybody Knows"Quaye, Pablo Gad4:06
6."Feeling Blue" 4:23
7."When I Burn Off in the Distance" 2:53
8."Chad Valley" 3:25
9."Calendar" 2:59
10."British Air Rage"Quaye, Winston Lewis3:03
11."White Paper" 4:38
12."Hey Now" 4:17

Charts

Chart performance for Vanguard
Chart (2000) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[19] 44
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 35

References

  1. Rollins, Ron (30 Mar 2001). "Recordings in Brief". Dayton Daily News. Go!. p. 24.
  2. "Finley Quaye Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. Buckley, Peter (March 26, 2003). "The Rough Guide to Rock". Rough Guides via Google Books.
  4. Carroll, Jim (December 23, 2000). "A tough evolution to achieve inner coolness". The Irish Times. News.
  5. Petridis, Alexis (2003-11-15). "Finlay Quaye". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  6. McEwen, Alan (Nov 5, 2012). "Shamed Capital reggae musician Finley Quaye is broke". The Scotsman.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. "Finley Quaye | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  8. "Our critics' spin on 80-plus albums". USA Today. 2 Feb 2001. p. E2.
  9. Sloan, Billy (30 July 2000). "Song is born for dad Finley". Sunday Mail. Features. p. 17.
  10. "Eclecticism rules on second Quaye album". Music Week: 7. Aug 5, 2000.
  11. Prentiss, Findlay (15 Feb 2001). "Quaye goes back to basics with 'Vanguard'". The Post and Courier. p. D25.
  12. "Vanguard - Finley Quaye | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" via www.allmusic.com.
  13. "Album Review: 'Vanguard'". EW.com.
  14. "Finley Quaye : Vanguard". NME. September 12, 2005.
  15. Silberman, Seth Clark (Apr 2001). "Revolutions". Vibe. 9 (4): 170.
  16. "Finley Quaye Vanguard". www.austinchronicle.com.
  17. Gill, Andy (29 Sep 2000). "The Arts: Pop: This Week's Other Album Releases". The Independent. Features. p. 13.
  18. Sullivan, Caroline (1 Sep 2000). "Friday Review". The Guardian. Friday. p. 6.
  19. "Lescharts.com – Finley Quaye – Vanguard". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
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