Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches - Happy Mondays

Love them or hate them the happy Mondays were one of the most important bands to have come out of Manchester in the musical resurgence that the 'Madchester' scene experienced in the late 80's The happy Mondays were never courted by the trendy music press as much as their rivals such as that other exponent of Manchester proto Brit pop 'The Stone Roses' they were probably a little too dangerous to fully endorse and there was always an unpredictability in their output that made championing them a risky business. Formed in 1984 by brothers Shaun and Paul Ryder soon to be ...  Read the complete review

This is the big album for the Happy Mondays from the 90's which included the big hits Step On and Grandbags Funeral. The album was early in the career of the Mondays before their split. I actually really like the music from Black Grape and so bought this as this is where parts of Black Grape started. Unfortunately it isn't up to stratch with the later albums. Some of songs are classic tracks and the biggest here is Step On. The album is a mix of the slightly strange vocal and the brit pop sound from the 90's. At times the album has a mellow feel, and at others you can hear elements of James, and REM in there. If you're a big ...  Read the complete review

definitely the best mondays album. you either love shaun ryder. or hate him. i think he's a genius. he can't read music yet has made seven albums, the way he reinvented himself and formed the double funky black grape is testament to his durability. forget oasis, pills and thrills is the true funked up soundtrack to the underbelly of working class manchester. you'll know all about step on and loose fit ( a tribute to the manchester baggy style of the early nineties, ' don't need no skin tights in my wardrobe today'), but it's dennis and lois that really does it for me on this one. this is an album good enough to resemble a singles collection. ...  Read the complete review

Just looking at the cover shows you that this album is mad. Its and eclectic mix of indie and baggy tunes. Most notably is the great Step On, its one of those tunes that everybody has heard but can never remember what’s its called. My personal favourite is Grandbags Funeral, great lyrics and a good tune behind it too. I've been to see the Happy Mondays when they've supported Oasis but they've never been as good as the album. Maybe it’s the years of drugs, whatever, maybe its Shaun Rider. It’s a great album to put on in the background just to chill to, or even to put it on during a party. All the tracks work well and it well produced from ...  Read the complete review

This album was one of the definitve early Indie Albums. It launched the careers of Shaun Ryder and his Mad cap band. I remember seeing an Interview with Shaun on MTV when the album was released and he freely admited " musically we are Crap!" They were live and they sounded complete rubbish. The singing of Rider was like a out of tune piano but we still loved them. Along with Frontman Ryder, there was also the mad dancer, Bez. Bez obviously was and loked like he was HIGH on more than life. His mad staring eyes most definitely had the lights on but no one was home and had not lived there for years. He was a great performer live and helped distract from Shaun's ...  Read the complete review