The King | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 August 1991[1] | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 32:38 | |||
Label | Creation | |||
Producer | Don Fleming, Paul Chisholm, Teenage Fanclub | |||
Teenage Fanclub chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
The Great Rock Discography | 4/10[3] |
The King is the second album by Scottish alternative rock band Teenage Fanclub, deleted on its day of release in 1991.
The album is often derided as a hastily assembled contractual obligation to US label Matador (allowing the group to sign to Geffen without penalty). In 2020, Matador co-owner Gerard Cosloy confirms that The King was pitched to the label as the second release, but passed, saying it felt more like a contractual obligation fulfillment than a real album.[4] However the group have denied this, claiming that the shambolic, spontaneous nature of the contents was a direct influence of producer Don Fleming, whose music was often improvised. "One night we all got completely wasted. ... and we said, "Let’s make a LP overnight. We’ll just improvise some songs and do some covers and cobble it all together", Norman Blake said in 2016.[5] In a 2006 interview, Blake and Brendan O'Hare confirmed that the album had been recorded immediately after completing Bandwagonesque using pre-booked studio time that became available when the aforementioned album was finished sooner than anticipated. They also claimed that the album was intended to be a mid-price edition of 1,000 but their then UK label Creation Records pressed 20,000 and sold them at full price [permanent dead link ].
The album was rereleased on vinyl for Record Store Day 2019.[6]