Ismism is the fourth studio album by English duo Godley & Creme, released in October 1981 by Polydor Records. In the US it was released under the name Snack Attack. It was recorded between April–May 1980 at Lymehouse Studios in Leatherhead, Surrey and engineered and re-mixed at Nigel Gray's Surrey Sound Studios.
| Ismism | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1981 | |||
| Recorded | April–May 1980 | |||
| Studio | Lymehouse Studio (Leatherhead) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 44:02 | |||
| Label | Polydor | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Godley & Creme chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Ismism | ||||
| ||||
| US cover | ||||
 The US cover of Snack Attack | ||||
Ismism peaked at No. 29 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 28 on the Dutch Albums Chart, making it their best-selling studio album. Three singles were released from the album: "Under Your Thumb", "Wedding Bells" and "Snack Attack", with the first two singles charting within the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart.[1]
Ismism was reissued on CD in 2004 under Ismism... Plus name (with other Godley & Creme albums) with singles' B-sides as bonus tracks.
Artwork
editThe album's cover artwork, designed by Ben Kelly, originally was in white with the title spelt out via holes in the cover which showed a contrasting colour beneath. Later versions used coloured dots instead of holes. An alternative version of the cover featured a black background.
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music | [3] |
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Mark Allan wrote of the album, "Prone to pretension, these two English Frank Zappas revel in outright silliness on much of this album", adding that "throughout all of this, you get the nagging feeling this pair was capable of so much more."[2]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Snack Attack" | 7:07 |
| 2. | "Under Your Thumb" | 4:40 |
| 3. | "Joey's Camel" | 5:23 |
| 4. | "The Problem" | 4:06 |
| 5. | "Ready for Ralph" | 2:20 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Wedding Bells" | 3:21 |
| 7. | "Lonnie" | 4:45 |
| 8. | "Sale of the Century" | 4:20 |
| 9. | "The Party" | 8:00 |
| Total length: | 44:02 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Power Behind The Throne" | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Babies" | 4:42 |
| 12. | "Strange Apparatus" ("An Englishman in New York" single edit) | 3:53 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Power Behind The Throne" | 3:39 |
| 11. | "Babies" | 4:42 |
| 12. | "Snack Attack (Extended Version)" | 6:47 |
Personnel
editCredits are adapted from the Ismism liner notes.[4]
Musicians
- Kevin Godley — vocals; drums; percussion; drum machine
- Lol Creme — vocals; bass; guitar; keyboards; synthesizers
- Bimbo Acock – saxophone
Production and artwork
- Kevin Godley – producer
- Lol Creme – producer; engineer
- Nigel Gray – mixer
- Ben Kelly – artwork
Charts
edit| Chart (1981/82) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian (Kent Music Report) | 77[5] |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[6] | 28 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[7] | 29 |
References
edit- ^ "The Official Charts Company - Godley And Creme". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
- ^ a b Allan, Mark. "Ismism – Godley & Creme". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Colin Larkin (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music. Virgin. p. 221. ISBN 0753501597.
- ^ Ismism (CD booklet). Godley & Creme. Polydor Records. 1981.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 127. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Godley & Creme – Ismism" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "Godley & Creme | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 3 May 2020.