Stress was a short-lived British neo-psychedelic rock band composed of Wayne Binitie, Ian Mussington and Mitch Amachi Ogugua. They released only one album in 1991 on Reprise/Warner Bros. Records. They are not to be confused with the San Diego rock band Stress and are sometimes credited as Stress UK in the United States. A live performance in Hollywood drew a mixed review from the Los Angeles Times, with the band's sound described as "likable but relaxed grooves",[1] though a generally more positive review was published the following month in the Washington Post.[2]

Their album drew numerous favourable comparisons with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, and although not a great commercial success, was described as possessing 'a lot of musical strengths' by AllMusic's Steven McDonald.[3] In November 2021 the album was featured in an article on WhatCulture, 10 Forgotten Rock Albums That Need To Be Heard.[4]

In 1997, Binitie and Ogugua released a second album under the moniker of Inqbator, entitled "Hatched". It featured contributions from Lenny Kravitz, whom they had previously supported on tour.

Album

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The eponymously titled Stress album featured the following tracks, all composed by Binitie/Mussington/Ogugua:

  1. "Indian Summer's Dream" 4:20
  2. "Flowers in the Rain" 4:16
  3. "Rosechild" 4:16
  4. "Innocent World" 3:20
  5. "Daytime Believer" 5:34
  6. "Beautiful People" 4:14
  7. "My Father Once Said" 2:29
  8. "Together" 3:35
  9. "Lordy Lord" 4:08
  10. "Red Sun" 7:35

Additional tracks

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  • "Leather Trouser Blues" 3:58 - "Beautiful People" B-side
  • "Flowers in the Rain" (Blood Pressure mix) 4:53 - by Coldcut
  • "Flowers in the Rain" (Blood Pressure instrumental) aka International Blood Pressure mix
  • "Flowers in the Rain" (without intro) 3:57
  • "Beautiful People" (Beautiful Breakdown mix/edit) 6:00/4:22 - by Matt Budd/Steve Sidelnyk
  • "Beautiful People" (Bud Dub mix) 5:55 - by Matt Budd
  • "Beautiful People" (Bruce Forest mix/edit) 8:02/5:54
  • "Beautiful People" (Underground mix) 7:15

Album personnel

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  • Wayne Binitie: lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar
  • Mitch Amachi Ogugua: bass, acoustic guitar
  • Ian Mussington: drums
  • Guy Chambers: guitar, keyboards, producer, arranger
  • Simon Stewart: guitar, background vocals
  • Alex Mungo: keyboards, background vocals
  • Jean Perry: guitar
  • Steve Byrd: guitar
  • Billy McGee: double bass
  • Talvin Singh: tabla
  • Raf Mizraki: various Turkish instruments
  • Harry Morgan: percussion
  • 'False Harmonies': strings
  • Claudia Fontaine: background vocals
  • Claudia Sarne: background vocals
  • Martyn Taylor: background vocals
  • Femi Jiya: engineer, No. 2, 3, 6, 9, 10
  • Steve Price: engineer, No. 7
  • Peter Jones: engineer, No. 1, 4, 5, 8; mixer No. 2, 3, 5, 8, 9
  • Julian Mendelsohn: mixer, No. 1, 5, 6
  • Michael Brauer: mixer, No. 2, 4, 8, 10
  • Bob Kraushaar: mixer, No. 7

Singles

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Year Title Chart Positions Album
US Modern Rock UK[5]
1990 "Beautiful People" 74 Stress
1991 "Flowers in the Rain" 7 Stress

In 1991, "Rosechild" was released as a third single in the UK, but met with no commercial success.

References

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  1. ^ Chris Willman. "Pop Reviews: Stress Brings Familiar Sound to Blak and Bloo". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  2. ^ Eric Brace. "Pop Reviews: STRESS, PASSING THE TEST". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  3. ^ Steven McDonald. "Stress - Stress | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  4. ^ Chris Wheatley. "10 Forgotten Rock Albums That Need To Be Heard". WhatCulture. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  5. ^ "STRESS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 9 June 2020.