Crooked Timber (album)

Crooked Timber is the tenth full-length album by the band Therapy?, and the first to be released on Demolition Records. It was released on 23 March 2009. The album was recorded from July to August 2008 at Blast Studios, Newcastle, with additional recording at The Beauchamp Building, London from August to September 2008. Produced by Andy Gill, the album features a bias towards rhythm rather than melody.

Crooked Timber
Studio album by
Therapy?
Released23 March 2009
RecordedJuly–August 2008
StudioBlast Studios, Newcastle, England and August–September 2008 at The Beauchamp Building, London, England
Genre
Length49:22
67:58 (DGE)
LabelDemolition Records
ProducerAndy Gill
Therapy? chronology
Music Through a Cheap Transistor
(2007)		 Crooked Timber
(2009)		 We're Here to the End
(2010)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Drowned in Sound[2]

According to Andy Cairns; "I guess we're always challenging just what makes us Therapy?. After so many years, if we were formulaic about it, we'd have gotten bored with the band long ago. The album was written together as a band, and each track has its own concept and inspirations. They took a while to write and we've taken our time to write them."

"From the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." – Immanuel Kant (18th-century German philosopher)

Andy explains: "The recording is about celebrating people's quirks, the things which make us unique. These days everyone tries to fit in, instead of just being themselves. The songs examine what it means to be human - To realise that we are the only living things on the planet aware of our own deaths."[3]

Crooked Timber reached number 197 in the UK Album charts. As of early May 2009 (6 weeks following its release), the album had sold 30,000 copies in Europe and was certified silver.[4]

The album was released on limited edition white 12" vinyl, CD and Download.

On 19 July 2010 the album was re-released as a "Deluxe Gold Edition" digipak CD featuring two bonus tracks, two remixes and 4 alternate versions.[5]

Singles
  • "Crooked Timber" – 18 May 2009 on CD and download. A single edit version of "Crooked Timber" with "Don't Try", "Low Winter Sun" and "Crooked Timber (Breathless FX Mix)".
  • "Exiles" – 7 July 2010 as a download only. "Exiles" (Gold Edition Sample Version), with "Exiles (Subglitch & Stitch Remix)" and "Magic Mountain (The Dubious Twins Babylon Remix)"
  • "Enjoy the Struggle" was scheduled to be released as the album's first single,[6] but in a change of heart, "Crooked Timber" was deemed to be a better choice by the band.[7]

Promo video
  • "Crooked Timber": Directed by 'Sitcom Soldiers'

Reception

Reviews collated thus far have been mostly positive. The album earned a rave review on Irish indie website drop-d, stating it "not only confirms their incredible legacy, but takes them to a new level",[8] and they earned the first ever 10/10 on The Mag".[9] Kerrang! gave the album a KKK review (the equivalent of 3/5). Kerrang!'s UK competitor, Metal Hammer gave the album 8/10. However, French websites have, on average, slated the album criticising its schizophrenic nature and the bands' refusal to focus on one particular sound.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Therapy? except track 4, written by Therapy? and Andy Gill.

No.TitleLength
1."The Head That Tried to Strangle Itself"3:24
2."Enjoy the Struggle"4:10
3."Clowns Galore"3:41
4."Exiles"5:36
5."Crooked Timber"5:52
6."I Told You I Was Ill"3:50
7."Somnambulist"4:04
8."Blacken the Page"2:48
9."Magic Mountain"10:05
10."Bad Excuse for Daylight"5:49
Total length:49:22
Deluxe Gold edition
No.TitleLength
1."The Head That Tried to Strangle Itself"3:27
2."Enjoy the Struggle"4:12
3."Clowns Galore"3:43
4."Exiles" (Sample Version)5:47
5."Crooked Timber" (Breathless FX Mix)5:55
6."I Told You I Was Ill"3:53
7."Somnambulist"4:08
8."Blacken the Page"2:49
9."Magic Mountain" (Sample Version)10:14
10."Bad Excuse for Daylight" (Sample Version)5:57
11."Exiles" (Bong-Ra Guttural Exodus Mix)4:42
12."Magic Mountain" (Snug Slut Mix)4:32
13."Low Winter Sun"4:21
14."Don't Try"4:16
Total length:67:58

Personnel
  • Andy Cairns – vocals, guitar, mixing
  • Neil Cooper – drums
  • Michael McKeegan – bass
  • Andy Gill – producer & engineer
  • Sam Morton – engineer
  • Adam Sinclair – mixing & additional recording
  • Tom Hoad – photography
  • Michael Surtees – design
gollark: Like what?
gollark: PotatOS's Code Safety Checker and sandboxing... happen to function... as protection against viruses because some people are silly and install those. If a virus can just uninstall it, it's easy to get around that.
gollark: I'll go for maybe 4 digit.
gollark: I have to admit it is a bit hard to type/copy the number, so I'll remove a few digits.
gollark: If you like I can turn the difficulty down.

References
  1. Prato, Greg. "Review: Crooked Timber". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  2. Winters, John. "Album Review: Therapy? - Crooked Timber". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  3. "Andy Cairns interview in press release for new album". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "Album Goes Silver". Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  5. "Crooked Timber Deluxe Gold Edition". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  6. "Micheal McKeegan message board post regarding track listing". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  7. "Micheal McKeegan diary regarding first single". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  8. "drop-d review of Crooked Timber".
  9. "The Mag Review of Crooked Timber". Archived from the original on 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
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