Emergency on Planet Earth

Emergency on Planet Earth is the debut studio album by British funk/acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 14 June 1993 in both Japan and the United Kingdom and 10 August 1993 in the United States.

Emergency on Planet Earth
Studio album by Jamiroquai
Released	14 June 1993
Recorded	1992–1993
Genre	Acid jazz[1]
Length	55:22 (CD) 62:51 (LP)
Label	Sony Soho Square (UK) Columbia (US) Work (US)
Producer	Mike Nielsen
Jamiroquai chronology
Emergency on Planet Earth (1993) The Return of the Space Cowboy (1994)
Singles from Emergency on Planet Earth
"When You Gonna Learn" Released: 19 October 1992 "Too Young to Die" Released: 1 March 1993 "Blow Your Mind" Released: 4 June 1993 "Emergency on Planet Earth" Released: 2 August 1993

Background

The recurring theme on the album deals with lyrics about world issues and self-consciousness, along with several jazz instrumentals that made the album a success in the band's native country. The album produced singles, including "Too Young To Die" and "Blow Your Mind".

Singles

• "When You Gonna Learn" was released as the lead single from the album on 19 October 1992 via Acid Jazz Records, and secured them a later deal with Sony Records. The lyrical themes, like Jamiroquai's earlier releases, speak of environmental awareness. The song was edited for the album release, whereas the version on the original vinyl record is the full length version, which is also included on the "When You Gonna Learn" and "Blow Your Mind" CD singles.
• "Too Young to Die" was released as the second single from the album on 1 March 1993. The original version of the track runs at 10:18; however, both the single and album versions were cut, running at 3:22 and 6:05 respectively. The commercial single included all three versions of the track. The original vinyl version of the album includes the full 10:18 version of the song. The song's lyrics are about the fear of war and death due to political machinations. The music video for "Too Young to Die" was directed by W.I.Z., and consisted mainly of lead vocalist Jay Kay singing in what appears to be a desert military installation.
• "Blow Your Mind" was released as the third single from the album on 4 June 1993. The single peaked at #12 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was also featured on the group's Greatest Hits album; however, in a substantially edited form. Two versions of the song exist: a heavily edited radio edit, running at 3:51, and the full-length album version, running at 8:35. The latter version has only ever been included on the group's debut album release. All other releases which include the track include the radio version.
• "Emergency on Planet Earth" was released as the fourth single from the album on 2 August 1993. The song was written by Jay Kay, and has a marked environmentalist tone, urging the listener to "stop modernisation going on." The track peaked at #32 on the UK Singles Chart and at #4 on the US Dance Chart. A new recording of the song, which uses a completely different bass track and intro, and includes some changes in the arrangements, was featured on the single and in the music video for the song. This version was later released on the group's Greatest Hits compilation.
• "When You Gonna Learn" was re-released by Sony Records as the fifth and final single from the album on 13 September 1993. The re-release was slightly more successful than the original, peaking at #28 on the UK Singles Chart. The re-release was backed with an alternative music video to the original, but contained shots of the original in flashback scenes.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Baltimore Sun	(favourable)[3]
BBC	(favourable)[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[1]
The New York Times	(favourable)[5]
Q	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Select	4/5[8]

The album was listed in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list. Entertainment Weekly described the album as helping the band "turn out gritty organic grooves with enthusiasm."[1] Q magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, describing it as "A funky and beautiful record, a contender for best British soul album of the '90s, and frankly better than anything Stevie Wonder has made since Hotter Than July." BBC Music claims [4] - "...the album was an infectious, funk mezze of trumpets, saxophones, didgeridoos and flutes, spawning the hit singles Too Young To Die and Blow Your Mind which both entered the UK Top 10 in 1993." An unsigned review from The Daily Telegraph stated that the band "take[s] every cliche in the soul handbook and somehow turn it into a thing of beauty. [Kay] calls women 'sexy ladies' and says things like 'you blow my mind' and 'no more wars,' yet somehow these stale sentiments are rendered fresh and fragrant and really rather wonderful."[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jay Kay and Toby Smith, except where noted.

CD version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"When You Gonna Learn (Digeridoo)"	Kay	3:50
2.	"Too Young to Die"		6:05
3.	"Hooked Up"		4:35
4.	"If I Like It, I Do It"	Kay, Nick Van Gelder	4:53
5.	"Music of the Mind" (instrumental)		6:22
6.	"Emergency on Planet Earth"		4:05
7.	"Whatever It Is, I Just Can't Stop"	Kay	4:07
8.	"Blow Your Mind"		8:32
9.	"Revolution 1993"		10:16
10.	"Didgin' Out" (instrumental)	Kay, Wallis Buchanan	2:37
Total length:			55:22

LP version

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"When You Gonna Learn (Digeridoo)" (JK Mix)	Kay	6:21
2.	"Too Young to Die" (Extended Mix)		10:12
3.	"Hooked Up"		4:35
4.	"If I Like It, I Do It" (Extended Mix)	Kay, Nick Van Gelder	6:54
5.	"Music of the Mind" (instrumental)		6:22
6.	"Emergency on Planet Earth"		4:05
7.	"Whatever It Is, I Just Can't Stop"	Kay	4:07
8.	"Blow Your Mind"		8:32
9.	"Revolution 1993"		10:16
10.	"Didgin' Out" (instrumental)	Kay, Wallis Buchanan	2:37
Total length:			62:51

20th Anniversary Reissue Bonus Disc[10]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"When You Gonna Learn" (Cante Hondo Mix)	Kay
2.	"When You Gonna Learn" (Live at the Leadmill)	Kay
3.	"Too Young to Die" (Extended Mix)		10:12
4.	"If I Like It, I Do It" (Acoustic)	Kay, Nick Van Gelder
5.	"Emergency on Planet Earth" (London Rican Mix)
6.	"Revolution 1993" (Original Demo)
7.	"Didgin' Out" (Live at the Milky Way, Amsterdam)	Kay, Wallis Buchanan
8.	"Brothers Like You" (Live at Glastonbury)
9.	"God Make Me Funky" (Live at Glastonbury)
10.	"Music of the Mind" (Live at Glastonbury)

Personnel

Credits for Emergency on Planet Earth adapted from album liner notes.[11]

Jamiroquai

• Jay Kay – vocals
• Wallis Buchanan – didgeridoo
• Toby Smith – keyboard, string arrangements
• Stuart Zender – bass
• Nick Van Gelder – drums
• Gary Barnacle – flute, saxophone, brass arrangement
• Simon Bartholomew – guitar
• Glen Nightingale – guitar
• DJ Dzire – turntables
• Kofi Kari Kari – percussion
• Maurizio Ravalico – percussion
• Richard Edwards – trombone
• John Thirkell – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Andrew Levy – additional bass
• Gavin Dodds – additional guitar

Additional musicians

• Mike Smith – additional saxophone, flute
• Linda Lewis – additional background vocals
• Vanessa Simon – additional background vocals
• The Reggae Philharmonic Strings – strings

Charts

Weekly charts Chart Position Australian ARIA Album Chart[12] 21 Austrian Albums Chart[13] 11 Dutch Albums Chart[14] 15 French SNEP Albums Chart[15] 7 German Media Control Albums Chart[16] 17 Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[17] 40 New Zealand Albums Chart[18] 27 Swedish Albums Chart[19] 13 Swiss Albums Chart[20] 5 UK Albums Chart[21] 1 Year-end charts Chart (1993) Position Dutch Albums Chart[22] 84 French Albums Chart[23] 14

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[24]	Platinum	441,500[25]
Japan (RIAJ)[26]	Platinum	200,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[27]	Gold	50,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[28]	Gold	25,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[29]	Platinum	300,000^^
Summaries
Worldwide	N/A	1,200,000 [30]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Fox, Marisa (13 August 1993). "Emergency on Planet Earth". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
2. Carpenter, Troy. "Emergency on Planet Earth – Jamiroquai". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
3. Considine J.D. (20 August 1993). "Taylor polishes his golden oldies to a new, high finish". Baltimore Sun.
4. O'Donnell, David (12 December 2008). "Jamiroquai Emergency on Planet Earth Review". bbc.co.uk.
5. Zwerin, Mike (10 November 1993). "Jamiroquai: Will Wonders Ever Cease?". The New York Times.
6. "Jamiroquai: Emergency on Planet Earth". Q (174): 124. March 2001.
7. Sisario, Ben (2004). "Jamiroquai". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 420. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
8. Maconie, Stuart (July 1993). "Jamiroquai: Emergency on Planet Earth". Select (37): 90.
9. "Emergency on Planet Earth". The Daily Telegraph: 18. 17 June 1993.
10. "JAMIROQUAI 20TH ANNIVERSARY REISSUES | The Official Sony Music Ireland Site". Sonymusic.ie. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
11. Emergency on Planet Earth (liner notes). Sony Music Entertainment. 1993.
12. "australian-charts.com Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original (ASP) on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
13. "austriancharts.at Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth". Hung Medien (in German). Archived from the original (ASP) on 26 January 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
14. "dutchcharts.nl Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth". Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Archived from the original (ASP) on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
15. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
16. "Album Search: Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
17. "ジャミロクワイ-リリース-ORICON STYLE-ミュージック" [Highest position and charting weeks of Emergency on Planet Earth by Jamiroquai]. oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
18. "charts.nz Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
19. "swedishcharts.com Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 1 January 2014.
20. "Jamiroquai - Emergency on Planet Earth - hitparade.ch". Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Archived from the original (ASP) on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
21. "Jamiroquai > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
22. "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1993" (in Dutch). Archived from the original (ASP) on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
23. "Les Albums (CD) de 1993 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
24. "French album certifications – Jamiroquai – Emergency on Planet Earth" (in French). InfoDisc. Select JAMIROQUAI and click OK. 
25. "Les Albums Platine". infodisc.fr. SNEP. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
26. "RIAJ > The Record > October 1998 > Certified Awards (August 1998)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 January 2014.
27. "Dutch album certifications – Jamiroquai – Emergency on Planet Earth" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter Emergency on Planet Earth in the "Artiest of titel" box.
28. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Jamiroquai; 'Emergency on Planet Earth')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
29. "British album certifications – Jamiroquai – Emergency on Planet Earth". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 September 2013. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Emergency on Planet Earth in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
30. "Emergency On Planet Squatt". Billboard. 29 January 1994. Retrieved 29 August 2018.