King (Belly album)

King is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Belly, released on February 13, 1995.

King
Studio album by Belly
Released	February 13, 1995 (1995-02-13)[1]
Recorded	Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas)
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	45:00
Label	Sire Reprise
Producer	Glyn Johns
Belly chronology
Star (1993) King (1995) Dove (2018)
Singles from King
"Super-Connected" Released: 1995 "Now They'll Sleep" Released: January 23, 1995[2] "Red" Released: 1995 "Seal My Fate" Released: July 10, 1995[3]

Although the members had tightened their focus and polished their hook-laden songs, King and its singles did not meet label expectations in the grunge-friendly atmosphere of 1995, and the band broke up shortly after it was released. The album sold over 350,000 copies.^[4] In the two decades since King's release, many (including some critics) have reconsidered the initial lukewarm attitude towards the album and now hold it as an equal to Belly's highly regarded debut Star.^{[citation needed]}

Background

Belly released their debut studio album Star in January 1993, which peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and number 59 in the United States. Of its singles, "Feed the Tree" performed the best, reaching number 32 in the UK and number 95 in the US. Belly was nominated for a Best New Act at the Grammy Awards, and won Boston Music Awards for Best Modern Rock Act and Debut Album of the Year. Bassist Fred Abong departed in May 1993 and was replaced by Gail Greenwood. They travelled to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas to record their next album.^[5]

Release

Preceded by the "Now They'll Sleep" single in January 1995, King was released in February 1995. "Seal My Fate" was issued as the next single in July 1995. Belly went on a US tour with Catherine Wheel; they officially broke up in early 1996.^[5]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Chicago Tribune	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Los Angeles Times	[10]
NME	5/10[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]
Slant Magazine	[13]
Spin	8/10[14]
The Village Voice	A−[15]

In 2012, King was listed at number seven on PopMatters' "15 Overlooked and Underrated Albums of the 1990s" list.^[16] In 2016, the album was hailed by Will Sheff of Okkervil River as "a winning, confident, masterful collection of songs – poppy and sweet and with a low-key psychedelic undercurrent. Everything good about Star was still there and had been expanded upon, but in many ways this felt like a new, reinvented band."^[17]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Puberty"	Tanya Donelly Gail Greenwood	3:48
2.	"Seal My Fate"	Donelly	4:03
3.	"Red"	Donelly Tom Gorman	3:35
4.	"Silverfish"	Donelly Gorman	4:00
5.	"Super-Connected"	Donelly Greenwood	4:25
6.	"The Bees"	Donelly	4:58
7.	"King"	Donelly	4:18
8.	"Now They'll Sleep"	Donelly Gorman	3:14
9.	"Untitled and Unsung"	Donelly	3:33
10.	"L'il Ennio"	Donelly	3:45
11.	"Judas My Heart"	Donelly Gorman	5:21
Total length:			45:00

Charts

Chart performance for King

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18]	87
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19]	66
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20]	89
UK Albums (OCC)[21]	6
US Billboard 200[22]	57

References

Citations

1. "Reviews: Records Out on February 13, 1995". Music Week. February 4, 1995. p. 30.
2. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. January 21, 1995. p. 31.
3. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. July 8, 1995. p. 27.
4. Aston, Martin. "Rhode Island Odyssey". 4ad.com.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. Thompson 2000, p. 186
6. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "King – Belly". AllMusic. Retrieved March 7, 2006.
7. Caro, Mark (March 2, 1995). "A Step Up". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
8. Sinclair, Tom (February 17, 1995). "King". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
9. Sullivan, Caroline (February 17, 1995). "Belly: King (4AD)". The Guardian.
10. Ali, Lorraine (February 14, 1995). "Donelly Brings Life and Texture to 'King'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
11. Cigarettes 1995, p. 50
12. Sinagra 2004, p. 60
13. Cinquemani, Sal (October 16, 2003). "Review: Belly, King". Slant Magazine. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
14. Fleissner 1995, p. 94
15. Christgau, Robert (June 6, 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
16. Chiola, Enio (May 8, 2012). "15 Overlooked and Underrated Albums of the 1990s". PopMatters. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
17. Langmead, Jon (February 14, 2016). "Hail, Hail: Belly and the making of King". Aquarium Drunkard. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
18. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 28.
19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Belly – King" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
20. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
22. "Belly Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 14, 2018.

Sources

• Cigarettes, Johnny (February 18, 1995). "Gutless!". NME.
• Fleissner, Jen (March 1995). "Belly: King". Spin. Vol. 10, no. 12. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
• Sinagra, Laura (2004). "Belly". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
• Thompson, Dave (2000). Alternative Rock. Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion. San Francisco, California: Miller Freeman Books. ISBN 0-87930-607-6.

External links

• King at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)