Шарлатанс тоғызыншы альбомы: «Керемет Әлем»

Wonderland is the seventh album by British rock band the Charlatans, released on 10 September 2001 through Universal. Following promotional efforts for their sixth studio album, Us and Us Only, vocalist Tim Burgess and guitarist Mark Collins wrote new material at the former's house in Los Angeles, California. Cocaine would have an impact on the writing and, later on, recording; sessions were held at producer Danny Saber's house studio, Krevorkian's Lab, also in Los Angeles. The band worked with him for seven weeks in October 2000, only completing five tracks, and later went to their own studio, Big Mushroom in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, in early 2001. Wonderland is a funk soul and electronica record, evoking the work of John Mellencamp, Oasis, and Primal Scream. Burgess remarked that Los Angeles itself became a member of the band; critics referred to it as a drug enhanced party album. He employed a falsetto in the vein of Curtis Mayfield and Kurt Wagner. Wonderland received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised its sound, while Burgess' falsetto drew mixed responses. It charted at number one in Scotland, number two in the UK, and number nine in Ireland, later being certified gold in the UK. "Love Is the Key" reached the top 20 in Scotland and the UK, while "A Man Needs to Be Told" made it to the top 40 in both territories. Bookended by two European festivals, the Charlatans played a few shows in the United States. "Love Is the Key" was released as the lead single from the album in August 2001; they promoted the album with club nights where people could hear it prior to its release. They went on a tour of the UK in October 2001, and in the following month, "A Man Needs to Be Told" was released as the next single. They closed out the year with a three date arena tour with Starsailor, who would then support the band on their US tour in early 2002. Over the next few months, they performed at a mixture of festivals and did sporadic headlining shows.

The Charlatans released their sixth studio album, Us and Us Only, in October 1999 through Universal, which peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart. All three of its singles reached the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, with both "Forever" and "Impossible" sitting in the top 15. It was promoted with two UK tours and a North American trek with Stereophonics. The first track that was written for their next album was "A Man Needs to Be Told", which vocalist Tim Burgess, guitarist Mark Collins, and James Spencer made a demo of. Burgess sang over it in a falsetto, which he was inspired to do after listening to Nixon (2000) by Lambchop and After the Gold Rush (1970) by Neil Young. In June 2000, Collins visited Burgess at his place in Los Angeles, California, to write material. The band had several discussions about him living there while the rest of them remained in Manchester and whether they would be able to make it work. Burgess and Collins wrote together for two weeks, coming up with "Love Is the Key", "Right On", and "Love to You" in the process. When they were seeing the sights and driving along the freeways, they would be listening to the classic rock stations, playing the likes of Isaac Hayes and Sly and the Family Stone. On one occasion, "Be Thankful for What You Got" (1974) by William DeVaughn came on, and the pair looked at each other, deciding that this was the type of song they wanted the next album to emulate. A week before recording was due to commence, the rest of the band arrived in Los Angeles and initially visited clubs and watched other artists perform. They stayed at the Oakwood Apartments on Barham Boulevard, close to Universal Studios Hollywood, and made a set up in Collins' room where they could record potential ideas for songs. In October 2000, the NME reported that the band would release their next album in early 2001. That same month, He wanted to be as far away as possible from Manchester, thinking that Los Angeles had as wide a musical palette to take from as Manchester did, naming a variety of artists from the Beach Boys, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito Brothers, among others. Burgess would be dropped off at the band's apartments around midday, and they would drive to the studio. He mentioned that the atmosphere in Saber's place affected the songs; they spent the daytime writing and would later be recording in a blacked out room on the third floor that they referred to as the "junkie den". Though work was initially continuous, with them starting at 3 p. m., the work period would start later, eventually beginning at 4 a. m. Burgess' sole explanation was taking a large amount of cocaine, to the point he would have a dealer around him constantly who would take to sleeping on the sofa at Collins' apartment. After making his debut with the band on their previous album, Rogers wanted to be more involved on Wonderland. Burgess said Saber was not receptive to this, as he only wished to work with Burgess and Collins. Saber slowly started to give Rogers respect after learning of his contributions to "You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty" and "Is It in You?". Burgess and Collins would perform over beats that Saber created; Saber or Twiggy Ramirez would play bass, and Stacy Plunk would sing additional vocals. Plunk was Saber's girlfriend and was previously a backing vocalist for the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Ann Peebles. As she could sing for a variety of musical styles, the Charlatans would create melodies with her in mind. Rogers said they were only able to finish five tracks with Saber before they went home. In early 2001, the band then returned to the UK to do additional production work at their own studio, Big Mushroom, in Cheshire, Greater Manchester. The band and Spencer produced all of the songs; Saber is also credited with producing six of them. it was instead mixed by Spencer at Big Mushroom. Burgess said that with Saber absent, "some of the [audio] space began to get filled up", ending up more polished than if Saber had done it, as he would have "kept it completely stripped down".

Musically, Wonderland has been described as funk soul and electronica, drawing comparisons to the work of John Mellencamp, Oasis, and Primal Scream, Burgess said it was directly influenced by Californian soul music; he added that they allowed "Los Angeles to join as a sixth member and take over the band". Neil Leeds of Drowned in Sound described it as the band's "soundtrack to an after show party", with an "effervescent theme [that] is maintained throughout, that theme being the good times". In his autobiography Telling Stories (2012), he said that he found a copy of Mayfield's Back to the World (1973) in his wife's collection but was otherwise unaware of his other music outside of the Impressions and Super Fly (1972). Various musicians contributed to the recordings: Ged Lynch with percussion on "Judas", "Love Is the Key", "Wake Up", and "Ballad of the Band"; Plunk with backing vocals on "Love Is the Key", "A Man Needs to Be Told" and "Is It in You? "; Yvonne Marx with backing vocals on "Love Is the Key" and "Ballad of the Band"; Daniel Lanois with pedal steel on "A Man Needs to Be Told"; and Jim Keltner with percussion on "A Man Needs to Be Told". Saber changed the speed of the demo that Blunt and Rogers had made, which was one of the few ideas that they brought over from the UK. "Judas" was another demo that was brought over but lacked a chorus section, which was promptly written by Burgess, Collins, and Rogers. It talks about their former accountant, and recalled "November Spawned a Monster" (1990) by Morrissey. writing some of the lyrics at the King's Head pub in Middlewich. "Love Is the Key" is a funk rock track and has a near Latin beat. He said the track was an intentional response to music "becoming macho again" following the Britpop movement and lad culture. It was written shortly after Us and Us Only, intended as a B side to "Impossible" until they thought otherwise. In "I Just Can't Get Over Losing You", Pitchfork contributor Joe Tangari wrote that Collins entwines "dozens of little stuttering passages through the mix, vying with Rogers for control of the harmonic and countermelodic space". "The Bell and the Butterfly" was named after a book that Collins was reading, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (1997) by Jean Dominique Bauby. Collins' added an Al Green like guitar part during the verse sections at the suggestion of Burgess. Rogers and Spencer added a chorus section that angered Burgess; the latter's talking in the song was influenced by Kevin Rowland of Dexys Midnight Runners. "Wake Up", which was originally titled "Ballad of the Band", opens with a guitar riff in the vein of King Crimson's 1980s before shifting into a ballad; the guitars eventually become enhanced by wah wah pedals. while Burgess said the lyrics were influenced by the Politicians and that the "moral of this story is that you can never have too much too late." "Is It in You?" is centred around a Mellotron and a piano It includes references to the poem Love Replied by Allen Ginsberg and "Burning Love" (1972) by Elvis Presley. "Ballad of the Band", which was originally named "Ianocce" apes the work of Sly Stone, Jason Cohen of CMJ New Music Monthly wrote that "breathtaking balladry comes to the fore with the mind/body/spirit R&B devotional" of "Love to You".

On 10 April 2001, Wonderland was announced for release in five months' time. On 25 June 2001, the band posted a video from recording sessions for the album on their website. The audio of the video included "You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty", "Judas", and "Love Is the Key", marking the debut of these new songs. Three days later, they premiered five tracks from the album during a show in Wrexham, Wales, and then appeared at Rockwave Festival in Greece. A week later, they filmed a music video for "Love Is the Key" in Los Angeles. with support from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, On 11 August 2001, it was announced that Rogers had been diagnosed with a form of cancer hours before the Wrexham show two months prior. Rogers had first noticed signs of cancer several months ago but "didn't go back to the doctor because we were in the middle of the album. I didn't want to disrupt things." Despite this, the band informed the media that they would still be performing at V Festival and its preceding warm up show later in the month. "Love Is the Key" was released as the lead single from the album on 27 August 2001; Blunt had wanted "Judas" instead. a promotional 12 inch edition featured the album versions of "Love Is the Key" and "The Bell and the Butterfly" with a So Solid Crew remix of "Love Is the Key". Advertisements for the single, which featured a man kneeling before a woman, had to be withdrawn due to complaints from readers of a newspaper. The UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said they had two complaints after the advert had been seen in The Mirror. Universal's marketing director, Jason Iley, said, "There is no nudity and, if people look closely, they will see the man's image is actually projected onto the woman's body." Universal said the man was kissing the wall behind the woman. The ASA would later reject these complaints, stating that the advertisement was "neither sexually explicit nor pornographic" and "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence". From late August until early September 2001, the band hosted club nights where people would listen to the entire album ahead of its release. Wonderland was released on 10 September 2001 through Universal, but they were cancelled following the September 11 terrorist attacks. In October 2001, they embarked on a tour across the UK. Though planned for release on 12 November 2001, "A Man Needs to Be Told" was released as the album's second single on 19 November 2001. Two versions were released on CD: the first with a radio edit of "A Man Needs to Be Told", the music video for the track, as well as "Shotgun" and a remix of "Ballad of the Band", while the second version included "All I Desire" and a live version of "Love Is the Key". The music video was directed by Kevin Godley, who convinced the band members to be suspended by harnesses upside down for a 15 hour filming shoot. They ended the year with a three date arena tour with support from Starsailor. The band promoted the single with a signing session the following day at a HMV store in London. That same month, Rogers received cancer treatment, with more scheduled soon afterwards. In January 2002, the band toured across the US, with Starsailor supporting them again. In February 2002, the band played a one off show as part of the NME series of performances at the London Astoria throughout the month. They followed this up with a short Irish tour a few days later

"You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty" was announced as the third single from the album for release in March 2002 and then on 8 April; however, three days before release, it was cancelled. The band said the single would not be released under a mutual agreement they had with the label. A spokesperson on behalf of them said that the band was not satisfied with the DVD version and delayed it until after festival performances later in the year. It was planned to feature a radio edit and remix of "You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty" alongside "Room 518" as its B side, while the 12 inch edition was expected to swap the radio edit of "You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty" for the album version and "Silly Thing" in favour of "Room 518". Later in April 2002, the band performed at the Coachella festival in the US. Two months later, they appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival, supported Oasis for a one off show at Finsbury Park in London, and headlined Glastonbury Festival. They played a one off, homecoming show at the Debating Hall in Manchester on 10 July 2002. Initially planned for 15 July 2002, they released a live album on 22 July 2002, dubbed Live It Like You Love It, which had been recorded during the Manchester date of their December 2001 arena tour. A DVD of said tour was in the works, though this never materialised. Following a supporting slot for Stereophonics at Slane Castle in Dublin, Ireland, in August 2002, the band played three club shows to round out the month. Wonderland was re pressed on vinyl in 2018 through UMC, Universal's catalogue label; Live It Like You Love It received the same treatment in 2020. "Love Is the Key" and "A Man Needs to Be Told" were featured on the band's third compilation album, Forever: The Singles (2006). A remake of "You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty", worked on by Martin "Youth" Glover, was released in 2006 and included on that compilation. The original version of "You're So Pretty – We're So Pretty", alongside "Ballad of the Band" and the radio edit of "Love Is the Key", was included on their fourth compilation album Collection (2007). "Love Is the Key" and "A Man Needs to Be Told" were then featured on their fifth compilation album, A Head Full of Ideas (2021). The box set edition of that compilation included a demo titled "C'mon, C'mon"; the track had been found on a CD at Burgess' mother's house with rough mixes of Wonderland tracks.

Wonderland was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 17 reviews. Now Matt Galloway suggested that the remainder of the band should have mentioned to Burgess that "warbling in a ridiculous falsetto throughout much of Wonderland wasn't such a good idea." Matt Cibula of PopMatters reassured listeners to not be "afraid of what you’ve heard about The Falsetto. It's not overused, and it doesn't ruin anything." Kessler, meanwhile, preferred it when Burgess was singing normally, saying that he was in the "best form of his career. This is Tim Burgess finally, really singing from the heart, unselfconsciously and true. It's great". while "A Man Needs to Be Told" reached number 31 in the UK NME and Q listed Wonderland as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.