Catherine Wheel - Happy Days (1995)

“Happy Days” is the third full-length album by the English alternative rock band Catherine Wheel, released in 1995. Like its predecessor, Chrome, it was produced by Gil Norton, and the influences of heavy metal and hard rock are prevalent on this album; however, the band does retain some elements of the shoegazing style that dominated their previous albums, particularly on the songs "Heal" and "Eat My Dust You Insensitive Fuck".

"Judy Staring at the Sun" featured guest vocals by Tanya Donelly. In the single mix, Donelly performs the song's chorus and second verse; on the album, however, her vocals appear only in the chorus, and all verses are sung by Rob Dickinson.

A good percentage of Catherine Wheel's fans might have chucked “Happy Days” out of their players after the unleashing of Rob Dickinson's David Coverdale-like "oooh" during the brain bash of "God Inside My Head." In the event that the listener had the open-mindedness required to tackle the lengthy record in whole, they would have heard more Headbanger's Ball vocalisms, wanky guitar solos, and some lyrical passages that would lead admirers of Ferment and Chrome to wonder what happened. "Grow my hair long and strange/I'll be a walking mountain range." What?

Although the onslaught of pounding, throbbing hard rock prevails throughout the course of Happy Days, there are moments of respite. "Heal" tugs the heartstrings, summing up the record's theme of combating cynicism and coming to grips with adulthood. (The line "Everyone needs someone to live by" comes straight from Talk Talk.) The smoldering eight-minute "Eat My Dust" is unfortunately buried half way through the record. It's easy to get lost in the web of dazzling atmospherics. But more than anything, the greatest challenge of Happy Days is wading through it. The band seems like they lowered themselves to make a play for the U.S. alternative charts, but they undeniably sound full of fire. The record undeniably misses the imagination of their previous conquests, and it ultimately sounds like a lesser band.

01. "God Inside My Head"  - 3:52
02. "Waydown"  - 3:14
03. "Little Muscle"  - 3:04
04. "Heal" - 6:13
05. "Empty Head"  - 3:12
06. "Receive"  - 3:35
07. "My Exhibition"  - 2:27
08. "Eat My Dust You Insensitive Fuck"  - 8:06
09. "Shocking"  - 3:58
10. "Love Tips Up"  - 3:55
11. "Judy Staring at the Sun"  - 3:56
12. "Hole"  - 3:49
13. "Fizzy Love"  - 3:34
14. "Glitter" - 4:10 (exclusive to vinyl edition)
15. "Kill My Soul"  - 5:10

Credits
Rob Dickinson - guitar, vocals
Brian Futter - guitar, vocals
Dave Hawes - bass
Neil Sims - percussion
Tanya Donelly - vocals
Tim Friese-Greene - organ, keyboards
Audrey Riley - strings, cello
Mark Feltham - harmonica

Engineer - Paul Corkett
Producer - Gil Norton, Rob Dickinson

Notes
Recorded: 1994, Ridge Farm, Britannia Row, The Green House, Front Row, Nomis, Wessex Sound, The Crypt, The Church, Ft. Apache
Genre:  Alternative Rock, Grunge, Shoegazing
Length:  62:13

© 1995 Mercury/Fontana Records