Conscious Consumer
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Conscious Consumer
| type = studio
| artist = X-Ray Spex
| cover = Xrayspex-consciousconsumer-cover.jpg
| alt =
| released = September 28, 1995
| recorded = 1995
| venue =
| studio = Livingston Studios, Wood Green, London; The Strongroom, Shoreditch, London
| genre = New wave • pop-punk{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/conscious-consumer-mw0000081884 |title=Conscious Consumer – X-Ray Spex
| length = 39:09
| label = Receiver Records
| producer = Poly Styrene
| prev_title = Germfree Adolescents
| prev_year = 1978
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
Conscious Consumer is the second and final studio album by English punk rock band X-Ray Spex, the first new material recorded by the band in seventeen years. It was recorded in 1995 and released in September of that year by record label Receiver. The album saw the return of saxophonist Lora Logic, sacked from the original incarnation of the band but reconciled with singer Poly Styrene during the 80s,{{cite web |url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/essentiallogic.html |title = Essential Logic - Lora Logic interview}} as well as original bassist Paul Dean. Original members Jak Airport and B.P. Hurding were replaced by Crispian Mills (as Red Spectre) and Paul Winterhart (as Pauli OhAirt), who would later achieve success as members of Kula Shaker.{{Cite web|url=https://www.piccadillyrecords.com/151999/X-Ray-Spex-Conscious-Consumer-2023-Reissue-Do-Yourself-In|title=Conscious Consumer - 2023 Reissue|access-date=22 November 2024}}
Reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
}}
The A.V. Club wrote that the album "revived the group's original anti-consumerist stance, but tempered it with Styrene's newfound serenity on songs like 'Prayer for Peace'", while Richie Unterberger of AllMusic echoed similar sentiments.{{cite web |url=http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-poly-styrene-leader-of-x-ray-spex-and-punk-ico-55105 |title=R.i.P. Poly Styrene, Leader of X-Ray Spex and Punk Icon • Newswire • The A.V. Club |last=O'Neal |first=Sean |date=26 April 2011 |website=The A.V. Club |accessdate=5 August 2015}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Poly Styrene, except where noted
| title1 = Cigarettes
| length1 = 2:48
| title2 = Junk Food Junkie
| length2 = 3:23
| title3 = Crystal Clear
| length3 = 4:33
| title4 = India
| length4 = 3:22
| title5 = Dog in Sweden
| writer5 = {{flatlist|
- Styrene
- Peter-Paul Hartnett
}}
| length5 = 3:15
| title6 = Hi Chaperone
| length6 = 2:59
| title7 = Good Time Girl
| length7 = 3:00
| title8 = Melancholy
| length8 = 3:53
| title9 = Sophia
| length9 = 2:50
| title10 = Peace Meal
| length10 = 2:32
| title11 = Prayer for Peace
| length11 = 4:00
| title12 = Party
| length12 = 2:49
}}
Personnel
;X-Ray Spex
- Poly Styrene – vocals
- Red Spectre – guitar, "guitar arrangements"
- Lora Logic – saxophone, "saxophone melodies"
- Paul Dean – bass, "bass lines"
- Pauli OhAirt – drums, "drum energy"
with:
- Peter-Paul Hartnett – Japanese backing vocals and dog howl, photography
- Andrew Scarth, Gareth Jones, James Thompson, John Mallison, Simon Burwell, Tony Harris - "engineering and sonic architecture"
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs release|1641545}}
{{X-Ray Spex}}
{{Authority control}}
{{1990s-punk-album-stub}}