Creatures of Leisure

{{Infobox album

| name = Creatures of Leisure

| type = Album

| artist = Mental As Anything

| cover = Creatures of Leisure.jpg

| alt =

| released = March 1983

| recorded = Albert Studios, Sydney, Australia

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Pop

| length = 39:24

| label = Regular Records

| producer = Russell Dunlop & Bruce Brown
(2 tracks on international version produced by Mark Moffatt & Ricky Fataar)

| prev_title = Cats and Dogs

| prev_year = 1981

| next_title = Fundamental

| next_year = 1985

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Creatures of Leisure

| type = studio

| single1 = Close Again

| single1date = November 1982

| single2 = Spirit Got Lost

| single2date = March 1983

| single3 = Brain Brain

| single3date = September 1983

| single4 = Working for the Man

| single4date = November 1983

}}

{{Album ratings

|rev1 = Allmusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r44643|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]

}}

Creatures of Leisure is the fourth studio album released by Australian band, Mental As Anything. It was released in March 1983{{cite web | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120929074329/http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/mentalasanything.html | url = http://hem.passagen.se/honga/database/m/mentalasanything.html | title = Mental As Anything | last1 = Holmgren | first1 = Magnus | first2 = Shane | last2 = Johns | first3 = Stefan | last3 = Warnqvist | publisher = Australian Rock Database. Passagen.se (Magnus Holmgren) | archivedate = 29 September 2012 | url-status = usurped | accessdate = 9 March 2014 }} and peaked at #8 on the Australian Album charts.{{cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, NSW|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}} NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.

Reception

AllMusic called it the Mentals' "best album to date" saying "it is a must have for pure pop fans, new wave fans, rock & roll fans, and Aussie rock fans" and noted similarities with Rockpile and Squeeze".{{cite web| work= AllMusic | title=Creatures of Leisure|author=Stephen Schnee | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/creatures-of-leisure-mw0000455980}}

Rip It Up said "Album number four and the cracks are beginning to show, just a little. Not that this is a bad record. It's just that it gets the slightest bit dull and workmanlike. I'm afraid the title of the first track sums it up: 'Spirit Got Lost'."{{cite magazine| magazine= Rip It Up | title=Briefs|author=Robert Eyres|issue=70|date=1 May 1983| url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/RIU19830501.2.34?items_per_page=10&page=8&phrase=2&query=mental+as+anything&snippet=true| via= Papers Past| p=18}}

Track listing

= Australian edition =

{{tracklist

| collapsed =

| headline = Creatures of Leisure

| title1 = Spirit Got Lost

| note1 =

| writer1 = Reg Mombassa, Andrew 'Greedy' Smith{{cite web|publisher=Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) |title=APRA search engine |url=http://www.apra.com.au/cms/worksearch/worksearch.srvlt?action=workSearch |accessdate=16 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205184453/http://www.apra.com.au/cms/worksearch/worksearch.srvlt?action=workSearch |archivedate=5 December 2007 |df=dmy }}

| length1 = 2:59

| title2 = Float Away

| note2 =

| writer2 = Reg Mombassa

| length2 = 2:43

| title3 = Brain Brain

| note3 =

| writer3 = Peter O'Doherty

| length3 = 4:37

| title4 = Bitter to Swallow

| writer4 = Andrew Smith

| length4 = 3:46

| title5 = Close Again

| note5 =

| writer5 = Peter O'Doherty

| length5 = 2:57

| title6 = Space to Let

| note6 =

| writer6 = Martin Plaza

| length6 = 2:47

| title7 = Not Enough

| note7 = MC / CD only track not included on LP release

| writer7 = Martin Plaza, Reg Mombassa

| length7 = 2:52

| title8 = Drinking of Her Lips

| note8 =

| writer8 = Reg Mombassa

| length8 = 3:28

| title9 = Fiona

| note9 =

| writer9 = Andrew Smith

| length9 = 3:28

| title10 = Nothing's Going Right Today

| note10 =

| writer10 = Martin Plaza

| length10 = 3:20

| title11 = Red to Green

| note11 =

| writer11 = Peter O'Doherty, Victoria Campbell

| length11 = 3:25

| title12 = Country in the Concrete

| note12 =

| writer12 = Reg Mombassa

| length12 = 3:25

| title13 = Let's Not Get Sentimental

| note13 = Track timing includes unlisted track, below.

| writer13 = Martin Plaza

| length13 = 6:49

| title14 = Business & Pleasure

| note14 = Unlisted track. A new recording of a track originally heard on Get Wet.

| writer14 = Martin Plaza

| length14 =

}}

= International Edition =

The version of Creatures of Leisure released in North America dropped the tracks "Space to Let" and "Country in the Concrete", and added "Working for the Man" and "Seems Alright to Me". Additionally, "Nothing's Going Right Today" appeared in remixed form.

"Business & Pleasure", which was a completely unlisted track on the Australian release, was listed on the sleeve and on the label of the international edition, although it was not listed on the lyric sheet.

{{tracklist

| collapsed =

| headline = Creatures of Leisure

| title1 = Spirit Got Lost

| note1 =

| writer1 = Reg Mombassa, Andrew 'Greedy' Smith

| length1 = 2:56

| title2 = Float Away

| note2 =

| writer2 = Reg Mombassa

| length2 = 2:41

| title3 = Brain Brain

| note3 =

| writer3 = Peter O'Doherty

| length3 = 4:35

| title4 = Bitter to Swallow

| writer4 = Andrew Smith

| length4 = 3:43

| title5 = Close Again

| note5 =

| writer5 = Peter O'Doherty

| length5 = 2:54

| title6 = Nothing's Going Right Today

| note6 = Remixed by Joe Raine

| writer6 = Martin Plaza

| length6 = 3:15

| title7 = Not Enough

| note7 = MC only track not included on LP release

| writer7 = Martin Plaza, Reg Mombassa

| length7 = 2:52

| title8 = Working for the Man

| note8 =

| writer8 = Roy Orbison

| length8 = 3:31

| title9 = Fiona

| note9 =

| writer9 = Andrew Smith

| length9 = 3:25

| title10 = Seems Alright to Me

| note10 =

| writer10 = Martin Plaza

| length10 = 3:28

| title11 = Drinking of Her Lips

| note11 =

| writer11 = Reg Mombassa

| length11 = 2:50

| title12 = Red to Green

| note12 =

| writer12 = Peter O'Doherty, Victoria Campbell

| length12 = 3:27

| title13 = Let's Not Get Sentimental

| note13 =

| writer13 = Martin Plaza

| length13 = 4:30

| title14 = Business & Pleasure

| note14 =

| writer14 = Martin Plaza

| length14 = 2:20

}}

Personnel

=Musicians=

Martin Plaza — lead vocals, guitar
Greedy Smith — lead vocals, keyboards, harmonica
Reg Mombassa — guitar, vocals
Peter O'Doherty — bass, guitar, vocals
Wayne de Lisle — drums

= Recording details =

Bruce Brown — producer, engineer
Russell Dunlop — producer, engineer
David Hemming — assistant producer, assistant engineer
Frank DeLuna — mastering

= Additional credits on international edition =

Mark Moffatt — producer (tracks: 7 & 9)
Ricky Fataar — producer (tracks: 7 & 9)
Tim Kramer — engineer (tracks: 7 & 9)
Joe Raine — remix (track 6)

= Art work =

Martin Plaza — artwork
Syd Shelton — cover design, photography
Reg Mombassa — drawings
Ken Smith — finished art
Jon Watkins — finished art
Melanie Nissen — finished art

Charts

class="wikitable"

!Chart (1983)

!Peak
position

Australian (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=198}}

|align="center"|8

{{album chart|New Zealand|38|artist=Mental as Anything|album=Creatures of Leisure|access-date=3 December 2021}}