The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes

The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes peaked at number 6 in the UK Albums Chart on 17 February 1996,{{cite book

| first= David

| last= Roberts

| year= 2006

| title= British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition= 19th

| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited

| location= London

| isbn= 1-904994-10-5

| page= 38}} and lasted a total of six weeks in the top 100 (three in the top 40).{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/32407/babylon-zoo/|title=Babylon Zoo|publisher=Official Charts Company|accessdate=19 December 2018}} Other than the chart-topping "Spaceman", singles released from the album were "Animal Army", which reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart, and the title track, which peaked at number 32.

By the end of 1996, the album had sold around 750,000 copies worldwide, with its main markets in Europe (reaching the top 20 in several countries including Germany and Scandinavian territories{{cite web|author=Steffen Hung |url=https://finnishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Babylon+Zoo&titel=The+Boy+With+The+X%2DRay+Eyes&cat=a |title=Babylon Zoo - The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes |publisher=finnishcharts.com |date= |accessdate=2022-08-10}}), Japan and Australia.{{cite magazine|last1=Sinclair|first1=David|title=UK Brits Around the World|magazine=Billboard|date=22 February 1997}} UK sales exceeded 100,000.{{cite magazine|author1=Kwaku|last2=Sexton|first2=Paul|title=Eastern Wave Also Encompasses Pop|magazine=Billboard|date=29 March 1997}} In two months, the album had sold a "respectable" 12,000 copies in Canada.{{cite journal|date=23 May 1996|title=Babylon Zoo lands in Toronto|journal=Ottawa Citizen|pages=56 (E12)|quote=[T]he CD has been critically well-received around the world.}}

{{Album ratings

|subtitle = Contemporaneous reviews{{clear}}{{small|(published in 1996)}}

|rev1 = The Age

|rev1score = 5/10{{cite journal|date=24 May 1996|title=Top 10 of the Britpop Pack|journal=The Age|pages=46 (Entertainment Guide, p. 14)}}

|rev2 = Alternative Press

|rev2score = 4/5{{cite magazine|last=Thompson|first=Dave|authorlink=Dave Thompson (author)|date=June 1996|title=Babylon Zoo: The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes|magazine=Alternative Press|pages=69}}

|rev3 = Dayton Daily News

|rev3score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite journal|last=Morosi|first=Charmaine|date=5 July 1996|title=Recordings on Review|journal=Dayton Daily News|pages=61 (Go!, p. 15)}}

|rev4 = The Guardian

|rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite journal|last=Glanvill|first=Rick|date=2 February 1996|title=CD of the week: Babylon Zoo|journal=The Guardian|pages=40 (Friday Review, p. 14)}}

|rev5 = Pensacola News Journal

|rev5score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite journal|date=13 May 1996|title=Briefs|journal=Pensacola News Journal|pages=11 (3B)}}

|rev6 = Q

|rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Aston|first=Martin|date=March 1996|title=Babylon Zoo: The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes|magazine=Q|pages=92}}

|rev7 = Select

|rev7score = 2/5{{cite magazine|url=http://selectmagazinescans.monkeon.co.uk/showpage.php?file=wp-content/uploads/2012/12/nickcave.jpg|title=New Albums|magazine=Select|last=Harrison|first=Ian|date=February 1996|page=89|accessdate=24 July 2013}}

|rev8 = Smash Hits

|rev8score = 3/5{{cite magazine |last=Paramor |first=Jordan |title=Babylon Zoo: The Boy With The X-Ray Eyes |magazine=Smash Hits |date=31 January 1996 |issue=448 |page=53}}

|rev9 = Times Colonist

|rev9score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite journal|last=Parisien|first=Roch|date=9 May 1996|title=Roch on Music|journal=Times Colonist|pages=25 (C3)}}

|rev10 = Vox

|rev10score = 2/10{{cite magazine |last=Willmott |first=Ben |title=Babylon Zoo: Boy With The X-Ray Eyes |magazine=Vox |date=April 1996 |issue=66 |page=77}}

}}

The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes was generally well-received by critics upon its release. In Babylon Zoo's native UK, Observer journalist Neil Spencer noted "a blast of Beatles and a hunk of early [David] Bowie", hailing bandleader Jas Mann as a "hero" and "1996's first real phenomenon".{{cite journal|last=Spencer|first=Neil|author-link=Neil Spencer|date=11 February 1996|title=Music Releases|journal=The Observer|page=12}} The Guardian named the album their "CD of the week". Rick Glanvill said: "This is a fey, pretentious vision of music but deny its energy and style to your detriment... Lyrics aren't a strong point but strong tunes put [Mann] on the harder side of glam." Q{{'}}s Martin Aston asserted that "Spaceman" is "startlingly great", with the rest of the record being "equally appealing". David Sinclair in The Times referred to "a credible and cohesive collection of songs which harnesses a big, distorted guitar sound to a futuristic vision".{{cite journal|last=Sinclair|first=David|date=2 February 1996|title=Babylon Zoo: The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes|journal=The Times|page=31}} Less enthused was music historian Martin C. Strong, who found the album to be "mediocre".{{cite book|last=Strong|first=Martin C|author-link=Martin C. Strong|date=1996|title=The Wee Rock Discography|publisher=Canongate|page=18|isbn=978-0862416218}}

There were several negative reviews throughout the British Isles. The Daily Telegraph commended the first two tracks but lost interest thereafter, directing criticism at the "mannered" vocals, "increasingly precious" lyrics, and song arrangements in which "one grinding riff sure enough follows another".{{cite journal|date=10 February 1996|title=Animal magic of Spaceman Jas|journal=The Daily Telegraph|page=9}} Andy Gill in The Independent described the album as "re-heated techno-glam guitar-rock somewhere between Ziggy Stardust and Jesus Jones", which brings home "just how mundane the notionally exotic can be".{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/record-reviews-1316852.html|title=Record reviews|last=Gill|first=Andy|date=2 February 1996|website=The Independent|access-date=16 December 2018}} The Irish Times observed an "outmoded melange of distorted guitars, washed out synthesisers and pseudo sociological sci fi lyrics", listening to which is "not a pleasant experience".{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/rock-1.29179|title=Rock|date=9 February 1996|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=2 December 2015}} The List{{'}}s Rodger Evans portrayed the record as "wholly uninspired",{{cite magazine|last=Evans|first=Rodger|date=23 February 1996|title=Babylon Zoo: The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes|url=https://archive.list.co.uk/the-list/1996-02-23/48/|magazine=The List|issue=273|pages=46|access-date=6 June 2017}} while Ian Harrison of Select dubbed it "a mime troupe unable to keep quiet".

The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes also garnered attention in the United States. People contended: "[T]he tunes basically reprise the sonic spirit and hooky appeal of ['Spaceman']. Before long you just might find yourself humming them in your sleep."{{cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-the-boy-with-the-x-ray-eyes-vol-45-no-15/|title=The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes|date=15 April 1996|website=People|access-date=16 December 2018}} Dave Thompson in Alternative Press felt "no fears for follow-ups" to the lead single, and likened the album to "[David] Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, remixed by the guys from Underworld". New York Times critic Neil Strauss described the record as "wonderful and satisfying in the short term but ultimately disposable".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/26/arts/critic-s-choice-pop-cd-s-pushing-beyond-grunge.html|title=Critic's Choice/Pop CD's; Pushing Beyond Grunge|newspaper=The New York Times|last=Strauss|first=Neil|date=26 March 1996}} An unfavourable J. D. Considine in The Baltimore Sun chided the album's "shoddy sound and abundant gimmickry", concluding that "it's hard to imagine America falling for this junk".{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-03-28-1996088004-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618144807/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1996-03-28/entertainment/1996088004_1_modern-music-colossal-head-cronies|url-status=live|archive-date=18 June 2012|title=Babylon Zoo: The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes|last=Considine|first=J. D.|author-link=J. D. Considine|date=28 March 1996|website=The Baltimore Sun|access-date=16 December 2018}}

{{Album ratings

|subtitle = Retrospective reviews{{clear}}{{small|(published after 1996)}}

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r232899|pure_url=yes}} The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes]. AllMusic. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

|rev2 = The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music

|rev2score = {{rating|2|5}}{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|date=2000|publisher=Virgin Books|isbn=9780753504277|page=30}}

}}

Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times found The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes to be "fatally flawed".{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/rock-pop-1.151968|title=Rock/Pop|last=Courtney|first=Kevin|date=12 February 1999|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=5 December 2018}} British journalist Tim Moore criticised the length of its tracks as excessive, and called the album "persistently tuneless, repetitive and garbled".{{cite book|last=Moore|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Moore (writer)|date=2012|title=You are Awful (but I Like You): Travels Through Unloved Britain|publisher=Vintage|pages=157–158|isbn=978-0-224-09011-7}} It was identified by BBC Radio presenter OJ Borg as the record he regrets buying.{{cite tweet|user=BBCRadio2|number=1050414675278610432|date=11 October 2018|title=It's #NationalAlbumDay on Saturday and @OJBorg wants to hear about the albums you *regret* buying.}} In 2017, Vice{{'}}s Daisy Jones ranked 15 "one-hit wonder" albums from history, naming The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes as the worst. Jones had praise only for the chorus of "Spaceman", likening the remainder of the record to "being thumped on the head with a large chunk of wood then dragged backwards through thick sludge".{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Daisy|title=A Complete Ranking of 15 One-Hit Wonder Albums from Worst to Best|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/pg7dwg/we-ranked-albums-by-one-hit-wonder-artists-worst-best|website=Vice|accessdate=27 August 2020|date=9 May 2017}}

The Guardian and Q, who initially published favourable reviews, have named the record one of the worst of all time. In a 1999 Guardian article, critic Andrew Mueller labelled The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes "one of the most hilariously terrible albums ever made".{{cite journal|last=Mueller|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Mueller|date=30 January 1999|title=Music|journal=The Guardian|pages=159 (The Guide, p. 37)}} Q staff ranked the LP at number 42 in their 2006 list of the 50 worst records in history, calling it an "album of lumpen MOR rock" that "sank without trace".{{cite magazine|date=May 2006|title=The 50 Worst Albums Ever!|magazine=Q}} A 2016 public poll organised by online trade-in site Ziffit.com placed it at number 31 in a list of the 50 worst records ever.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishnews.com/arts/music/2016/09/08/news/one-direction-justin-bieber-and-bruce-willis-albums-voted-among-worst-of-all-time-687267/|title=Top 50 Worst Albums Ever|date=8 September 2016|website=The Irish News|access-date=1 January 2019}}

While acknowledging that readers might "sneer", NME published a defence of The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes by critic Gavin Haynes, who argued that the album, although "garish", "manages to pack as much melody and pop joy into its span as any of the canonical albums of [1996]."{{cite magazine|last=Haynes|first=Gavin|date=27 March 2010|title=Unspun Heroes|magazine=NME}} AllMusic awarded the record 3/5 stars, despite editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine's discrete review in which he observed a lack of cohesion and hooks, and characterised Mann as "pretentious, not ambitious".

All tracks written by Jas Mann.

1. "Animal Army" – 5:55
2. "Spaceman" – 5:41
3. "Zodiac Sign" – 4:58
4. "Paris Green" – 4:43
5. "Confused Art" – 4:32
6. "Caffeine" – 6:34
7. "The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes" – 4:27
8. "Don't Feed the Animals" – 1:38
9. "Fire Guided Light" – 6:43
10. "Is Your Soul for Sale?" – 5:52
11. "I'm Cracking Up I Need a Pill" – 3:46

• A CD promo sampler was also issued that includes the tracks "Spaceman", "Zodiac Sign", "Animal Army" and "I'm Cracking Up I Need a Pill".{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

{{reflist}}

{{Babylon Zoo}}

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Category:1996 debut albums

Category:Babylon Zoo albums

Category:EMI Records albums