BORN OF FRUSTRATION
7" JIM10- Born Of Frustration / Be My Prayer
CAS JIMC 10- Born Of Frustration / Be My Prayer
12" JIM 1012- Born Of Frustration / Be My Prayer / Sound (Diceman Mix)
CD JIM10 CD - Born Of Frustration / Be My Prayer / Sound (Diceman Mix)
RELEASED : JANUARY 1992
CHART POSITION : 13
Born of Frustration was the second single off the Seven album released a couple of weeks before the album itself. Weighing in at over five minutes and containing Tim yodelling and a "la, la, la, la" refrain tht brought comparisons with Simple Minds "Don't You Forget About Me", it was the one song that the critics felt justified all the stadium-rock accusations thrown at the band at the time. It was for sure a bigger more ambitious wide-screen sound that James had never previously achieved and that in many quarters was seen as a crime against indie music.
The single was backed by Be My Prayer, a jaunty two and a half minute outtake from the Seven sessions and a remix of Sound by the band's keyboard player Mark Hunter, named The Diceman after the series of books he was reading at the time.
The video to the single was filmed in the Los Angeles desert. Larry was replaced by tour manager Richard after being mugged within hours of arriving in America. It was as epic as the single itself, culminating in an image of Tim on top of a mountain, arms aloft and lit up from behind like a religious icon.
The cover artwork was James most ambitious for years. John Carroll, responsible for the sleeves of James II, Chain Mail and So Many Ways produced a watercolour which was every bit as complex and involving as the record itself.
The single entered the charts at a disappointing number 13 in a relatively quiet period for singles, although the imminent album release would partly explain that. Another Top of the Pops appearance ensued, but as was becoming the norm, the single went down rather than up the charts in the second week.
REVIEWS
MELODY MAKER
It's true. They do sound like Simple Minds, with all the histronic emotion and overblown sentiments that statement applies. The opening "wuh-uh-uh-oh" hardly helps shake the feeling this song is aimed at the consensus. How they've slumped into this artistic decline without noticeably changing tack will remain one of life's minor mysteries. I liked "Sit Down", after all.
It's probably a simple matter of emphasis: Tim Booth has mixed his p's and q's and songs for the disaffected will never sound the same again. Tired, boring and needless: he's too in love with the sound of his own vibrato to turn back now. Oh Tim, sit down, sit down, do sit down. Please?