SOUND
7" JIM9 - Sound (7" version) / All My Sons
CAS JIMC9 - Sound (7" version) / All My Sons
12" JIM912 - Sound (7" version) / All My Sons / Come Home (Youth Pressure Dub) / Sound (full length)
CD JIM9 CD - Sound (7" version) / All My Sons / Come Home (Youth Pressure Dub) / Sound (full length)
RELEASED : NOVEMBER 1991
CHART POSITION : 9
Following the massive success of Sit Down was never going to be an easy task. In typical James fashion, they chose not to release one of the more obvious singles off Seven but went for a six-minute understated epic called Sound. Fans converted by the singalong Sit Down were to be surprised by the new single.
The single was backed by the radio version of the single, All My Sons and a remix of the James standard Come Home by Seven producer Youth. All My Sons clocked in at under two minutes and was a rant at the Gulf War written in late 1990 and first aired live in December 1990.
Press reaction to the single was generally negative. Accused of stadium rock by critics after the recently finished tour, the layered sound of the single provided ammunition to those accusations in their eyes. The inevitable U2 comparisons ensued.
The single was promoted by a series of Radio 1 interviews and the now obligatory appearance on The Word and children's television including a rather amusing performance on Going Live, where the band en masse took the piss out of presenter Phillip Schofield.
Artwork was again kept simple with a band photograph with James name superimposed over the top.
Sound entered the charts at number 9. Another Top of the Pops appearance resulted from this success, but the single dropped out of the Top Ten the following week failing to match Sit Down's second week climb and longetivity.
REVIEWS
NME
Doubtless this will infuriate James pop fan contingent expecting another 'Come Home'. Instead James do the decent thing and spread their wings with a grace and elegance which - despite what people say - saves them from stadiumitis. There are stadium-guitar traits here, but thankfully, they don't come wrapped up in the bombastic shroud widely reported of their recent live shows. Sound (even the title works on various levels) is a layered number with a nice urgent bassline and flickering guitars. Tim Booth, meantime, sounds less fraught than his 'Gold Mother' era, though still uncomfortable with the world in general. I like him.