Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
Encyclopedia
Baby Darling Doll Face Honey is the debut album for English
alternative rock
band Band of Skulls
. It was released on April 7, 2009 in England
and July 28, 2009 in America
. The artwork is based on paintings by bass player
/vocalist Emma Richardson.
Baby Darling Doll Face Honey was produced, recorded and mixed by Ian Davenport
, (Supergrass
, Badly Drawn Boy
), and recorded at Courtyard Studios in Oxfordshire
and mixed at the House of Blues
studio in Los Angeles
.
The special edition of this CD available at Best Buy includes a live version of the song "I Know What I Am" and an acoustic version of the song "Fires". The vinyl release includes the additional track "Hollywood Bowl", placed at the end of Side 1 after "Patterns".
The first single "I Know What I Am" was released as the single of the week in Canada. The album's first track "Light of the Morning", was featured in a television ad for the 2011 Ford Mustang.
The song "I Know What I Am" features in the music game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
and as a downloadable track for Rock Band through the Rock Band Network
, while the song "Patterns" features in the driving simulator Gran Turismo 5
.
The album debuted belatedly on the UK Indie Chart
on 27 February 2010 at position 50.
gave the album a 9 out of 10 review, stating that "the entire collection crackles with an urgency and authenticity that's as rare as it is desirable." The website PopMatters
gave the album a 6 out of 10, stating that the album was "a mish-mash of three or four styles, recalling as many different artists, with songs written by all three band members and sung by two of them. If that sentence was dizzying to read, imagining hearing the album. It’s as if every cast member of Friends got to write and direct a different scene in a single episode. It’s as if every third letter on this page were a different color. It’s just, shall we say, a bit jarring." They go on to refer to the song, "Impossible" as a mix of U2
, Coldplay
and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Band of Skulls
Band of Skulls
Band of Skulls is an alternative rock band from Southampton, England, consisting of Russell Marsden , Emma Richardson , and Matt Hayward...
. It was released on April 7, 2009 in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and July 28, 2009 in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The artwork is based on paintings by bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
/vocalist Emma Richardson.
Baby Darling Doll Face Honey was produced, recorded and mixed by Ian Davenport
Ian Davenport
Ian Davenport is an English painter, and former Turner Prize nominee.-Life and work:Ian Davenport was born in Sidcup in London, and studied art at the Northwich College of Art and Design in Cheshire before going to Goldsmiths College from where he graduated in 1988...
, (Supergrass
Supergrass
Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....
, Badly Drawn Boy
Badly Drawn Boy
Damon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
), and recorded at Courtyard Studios in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
and mixed at the House of Blues
House of Blues
House of Blues is a chain of 13 live music concert halls and restaurants in major markets throughout the United States. House of Blues first location was in Cambridge's Harvard Square. It was opened in 1992 by Isaac Tigrett, co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, star of The Blues Brothers...
studio in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
The special edition of this CD available at Best Buy includes a live version of the song "I Know What I Am" and an acoustic version of the song "Fires". The vinyl release includes the additional track "Hollywood Bowl", placed at the end of Side 1 after "Patterns".
The first single "I Know What I Am" was released as the single of the week in Canada. The album's first track "Light of the Morning", was featured in a television ad for the 2011 Ford Mustang.
The song "I Know What I Am" features in the music game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia...
and as a downloadable track for Rock Band through the Rock Band Network
Rock Band Network
The Rock Band Network is a downloadable content service designed by Harmonix Music Systems with the help of Microsoft to allow musical artists and record labels to make their music available as playable tracks for the Rock Band series of rhythm video games, starting with Rock Band 2...
, while the song "Patterns" features in the driving simulator Gran Turismo 5
Gran Turismo 5
is the fifth edition of the Gran Turismo racing video game series. Developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, it was released for PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010...
.
The album debuted belatedly on the UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
on 27 February 2010 at position 50.
Track listing
Reception
Critical reception to Baby Darling Doll Face Honey has been generally positive. In the UK Classic RockClassic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
gave the album a 9 out of 10 review, stating that "the entire collection crackles with an urgency and authenticity that's as rare as it is desirable." The website PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
gave the album a 6 out of 10, stating that the album was "a mish-mash of three or four styles, recalling as many different artists, with songs written by all three band members and sung by two of them. If that sentence was dizzying to read, imagining hearing the album. It’s as if every cast member of Friends got to write and direct a different scene in a single episode. It’s as if every third letter on this page were a different color. It’s just, shall we say, a bit jarring." They go on to refer to the song, "Impossible" as a mix of U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group based in Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was self-released in 2005.-History:...
.