No More Heroes
Encyclopedia
No More Heroes is the second album by The Stranglers
, produced by Martin Rushent
, and released in 1977 (see 1977 in music
). It featured a photo of a wreath
placed on a coffin
with the tails of several rats (the Stranglers' 'trademark').
The album became one of the band's highest charting releases, peaking at no.2 on the UK album chart, and stayed in the chart for 18 weeks.
album, along with new material. In his book The Stranglers: Song by Song, guitarist Hugh Cornwell noted the fact that the first three tracks on the record are all sung by different lead vocalists, a trait it shares with Revolver
by The Beatles
.
Two singles were released from the album: "No More Heroes", and a double A-side of "Something Better Change" and the non-album track "Straighten Out". A further non-album single was released later that year, "5 Minutes
" b/w "Rok It to the Moon". The album was reissued as a remastered CD in 2001, which included the additional tracks from these singles.
The album's title track became one of the band's most popular hits. Its lyrics include references to Leon Trotsky
, Sancho Panza
, Lenny Bruce
and Elmyr de Hory
.
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English punk/rock music group.Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" band to have originated in the UK punk scene of the mid to late 1970s...
, produced by Martin Rushent
Martin Rushent
Martin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks.- Early life :Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman...
, and released in 1977 (see 1977 in music
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
). It featured a photo of a wreath
Wreath
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs and/or various materials that is constructed to resemble a ring. They are used typically as Christmas decorations to symbolize the coming of Christ, also known as the Advent season in Christianity. They are also used as festive headdresses...
placed on a coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
with the tails of several rats (the Stranglers' 'trademark').
The album became one of the band's highest charting releases, peaking at no.2 on the UK album chart, and stayed in the chart for 18 weeks.
History and structure
The album consists of various recordings left over from the session for their Rattus NorvegicusRattus Norvegicus (album)
Rattus Norvegicus is the first studio album by The Stranglers, released on 17 April 1977. The album was originally to be entitled "Dead on Arrival" but was changed at the last minute...
album, along with new material. In his book The Stranglers: Song by Song, guitarist Hugh Cornwell noted the fact that the first three tracks on the record are all sung by different lead vocalists, a trait it shares with Revolver
Revolver (album)
Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
.
Two singles were released from the album: "No More Heroes", and a double A-side of "Something Better Change" and the non-album track "Straighten Out". A further non-album single was released later that year, "5 Minutes
5 Minutes (The Stranglers song)
5 Minutes is a 1978 single by English band The Stranglers. The dark lyrical content of the song gives an account of a rape that occurred at the flat that bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel rented at the time. The song, recorded in between No More Heroes and Black and White reached number 11 in the UK...
" b/w "Rok It to the Moon". The album was reissued as a remastered CD in 2001, which included the additional tracks from these singles.
The album's title track became one of the band's most popular hits. Its lyrics include references to Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza
Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote, and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs,...
, Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
and Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory was a Hungarian-born painter and art forger who claimed to have sold over a thousand forgeries to reputable art galleries all over the world...
.
Track listing
- "I Feel Like a Wog"† (3:18)
- "Bitching"‡ (4:26)
- "Dead Ringer"§ (2:46)
- "Dagenham Dave"‡ (3:19)
- "Bring on the Nubiles"† (2:16)
- "Something Better Change"‡ (3:37)
- "No More HeroesNo More Heroes (The Stranglers song)No More Heroes is a single by The Stranglers from the same-named album No More Heroes. It is one of the Stranglers' most successful singles , peaking at #8 in the Official UK Top 40 charts...
"† (3:29) - "Peasant in the Big Shitty"§ (3:27)
- "Burning Up Time"‡ (2:25)
- "English Towns"† (2:12)
- "School Mam"† (7:10)
2001 bonus tracks
- "Straighten Out"† (2:46)
- "Five Minutes5 Minutes (The Stranglers song)5 Minutes is a 1978 single by English band The Stranglers. The dark lyrical content of the song gives an account of a rape that occurred at the flat that bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel rented at the time. The song, recorded in between No More Heroes and Black and White reached number 11 in the UK...
"‡ (3:18) - "Rok It to the Moon"† (2:47)
The Stranglers
- Hugh CornwellHugh CornwellHugh Alan Cornwell is an English musician and songwriter, best known for being the vocalist and guitarist for the punk/new wave group, The Stranglers, from 1974 to 1990.-Career:...
: guitars, lead† and backing vocals - J.J. BurnelJean-Jacques BurnelJ. J. Burnel , is a Franco-English musician producer and songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist with the British rock band The Stranglers.-Life and career:...
: bass guitar, lead‡ and backing vocals - Dave GreenfieldDave GreenfieldDave Greenfield is the keyboard player with English rock band, The Stranglers.-Biography:He is noted for his trademark style of playing rapid arpeggios...
: keyboardsSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
(Hammond L100 OrganHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, Hohner Cembalet electric pianoElectric pianoAn electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
, MinimoogMinimoogThe Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. It was released in 1970 by R.A. Moog Inc. , and production was stopped in 1981. It was re-designed by Robert Moog in 2002 and released as Minimoog Voyager.The Minimoog was designed in response to the use of...
synthesizer), lead§ and backing vocals - Jet BlackJet BlackJet Black is an English drummer and founder member of punk rock / new wave band The Stranglers.-Early years:...
: drums, percussion
Production
- Alan WinstanleyAlan WinstanleyAlan Kenneth Winstanley is a British record producer active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer.-Notable studio albums produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer:* One Step Beyond... – Madness...
: engineer - Nigel Brooke-Harte: mixing and assistant engineer
- Doug BennettDoug BennettDoug Bennett may refer to:* Douglas Bennett , Canadian flatwater canoer* Doug Bennett , Canadian musician* Douglas C. Bennett , American academic...
: mixing engineer - Tim Chacksfield: project supervision
- Eamonn O'Keefe: solarisation
- Trevor RogersTrevor RogersTrevor Vicemar Rogers is a former New Zealand member of parliament, sitting for the National Party from 1990 to 1995, then for the Right of Centre party from 1995 to 1996.-Member of Parliament:...
: photography - The Red RoomThe Red Room- Art and entertainment :* The Red Room , a 2001 novel by Nicci French* The Red Room , an 1879 novel by August Strindberg* The Red Room , an 1894 short story by H. G...
: artwork design - Paul HenryPaul HenryPaul Henry may refer to:*Paul-Pierre Henry , French astronomer*Paul Henry , Northern Irish artist*Paul B. Henry , U.S...
: art direction, sleeve design