原文刊载於Mansun的MySpace http://tinyurl.com/25dk2u ------------------------------------ As a Mansun MySpace special, we felt it was only right to celebrate and mark the 10th anniversary of Mansun's debut album, 'Attack of the Grey Lantern'. Released on 17th February 1997, 'Attack of the Grey Lantern' shot straight to number one in the UK charts in its first week of release. Combining rock, pop and even dance elements, the album sounded like no other yet it proudly wore its influences on its sleeve. Prince, U2, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran were just some of the comparisons people made when they listened to the album. The band were on tour during the recording of the album so it was recorded in various locations around the UK. Paul explains: "The first tracks were started at a cheap 24 track studio in Ealing called Sonic Studios where we recorded 'She Makes My Nose Bleed'; this was before we were a band and before we were signed. We then moved to Tim Speed's studio in Liverpool and recorded 'Naked Twister' and then on to Parr Street in Liverpool where the bulk of the album was recorded. Most tracks started off with a drum loop printed to tape then I'd put a rhythm guitar track down with a hum vocal. It didn't really make sense to anyone but me, but I had it sketched out in my notebook how it was gonna end up, minus the track changes here and there." Opening the album is the wonderfully grandiose and epic 'The Chad Who Loved Me'. Paul remarks: "'The Chad Who Loved Me' was recorded minus the strings and I went to Angel Studios in London to record the strings over the top. The intro was recorded separately and comped in before the track at the mastering stage as were the strings on the outro. The song was called 'Desperate Icons' right until the last minute but then we changed the title to much hilarity! We were in the studio trying to think of a James Bond sounding title and someone suggested 'The Chad Who Loved Me'. We were laughing so much that the name stuck! In fact, there was an element of humour running through it all, as someone once said to me it's sort of a musical 'League of Gentlemen!'" Ever the perfectionist, Paul cut some classic Mansun songs from the final tracklisting: "It started off as a studio project encompassing lots of songs that were eventually cut from the final release. 'The Most to Gain', 'Moronica' and 'Flourella' were supposed to be on it but they fell by the wayside as I didn't think the songs were good enough." A little known fact is that Paul recorded a few of the songs on his own: "The tracks I played on myself were 'You, Who Do You Hate?' and I played 'Wide Open Space' minus the drums. Everything else was myself with Dom Chad playing his little lead lines in bits of verses and choruses which lifted everything quite a bit." The album was also unique in that it found commercial success without much promotion and, more importantly, without trying to be mainstream: "It wasn't meant to be a commercial record but it just sort of clicked at the time because people liked the EPs we'd released over the previous year. What it did do was free me up to make some more creative music over the next couple of years as I never felt too comfortable with the more commercial elements of the album and the band in general." Finally, let's leave the last word to Paul: "Now it's 10 years since the first album was out I've only listened to it once in all that time. I'll listen to it again one day; people still tell me that they like it so I'm glad it's stood the test of time." --

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