Bizarre Fruit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 14 November 1994 | |||
Recorded | April – August 1994 | |||
Studio | Strongroom Studios (London) | |||
Genre | House, pop | |||
Length | 57:45 | |||
Label | Deconstruction | |||
Producer | M People | |||
M People chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
![]() North American cover | ||||
Singles from Bizarre Fruit | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cash Box | (favorable)[2] |
Robert Christgau | A−[3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A−[5] |
The Guardian | (favorable)[6] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Music & Media | (favorable)[8] |
NME | 8/10[9] |
Spin | 7/10[10] |
Bizarre Fruit is the third album by British dance band M People. It was released on 14 November 1994 and charted and peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, spending one year on the chart before an expanded version of the album, Bizarre Fruit II, was released a year later. In 1996 it was announced that Bizarre Fruit had reached 1.1 million copies sold worldwide.[11] The albums Bizarre Fruit and Bizarre Fruit II were certified 5× platinum in the UK for sales of 1.5 million.[12]
The album's two most popular singles were "Sight for Sore Eyes", which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and "Search for the Hero", which peaked at No. 9 on the same chart. Other singles released from this album were "Open Your Heart" (No. 9), "Love Rendezvous" (No. 32) and "Itchycoo Park" (No. 11) from the re-released album. In the US, remixes for the song "Padlock" were supplied to club DJs and appeared as the B-side to the CD maxi single of "Search for the Hero". The track reached No. 13 on the Billboard Dance chart.[13]
Critical reception
AllMusic editor William Cooper stated that Bizarre Fruit is "chock-full of funky house grooves", and Heather Small's "deep, soulful vocals add just the right touch to the mix". He highlighted songs like "Open Your Heart", "Sight for Sore Eyes", "Search for the Hero" and "Precious Pearl".[1] Peter Galvin from Entertainment Weekly viewed the album as a "irrepressible" follow-up to Elegant Slumming, concluding that it "has more than its share of house-quaking grooves."[5] Johnny Dee from NME praised it as "a consistently faultless and pleasing third album — it's obvious the M in their name now stands for 'Maturity'." He added, "It's impossible to see tracks as catchy as "Open Your Heart" and "Padlock" occupying any chart position other than Number One."[9]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Sight for Sore Eyes" | Pickering, Heard, Small | 6:12 |
2. | "Search for the Hero" | Pickering, Heard | 6:11 |
3. | "Open Your Heart" | Pickering, Heard | 5:42 |
4. | "Love Rendezvous" | Pickering, Heard | 5:24 |
5. | "Precious Pearl" | Pickering, Heard | 6:04 |
6. | "Sugar Town" | Pickering, Heard | 5:41 |
7. | "Walk Away" | Pickering, Heard | 5:48 |
8. | "Drive Time" | Pickering, Heard | 5:30 |
9. | "Padlock" | Tamy Smith | 6:12 |
10. | "And Finally..." | Pickering, Heard, Small | 5:04 |
Total length: | 57:45 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "Itchycoo Park" | Marriott, Lane | 6:42 |
12. | "Itchycoo Park" (Morales Classic Club Mix) | Marriott, Lane | 7:53 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | "Renaissance" (M People Master Mix) | 6:30 |
Charts
Weekly charts
Chart (1994–1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] | 14 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] | 28 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] | 30 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] | 4 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] | 3 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 29 |
UK Albums (OCC)[20] | 3 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[21] | 17 |
Year-end charts
Chart (1995) | Position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[22] | 21 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] | 47 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] | 23 |
UK Albums (OCC)[25] | 19 |
Chart (1996) | Position |
---|---|
UK Albums (OCC)[26] | 14 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[27] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Germany (BVMI)[28] | Gold | 250,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ)[29] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] | 5× Platinum | 1,500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Release history
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 14 November 1994 | Deconstruction | LP | 74321 24081 1 |
CD | 74321 24081 2 | |||
Cassette | 74321 24081 4 | |||
North America | 12 May 1995 | Epic | LP | E 67037 |
CD | EK 67037 | |||
Cassette | ET 67037 | |||
United Kingdom | 7 March 2005 | Sony BMG | CD |
References
- ^ a b Cooper, William. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ Robertson IV, Gil L. (27 May 1995). "Urban" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 11. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: M People". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press.
- ^ a b Galvin, Peter (19 May 1995). "Bizarre Fruit". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Sullivan, Caroline (18 November 1994). "Music: Pop - Your essential guide to the new CDs". The Guardian.
- ^ Hardy, Ernest (16 July 1995). "In Brief". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 10 December 1994. p. 9. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ a b Dee, Johnny (19 November 1994). "Long Play". NME. p. 46. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ Walters, Barry (June 1995). "Spins". Spin. 11 (3): 99. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Who's Selling Where". Billboard. 17 February 1996. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
- ^ "BPI Awards". BPI. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
- ^ "Search for the Hero (4:09)". last.fm. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^ "Australiancharts.com – M People – Bizarre Fruit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – M People – Bizarre Fruit" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – M People – Bizarre Fruit" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Charts.nz – M People – Bizarre Fruit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – M People – Bizarre Fruit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ "M People Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
- ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1995". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "Top Selling Albums of 1995". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 1996". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1995 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (M People; 'Bizarre Fruit')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "New Zealand album certifications – M People – Bizarre Fruit". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "British album certifications – M People – Bizarre Fruit". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 November 2021.