Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches

That was surreal'90s dance club nostalgia

Enjoyed the sound and style. Some of the album dragged a little on the second half.

Big fat “meh” of an album. Listened to it Friday….forgot it by Sunday

Day 70 It's DARE (Uh) Fav track: Step On

This album deserves a little more love. I moved to DC in 1990 and this CD was my companion, on constant repeat, and made me happy during a lonely transition to a big city. A love child of the scene that gave us New Order and Stone Roses. And I totally forgot how good "Bob's Yer Uncle" is - it's such a great song I was dancing while doing the dishes tonight. Happy Madchester vibes 36 years later.

-Tracks longer than 3:59: Yes -Long tracks interesting or special: it really, although bringing catchy chorus around to end some of the songs worked. -Album shorter than 58 minutes: Yes. -Will listen to album again: Unlikely Overall: Meh. Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. Some of the songs were catchy, but nothing stood out to me.

I really hope that on his deathbed Lydon surprises us all and tells us it’s all been a joke. That he’s actually a super nice guy, hates Trump, thinks bands like Green Day and Nirvana made some great music, and that he was just doing some performance art to get people to think. Alas, I think that’s unlikely. I do think he’s just an asshole who is profoundly insecure. And this album sucks. There are some reasonably catchy tunes on the album, but even those aren’t particularly interesting or memorable. And the first three songs…a 14 year olds idea of being in an “angry” band.

Pop, Rock, 1990 -> 2-3

Wat is dit nou weer voor blije flauwigheid. Heel melige, dansbare Britpop, met gekke fluitjes en mallotige, bij vlagen scabreuze teksten. 'Madchester' dus, kennelijk. En een blikken keyboardje dat het ongenadig op 1990 dateert. Naja, ik kon d'r wel weer om lachen.

Het hitje Step On biedt een een typisch eind '80s / 'begin '90s geluid. Hier komt waarschijnlijk het wiki-bakje 'alternative dance' vandaan. Want de basis van de rest van het album ligt voor mijn gevoel wat meer in de brit-pop of soms punk-light (Grandbag's funeral...) hoek met in elk geval een typische zang. Niet dat de beatjes en loopjes ontbreken. Sterker nog, die helpen om het album toch nog goed verteerbaar (en dus vergeetbaar) te maken. Ik gaf aan een luistermaatje Paul Oakenfold die credits. Maar die geeft ze vrolijk door aan Steve Osborne lees ik.

Rock uit de 90s en ik heb er nog nooit van gehoord? Oh wacht, het is Madchester, precies het genre wat ik maar matig vind. Ook hier zit regelmatig een bepaalde bas en drum in, die precies bij die Madchester-sound past en die ik niet tof vind. Er zit wel een bekend nummer in, maar Step On herken ik pas als ik het hoor. En over het geheel krijg ik er allemaal iets teveel jeuk van. Die zanger zingt ook op zo'n typische manier, dat irriteert me ook. Alleen het gitaartje is eigenlijk te pruimen. Ik hou het op een zure 2 sterren vandaag.

It’s ok I guess! 3/5

I listened to this a few days ago and barely remember it. Kinda bland, but it isn't bad necessarily. There are just things I'd rather listen to. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

They were proper manic Sallie’s with a record contract. It’s not weathered. Some good grooves but Shaun’s lyrics are awful, it’s all a bit empty.

Something completely different for me. Solid but not super memorable

I had forgotten that Happy Mondays had already appeared on this list once; that's how forgettable that other record was. This one was a bit better, but it still lacks any distinct sound. The songs are too long, and they stretch out ideas and melodies for far longer than needed - especially the pretty tasteless and gross 'Bob's Yer Uncle' on here. Credit where credit is due, the riff on 'God's Cop' was mean, and the song in general had this really punchy and infectious groove, and doesn't feel so floppy or lifeless as everything else here - it does that same new-wavey dance thing but in a far more engaging way. 'Loose Fit' was also pretty memorable; the sort of reverby, The Cure-esque gothic guitar lead was the highlight here, but the overall song was well constructed. I just can't help but feel like Blue Monday's sound on this record was already growing outdated by 1990. Again, not as outright boring as 'Bummed', but it still felt

A great birthday present. Took me back to my clubbing days…

Opening with one of the defining Madchester tunes, this is where indie guitars meet house trance. The power of chemical sustenance creating an excellent album.

That was a Happy Thursday

I wonder how much better I'd have been at my job if I'd also spent my days coked to the gills. 5*

just meh

No me gustó, muy equis

This is terrible. It has a really dated 80s sound and not in a good way. It’s basically the 'we have runway fashion music at home' meme.

Can't really imagine a universe where people must hear two albums by Happy Mondays before they die but are somehow told they need never hear an album by Warren Zevon. Oh wait! I guess according to Robert Dimery, that's the universe we're currently living in! No wonder my life doesn't make any sense!

No, not like Bez. Nothing like fucking Bez.

It is happy and innovative, with bright guitars and tight rhythm section, but it is not to my taste

Ja war ok aber ziemlich normal. Ich geb dem so ne 2,5

Eh. Just not something I care to revisit

Seems like something I'd like - but I really don't like most of the songs 2/5

This sounds like if the Talking heads made music in the 90s- an evolution of their distinctive 70s sound. It’s pretty good, but hard to pick any individual favorite from. Also didn’t feel compelled to skip. That’s a win. ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Nice blast from the past. The keys / piano is great.

I want this album to have my children. I've already had albums on the list that made me want to run through a wall and albums that make me want to fight God. This one makes me want to run through a wall to fight God.

another funky one! lots of really cool sounds in here, feels really 80s and is great to listen to. i would happily throw this on in the background while with the bros sort of music. synth synth synth and indie rock

A nice sounding psychedelic album. Some really well written songs on here. An easy listen.

It really did nothing to me.

More less.

Decent instrumentation. Kind of borrows from U2 at times but that’s fine. But it’s a shame about the terrible vocals… and the lyrics.

This album was fine. And honestly, that’s about the strongest reaction I had to it. Most of the songs landed right around three-star territory for me. “Grandbag’s Funeral” had a nice groove, I enjoyed some of the guitar work throughout the album, and “Dennis and Lois” was one of the better tracks. Nothing was particularly bad, but nothing really grabbed me either. “Step On” was clearly the standout. It has a catchy groove and more personality than the rest of the album, although it also sounded to me like a cheaper version of INXS. Happy Mondays feels like somebody heard “Need You Tonight” through the wall at a party and said, “Right. We can do something with that.” Overall, this feels like a band I wouldn’t mind seeing as an opening act. I’d enjoy their set well enough, but I’d still be waiting for the headliner. Perfectly listenable. Perfectly average. I don’t need more Happy Mondays in my life, although apparently the 1001 Albums generator may have other plans.

This was good stuff. Maybe not quite as strong as Stone Roses or Charlatans, but I'd listen again for sure.

Un álbum muy divertido, tiene 3 o 4 temazos rompepistas incontestables.

In what world must I hear this before I die? Not this one that's for sure

A fun listen that was mostly new to me, though Step Up is a song I’ve had saved in my favorite list for some time. A fun preview of bands like Primal Scream and Parquet Courts.

Meh

It was ok, but not very memorable. 2.5/5

Whatever

Fun, but nothing special

third album release from british alt dance-rock band happy mondays. hiring new members, including a dj, recording for the album started once the blokes finished up a united states tour. their usage of loops, samples, sludgy druggy lyrical songwriting and madchester aesthetics managed to get up to one of the top spots on the uk albums chart. this is a pretty interesting alt dance album, i guess you can call it. some very quirky and contemporary sounds this time around, there's some classic pop and maybe some soul and disco stuff in there too? i don't know, something about the hooks and the some of the instrument/percussion choices... it gets oddly sunny and shagadelic more often than not. a lot of the beats paired with the raw recordings, it's a uber-clean mix. singing is a little rough sometimes, but this one was surprisingly better than i thought it would be.

Irritatingly overconfident and fairly repulsive.

no lo terminé de escuchar todavía pero ya no le da ni loco para 4 estrellas, está entre el 6/7

I had only lightly heard this before. It got more interesting the second go around. The production, tinny and trebley, though holds me back from going in deeper.

Pretty darn good album. I'm not entirely sure why Happy Mondays didn't make it in the US. Maybe it was the band's stage presence (the guy with maracas). I don't know. I'm just happy to see them on this list.

Oh, great, another British band I've never heard of. As for the album, it was ok. There were a few good bits, but also a few bits that felt like poor imitations of 70s American soul. Most of it is just guitar pop with an electronic tinge, nothing really special. I don't get why this one is on the list at all. This album is ranked #17 of 22 albums for 1990. Other 1990 albums rated by me: People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm(2/22)-5 Heaven or Las Vegas(3/22)-4 Bossanova(4/22)-5 Fear of a Black Planet(5/22)-5 Shake Your Money Maker(6/22)-2 I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got(7/22)-4 Ragged Glory(12/22)-5 The La's(13/22)-3 En-Tact(22/22)-1

It grew on me.

Very loose sounding. The dance rhythms with the guitars are a good mix.

Bof bof

2.3/5

This is pretty generic Brit Pop with electro beats.

Not my thing unfortunately, neither vocals or sounds

Kinky afro

Man kopumā patika, bet nebija dziesmas, kas ļoti izcēlās vai vispār palika atmiņā

Very enjoyable album from this Manchester band.

702/1001 2026.09.15 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

One of the more surprising and confounding discoveries from this project. Based on my listening history I shouldn't like the Happy Mondays all that much, but once again, I'm pulled into their strange draw. I think it's the way they Frankenstein different styles together that is more inviting and interesting than their peers. This album is more refined and polished than their previous outings making it easier to get into. On a side note, I can't help but think how strange the possibility of the baggy clothes and bowl cuts fashion fad of the 90's I grew up with may have had it's roots in Manchester rave culture..

This album gave me a headache. Musically it's fine. Kinda boring but not like offensively bad. Very middle of the road. When he sings it goes into the crapper. The lyrics are lame, God's Cop is the worst of it. It's just very bleh. The entire album is just whiny drivel.

Like it 3/5

A few years after this album came out I discovered that “Kinky Afro” could survive being played on a ukulele, accompanied by kazoo and sung in a strangulated George Formby whine. I know this because I did it repeatedly outside Manchester City’s ground on matchdays. I was that man. The remarkable thing is that the song remained recognisable as a very good song underneath the abuse, but that’s a story for another day. That feels worth mentioning because Happy Mondays are so strongly associated with a moment, a place, a drug culture and a particular set of ludicrous clothes that it can be easy to overlook how solid the music actually is. Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches sounds gloriously chaotic, but the chaos has exceptionally sturdy foundations. Paul Ryder’s bass swaggers, Gary Whelan’s drums provide an enormous physical centre, Mark Day’s guitar changes character whenever the song requires it, and Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne understand exactly how much structure is required to stop everything flying apart. “Kinky Afro” demonstrates the trick immediately. Shaun Ryder assembles some of his father’s coarser utterances into an unusually coherent family argument while the arrangement treats them with ludicrous grandeur. The opening has the sweep of a spaghetti western; by the end the strings are soaring as though they are accompanying “Hey Jude”. It is both beautiful and faintly ridiculous, which turns out to be a useful description of the album. Ryder is much cleverer than his cultivated shambling suggests. “God’s Cop” takes James Anderton, Greater Manchester’s famously moralistic chief constable, and collapses his religious certainty into the ecstatic drug culture he despised. “God lays his E’s all on me” is insolent satire of a particularly effective kind: Ryder virtually puts his arm around Anderton’s shoulders and tells him they are both getting off on something. One man has ecstasy; the other has divine revelation and institutional power. The song makes the comparison and then gets back to the groove before anyone can accuse it of being important. That refusal of importance is one of the album’s great strengths. The Mondays can move from Anderton to a warm little portrait of two friends in “Dennis and Lois”, from there to the outright sexual filth of “Bob’s Yer Uncle”, then to Shaun Ryder being annoyed by customs officers in “Holiday”. There is no hierarchy of worthwhile subject matter. A chief constable, your dad, some people you met in New York and a bloke rifling through your luggage are all legitimate subjects if you can make a record out of them. There is no hierarchy of musical material either. Funk, house, indie guitar, psychedelia, gospel, lounge music, glam, melodica, strings, saxophone, flute, sampling, a John Kongos protest song, bits of Donovan and echoes of Blue Mink can all inhabit the same record. The Mondays do not sound as though they are heroically “fusing genres”. They behave as though the boundaries were never particularly interesting in the first place. Listening to this immediately after Pearl Jam’s Ten sharpened that difference enormously for me. At its weakest, Ten sounded like highly competent musicians restating a rock language that had existed for decades, its underlying structures readily imaginable in the hands of any decent amateur guitarist. That is not an America-versus-Britain argument: Nirvana were operating in the same city as Pearl Jam and finding completely different ways to make guitar music feel contemporary. I was simply listening from another lane in 1990–91, and Pills ’n’ Thrills reminds me how far that lane had travelled. Here, the interesting question was what happened when musical boundaries collapsed altogether. “Step On” may be the perfect demonstration. The Mondays inherit a coherent protest song from John Kongos, which frees Ryder to inhabit it rather than construct one of his usual lyrical scrapheaps. Oakenfold then understands the song as a DJ understands a room. The apparent ending is musically almost indistinguishable from another breakdown, so while dancing you can genuinely lose your place. Then the beat comes round one more time. That extra lap is pure ecstasy. And yet the album’s transgression is rarely solemnly confrontational. It is insolent. “Bob’s Yer Uncle” does explicitly what generations of pop songs prefer to imply; flute, saxophone and Rowetta’s magnificent voice all join in without apology. “Donovan” takes 1960s psychedelic sunshine and drags it through a druggy evening until the atmosphere turns sour. “Harmony” somehow brings the Velvet Underground, communal early-70s pop optimism and rave utopianism into the same closing drift. Perhaps that is why the record still works beyond its historical moment. Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches certainly captures something very specific about 1990: rave culture, football-ish benign raucousness, ecstasy, baggy clothes, indie and dance music briefly occupying the same social space. But it survives because the Mondays never merely represent that culture. They make songs strong enough to carry it. They became popular without becoming populists, clever without becoming worthy, and progressive without appearing remotely interested in progress. Mostly, they sound as though they are getting away with something.

no gustó.

Love it :D

some moments Will I listen to again: 20%

I didn't much enjoy the debut album by Happy Mondays, which we got a while ago in this challenge, but this one was better! Still not quite at The Stone Roses' level as far as baggy/Madchester goes, but some really solid dancey rock music, plus an accordion on one track?? Definitely an earned 7/10.

Other than one song (Loose Fit), this was pretty tough to get through. Don't really understand the point of stuff like this being on the list except that Robert Dimery likes them.

You know what, I get it now. Bummed already popped up on the list and I just wasn't into it. It didn't leave any impression on me. This album is much more interesting. It has an almost danceable undertone and the rumbling bass holds it together. Not everything on here is great but it's cohesive and interesting.

What else is there to say? Best Song: The first half of this album is really good! I don't know what happened to the back Rating: 6.5/10 Stars: 3

Good

nah

What is this bunch of buns

lowkey i hate

man, i wore the grooves off this 35 years ago when it was new ... this is the birth of madchester. the stone roses might have started the push, but this landed it. paul ryder might not have been Mani ... but he always played exactly the right thing, at exactly the right time. 10/10

You're twisting my melon man... Sid is wrong; this is a great album. Kinky Afro is really good as is Step On. Lots of other good songs but those are the main ones

A fine farewell to 80s Brit alt-pop. Better than I thought it’d be, compared to other Happy Mondays that I’ve heard. But still not likely to come back to it again.

Perhaps repetitive listens would lead to greater appreciation; it’s good dance pop, but nothing of substance or even ear worms.

I must have gone into a fugue state listening to this album. And when I finally woke up 40 minutes later, I was left totally unchanged; still a piece of garbage.

1. "Kinky Afro" 2. "Bob's Yer Uncle" 3. "Step On"

Favorite songs: Kinky Afro, God’s Cop, Loose Fit, Step On, Holiday, Harmony

I don't remember ever listening to all of this album. I just about remember seeing them at Glastonbury in the early 90s. It stands the test of time

Too much damn bri’ish rock this week (mbv is Irish and good so they’re exempt) only know about this band from the movie 24 hour party people. Pretty obnoxious in my opinion! Like, they did all those drugs for this!?

I am pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this record. It’s pretty far outside my wheelhouse so I expected to not like it at all. It’s well crafted and has good guitar and bass tones. The drums are all looped and processed, which ain’t my thing, but it comes together well. It’s clear that Oakenfeld helped them get a good pop sound and they thrived with his assistance. It’s a fine record. Not one I’d have otherwise given a second glance at, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

"Kinky Afro", "Step On" and secret weapon "Dennis And Lois" are exceptional dance-rock tracks from the Mondays' third album, each of them pairing up potent bass and drum grooves with rock guitar (and the occasional house piano on top). Unfortunately, the rest of *PNTNB* consists mostly of also-rans that don't really get the formula right in the way that "Kinky Afro" and "Step On" do. It also doesn't help that vocalist Shaun Ryder is stuck in a rut melodically on these lesser tracks.

Trying a bit too hard to be Soul. Or maybe a neo-Stones? “Step On” is fun( why you gotta be twistin’ my melon, man?) Love this most when the guitars get to go wild. Tight rhythm section. A low 3

Basic Brit Pop - solid in its sound, but what’s so special about it? Not feeling it.

Sneaky 4 rating. Great production and sound.

I've only become familiar with Happy Mondays in recent times off the back of a pub mate speaking glowingly about seeing them live earlier in the year. I started here and worked my way backwards towards their debut Bummed, and I'd have to say this is their strongest material by a long shot. This captures something really unique, fun and quite special in my view – it's like an injection of serotonin into the veins of industrial and post-punk to create something still cynical and murky at its core, but now geared for the dance floor. It has a gritty, druggy street feel and working class mentality reverberating through it both sonically and lyrically, and although there is an observable polish to the production, the album still has a loose, ragged funk to ground it in its surroundings. The grooves, bass lines and percussion on here are hypnotic and nothing short of remarkable, and even if this does sound heavily tethered to the 90s when you take the production for what it is today, that's a huge part of the appeal for me. It makes me feel nostalgic for a time I wasn't even around for. "Step On", "Kinky Afro" and "Loose Fit" are the obvious highlights for me for their razor-sharp hooks, but the surrounding material holds its own as well, even if some of it does bleed together on occasion comparatively.

Pretty dumb

I enjoyed most of this album. I might keep this in rotation to see if this grows on me more.

The last three tracks on this outstanding album are the greatest three tracks to end an album with ever. Use headphones and fucking concentrate. If you played this while you were doing something else, you won't get it. It's worthy of your full attention. Easy five stars.

Well, happy Monday while listening to Happy Mondays! Yesterday, I listened to an album by an artist that was introduced to me by the band Gorillaz, and today, I'm doing the same thing(Shaun Ryder sang in their song "Dare"). Anyway, there is basically nothing noteworthy on this album. It's listenable(unlike another album by them), but nothing out of the ordinary. It's just British Pop-Rock, so of course you know what you're getting into. Favorite Track: "Dennis And Lois".

En verklig favoritskiva för mig. Den slöa swagiga manchesterfunken har aldrig låtit bättre. Stone Roses rytmsektion kanske är bättre men jävlar vilket konsekvent sväng HM lyckas plocka fram. Där Roses spelar pop vill Mondays bara få folk att dansa. Oerhört jämn skiva, här finns inga dalar, inga avsteg från det man vill åstakomma. Varenda låt blir en potentiell favoritlåt, det är inte många album man kan säga det om. Jag blir på oerhört bra humör av den här skiva, sittdansar och bara fånigt ler. Kanske inte riktigt är en femma men älskar den, "sounds good to me"

Bra tryck, bra sväng hela vägen. Det räcker så.

Madchester! Då är står naturligtvis groovet i centrum. Bra gung, även om man inte når upp i Stone roses-klass. Bästa spår: Step on

Har lite svårt att acceptera sången till en början. Men efter ett par genomlyssningar funkar den. Överlag kul, klubbig lyssning. Höjdpunkter för mig är Loose fit, pianot i Dennis And Lois samt basgången i Bobs Yer Uncle.