Pleased to Meet You (James album)

James released their eighth album Millionaires in October 1999. In March 2000, the band revealed they had been writing new material and planned to record later in the year, with the aim of releasing an album in January 2001. During their performance at the V Festival in August, the band played three new songs. The following month, the band revealed they were in the process of recording with Brian Eno, They used the stint to test how the new songs would sound live before they planned to record them. They had written over 30 tracks for inclusion on their next record; on the opening night, the band played seven of these new songs. Though the band had planned to use a different producer for the main sessions, All of the songs recorded here were mixed by Dave Bascombe at Whitfield St. Studios in London. Mixing began in late January 2001 and finished in March. ==Composition==

Musically, Pleased to Meet You has been described as stadium rock. and eventually Pleased to Meet You. He added that the album had an underlying theme of distaste for "habits, addictions, [and] impulses that we can't control. Different characters expressing their particular loops." Booth said the album was the first since their fifth studio album Laid (1993) that they had strayed from the Verse-chorus-verse structure. In the context of the song's pre-chorus, Booth said that "[s]cientifically we are made up of about 96% space," which he found interesting. Discussing "Falling Down", Booth said after recording a jam with Eno, it was given to KK. He edited the track; after giving Booth a copy, he re-did the vocal take, resulting in the final version. The lyrics refer to a mad, eccentric woman coming into power. The bass part was compared to the one heard in "Material Girl" by Madonna. "Junkie" talks about compulsive behaviour, and sees Booth singing through an answerphone. "Senorita" is about a guy that falls in love with a dangerous woman, and is followed by the disco song "Gaudi". "Fine" is a percussion-led song that is followed by "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)", a slow-building indie rock track with a psychedelic bridge section. Davies said every instrument on the track was unintentionally out of tune. It talks about a guy called Daniel who saves a woman called Grace from drowning, and unbeknownst to him, saving her helps him save himself. Its original title was "Saving Grace"; the label had it changed as they reasoned the public wouldn't buy it with that title. The song's title refers to the cold nature of its narrator. ==Release==

"Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)" premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 18 May 2001; the band appeared on Later... with Jools Holland later that day, On 31 May, Pleased to Meet You was announced for release in July, and the track listing was revealed. Alongside this announcement, a remix of "Fine", done by Baynton-Power, was available from the band's website. "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)" was released as a single on 25 June, after being delayed a week from its original release date. The song's music video was directed by Gordon Main, Rob Leggatt, and Simon Earith. On 19 June, Dotmusic revealed the album's artwork, which is a computer-generated image that merged all of the members' faces. Pleased to Meet You was released on 2 July 2001 through Mercury Records. The UK special edition included the bonus songs "Gaudi" and "What Is It Good For" as 9th and 10th tracks. Throughout July and September, the band performed at the T in the Park, Guildford Live, City in the Park, Benicàssim, and Annual Youth Music festivals, across the UK, Spain and Portugal. Following this, they played the Electron Festival in Greece at the end of the month. At the end of November, the band played a few shows in Spain and Portugal, Coinciding with this, the B-side compilation B-Sides Ultra was released on 3 December. On 24 December, a remix of "Fine", done by Hunter, was available from the band's website. and later released as the live/video album Getting Away with It...Live in June 2002. "English Beefcake" and "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)" were included on the band's third compilation album The Collection (2004). "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)" was included on the band's fourth compilation album Fresh as a Daisy – The Singles (2007). "Scratchcard" and "I Thought You Were", outtakes from the album's sessions, were included on the career-spanning box set The Gathering Sound (2012), alongside the music video for "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)". Pleased to Meet You was pressed on vinyl for the first time in 2017. ==Reception==

Pleased to Meet You was met with generally favourable from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 65, based on six reviews. Though noting it wasn't as "adventurous" of a release as Wah Wah is, the band made a record "whose songs are often times spacious and funky at the same time." He said the band's attempts at taking risks produced the record's "best moments." Clash included "Getting Away with It (All Messed Up)" on their list of the top 10 best James songs. == Track listing ==

All tracks written by Tim Booth, Jim Glennie, Saul Davies, Mark Hunter, David Baynton-Power. ==Personnel==

Personnel per booklet. James • Tim Boothlead vocals • Jim Glenniebass guitars • Adrian Oxaalguitar, cello • Michael Kulasguitar • Saul Daviesguitar, violin • Mark Hunterkeyboards • David Baynton-Powerdrums Production • Brian Enoproducer • Saul Daviesproducer • Kevin Kerriganadditional production • David Baynton-Poweradditional production • Gary Langanengineer • Dave Bascombemixing, additional recording, additional engineering • KKproducer (tracks 2 and 9), engineer (track 9), additional recording (track 10) • Jamesproducer (tracks 6, 8, 9 and 10) • James Loughreyengineer (tracks 6, 9, 10 and 11) • Simon Changeradditional engineer (track 9) • Blue Sourceart direction • Phil Poynterphotography • Becci Mansonphotographic retouching ==Charts and certifications==

Weekly charts Certifications == References ==