Track Listing

1. Crash
2. Just Like Fred Astaire
3. I Know What I'm Here For
4. Shooting My Mouth Off
5. We're Going To Miss You
6. Strangers
7. Hello
8. Afro Lover
9. Surprise
10. Dumb Jam
11. Someone's Got It In For Me
12. Vervaceous

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43979 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 51 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
James, clearly reinvigorated by the chart-topping success of their 1998 Best Of collection, are playing to their strengths again on Millionaires. The occasionally abstruse experimental noodlings that have punctuated their career have been left behind, and Millionaires amounts to 12 tracks which all sound determined to make the album's title a self-fulfilling prophecy. All the mannerisms which served to make James the biggest band in Britain in the early 1990s are present: clattering rhythms that might have been designed to serve Tim Booth's wasp-in-shirt dancing, expansively sweeping arrangements (Brian Eno co-produces), and almost annoyingly catchy choruses: "Crash", "I Know What I'm Here For", "Shooting My Mouth Off" and "We're Going To Miss You" are all spiritual--and worthy--successors to "Sit Down" and "Sound". --Andrew Mueller

Customer Reviews

The best James album of the 20th Century
It's difficult to know what to make of "Millionaires". Booth saw it at the time as James' best album, and while this view may not be entirely popular with the fans, I'm inclined to agree with the singer (OK, so Pleased to Meet You was better, but Tim wasn't to know that at the time). There isn't a weak song here. The two which you'll be immediately most familiar with are "Fred Astaire" and "I Know What I'm Here For" (which, incidentally, has my favourite opener of any James song), but the rest are far from subpar.

It's true that some of the songs took a while to grow on me- I didn't fully appreciate "Someone's Got It In For Me" until I saw the live DVD, and I'm still working on "Vervaceous"- but there is a maturity and roundness to the album which is missing on some of their others. It may not be as epic as Seven, as experimentally creative as Laid, or as hauntingly beautiful as Pleased to Meet You, but this is still, in my opinion, James at their best. Part of this may be due to the presence of Michael Kulas, the backing vocalist who joined the band only in 1997. Kulas' voice gives a lovely contrast to the forthright clarity of Booth's singing, particularly noticeable on "Someone".

I'd heartily recommend this album to anyone. For those who are unfamiliar with the band, it represents probably their most accessible material. For existing fans, it's one of the best albums the band produced. Enjoy it.

A Fantastic Musical Achievement for the whole band
Before Millionaires many of james' albums had started of well but had contained some really dodgy songs near the end. Millionaires however contains nothing but fantastic songs all the way through. It starts off with a fine opening trio of "crash" "Feel like fred astaire" and "I Know what im here for" Then it finishes with songs like "Dumb Jam" that finish the album perfectly. Two of my favourite songs are "shooting my mouth off" and Strangers". However the song that I feel defines the whole album is the fantastic "Were going to miss you" this is a fantastic song, heartfelt and funky. This is a fantastic musical Achievement for the whole band.

James Fans Beware - It's Better Than Ever...
What can i say? I could say that ive been following James for years, and considering this late start I have grown to love them very quickly.

So, with the release of the new album, i rushed out to buy it, and was immediately captivated: from the excellent, upbeat opener CRASH, to the melodic finish of VERVACEOUS; this album is fantastic. Its like taking every great James song that appears on all the old albums and jamming them together on one great record!

A true return to form for a truly great Manchester band. Also, if you've never watched James live, you have missed a unique fulfilling experience. I have never met anyone who has seen a bad James concert. I never have.