Track Listing

1. Coming Into Land
2. Have You Fed The Fish
3. Born Again
4. 40 Days 40 Fights
5. All Possibilities
6. I Was Wrong
7. You Were Right
8. CentrePeace
9. How?
10. The Further I Slide
11. Imaginary Lines
12. Using Our Feet
13. Tickets To What You Need
14. What Is It Now?
15. Bedside Story

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37073 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-04
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Limited Edition

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's hard to remember, listening to Have You Fed the Fish, that Badly Drawn Boy was once derided as lo-fi. On Damon Gough's third album, everything is writ large, his wobbly and whimsical songs transformed into bombastic epics. Finally, his much-vaunted Springsteen obsession starts making sense. For this is Gough's LA record, an extravagant conceit that really shouldn't work but, more often than not, does. Essentially, it's big music about simple things, love letters from California back home to his wife in Manchester. So when he tackles the sweet mundanities of domestic life on the title track, he plasters sentiments usually found on post-it notes across 40-foot billboards. The results are oddly moving, especially on "You Were Right", where dreams of a love triangle with Madonna and the Queen and memories of various celebrity deaths become a meditation on not taking anything for granted. Frequently, it's absurd, too: especially the crotchety funk of "Using Our Feet" and the Nilsson-ish Vaudeville of "Tickets to What You Need". Beware, though, because the grandiose production makes Gough's customarily fine songs not quite as accessible as usual--a few listens are needed before their charms cut through the flash. --John Mulvey

CD Description
'Have You Fed The Fish' is the third album from the Bolton-born, eclectic singer-songwriter, Damon Gough. It follows his soundtrack to the 2002 film adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel, 'About A Boy'. The single, 'You Were Right', is included.

Customer Reviews

Eccentric hat optional
I got this album as a xmas gift and expected it to be decent but nothing special. I was wrong, BDB was right; this is quality. From start to finish the voice is stunningly warm and intimate, distinctive and emotive. BDB's lyrics are excellent on certain songs such as 'All Possibilities' and 'How' and in parts I feel his lyrics are approaching a style typical of Morrissey; witty but incisive. Buy it if you want to relax with a close friend but your friends are away!

Fresh Air
Mmmmm...What's that smell? It's the odour of musical fresh air blowing through the stink of manufactured bands who never sing live, karaoke kings and queens who have got the singles charts already stitched up, and whiney little boys pretending to be the best thing in music since Presley. Yes, Badly Drawn Boy (aka Damon Gough), the Mercury Award winner with the tea cosy hat and more talent in his beard than Gareth Gates could ever hope to possess in a million years, is back with a new album.

'Have you fed the fish' is, in many ways, closer to the 'About a Boy' than his debut, but as that was a great album, that's nothing to worry about. Once again, each song is a departure from the previous one, with BDB taking on the vocals, guitars, piano, flute, kitchen sink - whatever comes to hand, basically. The world of popular music has been crying out for a new Bowie or a new Bolan, somebody who is a unique, one-off talent, and BDB is that somebody. Having produced two albums in a year, the possibility of new BDB albums coming at regular intervals is something to relish.

It's a sobering thought that if Damon Gough had auditioned for Pop Idol, Pete Waterman and crew would have rejected him without a second glance, thus consigning one of Britains most original talents to the dustbin. Just goes to show what they know.

Vry gd
I liked this album as soon as I heard it: there are a couple of 'hook' tracks, such as 'You Were Right' and the title track itself, and the music established itself in my mind straightaway. But I wasn't sure if it was anything more than a week-long album until I had heard it through a few times. It really is one of those records that makes you think about it when you aren't listening to it. I remember saying to a friend "I really want to listen to that new Badly Drawn Boy"... after I'd had it a few days.

Like most rewarding music, "Have you Fed.." is ridden with influences, but not overtly so. I heard echoes of, amongst many others, Bob Marley, Beatles circa White Album, Beach Boys, even Stevie Wonder... Perhaps Gough's closest North American analogue is Beck, and this album certainly matches "Mutations" for musical adventurousness and emotional depth. In fact, as he sings "It's hard, it's hard, it's hard" on '40 days 40 fights' it sounds JUST like Beck.

It's not like Gough is ripping these guys off though; instead he is using eclectic sounds to produce something entirely new that has a sound entirely of its own. I can hear Ween in here too... maybe in the surreal lyrics: "I've wrestled the Octopus/ I came out with extra arms". Gough has credited Ween as an influence in the past.. and that's definitely a good thing.

In short: vry gd!