To mark the twenty-first anniversary of their original recording contract with United Artists Records, the Stranglers played to a sold out Royal Albert Hall (London, UK) with an eighteen-piece string orchestra (the Electra Strings). Friday the Thirteenth presents part of the set (these songs, plus the remainder of the set can be found on the accompanying DVD release). Composer and musician Jocelyn Pook makes contributions to the songs "Waltz in Black", "Valley of the Birds", "Daddy's Riding the Range", "Golden Brown" and "No More Heroes".
Jack Rabid, writing for AllMusic, gave the album a negative one-and-a-half star review, calling its sound "clear but dull, flat, and lifeless," and the production "soulless." He also criticised vocalist Paul Roberts' performance, clearly not satisfied with him as replacement for original singer Hugh Cornwell, calling him a "facile, slick hack." Rabid wrote, "hearing some damn great material butchered [by Roberts] is rock and roll sacrilege." On a positive note, Rabid felt that "the lovely string section adds a nice dimension, and the original three members remain solid and fierce." Rabid concluded that Friday the Thirteenth "is as welcome as vomit on the Albert Hall's beautiful red carpets."[2]
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