Shhh is the fifth studio album by British band Chumbawamba. It was originally written and recorded as Jesus H. Christ, an album that relied heavily on samples.[3] The band was unable to procure rights to a number of the songs they sampled, however, and the album was largely re-worked to defend artistic intent and criticize censorship.[4] The album sleeve artwork itself incorporated various rejection letters received by the band denying the rights to the Christ samples.[3]Shhh is considered by many to be a "genre landmark."[5]
The album was re-released with Slap! in the compilation Shhhlap!, released by MUTT Records on July 15, 2003.[1][6]
Track listing
All songs written and produced by Chumbawamba, except where noted.
Contains brief sample of piano from ABBA's song "Money Money Money" during the first break
6
"Look! No Strings!"
5:34
7
"Happiness Is Just a Chant Away"
6:37
The final chant is parody of Hare Krishna mantras, instead chanting name of cop killer Harry Roberts. "Harry Roberts is our friend" is a popular non-sectarian anti police chant at British football matches and is also occasionally heard at political demonstrations; Contains references to several Beatles' songs, including backwards a guitar solo like in "Tomorrow Never Knows", lyrics from "I've Got a Feeling" and a trumpet part mimicking the horn solo from "For No One"
8
"Pop Star Kidnap"
1:26
9
"Sometimes Plunder"
5:04
Features rap by MC Fusion; The title is a reference to the line "sometimes wonder" from Slap! song "Ulrike," changing it to be an attack on the music industry's attack on sampling, pointing out that bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones stole from African American music, yet they made "a living sometimes plundering"
A 10-second sample of the intro to the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Allegedly, original vinyl copies of this LP open with a few seconds of high-pitched tone before the intro, most likely referencing the 15 kHz tone inserted at the end of English Sgt. Pepper's LPs to "irritate listeners' dogs."
A version with a drastically different instrumental backing became "Happiness Is Just a Chant Away"
Uses the chorus of "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" by Buzzcocks. Incidentally, unlike the other tracks on the album, the title does not match with a prominent sample – though Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" is only heard as a vague string rendition of the "if there's a bustle in your hedgerow" melody, appearing under the main composition directly after the verses.
9
"Big Mouth Strikes Again"
Reused with a very different mix and addition of Fusion's rap verse.
The harmonica that is heard on this version makes a very brief and quiet appearance on the Shhh version, probably by accident.
10
"Street Music"
Became the end of "Snip Snip Snip"
Sound collage, sometimes referred to as "Street Sounds".
Similar to the Shhh version, except the music consists entirely of looped samples from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise). The voice after the "A Day In The Life" piano chord says "What about the album?" and not "Shhh!".
Other Shhh-era tracks
"I Never Gave Up" – A-side. A remake of the track from Slap!, available in two versions – the Rondo Mix and the Cass Mix. The Cass Mix includes a clip of Spinal Tap's Viv Savage saying his motto, "Have a good time, all the time." This would later reappear in the lyrics of "Look! No Strings!".
"Laughing" – B-side to above. Essentially a variation on "I Never Gave Up", this was re-recorded with a new chorus to become the title track of Shhh.
"Behave" – A-side. Similar to the album version, albeit with a full set of new lyrics. The single included three mixes – an original version, the Brittle Mix, and a hidden version containing only voice and percussion.
"Misbehave" – B-side to above, no relation to its similarly titled counterpart. Both an original version and the Brittle Mix were included on the single.
"Harry's Ambient Mantra" – Not quite a Shhh-era track; actually recorded in the transition period between Shhh and Anarchy. This would have been the B-side to "Hat Trick for Harry," an unreleased single track whose ending section appeared as "Blackpool Rock" on Anarchy. However, this track bore no relation to the A-side, being a lengthy ambient remix of "Happiness Is Just a Chant Away." While never officially released in full, a small portion appeared as a hidden track on the Uneasy Listening compilation.
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