Condition Blue

Condition Blue
Studio album by
the Jazz Butcher
Released1992
Recorded1991
GenrePop, alternative rock, pop rock
LabelCreation
ProducerThe Jazz Butcher
The Jazz Butcher chronology
Cult of the Basement
(1990) 		Condition Blue
(1992) 		Edward's Closet
(1992)

Condition Blue is an album by the English musician the Jazz Butcher, released in 1992.[1][2] "She's a Yo-Yo" was released as a single.[3] The Jazz Butcher supported the album with a North American tour; the live album Western Family, released in 1993, documents the tour.[4][5]

Production

The album title is British slang for an act's exit from a performing venue.[6] The Jazz Butcher thought that Condition Blue was his band's first album to present all of its musical characteristics and traits.[7] He considered it to be a plea for the return of an ex-lover as well as a document of a nervous breakdown, and saw similarities between his situation and the work of Martin Amis.[8][9][10] The Jazz Butcher was affected by the mainstream "breakup" pop—Phil Collins and Michael Bolton—that he heard in pubs while dealing with his problems and decided to create something with similar but rawer lyrical themes.[11] His band urged him to rewrite some of the more depressing lyrics.[12] "Our Friends the Filth" describes spycraft in 1960s Beirut.[8] "Girls Say Yes" is an homage to the music of Dave Stewart.[13] "Shirley MacLaine" is less about the actress than about a certain kind of self-indulgent book and self-regarding attitude.[13] "Harlan" is named for Harlan Ellison.[14] "Honey" expresses a desire to find a woman who will watch Twin Peaks with the Jazz Butcher.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
Calgary HeraldB+[16]
Chicago Tribune[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[18]
The Great Indie Discography5/10[19]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[20]

The Calgary Herald said that the Jazz Butcher "writes songs that crawled out from under a rock in somebody`s garage, hook-laden pop with enough fuzz and feedback to scare yuppies away."[16] The Chicago Tribune labeled the album the "alternative rock iconoclast's most accessible record yet."[17] The Washington Post called it "sprightly guitar-based pop-rock", noting that "the Butcher employs a vulnerable-adolescent persona characteristic of the genre... That can be a little precious, but the Butcher and company more than compensate by getting their guitars to jingle-jangle just so."[21]

The Gazette stated that Condition Blue is "a cheery collection of hummable ditties about the insanity that looms when a relationship falls apart."[22] The Edmonton Journal said that the album "conveys crisp musical hooks with sardonic bon mots".[23] The Los Angeles Times called Condition Blue "a lovely, deeply emotive record, with complex guitar interplay and sobbing saxophones accompanying the Butcher through a long melancholy drift"; the paper later named it one of the best albums of 1992.[11] The Philadelphia Inquirer labeled it "a rare non-confectionary pop record".[20]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Girls Say Yes" 
2."Our Friends the Filth" 
3."Harlan" 
4."Still and All" 
5."Monkeyface" 
6."She's a Yo-Yo" 
7."Honey" 
8."Shirley MacLaine" 
9."Racheland" 

References

  1. ^ Lozaw, Tristram (1 May 1992). "Boston Beat". Boston Herald. p. S29.
  2. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). Rough Guides. 2003. p. 537.
  3. ^ a b Kodas, Michael (27 February 1992). "Records". Calendar. Hartford Courant. p. 6.
  4. ^ Valois, Diana (25 April 1992). "Records". The Morning Call. p. A70.
  5. ^ The Trouser Press Record Guide (5th ed.). Simon & Schuster. 1997. p. 376.
  6. ^ Pilon, Bernard (21 May 1992). "British rocker not hung up on partying". The Leader Post. p. C5.
  7. ^ Harrison, Tom (27 May 1992). "Jazz Butcher feeling moody, blue". The Province. p. C6.
  8. ^ a b Goddard, Peter (2 May 1992). "The Jazz Butcher mystique goes on". Toronto Star. p. J8.
  9. ^ Parisien, Roch (7 May 1992). "British popster fights the good fight to put some literacy back into lyrics". The Ottawa Citizen. p. H2.
  10. ^ Kendle, John (15 May 1992). "Fish's blues spawned Blue for Butcher". Winnipeg Sun. p. 31.
  11. ^ a b Boehm, Mike (5 June 1992). "On the Cutting Edge". Los Angeles Times. p. F24.
  12. ^ Craig, Terry (14 May 1992). "Fish says new show 'bit extreme'". The StarPhoenix. p. D1.
  13. ^ a b Mackie, John (27 May 1992). "Butchered relationship fascinates Fish". The Vancouver Sun. p. C5.
  14. ^ "Popular Music — Condition Blue by the Jazz Butcher". Stereo Review. Vol. 57, no. 7. July 1992. p. 70.
  15. ^ "Condition Blue Review by Roch Parisien". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  16. ^ a b Muretich, James (29 March 1992). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald. p. C4.
  17. ^ a b Kening, Dan (16 April 1992). "Recordings". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
  18. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 594.
  19. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography (2nd ed.). Canongate. p. 381.
  20. ^ a b Moon, Tom (22 March 1992). "Pop". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. G10.
  21. ^ Jenkins, Mark (1 May 1992). "Charming Chiming of Jazz Butcher". Weekend. The Washington Post. p. 14.
  22. ^ Wells, Paul (6 May 1992). "Jazz Butcher slicing, dicing expectations". The Gazette. p. B4.
  23. ^ Metella, Helen (22 May 1992). "A recurring toothache has kept Pat Fish...". Edmonton Journal. p. C4.
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