| World Outside | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1 July 1991[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1990−91 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, art rock, pop | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Stephen Street, the Psychedelic Furs | |||
| The Psychedelic Furs chronology | ||||
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World Outside is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released 1 July 1991 by Columbia Records in the US.[2] It includes the single "Until She Comes", which hit No. 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart in September 1991.[3][4] "Don't Be a Girl" was the second single.[5]
Completed in seven weeks, the album was produced by Stephen Street and the band.[6][7] Knox Chandler contributed on guitar.[8] The three core band members tried to be more open to collaborating with the additional musicians, rather than always directing how songs should be played.[9] The band started recording a week after their tour for Book of Days ended, and used few overdubs.[10][11] Singer Richard Butler constructed lyrics that were more personal than on previous albums.[12] He decided to use cello on some tracks after growing tired of employing a saxophone.[13] "All About You" was edited down from two jams that totaled 30 minutes.[14]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Calgary Herald | D[15] |
| Chicago Tribune | [16] |
| Los Angeles Times | [17] |
| Rolling Stone | [18] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [19] |
| St. Petersburg Times | [20] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 3/10[21] |
The Los Angeles Times wrote that "there is once more the bracing tension of understated melodic elegance scraping against understated musical discord."[17] The Ottawa Citizen determined that the band "maintains the most irresistible aspects of its art-rock sound including the melancholy underbelly, but it also focuses them into a commanding pop songs."[22] The Calgary Herald opined that "Richard sings wearily of romance in ruins... It's all so shoulder-shrugging boring."[15]
The Globe and Mail deemed the album "a crafty return to the edgy, intelligent rock of its earliest incarnation."[23] The Boston Globe called it "B-level pop songs."[24] The Vancouver Sun panned the "sameness in synth sounds, sameness in melodies, sameness in meter."[25] The Times concluded that "the album is leavened by a significantly keener sense of melody and somehow pulled into focus by the context of the times."[26]
The Wisconsin State Journal listed the album as one of the 10 best of 1991.[27]
All songs written by the Psychedelic Furs.
Additional personnel
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[28] | 108 |
| UK Albums Chart[29] | 68 |
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| Studio albums |
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| Compilation albums |
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| Live albums |
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| Singles |
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| Related articles |
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