I absolutely loved every track on this album! Echobelly’s debut album “Everyone’s Got One” is definitely recommended!
Click here to purchase Echobelly’s “Everyone’s Got One” on Amazon
BAND: Echobelly
ALBUM: Everyone’s Got One
DURATION: 11 Songs (41 Minutes)
RELEASE: August 22, 1994
1. “Today Tomorrow Sometime Never” 3:39
2. “Father, Ruler, King, Computer” 2:40
3. “Give Her a Gun” 3:37
4. “I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me” 3:00
5. “Bellyache” 4:29
6. “Taste of You” 3:30
7. “Insomniac” 4:15
8. “Call Me Names” 3:49
9. “Close… But” 2:50
10. “Cold Feet Warm Heart” 3:28
11. “Scream” 5:52
The year was 1994 and while the UK was going crazy for Wet Wet Wet’s “Love is All Around” and people were dancing to Whigfield’s “Saturday Night”, but for those who were into Britpop, Oasis, Suede, Blur and Pulp were releasing chart topping albums.
And while those four bands were known, and The Auteurs, The Charlatans and Ash were also gaining some traction, there was one that came out of nowhere and it was the only band that captured my attention because it featured a British female vocalist who was Indian (and also a college graduate with a degree in psychology) and you also had a Black woman rocking out on electric guitar (which was something you don’t see, not just in the UK but also worldwide).
That band was British rock band Echobelly which consisted of vocalist/lyricist Sonya Madan, Swedish guitarist Glenn Johansson, Debbie Smith on guitar, Alex Keyser on bass and Andy Henderson on drums.
While compared to Blondie and The Smiths, the band would eventually go from playing in venues with no one showing up to gaining attention from listeners, critics and even from big stars such as Madonna and even Morrissey himself, who asked the band to support him as an opening act for his tour.
Needless to say, the time was no doubt competitive and unlike Elastica and Sleeper who had their fair share of controversy and media coverage, Echobelly had momentum on their side with their first two albums being strong on the UK Charts and many saw the potential of the band in making it big in America.
Unfortunately, because the band was signed to Sony, they had some legal problems with their principal manager was against the band going with an American manager and the band fought back but so did the manager and for two years, bogged with this legal battle. And to make things worse, their accountant stole their money and the band was dropped by Sony and the band had difficulty with legal representation because they had no more money.
Needless to say, with the label problems, health problems that Madan would face (she had a serious thyroid problem that was potentially life threatening) and the musical industry shifting (Britpop would also crash) they would release an album in 1997 and guitarist Debbie Thomas would leave and the band would go on a four year hiatus until their fourth album was released in 2001.
And while Madan and Johansson would work on acoustic projects and the two would be known as Calm of Zero, but in 2015, they met with an agent who worked with their original agent who gave the band an opportunity once again and Echobelly was back.
And the band continues to perform today, with their last compilation album “Black Heart Lullabies” was released in 2018. And the band continues to perform to this very day!
Now, I absolutely love Echobelly. As a person who enjoys Britpop and as a person who loves the Smiths, but also a person who zeroes into songwriting and band chemistry which you can hear it clearly through their music, for me, the music of Echobelly was so darn awesome that it can’t be pigeon-holed to being like other female fronted rock bands such as The Primitives, Elastica, The Cranberries and Sleeper.
Echobelly had such an amazing debut with songs featured on their debut album “Everyone’s Got One”. But I was impressed by Madan’s vocals and her songwriting. The lyrics and the music kept my attention on this album from beginning to end.
“Today Tomorrow Sometimes Never” captivated you with Madan’s vocals and the music for that one song, especially the guitar playing. And it extends to the second track “Father Ruler King Computer” and I remember hearing “I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me” and hearing the music transitions in that song, I was a college student that was literally in love with this band!
Of course, the singles from the album such as “Bellyache”, “Insomniac” (which was featured on the soundtrack for the film “Dumb and Dumber”), “I Can’t Imagine the World Without Me” and “Close…But” are awesome but there are no bad songs on this album. Each track is just wonderful to listen to and I can see why people who loves the Smith’s, including Morrissey himself, loved this band. Even Johansson used a 4/4 alternating verse/chorus structure paying homage to Morrissey in the song “Insomniac”.
But I do recommend learning more about the words that went into the songs. “Bellyache” is about a friend who went through an abortion, “Insomniac” about the drug-driven lifestyle of the Britpop scene (a lot of Britpop vocalist and musicians were no doubt affected by the rampant wild life/drug scene), “I can’t Imagine the World Without Me” which is a song about self-confidence and “Close…But” about Madan’s feeling of loneliness even when she was surrounded by many friends.
But for me, Echobelly was a band that established their own style that was unique to them and I was a young bitter lad at the time, feeling that this band never had the opportunity to be pushed in the US market because of a bad manager and legal action that literally took its toll on the band.
As I listen to this album again in 2022, I love it just as much as I did when I was younger and attending college. But having owned their albums up to their last release, there was no doubt a sign of maturity in their music, including the way Madan would sing her vocals from then to now, and also the maturity in her songwriting.
As a person who grew up with their music, I hope people today will give Echobelly a chance, because they were truly a special band at the time that got screwed by their label. They were not a band filled with controversies, they were a band that committed to their music and “Everyone’s Got One” was a debut album that I will forever cherish.
In fact, in 2017, Pitchfork even placed “Everyone’s Got One” at No. 48 of their “Top 50 Best Britpop Albums”.
One thing I do want to let people know is that in 2014, this disc was re-issued ala expanded version with a second disc with an additional 15 tracks including B-sides, live tracks and BBC Radio sessions. It’s available as a two CD set but unfortunately, not available digitally. But nevertheless, whether you get the 2014 reissue or the original 1994 album, “Everyone’s Got One” is a great album!
I absolutely loved every track on this album! Echobelly’s debut album “Everyone’s Got One” is definitely recommended!
Click here to purchase Echobelly’s “Everyone’s Got One” on Amazon
