Kilimanjaro (The Teardrop Explodes album)
| Kilimanjaro | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 10 October 1980 | |||
| Recorded | Summer 1979–summer 1980 | |||
| Studio | Rockfield Studios, Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 37:05 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| The Teardrop Explodes chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Kilimanjaro | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
The "Mount Kilimanjaro" cover | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Guardian | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| Q | |
| Record Collector | |
| Record Mirror | |
| Smash Hits | 8½/10 |
| Uncut | |
| The Village Voice | B |
Kilimanjaro is the debut album by the neo-psychedelic Liverpool band The Teardrop Explodes, released on 10 October 1980. It contains versions of the band's early singles "Sleeping Gas", "Bouncing Babies", "Treason" and "When I Dream"; reissues of the album also include their biggest hit, "Reward". The album also includes the song "Books", originally a song by Julian Cope's previous band, The Crucial Three; it was also recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen (as "Read It in Books", released on the B-side of their debut single, and featured on some versions of Crocodiles). In 2000, Q magazine placed Kilimanjaro at number 95 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".
The original working title for Kilimanjaro was Everyone Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes; this title was later used for the CD release of demos for the band's never-finished third album. When originally released, the album featured a shadowy photograph of the band on the sleeve; when the album was reissued in 1981, the album artwork was changed to a photo of zebras in front of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, the mountain after which the record was named. Subsequent CD reissues feature either album covers.
In 2000, Cope gave his blessings to re-release Kilimanjaro with a selection of bonus tracks (mainly single B-sides), original artwork, a remastered sound, and full lyrics and essays. A deluxe 3-disc edition followed in 2010, including original singles, B-sides and radio session recordings.