Bizarre Fruit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 14 November 1994 | |||
Recorded | April – August 1994 | |||
Studio | Strongroom Studios (London) | |||
Genre | House, pop | |||
Length | 57:45 | |||
Label | Deconstruction | |||
Producer | M People | |||
M People chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
![]() North American cover | ||||
Singles from Bizarre Fruit | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cash Box | (favorable) [2] |
Robert Christgau | A− [3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [5] |
The Guardian | (favorable) [6] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Music & Media | (favorable) [8] |
NME | 8/10 [9] |
Spin | 7/10 [10] |
Bizarre Fruit is the third album by British dance band M People. It was released on 14 November 1994 and charted and peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, spending one year on the chart before an expanded version of the album, Bizarre Fruit II, was released a year later. In 1996 it was announced that Bizarre Fruit had reached 1.1 million copies sold worldwide. [11] The albums Bizarre Fruit and Bizarre Fruit II were certified 5× platinum in the UK for sales of 1.5 million. [12]
The album's two most popular singles were " Sight for Sore Eyes", which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and " Search for the Hero", which peaked at No. 9 on the same chart. Other singles released from this album were " Open Your Heart" (No. 9), " Love Rendezvous" (No. 32) and " Itchycoo Park" (No. 11) from the re-released album. In the US, remixes for the song "Padlock" were supplied to club DJs and appeared as the B-side to the CD maxi single of "Search for the Hero". The track reached No. 13 on the Billboard Dance chart. [13]
AllMusic editor William Cooper stated that Bizarre Fruit is "chock-full of funky house grooves", and Heather Small's "deep, soulful vocals add just the right touch to the mix". He highlighted songs like " Open Your Heart", " Sight for Sore Eyes", " Search for the Hero" and "Precious Pearl". [1] Peter Galvin from Entertainment Weekly viewed the album as a "irrepressible" follow-up to Elegant Slumming, concluding that it "has more than its share of house-quaking grooves." [5] Johnny Dee from NME praised it as "a consistently faultless and pleasing third album — it's obvious the M in their name now stands for 'Maturity'." He added, "It's impossible to see tracks as catchy as "Open Your Heart" and "Padlock" occupying any chart position other than Number One." [9]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Sight for Sore Eyes" | Pickering, Heard, Small | 6:12 |
2. | " Search for the Hero" | Pickering, Heard | 6:11 |
3. | " Open Your Heart" | Pickering, Heard | 5:42 |
4. | " Love Rendezvous" | Pickering, Heard | 5:24 |
5. | "Precious Pearl" | Pickering, Heard | 6:04 |
6. | "Sugar Town" | Pickering, Heard | 5:41 |
7. | "Walk Away" | Pickering, Heard | 5:48 |
8. | "Drive Time" | Pickering, Heard | 5:30 |
9. | "Padlock" | Tamy Smith | 6:12 |
10. | "And Finally..." | Pickering, Heard, Small | 5:04 |
Total length: | 57:45 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | " Itchycoo Park" | Marriott, Lane | 6:42 |
12. | "Itchycoo Park" (Morales Classic Club Mix) | Marriott, Lane | 7:53 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | " Renaissance" (M People Master Mix) | 6:30 |
Chart (1994–1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums ( ARIA) [14] | 14 |
Austrian Albums ( Ö3 Austria) [15] | 28 |
German Albums ( Offizielle Top 100) [16] | 30 |
New Zealand Albums ( RMNZ) [17] | 4 |
Scottish Albums ( OCC) [18] | 3 |
Swiss Albums ( Schweizer Hitparade) [19] | 29 |
UK Albums ( OCC) [20] | 3 |
US Heatseekers Albums ( Billboard) [21] | 17 |
Chart (1995) | Position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [22] | 21 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23] | 47 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [24] | 23 |
UK Albums (OCC) [25] | 19 |
Chart (1996) | Position |
---|---|
UK Albums (OCC) [26] | 14 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia ( ARIA) [27] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Germany ( BVMI) [28] | Gold | 250,000^ |
New Zealand ( RMNZ) [29] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom ( BPI) [30] | 5× Platinum | 1,500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 14 November 1994 | Deconstruction | LP | 74321 24081 1 |
CD | 74321 24081 2 | |||
Cassette | 74321 24081 4 | |||
North America | 12 May 1995 | Epic | LP | E 67037 |
CD | EK 67037 | |||
Cassette | ET 67037 | |||
United Kingdom | 7 March 2005 | Sony BMG | CD |
Bizarre Fruit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 14 November 1994 | |||
Recorded | April – August 1994 | |||
Studio | Strongroom Studios (London) | |||
Genre | House, pop | |||
Length | 57:45 | |||
Label | Deconstruction | |||
Producer | M People | |||
M People chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
![]() North American cover | ||||
Singles from Bizarre Fruit | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Cash Box | (favorable) [2] |
Robert Christgau | A− [3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [5] |
The Guardian | (favorable) [6] |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Music & Media | (favorable) [8] |
NME | 8/10 [9] |
Spin | 7/10 [10] |
Bizarre Fruit is the third album by British dance band M People. It was released on 14 November 1994 and charted and peaked at No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart, spending one year on the chart before an expanded version of the album, Bizarre Fruit II, was released a year later. In 1996 it was announced that Bizarre Fruit had reached 1.1 million copies sold worldwide. [11] The albums Bizarre Fruit and Bizarre Fruit II were certified 5× platinum in the UK for sales of 1.5 million. [12]
The album's two most popular singles were " Sight for Sore Eyes", which reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and " Search for the Hero", which peaked at No. 9 on the same chart. Other singles released from this album were " Open Your Heart" (No. 9), " Love Rendezvous" (No. 32) and " Itchycoo Park" (No. 11) from the re-released album. In the US, remixes for the song "Padlock" were supplied to club DJs and appeared as the B-side to the CD maxi single of "Search for the Hero". The track reached No. 13 on the Billboard Dance chart. [13]
AllMusic editor William Cooper stated that Bizarre Fruit is "chock-full of funky house grooves", and Heather Small's "deep, soulful vocals add just the right touch to the mix". He highlighted songs like " Open Your Heart", " Sight for Sore Eyes", " Search for the Hero" and "Precious Pearl". [1] Peter Galvin from Entertainment Weekly viewed the album as a "irrepressible" follow-up to Elegant Slumming, concluding that it "has more than its share of house-quaking grooves." [5] Johnny Dee from NME praised it as "a consistently faultless and pleasing third album — it's obvious the M in their name now stands for 'Maturity'." He added, "It's impossible to see tracks as catchy as "Open Your Heart" and "Padlock" occupying any chart position other than Number One." [9]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Sight for Sore Eyes" | Pickering, Heard, Small | 6:12 |
2. | " Search for the Hero" | Pickering, Heard | 6:11 |
3. | " Open Your Heart" | Pickering, Heard | 5:42 |
4. | " Love Rendezvous" | Pickering, Heard | 5:24 |
5. | "Precious Pearl" | Pickering, Heard | 6:04 |
6. | "Sugar Town" | Pickering, Heard | 5:41 |
7. | "Walk Away" | Pickering, Heard | 5:48 |
8. | "Drive Time" | Pickering, Heard | 5:30 |
9. | "Padlock" | Tamy Smith | 6:12 |
10. | "And Finally..." | Pickering, Heard, Small | 5:04 |
Total length: | 57:45 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | " Itchycoo Park" | Marriott, Lane | 6:42 |
12. | "Itchycoo Park" (Morales Classic Club Mix) | Marriott, Lane | 7:53 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
11. | " Renaissance" (M People Master Mix) | 6:30 |
Chart (1994–1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums ( ARIA) [14] | 14 |
Austrian Albums ( Ö3 Austria) [15] | 28 |
German Albums ( Offizielle Top 100) [16] | 30 |
New Zealand Albums ( RMNZ) [17] | 4 |
Scottish Albums ( OCC) [18] | 3 |
Swiss Albums ( Schweizer Hitparade) [19] | 29 |
UK Albums ( OCC) [20] | 3 |
US Heatseekers Albums ( Billboard) [21] | 17 |
Chart (1995) | Position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [22] | 21 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23] | 47 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [24] | 23 |
UK Albums (OCC) [25] | 19 |
Chart (1996) | Position |
---|---|
UK Albums (OCC) [26] | 14 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia ( ARIA) [27] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Germany ( BVMI) [28] | Gold | 250,000^ |
New Zealand ( RMNZ) [29] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
United Kingdom ( BPI) [30] | 5× Platinum | 1,500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalogue |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 14 November 1994 | Deconstruction | LP | 74321 24081 1 |
CD | 74321 24081 2 | |||
Cassette | 74321 24081 4 | |||
North America | 12 May 1995 | Epic | LP | E 67037 |
CD | EK 67037 | |||
Cassette | ET 67037 | |||
United Kingdom | 7 March 2005 | Sony BMG | CD |