Knowle West Boy is the seventh studio album by musician and producer Tricky, released by Domino Records on 7 July 2008 in Europe, and 9 September 2008 in North America.
| Knowle West Boy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 July 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2007 | |||
| Length | 45:53 | |||
| Label | Domino | |||
| Producer | Tricky, Bernard Butler | |||
| Tricky chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 70/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Blender |  [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[4] |
| Drowned in Sound | 6/10[5] |
| The Guardian | [6] |
| NME | 7/10[7] |
| Pitchfork | 5.8/10[8] |
| PopMatters | 7/10[9] |
| Rolling Stone | [10] |
| Uncut | [11] |
A remixed version of the album called Tricky Meets South Rakkas Crew was released in 2009 and was mixed by Florida-based producers South Rakkas Crew.[12]
Details
The first single, "Council Estate", samples "Roads" by Portishead from the 1994 album Dummy. It was the first single that Tricky had ever done with just himself on vocals. He commented: "I couldn't whisper that song. I had to come out of myself and do a loud, screaming vocal. I wanted to be a proper frontman on that one."[13]
"Cross to Bear" features guest vocals from Hafdís Huld.
"Veronika" is a cover of the song "Livido Amniotico" by Subsonica (featuring Veronika Coassolo), which was first published as one of three previously unreleased studio tracks in their 2003 live album Controllo del livello di rombo.
Track listing
All music is composed by Tricky and Bernard Butler except where noted
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Puppy Toy" (ft. Alex Mills) | 3:34 |
| 2. | "Bacative" | 3:51 |
| 3. | "Joseph" (ft. Joseph Franklin Hunt) | 2:29 |
| 4. | "Veronika" (Tricky, Veronika Coassolo) | 3:00 |
| 5. | "C'mon Baby" | 3:04 |
| 6. | "Council Estate" | 2:39 |
| 7. | "Past Mistake" | 5:07 |
| 8. | "Coalition" | 3:59 |
| 9. | "Cross to Bear" | 3:47 |
| 10. | "Slow" (Kylie Minogue, Mr. Dan, Emilíana Torrini) | 3:22 |
| 11. | "Baligaga" | 3:42 |
| 12. | "Far Away" (Tricky, Veronika Coassolo) | 3:38 |
| 13. | "School Gates" | 3:47 |
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] | 93 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] | 35 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] | 35 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] | 89 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] | 86 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[19] | 31 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] | 95 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] | 53 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP)[22] | 48 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] | 25 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[24] | 63 |
| US Billboard 200[25] | 147 |