King is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Belly, released on February 13, 1995.
Although the members had tightened their focus and polished their hook-laden songs, King and its singles did not meet label expectations in the post grunge-friendly atmosphere of 1995, and the band broke up shortly after it was released. The album sold over 350,000 copies. In the two decades since King's release, many (including some critics) have reconsidered the initial indifferent attitude towards the album and now hold it as an equal to Belly's highly regarded debut Star.
Contents
Background
Belly released their debut studio album Star in January 1993, which peaked at number two in the United Kingdom and number 59 in the United States. Among its singles, "Feed the Tree" performed the best, reaching number 32 in the UK and number 95 in the US. Belly was nominated for a Best New Act at the Grammy Awards, and won Boston Music Awards for Best Modern Rock Act and Debut Album of the Year. Bassist Fred Abong departed in May 1993 and was replaced by Gail Greenwood. They travelled to Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas to record their next album.
Release
Preceded by the "Now They'll Sleep" single in January 1995, King was released in February 1995. "Seal My Fate" was issued as the next single in July 1995. Belly went on a US tour with Catherine Wheel. They officially broke up in early 1996.
Reception
In 2012, King was listed at number seven on PopMatters' "15 Overlooked and Underrated Albums of the 1990s" list. In 2016, the album was hailed by Will Sheff of Okkervil River as "a winning, confident, masterful collection of songs – poppy and sweet and with a low-key psychedelic undercurrent. Everything good about Star was still there and had been expanded upon, but in many ways this felt like a new, reinvented band." Slant Magazine included it on their 2003 list of 50 Essential Pop Albums.
Personnel
Belly
Tanya Donelly – vocals and guitar
Christopher Gorman – drums and percussion
Thomas Gorman – guitar and piano
Gail Greenwood – bass and vocals
Technical personnel
Glyn Johns – producer, mixing
Jack Joseph Puig – engineer, mixing
Oswald "Wiz" Bowe – assistant engineer
Rail Jon Rogut – assistant engineer