Inspiral Carpets: Cool as 2003

After the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets were arguably the third most popular band to emerge from the late-'80s/early-'90s Madchester scene.

They did, however, share a fascination with trippy psychedelia, particularly the Farfisa organ-drenched sound of Nuggets-style garage rock from the '60s, which set them apart from their peers



They sold T-shirts featuring their smoking-cow logo and their slogan "Cool as Fuck," which got them media attention when a student wearing the shirt was arrested for violating obscenity laws.

Their first national release came in 1988 with the Plane Crash EP on Playtime Records, but when that label's distributor went out of business later that year, the band set up their own imprint, Cow Records, which was financed mostly by T-shirt sales. The first release on Cow was the 1989 EP Trainsurfing, which got the band even more national attention.


Inspiral Carpets' debut album, Life, was released in the spring of 1990. Their first single for Mute, "This Is How It Feels," hit the British Top 20 and landed them a TV appearance on Top of the Pops; the follow-up, "She Comes in the Fall," reached the Top 30.

Inspiral Carpets scored their biggest chart hit in the spring of 1992 with "Dragging Me Down,"




Inspiral Carpets scored their biggest chart hit in the spring of 1992 with "Dragging Me Down," which appeared on their third album, Revenge of the Goldfish, released later that fall. Although it produced three more Top 40 singles and got the band a bigger overseas audience, the album proved to be their worst seller to date, possibly because the Manchester scene's moment was perceived to have passed.

( All Music .com )



Cd 1: Cool As

1. "Keep The Circle Around" - 3:49
2. "Butterfly" - 2:33
3. "Joe" - 3:22
4. "Find Out Why" - 2:03
5. "Move" - 3:26
6. "This Is How It Feels" - 3:13
7. "She Comes In The Fall" - 4:11
8. "Biggest Mountain" - 4:29
9. "Weakness" - 4:17
10. "Caravan" - 5:48
11. "Please Be Cruel" - 3:37
12. "Dragging Me Down" - 4:33
13. "Two Worlds Collide" - 4:41
14. "Generations" - 2:49
15. "Bitches Brew" - 3:51
16. "How It Should Be" - 3:17
17. "Saturn 5" - 3:58
18. "I Want You" - 3:09
19. "Uniform" - 3:54
20. "Come Back Tomorrow" - 3:40

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Cd 2: Rare As
Rarities CD Unreleased rare Tracks

1. "Theme From Cow"
2. "Seeds Of Doubt"
3. "Garage Full Of Flowers"
4. "96 Tears"
5. "You Can't Take The Truth"
6. "Greek Wedding Song"
7. "Causeway"
8. "Directing Traffik"
9. "Sackville"
10. "Commercial Reign"
11. "Skidoo"
12. "Tainted Love"
13. "Paper Moon"
14. "I Don't Want To Go Blind"
15. "Paranoid (sort yer head out mix)
16. "Iron"
17. "You've Got What It Takes"

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