Homegrown (UB40 album)

Homegrown
Studio album by UB40
Released	3 November 2003
Studio	DEP International Studios, Birmingham
Genre	Reggae
Length	51:47
Label	Virgin DEP International
Producer	UB40 Charlie Skarbek
UB40 chronology
The Fathers of Reggae (2002) Homegrown (2003) Who You Fighting For? (2005)
Singles from Homegrown
"Swing Low" Released: 13 October 2003

Homegrown is the sixteenth^{[nb 1]} studio album by English reggae band UB40, released on 3 November 2003 through Virgin Records and DEP International. The follow-up to Cover Up (2001), the album was produced by UB40 at DEP International Studios in Birmingham. Described by Robin Campbell as an old-fashioned UB40 record, Homegrown features both love songs and political numbers. As with Cover Up, its use of programmed rhythms was the cause of musical differences in the band and was later criticised by frontman Ali Campbell.

On release, Homegrown reached number 49 on the

Recording and composition

Homegrown was produced by UB40 and recorded at

As with Cover Up, the tracks on Homegrown incorporate computer-generated rhythms. According to band members Ali and Robin Campbell, this was insisted on by bandmates Jimmy Brown and Earl Falconer.^[3] Ali criticises the decision for making the albums sound uninspired and later lamented that UB40 had "stopped recording as a band and that had an impact on the sound." He regretted that band members' ego clashes and musical differences disrupted the recording and believed that both records "suffered from our approach not just to production but actually recording. Our music is organic and has to be treated as such".^[3] He contended that the group discovered that songs on both of the "heavily programmed albums" rapidly improved after they had repeatedly played them live, because "we settled into the songs, shifted them around and let them breath".^[3]

"I Knew You" was written by Robin about his strained marriage to Sindy, whom he divorced in 2002. He had written several earlier UB40 songs about their marital turmoil, including "Where Did I Go Wrong" (from

Release and promotion

UB40's 22nd album overall,

Woolworths, from stocking the record. Ali and Robin commented on this, saying that despite increasingly more lenient attitudes towards marijuana use in society, there is "a huge conservative streak running through big business when it comes to weed."^{[11][nb 2]} Homegrown debuted and peaked at number 49 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's lowest charter there to date.^[12] In the Netherlands, it peaked at number 16 on the Dutch Album Top 100 during a ten-week stay.^[13]

The album received its biggest boost when "Swing Low" became an unlikely hit.

UK Singles Chart at number 23,^[12] but following England's victory at the World Cup final, it reached a new peaked of number 15,^[8] in what became the ninth of fourteen weeks on the chart.^[12] Vulture contributor Larry Filtzmaurice wrote that, following several relatively unsuccessful releases, the success of the song disrupted UB40's increasingly diminishing international profile.^[8]

UB40 toured in promotion of Homegrown in 2003.[15] This included gigs at Brighton Centre on 30 November,^[16] and two sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, London, on 3 and 4 December,^[5] all with support from the Stranglers.^[5][16] On 14 September 2004, the band released Homegrown in Holland, a live DVD recorded when the tour visited a Dutch arena of 30,000 fans; the release features five songs from Homegrown, played between lengthier sequences of hits.^[15] In a review of the DVD, Hal Horowitz noted the concert's "glossy presentation".^[15]

Critical reception and legacy

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Great Rock Discography	4/10[1]

In his review for

adult contemporary tendencies." He particularly praised the energy of the political songs, believing that even more energy and less filler would have made the album comparable to Rat in the Kitchen (1986), concluding that "Homegrown at least points UB40 in the right direction while adding some worthwhile material to the band's repertoire."^[4] A concert reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald was unimpressed with the album's darker material.^[19]

In

The Great Rock Discography (2006), Martin C. Strong believed that Homegrown was notable mostly for "Swing Low", the band's "highly unlikely contribution" to England's Rugby World Cup campaign, but added that there were "hints at the brooding brilliance of old", such as on "Young Guns" and its attack on violence in hip-hop culture.^[1] UB40's next album, Who You Fighting For? (2005), featured a more "organic" production in reaction to Cover Up and Homegrown.^[3]

Track listing

All tracks composed by UB40; except where noted.

1. "So Destructive" – 5:15
2. "I Knew You" – 4:33
3. "Drop on By" – 4:25
4. "Someone Like Me" – 3:10
5. "Freestyler" – 5:13
6. "Everything Is Better Now" – 5:00
7. "Just Be Good" (Bushman Dub) – 5:00
8. "Young Guns" – 4:21
9. "Hand That Rocks The Cradle" – 4:10
10. "Nothing Without You" – 3:54
11. "Nothing Without You" (Dub) – 3:09
12. "Swing Low" (featuring United Colours of Sound) (traditional,
    bonus track
    ) – 3:29

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of Homegrown.[2]

• UB40 – production, mixing (tracks 3 and 12)
• Brian Travers – horn arrangements
• Jamie Travers – engineering, programming, additional keyboards, mixing (tracks 3, 11), additional mixing (tracks 1–11)
• Charlie Skarbek – co-production (track 12), arranging (track 12)
• Dan Sprigg – digital editing, mixing (track 3)
• Martin Meredith – alto saxophone
• Laurence Parry – trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone
• Rick Blaskey – executive producer (track 12)
• Neil Perch – mixing (tracks 1, 3–11)
• Austen Kilburn – mixing (track 12)
• United Colours of Sound – vocals (track 12)
• Tim Young – mastering

Charts

Weekly chart performance for Homegrown

Chart (2003)	Peak position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20]	16
UK Albums (OCC)[21]	49

Notes

1. ^ This ordering includes the group's collaboration albums The Dancehall Album (1998) and The Fathers of Reggae (2002).^[1]
2. ^ The pair said that the group had previously "got the same reaction" when proposing to Virgin that they release their 1998 cover of "Legalize It" as a single.^[11]

References

1. ^
   ISBN 1-84195-827-1
   .
2. ^ ^{a b} Homegrown (liner). UB40. Virgin Records. 2003.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
3. ^
   ISBN 0-09-947654-1
   .
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Jeffries, David. "Homegrown Review by David Jeffries". AllMusic. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
5. ^ ^{a b c} "Win tickets to see UB40 at Wembley". The Guardian. 28 November 2003. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
6. ISBN 0-09-947654-1
   .
7. ISBN 9780857125958
   .
8. ^ ^{a b c} Filtzmaurice, Larry (2 October 2018). "A Primer on UB40, the Band Brett Kavanaugh for Some Reason Wanted to Fight". Vulture. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
9. ^ ^{a b c} Paiva, Derek (20 August 2004). "UB40". The Honolulu Advertiser: 15. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
10. ^ "New Releases" (PDF). Music Week: 28. 1 November 2003. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
11. ^
    ISBN 0-09-947654-1
    .
12. ^ ^{a b c} "UB40". Official Charts. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
13. ^ "UB40 - Homegrown". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
14. ^ ^{a b} Eliezer, Christie; Ferguson, Tom (11 October 2003). "Rugby Album Embraces Many Nations". Billboard. Vol. 115, no. 41. p. 77-82. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
15. ^ ^{a b c} Horowitz, Hal. "Homegrown in Holland Review by Hal Horowitz". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
16. ^ ^{a b} "UB40 and The Stranglers, Brighton Centre, November 30, 2003". The Argus. 2 December 2003. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
17. ^ Allmusic
18. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 332.
19. ^ "UB40, State Theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 September 2004. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
20. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – UB40 – Homegrown" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
21. ^ "UB40 | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.