Exotic Creatures of the Deep is the 21st album by the American rock band Sparks.
Release
Exotic Creatures of the Deep was as successful as their previous album, Hello Young Lovers, in the UK, where it bettered the chart position, reaching No. 54 on the UK Album Chart.[9] A limited edition version was released in a card sleeve in most territories and included a poster. Japanese editions included the bonus track "Brenda Is Always in the Way" as well as a DVD featuring five short films.[10]
Two singles were released. The first, "Good Morning" on May 12, 2008,[11] was on iTunes, a first for the group. The second, "Lighten Up, Morrissey" in March 2009, appeared on a 7", backed with "Brenda Is Always in the Way". Neither single charted in the UK.
Exotic Creatures of the Deep was also promoted in the UK by a number of live performances dubbed the "Sparks Spectacular": a record-setting twenty-date residency from May 16 through June 11, 2008 at London's Carling Islington Academy, where the group played each one of their previous twenty albums in its entirety in chronological order. The final appearance at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on June 13 premiered Exotic Creatures of the Deep.
Appearing on an episode of music producer Nigel Godrich's From the Basement, Sparks performed a short set of material from Exotic Creatures, concluding with "Propaganda/At Work, at Home, at Play" from their 1974 album Propaganda.[12] As was typical in the webseries which originally aired from 2006 to 2009, the performance is notable in that the show was in-studio and did not feature an audience.[13]
Re-release
In April 2022, as part of the "21st Century Sparks" collection on BMG, a series of reissues of Spark's studio albums from 2000's Balls to 2009's The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, Exotic Creatures was remastered on LP, CD, and digital. The CD and digital releases have five bonus tracks, including "Brenda Is Always in the Way" and "Islington N1".[14]
The album entered the UK Independent Albums Chart at no. 10[15] and the UK Vinyl Albums Chart at no. 37.[16]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Ron Mael and Russell Mael.
Exotic Creatures of the Deep standard track listing[17]
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Intro"
1:02
2.
"Good Morning"
3:53
3.
"Strange Animal"
5:45
4.
"I Can't Believe That You Would Fall for All the Crap in This Song"
3:54
5.
"Let the Monkey Drive"
4:09
6.
"Intro Reprise"
0:24
7.
"I've Never Been High"
4:31
8.
"(She Got Me) Pregnant"
4:13
9.
"Lighten Up, Morrissey"
4:14
10.
"This Is the Renaissance"
3:45
11.
"The Director Never Yelled 'Cut'"
3:54
12.
"Photoshop"
4:01
13.
"Likeable"
6:13
Total length:
49:58
Japanese edition bonus track
No.
Title
Length
14.
"Brenda Is Always in the Way" (B-side of 7" single "Lighten Up, Morrissey")
For the 21-night "Sparks Spectacular" from May 16 through June 11, 2008 in London, Sparks played each of their albums in chronological order during the first twenty nights at the Carling Islington Academy, culminating in the première of their new album for the twenty-first concert on June 13, 2008 at Shepherd's Bush Empire.[18] Each night they performed an album in its entirety with an encore of a rare track, many of which had never been performed live before. The band asked fans to visit their website and vote for the track that they'd most like to hear the band perform during the second half of the 21st concert following the première of Exotic Creatures of the Deep, though Russell Mael admitted that he and Ron would probably influence the poll a little.
Fans who bought a "Golden Ticket" for entry into all 21 gigs also received a poster signed by the band and a CD single entitled Islington N1, a reference to the postal address of the venue for the first 20 gigs.
