Sound of Vinyl

Skunk Anansie's debut album ran contrary to the grain. While everyone around them was celebrating the resolutely white- boy, hedonistic, traditional 1960s-based sounds of Britpop, these four Londoners released a multi-racial, politically- charged album that owed as much to the funk visions of Sly & The Family Stone and Living Colour as it did to the metal mightiness of prime Black Sabbath. On songs such as "Intellectualise My Blackness" and "100 Ways To Be A Good Girl", vocalist Skin directly confronted people's prejudices and threw them straight back in their faces. Elsewhere, tracks like "Selling Jesus" and "I Can Dream" showcase her voice pretty much at the height of its power... indeed, this whole album captures the band in top form, with hardly a weak track present The album was recorded with the band's original drummer, Robbie France, but he was not featured on the cover. The album, featuring a mix of controversial protest songs (mainly about politics and religion), peaked at #8 in the UK Albums Chart.