Angels with Dirty Faces is the third album of English musician Tricky, released in 1998. The title is taken from the film of the same name.
Contents
Music and lyrics
"Broken Homes" features English singer-songwriter PJ Harvey. "Carriage for Two" features the guitar playing of Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian. Various tracks features the guitars of Marc Ribot. "The Moment I Feared" is a cover of the song from the debut album The Great Adventures of Slick Rick by Slick Rick.
Critical reception
In a contemporary review for Entertainment Weekly, David Browne viewed Angels with Dirty Faces as Tricky's best album since his 1995 debut Maxinquaye. He described it as an "alluring sonic blur" that preserved his previous music's mesmeric sounds yet felt "more adventurous, rhythmically and musically, than its predecessors". Simon Price hailed it as Tricky's most cogent work since his debut album: "Simultaneously challenging and gorgeously formed, it's a brilliant mix of defiance and achievement." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau said it was a rock album with a live band on every song, no samples, and "grimy" productions that complemented Tricky's anti-social themes, making for a difficult but interesting listen:
"I don't like this century," Tricky mutters in the course of "Record Companies," and that sums up his worldview as eloquently as words ever will. It's the sounds that signify, and postindustrially premillennial though Tricky's may be, they're also original, strong, and to the point. He distinguishes himself from the run of noise sculptors just by remaining conducive to recognizable life. He's a hater not a fighter, and the devil is in his details. So give that man a set of horns--he's earned them.
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine was less enthusiastic about the record. He wrote that while Tricky had expanded his signature dub-inspired trip hop sound with rhythmic elements from hardcore hip hop and jungle music, Angels with Dirty Faces was "slightly different but essentially the same" as his previous album Pre-Millennium Tension.
As of September 2003, it has sold 113,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Personnel
Design, Photography By [manipulation] – AP;D
Drums – Perry Melius (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 9 to 11)
Engineer – Ethan Allen (tracks: 2, 6, 8, 10 to 12)
Engineer [Additional Mixing] – Jack Hersca (tracks: 2 to 4, 6 to 12)
Assistant engineer – Chipman Verspyck (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 9 to 12), Mark Fraunfelder (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 8 to 10), Serge Tsai
Guitar – Scott Ian (tracks: 1, 5, 9 to 12)
Keyboards, Producer, Photography By [Palaroid], Illustration – Tricky
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Mixed By – Susan Rogers (tracks: 2, 3, 5 to 12), Tricky (tracks: 2 to 12)
Cover Photography – Barron Claiborne
Vocals – Martina Topley-Bird (tracks: 3, 5, 6, 8 to 10), Tricky (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 12)
Written-By – Tricky (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 6, 8 to 12) Mary McReary (track 3) Hank Shocklee/ Ricky Walters/Eric Sadler (track 7)
Pete Briquette - bass
Gareth Bowen - keyboards
Jack Hersca - bass, guitar
Jane Scarpantoni - cello
Gene Lake, Calvin Weston - drums