Life

Sessions began in September 1989 with Nick Garside; Wikipedia gives the studio as Out of the Blue and Even the Stars places it in Ancoats. Several songs came from earlier demos, among them "Sun Don't Shine" from 1987, "Inside My Head", and "Memories of You", from Boon's earlier project The Mill with Mani. "Move" was left off the vinyl to keep it to about 44 minutes for sound quality, and added to the CD and cassette. The album entered the UK chart at 2, held off the top by a Carpenters compilation according to Even the Stars, and was certified Gold by the BPI. Boon said of "Song for a Family" that however wealthy you are, we all have the same priorities, looking after family; Lambert described "Besides Me" as us doing The Wedding Present doing New Order; and Hingley said "Many Happy Returns" took its name from an episode of The Prisoner.

Singles were "Move" (UK 49), "This Is How It Feels" (14), "She Comes in the Fall" (27, a triple A-side with "Commercial Rain" and "Sackville"), and "Commercial Rain" in the US only. The tour ended with a sold-out G-Mex in Manchester on July 21, 1990, with about 8,000 fans. A 2013 extended reissue runs 76:03 and added a G-Mex DVD, and the band played the album in full on a 2013 tour with Holt. AllMusic rated it 4 of 5 and NME 8 of 10.