Nonsuch

Partridge had written some 32 songs by 1991, but Virgin's musical director asked the band to write more, and recording was held up until he left the label. Gus Dudgeon produced, and Fairport Convention's Dave Mattacks played drums. After Dudgeon's mixes drew complaints from Partridge and Virgin, Nick Davis was hired to mix the final version. Thirteen of the seventeen songs are Partridge's and four are Moulding's, and Partridge wrote many of his on a keyboard, an instrument he was unfamiliar with.

It reached number 28 in the UK and 97 in the US, and was nominated for the 1993 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. Lead single The Disappointed reached 33 in the UK, and The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead topped the US Modern Rock Tracks. XTC left Virgin in the UK after a dispute over the cancelled third single, Wrapped in Grey. A remixed and expanded edition by Steven Wilson followed in 2013.