Just for a Day
Studio album by
Slowdive
Released2 September 1991 (1991-09-02)
StudioCourtyard (Abingdon)
Genre
Length43:07
LabelCreation
Producer
Slowdive chronology
Holding Our Breath
(1991)		 Just for a Day
(1991)		 Blue Day
(1992)
Slowdive studio album chronology
Just for a Day
(1991)		 Souvlaki
(1993)
Singles from Just for a Day
  1. "Catch the Breeze"
    Released: 3 June 1991

Just for a Day is the debut studio album by English rock band Slowdive. It was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records.

Recording

Just for a Day was recorded at Courtyard Studios, formerly known as Georgetown Studios, in Abingdon in the Thames Valley.[2]

Release

Just for a Day was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records.[3] It peaked at number 32 on the UK Albums Chart.[4] Prior to the album's release, the EP Holding Our Breath, which featured the Just for a Day song "Catch the Breeze" as its lead track,[5] was issued on CD and 12" vinyl on 3 June 1991, along with its 7" vinyl equivalent, the "Catch the Breeze" single.[6][7] In the United States, Just for a Day was released by SBK Records in 1992.[8]

On 14 November 2005,[9] a remastered edition of Just for a Day was issued by the Sanctuary Records subsidiary label Castle Music, supplemented by an extra disc containing tracks from the band's first three EPs: Slowdive, Morningrise and Holding Our Breath.[10][11] Another remastered edition featuring the same bonus material was released by Cherry Red Records on 16 August 2010.[12]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]
Chicago Tribune[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB[15]
NME8/10[16]
Pitchfork7.0/10[17]
Record Collector[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
Select3/5[20]
Stylus MagazineA−[21]

The initial reception to Just for a Day from the British music press was lukewarm,[22] in contrast to the enthusiasm with which Slowdive's earlier releases had been met.[23] Jon Ridge, reviewing Just for a Day for Lime Lizard magazine, thought that the album was premature, describing it as "more a continuation, or aqueous celebration rather, than an advancement" compared to the band's "rather spiffing" previous EPs.[24] Dan Maier of Select found Slowdive "too direct" in their musical approach, writing that they "just sing slowly, play fuzzy, and end up sounding like the Cocteau Twins with ballast."[20] Melody Maker was especially disparaging, with critic Paul Lester panning Just for a Day as a "major fucking letdown".[25] Conversely, Simon Williams of NME championed the record, calling it "frequently exceptional" and "a fine, fragrant affair".[16]

In a retrospective essay, Trouser Press deemed the material on Just for a Day inconsistent, but concluded that "the songs that are solid are breathtaking, and those that aren't are at least hypnotic and slowly sensuous."[26] Reappraising the album in 2005 for Pitchfork, Nitsuh Abebe said that "if anything in Slowdive's catalogue will seem dated, it's the overgroomed production on these songs", while nonetheless noting a "terrifically oceanic" quality to Just for a Day as a whole.[17] In his review of the record for AllMusic, Abebe cited the songs "Celia's Dream" and "Erik's Song" in particular as being indicative of what he believed was the more fully realized sound of Slowdive's next album, Souvlaki (1993).[13]

Critic Ned Raggett ranked Just for a Day at number 17 on his decade-end list of the best albums of the 1990s for Freaky Trigger.[27] In 2016, Pitchfork listed it as the seventh best shoegaze album of all time.[28]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Halstead, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Spanish Air"6:00
2."Celia's Dream"4:06
3."Catch the Breeze"4:16
4."Ballad of Sister Sue"4:31
5."Erik's Song"4:24
6."Waves"5:50
7."Brighter"3:47
8."The Sadman"4:43
9."Primal"5:30
Total length:43:07
2005 reissue bonus disc
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Slowdive" 5:13
2."Avalyn I" 4:50
3."Avalyn II" 8:08
4."Morningrise" 4:18
5."She Calls" 5:35
6."Losing Today"
4:59
7."Golden Hair"
4:02
8."Shine"
5:21
9."Albatross" 5:15
10."Catch the Breeze" (Peel session, 21/4/91) 4:07
11."Shine" (Peel session, 21/4/91)
5:17
12."Golden Hair" (Peel session, 21/4/91)
  • Barrett
  • Joyce
3:45
Total length:60:50

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[2]

Slowdive

Production

Design

  • Califram – photography

Charts

Chart (1991) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[4] 32
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[30] 1

References

  1. ↑ Catling, Simon Jay (6 January 2014). "Lucid Dreaming: Patterns' hallucinatory pop". The Skinny. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 Just for a Day (liner notes). Slowdive. Creation Records. 1991. cre cd 094.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ↑ "Slowdive" (Press release). Appearing. 1991. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. 1 2 "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  5. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Holding Our Breath – Slowdive". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  6. ↑ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 1 June 1991. p. 21. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Holding Our Breath (press advertisement). Creation Records. 1991. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ↑ "Album Releases" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 104, no. 3. 18 January 1992. p. 50. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Solarski, Matthew (November 2005). "Slowdive to Receive Reissue Treatment". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 23 November 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Abebe, Nitsuh. "Just for a Day [Sanctuary 2CD] – Slowdive". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Just for a Day (liner notes). Slowdive. Castle Music. 2005. CMEDD 1244.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ↑ "Slowdive". Cherry Red Records. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  13. 1 2 Abebe, Nitsuh. "Just for a Day – Slowdive". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  14. ↑ Caro, Mark (20 February 1992). "Slowdive: Just for a Day (Creation/SBK)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  15. ↑ DiMartino, Dave (21 February 1992). "Just for a Day". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  16. 1 2 Williams, Simon (24 August 1991). "Slowdive: Just for a Day". NME. p. 33.
  17. 1 2 Abebe, Nitsuh (28 November 2005). "Slowdive: Just for a Day / Souvlaki / Pygmalion". Pitchfork. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  18. ↑ "Slowdive: Just for a Day / Souvlaki / Pygmalion". Record Collector. p. 86. Just for a Day allows for an inspection of the group's organic growth...
  19. ↑ Robbins, Ira (5 March 1992). "Slowdive: Just For A Day". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  20. 1 2 Maier, Dan (October 1991). "Slowdive: Just for a Day". Select. No. 16. p. 71.
  21. ↑ Parrish, Peter (17 January 2006). "Slowdive – Just For A Day – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  22. ↑ Watson, Ian (2005). "Slowdive: Souvlaki". Souvlaki (liner notes). Slowdive. Castle Music. CMEDD 1245. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  23. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "Slowdive". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  24. ↑ Ridge, Jon (October 1991). "Slowdive: Just for a Day". Lime Lizard. p. 52.
  25. ↑ Lester, Paul (31 August 1991). "Dive Bomb". Melody Maker. p. 32.
  26. ↑ Rabid, Jack; Neate, Wilson. "Slowdive". Trouser Press. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  27. ↑ Raggett, Ned. "The Top 136 Or So Albums Of The Nineties". Freaky Trigger. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  28. ↑ "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. 24 October 2016. p. 5. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Just for a Day (liner notes). Slowdive. Cherry Red Records. 2010. CDBRED 461.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  30. ↑ "Distribution: Indie Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 21 September 1991. p. 20. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
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