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Walking Wounded
Walking Wounded
Walking Wounded
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Walking Wounded
Studio album by
Everything but the Girl
Released6 May 1996 (1996-05-06)
Recorded1995
Studio
  • Little Joey's, London
  • Milo, London
  • Strongroom, London
Genre
Length52:18
Label
Producer
Everything but the Girl chronology
Amplified Heart
(1994) 		Walking Wounded
(1996) 		Temperamental
(1999)
Singles from Walking Wounded
  1. "Walking Wounded"
    Released: 8 April 1996
  2. "Wrong"
    Released: 17 June 1996
  3. "Single"
    Released: 23 September 1996
  4. "Before Today"
    Released: 17 February 1997

Walking Wounded is the ninth studio album by English musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 6 May 1996 and issued by Virgin Records and Atlantic Records. The album saw the duo adopting a more electronica-based style, following the success of the remixed version of "Missing" from their previous album, Amplified Heart (1994).

Four tracks from the album were released as singles, including the drum and bass-influenced "Walking Wounded" and the house-influenced "Wrong", which became top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, as well as the downtempo track "Single", which set Tracey Thorn's emotionally direct vocal against breakbeats, organ and strings,[1] and "Before Today". The album received critical praise, voted as the 12th-best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[2]

Composition

[edit]

According to Pitchfork's Ruth Saxelby, Walking Wounded draws on downtempo, drum and bass, and trip hop music, "compressing the wide open space of those then-nascent sounds into a pop format".[3] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album is informed musically by trip hop and techno, albeit eschewing the "free-form song structures" traditionally associated with those genres.[4] Treble writer Adam Blyweiss viewed it as a refinement of Everything but the Girl's earlier sophisti-pop sound that "replaced many of the duo's acoustics with reasonable digital facsimiles".[5]

Walking Wounded marked a change in the duo's approach to writing songs. Ben Watt produced various instrumental tracks, while Tracey Thorn wrote lyrics after listening to the completed tracks.[6] In producing the tracks, Watt utilised samples from "unusual" sources;[6] the song "Single", for instance, sampled Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and Stan Tracey's "Starless and Bible Black".[7] Thorn later recalled: "We really believed in ourselves and that comes across in the sound. We'd finally got to the point where we realised what our strength was: the softness and warmth of my voice against urban beats; the warm and cold, the soft and hard contrast. We got it perfect on this record; it was our pop triumph."[6]

Release

[edit]

Walking Wounded was released on 6 May 1996 by Virgin Records in Europe,[8] and on 21 May 1996 by Atlantic Records in the United States.[9] It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the duo's highest-charting album in the United Kingdom until 2023's Fuse,[10] and peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard 200.[11] Four singles were released from Walking Wounded: "Walking Wounded" on 8 April 1996,[12] "Wrong" on 17 June 1996,[13] "Single" on 23 September 1996,[14] and "Before Today" on 17 February 1997.[15] By February 1997, the album had sold 750,000 copies worldwide, according to Billboard.[16] It went on to sell over 1,300,000 copies worldwide.[17]

Walking Wounded was reissued by Edsel Records as a two-disc deluxe set on 4 September 2015.[18] On 8 November 2019, the album was re-released on vinyl by Buzzin' Fly Records.[19]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[4]
Chicago TribuneStarStarStarHalf star[20]
Entertainment WeeklyA[21]
The GuardianStarStarStarStar[22]
MojoStarStarStarStar[23]
NME6/10[24]
Pitchfork6.6/10 (1996)[25]
9.0/10 (2019)[3]
QStarStarStarStar[26]
Rolling StoneStarStarStarStar[27]
Spin9/10[28]

Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Jim Farber hailed the fusion of electronic and pop styles on Walking Wounded as "groundbreaking" and "at once abstract and immediate, untamed and accessible", while also crediting the "psychological resonance" of the lyrics for "putting EBTG way above the campiness of most neo-lounge acts."[21] Johnny Huston of Spin found that the album's songs are rooted in a "messy intimacy" uncommon in pop music, and that Everything but the Girl's balancing of "tradition and experimentation" and "softness and bite" makes Walking Wounded "more interesting" than the purely instrumental work of the duo's collaborators.[28] In The Guardian, Sheryl Garratt said that the duo had "intelligently" incorporated light drum and bass elements into their sound on an album she called "more a gentle updating" than "a reinvention".[22] Andy Crysell was more ambivalent in NME, expressing disappointment that the record did not constitute an "all-out conversion" to electronic music, although finding its songs "well-crafted and no doubt spectacularly meaningful".[24]

In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that Everything but the Girl, being "at its core ... a pop group", had in a sense "dilute[d]" trip hop and techno by adhering to pop song structures on Walking Wounded, yet they "found a way around that by seamlessly incorporating the rhythms into carefully crafted songs."[4] For Pitchfork, Ruth Saxelby discussed Walking Wounded in context with the rest of the group's oeuvre:

Each Everything but the Girl album has its own style and story, but the one on which Thorn and Watt's individual gifts shine brightest is the one on which they stripped everything back. They shared their knottiest feelings, created dialogue with skeletal new sounds, and made the record in a much more insular way than they ever had previously. Its timely sonics and emotionally wrought themes spoke as much to teenagers, myself included, as it did the band's adult contemporaries (Bristol drum 'n' bass head Roni Size gave it thumbs up).[3]

Walking Wounded was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[29]

Track listing

[edit]
Walking Wounded track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Before Today"Ben WattWatt4:18
2."Wrong"Tracey ThornWatt4:36
3."Single"ThornWatt4:38
4."The Heart Remains a Child"ThornThorn3:50
5."Walking Wounded"Watt
6:05
6."Flipside"WattWatt4:33
7."Big Deal"ThornWatt4:29
8."Mirrorball"ThornWatt3:27
9."Good Cop Bad Cop"ThornWatt4:54
10."Wrong" (Todd Terry remix)ThornWatt4:45
11."Walking Wounded" (Omni Trio remix)Watt
  • Wales
  • Coxon
6:43
Total length:52:18
Deluxe edition disc 1 track listing
No.TitleLength
12."Corcovado"3:54
13."Before Today" (live)6:30
14."Single" (live)4:51
15."Wrong" (live)7:00
Total length:74:33
Deluxe edition disc 2 track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Mirrorball" (demo)3:31
2."Flipside" (demo)3:56
3."Above the Law" (demo)4:24
4."Speeding Car Side On" (instrumental demo)4:02
5."Walking Wounded" (Dave Wallace remix)8:19
6."Wrong" (Mood II Swing dub)8:54
7."Wrong" (Deep Dish remix)4:03
8."Single" (Photek remix)5:18
9."Single" (Brad Wood Memphis remix)4:42
10."Before Today" (Nellee Hooper remix)5:42
11."Before Today" (Adam F remix)4:14
12."Before Today" (Chicane remix)6:25
13."Before Today" (Dillinja remix)4:57
14."Mirrorball" (DJ Jazzy Jeff Sole Full remix)4:28
15."Corcovado" (Knee Deep Classic Club Mix Ben Watt vocal re-edit)6:19
Total length:79:14

Personnel

[edit]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[7]

Everything but the Girl

  • Tracey Thorn – vocals
  • Ben Watt – acoustic guitar, vocals, abstract sounds, beats, synthesizer, production, programming, recording

Production

  • Andy Bradfield – mixing
  • Mads Bjerke – engineering on "Walking Wounded"
  • Spring Heel Jack – mixing, production, and programming on "Walking Wounded"
  • Howie B – co-production, programming, and scratching on "Flipside"
  • Johnny Rockstar – additional programming on "Flipside"
  • Jeremy Shaw – additional programming on "Flipside"
  • Matthius H. – engineering on "Wrong" (Todd Terry remix)
  • Todd Terry – additional production and remixing on "Wrong" (Todd Terry remix)
  • Rob Haigh – engineering, additional production, and remixing on "Walking Wounded" (Omni Trio remix)

Design

  • Everything but the Girl – design
  • Jim Friedman – inner sleeve photography
  • Form – design
  • Marcelo Krasilcic – cover photography

Charts

[edit]

Weekly charts

[edit]
Weekly chart performance for Walking Wounded
Chart (1996–1997) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[30] 11
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[31] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[32] 43
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[33] 19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[34] 52
French Albums (SNEP)[35] 48
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 59
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[37] 18
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[38] 40
Scottish Albums (OCC)[39] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[40] 6
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[41] 33
UK Albums (OCC)[42] 4
US Billboard 200[11] 37
Chart (2019) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[43] 33

Year-end charts

[edit]
1996 year-end chart performance for Walking Wounded
Chart (1996) Position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[44] 92

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for Walking Wounded
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[45] Gold 35,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[46] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Platinum 300,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Walking Wounded

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Walking Wounded is the ninth studio album by the English musical duo , consisting of and . Released on 6 May 1996 by in the and on 21 May 1996 by in the United States, the album represents a pivotal evolution in the duo's sound from their earlier jazz- and pop-influenced work to a fusion of , trip-hop, and . Produced primarily by Watt in New York and during 1995, Walking Wounded explores introspective themes of love, memory, trauma, and self-identity, drawing from personal experiences including Watt's near-fatal autoimmune illness in 1992 that sidelined for several years. The album's stark sonic architecture emphasizes space and emotional depth, with Thorn's vulnerable vocals layered over intricate electronic beats and samples from artists like and Omni Trio. Key tracks include the lead single "Wrong," which peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and number 68 on the US , and the title track "Walking Wounded," which reached number six in the UK. Critically acclaimed for its innovative genre-blending and emotional resonance, Walking Wounded received positive reviews upon release, with outlets praising its maturity and production quality as a sophisticated follow-up to the global success of their 1994 remix of "Missing" from the previous album . Commercially, it achieved their highest chart positions at the time, debuting and peaking at number four on the where it spent 32 weeks (a position later surpassed by 2023's Fuse), and reaching number 37 on the 200. The album has sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide, marking it as Everything but the Girl's best-selling record and solidifying their transition into the electronic music landscape.

Background and recording

Development

The success of the remix of "Missing" in 1994-1995 marked a pivotal moment for , as it peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and exposed the duo to the potential of . This breakthrough, which lingered on the chart for over seven months, encouraged and to explore club-oriented sounds beyond their earlier acoustic and jazz-influenced style. The remix's fusion of Thorn's emotive vocals with rhythms highlighted untapped rhythmic possibilities in their songwriting, inspiring a deliberate shift toward . In 1995, Thorn and Watt made the conscious decision to abandon traditional in favor of , , and elements, aiming to reinvent their sound from the ground up. This pivot reflected a psychological transformation, where the duo sought to "junk the past and go back to first principles," embracing self-production to integrate electronic beats with their introspective lyrics. The choice was driven by their growing immersion in London's club scene and the remix's validation that could amplify their emotional depth without diluting it. The initial songwriting for Walking Wounded took place over one summer in the basement of the duo's home studio, where they crafted demos using rudimentary equipment including an sampler, a computer, a , a guitar, and an eight-track tape machine. This intimate setup allowed Thorn and Watt to experiment freely with looping samples and programming rhythms, laying the foundation for the album's hybrid pop-electronica structure before any external involvement. Ben Watt's recovery from Churg-Strauss syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder diagnosed in 1992 that nearly proved fatal, profoundly influenced the album's lyrical themes of resilience and survival. The ordeal, which sidelined the duo for years, instilled a sense of defiance and renewal in their writing, with motifs of enduring hardship amid personal and relational turmoil emerging as central to tracks like the title song. This personal narrative of rebounding from vulnerability underscored the album's conceptual core, transforming past adversity into a source of artistic momentum.

Production

Ben Watt self-produced Walking Wounded primarily in the basement of the duo's north London home studio during 1995, utilizing modest equipment that included an sampler, a computer for sequencing, and a . This setup allowed Watt to experiment with electronic elements, building the album's core tracks over several months to capture a shift toward dance-oriented sounds inspired by the success of the "Missing" remix. Guest collaborators enhanced specific tracks, with Howie B contributing co-production, programming, and scratching to create the groove for "Flipside." John Coxon of Spring Heel Jack, a drum'n'bass duo, was brought in to handle production, mixing, and programming on "Walking Wounded," integrating breakbeats and samples drawn from hip-hop and influences. Overdubs for vocals and additional elements were recorded in professional facilities, followed by mixing at studios including The Townhouse, Olympic, Air, The Strongroom, and Axis in . Key techniques shaped the album's club-ready texture, such as layering synthesizers over chopped breakbeats sourced from hip-hop and early drum'n'bass records, while Tracey Thorn's vocals were processed to blend seamlessly into expansive electronic spaces. These methods prioritized rhythmic drive and atmospheric depth, drawing from artists like Alex Reece and to fuse pop sensibilities with underground electronic production.

Musical style

Influences

The album Walking Wounded drew heavily from the 1990s UK electronic scene, incorporating elements of trip-hop pioneered by Massive Attack, whose slow, atmospheric style influenced the duo's downtempo tracks following Tracey Thorn's vocal contribution to Massive Attack's 1994 album Protection. Ben Watt's production also reflected the burgeoning drum and bass movement, inspired by artists like Roni Size, evident in the high-pitched breakbeats and sub-bass propulsion that provided a "spectral drive" underpinning Thorn's vocals. Additionally, the success of Todd Terry's 1995 house remix of "Missing," which reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and introduced club energy to the duo's sound, shaped the album's dancefloor-oriented direction, particularly in tracks featuring house piano riffs. This electronic pivot occurred amid the mid-1990s rave culture, where Watt immersed himself in London's underground, frequenting events like LTJ Bukem's Speed nights featuring DJs such as and Doc Scott, fostering a blend of high-energy breaks and introspective moods. , the album blurred indie and dance boundaries, marking Everything But the Girl's evolution from acoustic roots to electronic production, aligning with a broader trend of genre fusion in the wake of acts like Portishead. Specific nods to these influences appear in the title track's incorporation of rhythms, derived from drum and bass's rapid breakbeats, creating a tense, propulsive backdrop. Ambient elements throughout echo the era's experimental , contributing to the album's spacious, emotive textures.

Composition

Walking Wounded consists of 11 tracks that blend with elements of upbeat and 'n' bass, with an average duration of approximately 4 to 5 minutes per song, resulting in a total runtime of 52 minutes. The album's arrangements feature sparse verses that gradually build to denser choruses, incorporating breakbeats and filtered basslines to create rhythmic tension and release. Tracey Thorn's breathy, emotive vocals serve as the focal point, delivering lines with a haunting intimacy that contrasts the underlying electronic pulses. Lyrically, the album explores themes of emotional , urban isolation, and personal recovery, often using metaphors like the "walking wounded" to depict individuals navigating heartbreak and loss amid everyday city life. These narratives delve into the fractures of relationships caused by time and trauma, emphasizing longing, regret, and the struggle to reclaim one's sense of self. The introspective tone reflects a between isolation and , with urban imagery—such as faces on buses—underscoring a sense of collective yet solitary emotional strife. A key innovation in the album's composition is the hybrid integration of elements reminiscent of the duo's earlier work with synthetic percussion and looped samples, fostering a sonic fragility that mirrors the lyrical "wounded" state. This blend of live acoustic melodies and electronic beats produces a textured fragility, where moments of stillness cut through frenetic rhythms, enhancing the overall sense of emotional exposure. The result is a cohesive that elevates pop through experimental club influences, prioritizing atmospheric depth over overt density.

Release and promotion

Singles

The album Walking Wounded was promoted through three main singles released in 1996, each showcasing the duo's shift toward electronic and dance-oriented sounds to attract club audiences ahead of and following the album's May release. These singles were issued in multiple formats including CD, 12-inch vinyl, and cassette, often featuring exclusive remixes tailored for radio and club play. The , "Walking Wounded," was released on April 8, 1996, and debuted at number six on the UK Singles Chart, marking Everything But the Girl's third top-10 hit there. It featured remixes, including the Spring Heel Jack Hard Vocal Mix and the Omni Trio Remix, which emphasized rhythms and atmospheric production to appeal to the emerging UK scene; formats included a with radio edits and club mixes, alongside 12-inch vinyl pressings. "Wrong," released on June 17, 1996, followed as the second single and peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart. This house-influenced track was supported by prominent es such as the and the Deep Dish , with the latter extending to over 12 minutes for DJ sets; available on maxi-single and double 12-inch promo vinyl, it included instrumental versions like "Everything But the Drums" but no additional B-sides beyond mix variations. The third single, "Single," arrived on September 23, 1996, reaching number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. As a house track, it incorporated remixes like the Remix for flair and the Memphis Remix for a soulful edge; formats comprised CD singles and 12-inch vinyl, with track listings focusing on album versions and dub mixes rather than dedicated B-sides. The accompanying was directed by Edmundo, highlighting urban nightlife themes.

Marketing

Virgin Records oversaw the UK and European release of Walking Wounded on May 6, 1996, while Atlantic Records handled the US market, with campaigns highlighting the duo's evolution toward electronic and dance music following the success of their 1994 single "Missing." The duo conducted extensive interviews with music publications such as NME and Melody Maker, where Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt discussed the deliberate genre shift from their earlier acoustic work to club-friendly electronica, positioning Walking Wounded as a bold reinvention. The album's packaging was designed by the creative agency Form in collaboration with Everything But The Girl, featuring cover photography by Marcelo Krasilcic that depicted abstract, evocative images of figures with subtle wounds and urban grit, symbolizing the lyrical themes of emotional vulnerability and resilience. A limited edition digipak version included a bonus remix CD with alternate mixes of key tracks, enhancing collector appeal and tying into the album's remixing ethos. For international markets, the rollout was delayed until May 21, 1996, accompanied by targeted radio promotion on alternative and adult contemporary stations to broaden appeal beyond the dance scene, including specialized campaigns in with localized point-of-sale materials and single releases. Single videos, such as for the title track, supported the overall push by airing on music channels worldwide.

Commercial performance

Charts

Walking Wounded achieved significant commercial success upon release, debuting strongly in several international markets due to the duo's growing popularity following the global hit "Missing" from their prior album. In the , the album entered the Official Albums Chart at number 4 on 18 May 1996 and maintained a presence for a total of 32 weeks, reflecting sustained interest driven by the momentum from preceding singles. Internationally, the album performed well across various territories, peaking within the top 40 in the and top 20 in , while charting moderately in . The following table summarizes the weekly peak positions and durations on major album charts:
CountryChartPeak PositionWeeks on Chart
Official Albums Chart432
378
ARIA Albums Chart1120
Scottish Albums Chart1822
5911
On the 1996 UK year-end chart, Walking Wounded ranked at number 46, benefiting from consistent sales throughout the year bolstered by the album's and promotional singles.

Certifications

Walking Wounded achieved notable commercial certifications in several markets, reflecting its strong sales performance following its 1996 release. In the , the (BPI) certified the album for shipments exceeding 300,000 units. This milestone underscored the album's popularity in its home market, where it benefited from the success of lead singles like "Missing" from the prior album, providing context to its chart trajectory. In the United States, the certified it Gold for 500,000 units shipped. In , the Australian Recording Industry Association () certified it Gold in 1996 for 35,000 units shipped. In , certified it Platinum for 15,000 units. The album has sold over 1.3 million copies worldwide. The 2019 vinyl reissue, mastered at , reignited interest.

Critical reception

Initial reviews

Upon its release in 1996, Walking Wounded received positive coverage from music press, praising the duo's electronic reinvention as a bold evolution from their earlier acoustic sound. In the , reception was positive, with Spin including the album in its of the 20 best of 1996 for its accessibility, noting how the tracks invited listeners into the electronic genre without alienating their existing fanbase. Common themes in the initial responses included admiration for Everything But the Girl's successful genre shift to drum 'n' bass and influences, though some purists expressed for the duo's acoustic roots and felt the electronic elements occasionally overshadowed the intimacy of their songwriting. Aggregators of period reviews indicate broad appreciation, equivalent to a score of 82/100.

Retrospective assessments

In the 2010s, retrospective assessments highlighted Walking Wounded's innovative fusion of electronic genres, positioning it as a forward-thinking work in pop-electronica. Pitchfork's 2019 review awarded the album a 9.0 out of 10, lauding its compression of nascent , drum 'n' bass, and trip-hop elements into accessible pop structures, which allowed Tracey Thorn's vocals to navigate complex sonic landscapes with emotional depth. praised the album for putting an acceptable face on trip-hop, , and , opening up experimental to a broader audience while maintaining the duo's emotional core. Marking the album's 25th anniversary in 2021, publications praised its pivotal role in bridging indie introspection with energy. Albumism's described Walking Wounded as an exquisite merger of cerebral , emotional vulnerability, and physical groove, sounding as sublime and timeless as ever in its blend of genres. Double J's feature echoed this, noting how the album fused trip-hop, drum 'n' bass, and to reinvent Everything But The Girl's sound, erasing earlier perceptions of them as a jazz-pop act and establishing a late-career breakthrough that appealed across audiences. , reflecting on the duo's evolution in a 2019 anniversary piece on their follow-up Temperamental, credited Walking Wounded with faithfully advancing the "" ethos through melodic instincts and electronic innovation. By the , a consensus has emerged viewing Walking Wounded as a landmark in Everything But The Girl's discography, with its moody electronic template directly informing their 2023 comeback album Fuse, which revived similar introspective dance explorations after a 24-year hiatus.

Track listing and personnel

Track listing

The standard edition of Walking Wounded, released in 1996 by Virgin Records (international) and Atlantic Records (US), features 11 tracks with a total runtime of 52:18.
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1Before TodayBen WattBen Watt4:18
2WrongTracey Thorn (lyrics), Ben Watt (music)Ben Watt4:36
3SingleTracey Thorn (lyrics), Ben Watt (music)Ben Watt4:38
4The Heart Remains a ChildTracey ThornBen Watt3:50
5Walking WoundedBen Watt (lyrics and vocal melody), Ashley Wales, John Coxon (music)Spring Heel Jack6:05
6FlipsideBen WattBen Watt, Howie B.4:33
7Big DealTracey Thorn (lyrics), Ben Watt (music)Ben Watt4:29
8MirrorballTracey Thorn (lyrics), Ben Watt (music)Ben Watt3:27
9Good Cop Bad CopTracey Thorn (lyrics), Ben Watt (music)Ben Watt4:54
10Wrong (Todd Terry Remix)Tracey Thorn (lyrics), Ben Watt (music)Todd Terry (remix and additional production)4:45
11Walking Wounded (Omni Trio Remix)Ben Watt (lyrics and vocal melody), Ashley Wales, John Coxon (music)Omni Trio (remix and additional production)6:43
The track listing is the same for both international and US editions. "Single" includes cleared samples in the drum breaks from Tim Buckley's "" (lyrics by Larry Beckett) and Stan Tracey's "".

Personnel

The album Walking Wounded was primarily the work of Everything But the Girl's core duo, and . Thorn delivered lead and backing vocals throughout, and also played guitar on select tracks such as "Before Today" and "Wrong". Watt handled programming, keyboards, , and engineering across multiple tracks, in addition to serving as the primary producer and co-mixer. Guest contributors included the electronic production duo Spring Heel Jack (Ashley Wales and John Coxon), who provided synths, bass, drum programming, production, recording, and mixing on the title track "Walking Wounded". contributed bass, drum programming, scratches, co-production, and additional programming on "Flipside". Programming assistants Jeremy Shaw and Johnny Rockstar supported work on "Flipside". Engineer Mads Bjerke handled duties on "Walking Wounded". The production team was completed by co-mixing from emerging engineer Andy Bradfield alongside Watt at The Townhouse Studios in London. Mastering was performed by Tim Young at Metropolis Studios. Design and visual elements were overseen by the agency Form, with original artwork credited to Everything But the Girl themselves; cover photography was by Marcelo Krasilcic, taken in New York City in December 1995.

Legacy

Reissues

The original 1996 edition of Walking Wounded was released in multiple formats, including CD, cassette, and double vinyl LP, distributed by in the UK and in the US. In 2001, a limited edition vinyl appeared on 180-gram pressing via Simply Vinyl in , marking an early effort to revive the album on LP after the original pressing sold out. A Japanese CD edition followed in 2003 through Virgin, featuring the standard tracklist and typical regional packaging with an obi strip, though no additional bonus content was included. The received a significant digital update in 2015 with a deluxe edition , available on platforms like and , incorporating high-resolution audio and bonus remixes such as the and Omni Trio versions of key tracks, expanding the original 11 songs to 30 across two discs in physical formats. In 2019, Buzzin' Fly Records issued a widely available official vinyl pressing, the first since the 2001 limited edition reissue, a 180-gram black LP half-speed mastered at by Miles Showell under Ben Watt's supervision to preserve the original mix fidelity; released on November 8, it included a printed insert with and credits but no bonus tracks. No major physical reissues occurred for the 2021 25th anniversary, but the 2015 remastered version continued to dominate streaming updates on services like and , often in high-resolution formats to mark the milestone.

Cultural impact

Walking Wounded played a pivotal role in pioneering the indie-electronica crossover, seamlessly blending sophisticated indie vocals with , , and elements to create a new sonic template for electronic pop. This fusion influenced subsequent artists who adopted similar approaches to layering emotive lyrics over breakbeat-driven rhythms, such as Murphy's experimental explorations, La Roux's electro-pop, and Burial's atmospheric soundscapes. The album's tracks have left a mark in contemporary music through sampling and remixing, extending its reach into later electronic productions. For instance, the song "Good Cop Bad Cop" was sampled in Chris†††'s 2023 track "Don't Look," demonstrating the enduring appeal of its rhythmic and melodic structures in modern indie and electronic contexts. Within Everything But The Girl's discography, Walking Wounded represented a transformative commercial and artistic peak that shaped their later output, particularly evident in the 2023 reunion album Fuse, which revisits the beat-driven electronic style introduced on this record. On a broader level, the album contributed to discussions on women in electronic music by foregrounding Tracey Thorn's role as a prominent vocalist and songwriter navigating male-dominated genres like drum and bass and . Thorn's lyrics, which often traced feminist and introspective themes, highlighted gender dynamics in a field traditionally centered on innovation, influencing feminist analyses of pop and electronic music production.

References

  1. https://albumism.com/features/tribute-celebrating-25-years-of-everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded
  2. https://www.last.fm/music/Everything%2BBut%2Bthe%2BGirl/Walking%2BWounded%2B%28Deluxe%2BEdition%29
  3. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded/
  4. https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/everything-but-the-girl-wrong/
  5. https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded/
  6. https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1996-06-22/
  7. https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/everything-but-the-girl-missing-0/
  8. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/doublej/music-reads/features/everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded/13376500
  9. https://www.rhino.com/article/the-one-after-the-big-one-everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded
  10. https://musicforstowaways.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/revisited-everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded/
  11. https://www.xsnoize.com/everything-but-the-girl-announce-new-vinyl-edition-of-walking-wounded/
  12. https://www.salon.com/1999/09/28/everything/
  13. https://chrysalis-records.com/release/527312-everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded-lp
  14. https://www.roughtrade.com/product/everything-but-the-girl/walking-wounded
  15. https://www.discogs.com/release/20804-Everything-But-The-Girl-Walking-Wounded
  16. https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/everything-but-the-girl-fuse/
  17. https://music.apple.com/us/album/walking-wounded/1629189555
  18. https://www.discogs.com/master/72930-Everything-But-The-Girl-Walking-Wounded
  19. https://opus.ing/posts/revisiting-everything-but-the-girls-walking-wounded
  20. https://www.discogs.com/master/72876-Everything-But-The-Girl-Wrong
  21. https://www.discogs.com/master/72610-Everything-But-The-Girl-Single
  22. https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded/
  23. https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/everything-but-the-girl-single/
  24. https://www.discogs.com/master/72865-Everything-But-The-Girl-Walking-Wounded
  25. https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Artist/everything-but-the-girl
  26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIJrFR7YSrU
  27. https://form.uk.com/2019/10/everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded-reissue/
  28. https://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Everything+But+The+Girl&titel=Walking+Wounded&cat=a
  29. https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-albums-chart/19961013/40/
  30. https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/titel-details-84477
  31. https://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=120860
  32. https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/301-spins-20-best-albums-of-1996/
  33. https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/23447-everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded.php
  34. https://www.allmusic.com/album/walking-wounded-mw0000647983
  35. https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/temperamental-everything-but-the-girl-anniversary-review/
  36. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/24/arts/music/everything-but-the-girl-fuse.html
  37. https://atwoodmagazine.com/ebgf-everything-but-the-girl-fuse-album-review/
  38. https://www.discogs.com/release/30705-Everything-But-The-Girl-Walking-Wounded
  39. https://www.discogs.com/release/7501457-Everything-But-The-Girl-Walking-Wounded
  40. https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/everything-but-the-girl-new-deluxe-editions-coming/
  41. https://www.discogs.com/release/14362963-Everything-But-The-Girl-Walking-Wounded
  42. https://albumism.com/news/welcome-back-wax-everything-but-the-girl-walking-wounded
  43. https://louderthanwar.com/everything-girl-walking-woundedtemperamental-reissues-review/
  44. https://www.whosampled.com/album/Everything-but-the-Girl/Walking-Wounded/
  45. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/20/everything-but-the-girl-fuse-review-still-staking-out-pops-frontier-after-40-years
  46. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/everything-but-the-girl-fuse-1234708286/
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