Walking Wounded

Walking Wounded is the ninth studio album by British musical duo Everything but the Girl. It was released on 6 May 1996 by Atlantic Records in the United States and Virgin Records in Europe. The album saw the group adopting a more electronic and dance-based style, following the success of the remixed version of "Missing" from their previous album, Amplified Heart.

Walking Wounded
Studio album by Everything but the Girl
Released	6 May 1996
Recorded	1995
Studio	Little Joey's (London, England) Milo Music (London) Strongroom (London)
Genre	Downtempo drum and bass sophisti-pop techno trip hop
Length	52:18
Label	Atlantic Virgin
Producer	Ben Watt Spring Heel Jack Howie B Todd Terry Rob Haigh
Everything but the Girl chronology
Amplified Heart (1994) Walking Wounded (1996) Temperamental (1999)
Singles from Walking Wounded
"Walking Wounded" Released: 1996 "Wrong" Released: 1996 "Single" Released: 1996 "Before Today" Released: 1997

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".

Composition

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".[2] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the album was informed musically by trip hop and techno, albeit eschewing the "free-form song structures" traditionally associated with those genres.[3] 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".[4]

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.[5] In producing the tracks, Watt utilized samples from sources such as Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and Stan Tracey's "Starless and Bible Black".[5] 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."[5]

Release

Walking Wounded is the duo's highest charting album to date, reaching number four in the United Kingdom and number 37 in the United States. By February 1997, it had sold 750,000 copies worldwide, according to Billboard.[6] The album went on to sell over 1,300,000 copies worldwide.[7]

The album's cover art is unusual in that it features the barcode on both the front and back of the album.

Walking Wounded was reissued by Edsel Records as a two-disc deluxe set on 4 September 2015.[8] On 8 November 2019, the album was re-released on vinyl by Buzzin' Fly Records.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Chicago Tribune	[10]
Entertainment Weekly	A[11]
The Guardian	[12]
Mojo	[13]
NME	6/10[14]
Pitchfork	9.0/10[2]
Rolling Stone	[15]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[16]
Spin	9/10[17]

Walking Wounded was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Before Today"	Ben Watt	Watt	4:18
2.	"Wrong"	Tracey Thorn	Watt	4:36
3.	"Single"	Thorn	Watt	4:38
4.	"The Heart Remains a Child"	Thorn	Thorn	3:50
5.	"Walking Wounded"	Watt	Ashley Wales John Coxon	6:05
6.	"Flipside"	Watt	Watt	4:33
7.	"Big Deal"	Thorn	Watt	4:29
8.	"Mirrorball"	Thorn	Watt	3:27
9.	"Good Cop Bad Cop"	Thorn	Watt	4:54
10.	"Wrong" (Todd Terry remix)	Thorn	Watt	4:45
11.	"Walking Wounded" (Omni Trio remix)	Watt	Wales Coxon	6:43

Personnel

Credits for Walking Wounded adapted from liner notes.[19]

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 Krasilicic – cover photography

Charts

Chart (1996–97)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20]	11
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21]	50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22]	43
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[23]	19
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24]	52
French Albums (SNEP)[25]	48
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26]	59
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[27]	18
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28]	40
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29]	18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[30]	6
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31]	33
UK Albums (OCC)[32]	4
US Billboard 200[33]	37

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[34]	Gold	35,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[35]	Gold	7,500^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36]	Platinum	300,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Press release for 'Single' , September 1996
2. Saxelby, Ruth (3 March 2019). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Walking Wounded – Everything But the Girl". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
4. Terich, Jeff; Blyweiss, Adam; Bossenger, A. T.; Prickett, Sam (24 April 2014). "10 Essential Sophisti-pop albums". Treble. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
5. "Small Town Girl". Record Collector. No. 479. May 2018. p. 64. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
6. "Who's Selling Where". Billboard. Vol. 109 no. 8. 22 February 1997. p. 46. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
7. "About". EBTG.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
8. "Deluxe Re-Issues of Walking Wounded and Temperamental out Sep 4". EBTG.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
9. "Everything But The Girl – Walking Wounded (Vinyl LP)". Unmade Road. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
10. Kot, Greg (30 May 1996). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded (Atlantic)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
11. Farber, Jim (24 May 1996). "Walking Wounded". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
12. Garratt, Sheryl (10 May 1996). "CD of the week: Everything But the Girl". The Guardian.
13. Segal, Victoria (February 2020). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Mojo. No. 315. p. 105.
14. "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". NME. 4 May 1996. p. 56.
15. Hardy, Ernest (13 June 1996). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
16. Sarig, Roni (2004). "Everything but the Girl". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 288–89. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
17. Huston, Johnny (July 1996). "Everything But the Girl: Walking Wounded". Spin. Vol. 12 no. 4. p. 88. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
18. Dimery, Robert, ed. (2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
19. Walking Wounded (liner notes). Everything but the Girl. Atlantic Records. 1996. 82912-2.CS1 maint: others (link)
20. "Australiancharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
21. "Austriancharts.at – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
22. "Ultratop.be – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
23. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2988". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
24. "Dutchcharts.nl – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
25. "Lescharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
26. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
27. "Charts.nz – Everything but the Girl – Temperamental". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
28. "Norwegiancharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
29. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
30. "Swedishcharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
31. "Swisscharts.com – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
32. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
33. "Everything but the Girl Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
34. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
35. "New Zealand album certifications – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
36. "British album certifications – Everything but the Girl – Walking Wounded". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 March 2018. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Walking Wounded in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.