Olympian (album)

Olympian is the 1995 debut album by British rock band Gene, released on 20 March 1995 by Costermonger Records.

It is frequently recognized as one of the crowning achievements of Britpop.

The album sound is noted for being influenced by The Smiths, The Jam & The Small Faces. Aesthetically, the album cover is reminiscent of The Smiths' sleeves.

The album reached number 8 in the UK albums chart, selling 70,000 copies and gaining a silver disc.

The image used for the cover is a still from Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal.

Reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said of the album: "While Gene manages to carve out an identity indebted to the Smiths but not dominated by them, they also fail to produce an album of consistently compelling material – considering that it's a debut album, that's not a fatal flaw. And Gene's best material shows they are capable of transcending their influences."

Personnel

 * Gene
 * Martin Rossiter - Vocals, Keyboards
 * Steve Mason - Guitar
 * Kevin Miles - Bass
 * Matt James - Drums

Electra Strings:
 * Additional musicians
 * Sian Bell - Cello
 * Jocelyn Pook - Viola
 * Jules Singleton - 2nd Violin
 * Sonia Slany - Lead Violin
 * Pete Thomas -	String Arrangements


 * Production
 * Phil Vinall -	Producer
 * Pete Hofmann - Engineer
 * Andy Vella - Design
 * Kevin Westenberg, Melanie Cox and Andrew Carruth - Photography