Shhh (Chumbawamba album)

Shhh is the fifth studio album by British band Chumbawamba. It was originally written and recorded as Jesus H. Christ, an album that relied heavily on samples. The band was unable to procure rights to a number of the songs they sampled, however, and the album was largely re-worked to defend artistic intent and criticize censorship. The album sleeve artwork itself incorporated various rejection letters received by the band denying the rights to the Christ samples. Shhh is considered by many to be a "genre landmark."

The album was re-released with Slap! in the compilation Shhhlap!, released by MUTT Records on July 15, 2003.

Track listing
All songs written and produced by Chumbawamba, except where noted.

Other Shhh-era tracks

 * "I Never Gave Up" – A-side. A remake of the track from Slap!, available in two versions – the Rondo Mix and the Cass Mix.  The Cass Mix includes a clip of Spinal Tap's Viv Savage saying his motto, "Have a good time, all the time."  This would later reappear in the lyrics of "Look! No Strings!".
 * "Laughing" – B-side to above. Essentially a variation on "I Never Gave Up", this was re-recorded with a new chorus to become the title track of Shhh.
 * "Behave" – A-side. Similar to the album version, albeit with a full set of new lyrics.  The single included three mixes – an original version, the Brittle Mix, and a hidden version containing only voice and percussion.
 * "Misbehave" – B-side to above, no relation to its similarly titled counterpart. Both an original version and the Brittle Mix were included on the single.
 * "Harry's Ambient Mantra" – Not quite a Shhh-era track; actually recorded in the transition period between Shhh and Anarchy. This would have been the B-side to "Hat Trick for Harry," an unreleased single track whose ending section appeared as "Blackpool Rock" on Anarchy.  However, this track bore no relation to the A-side, being a lengthy ambient remix of "Happiness Is Just a Chant Away."  While never officially released in full, a small portion appeared as a hidden track on the Uneasy Listening compilation.

Personnel

 * Lou Watts - vocals, keyboard
 * Alice Nutter - vocals, habit, rabbit
 * Danbert Nobacon - vocals, elastic band, foam
 * Mavis Dillon - bass guitar, vocals, trumpet
 * Harry Hamer - drums, percussion, Octopus's Garden
 * Boff Whalley - guitar, vocals, refrigerator
 * Dunstan Bruce – vocals, percussion, hammering

with
 * Simon "Commonknowledge" Lanzon – keyboards, accordion, voice
 * MC Fusion – vocals
 * Neil Ferguson – guitar, keyboards, engineering
 * Geoff Slaphead – fiddle
 * Howard Storey – vocals