The Wildhearts Strike Back

The Wildhearts Strike Back is a live album by British rock band The Wildhearts. Recorded at various shows during a UK tour between April and May 2004, it was produced by Jase Edwards and released on 25 October 2004 by Gut Records. The album reached number 18 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart.

Background
The Wildhearts Strike Back is the band's first official live album released in the UK, following 1998's Anarchic Airwaves: The Wildhearts at the BBC, which is considered by the band not to be an official release, and 1999's Tokyo Suits Me, which was released in Japan only. It features recordings taken from a number of shows on a UK tour during April and May 2004, namely at Liquid Room in Edinburgh, Leeds Metropolitan University in Leeds, Rock City in Nottingham, the Carling Academy in Liverpool, The Leadmill in Sheffield, the Hammersmith Palais in London, the Roadmender in Northampton, and The Waterfront in Norwich. The double album was released on CD, enhanced CD and vinyl – the enhanced CD includes the music videos for "Vanilla Radio", "Top of the World", "Stormy in the North, Karma in the South", and "So into You".

Commercial
The Wildhearts Strike Back registered at number 18 on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart.

Critical
The Wildhearts Strike Back received mixed reviews from critics. MusicOMH columnist Vik Bansal described the collection as "better than the majority of live albums you'll come across", but conceded that "the casual fan ... is pretty unlikely to shell out their hard-earned [money] on this". A review published in the Manchester Evening News claimed that "the 2004 tour dates documented on this double disc live album are a worthy illustration of the band's power and abilities", but suggested that "despite the high quality sound recording, most of the songs on The Wildhearts Strike Back suffer due to the neat and tidy way the album is constructed, demeaning the flow of a live concert". Conversely, a writer for the website Punktastic claimed that the use of recordings from multiple live shows "gives the album a better feel for the live experience that The Wildhearts have been famed for during their lengthy existence", concluding that "this is just about everything [the band] could want from a live album".

Personnel
The Wildhearts Additional personnel
 * Ginger Wildheart – lead vocals, guitar
 * C. J. Wildheart – guitar, backing vocals
 * Jon Poole – bass, backing vocals
 * Andrew "Stidi" Stidolph – drums
 * Jase Edwards – production
 * Kevin Metcalfe – mastering
 * Gordon Vicary – mastering
 * Small Japanese Soldier – design, concept
 * Tony Woolliscroft – photography
 * Wayne Charlton – photography