The Boy With the Arab Strap

Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
Sep 8 1998

Overview Edit

The Boy with the Arab Strap is the third album from the Scottish band Belle & Sebastian, and has been called their best album. The inspiration for the album's name came from the band Arab Strap, who are also from Scotland and briefly toured with Belle & Sebastian. An Arab strap is a sexual device for retaining an erection.

Arab Strap were reportedly less than pleased with their inclusion in the title of the album. When questioned about it, Arab Strap's leader/singer, Aiden, said "They have a sense of humor." Malcolm, the band's instrumentalist, added, "Because Arab Strap is quite an interesting name. The words go well together. That's why we chose it as a band name. We're friends with them, but there's a limit to putting someone else's name on an album. They’re taking away something from us." He also mentioned that the album had been confused as a collaboration between the bands.

The album features several lead vocals by members of the band other than Stuart Murdoch. Stevie Jackson sings lead on both "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor", Stuart David gives a spoken word performance on "A Space Boy Dream" and Isobel Campbell sings lead on "Is It Wicked Not to Care?".

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_with_the_Arab_Strap. Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

This particular version Edit

Record label:
Catalog number:
311
Release dates:
  • Sep 8 1998 in United States

Genres

Baroque Pop, Indie, Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock, Singer-Songwriter. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars My favorite album of all time ever
I first heard about Belle and Sebastian from a friend of mine who had also turned me on to Kings of Convenience. I went out and bought this CD as soon as I could. I didn't really get into it at first and I didn't really understand what some of the songs were about. But the album grew on me. The songs are timeless, they conjure up the ghosts of late 60s pioneers like Love and Nick Drake, while always sounding modern and in touch with today's alienated youth. But now that I have listened to these …
Written by Tyler McGaughey
3 stars Music to shop to.
I got this record when it came out. I got Sinister when it came out in the U.K. I saw Belle & Sebastian's show in NYC after Sinister and then I saw them play "Turn Turn Turn" during the "Boy with the..." tour. Needless to say, I'm a big fan. And well, I got to tell ya, this is a boring record. I'm telling you now a year after because it takes me a while to digest.

This album just doesn't cut it. Stuart Murdoch's lyrics are great as usual, but not on par with his previous stuff. And why the hell …
Written by an unknown author

Track listing Edit

  • CD

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career
    2:23
    2
    Sleep the Clock Around
    4:57
    3
    Is It Wicked Not to Care?
    3:22
    4
    Ease Your Feet in the Sea
    3:32
    5
    A Summer Wasting
    2:03
    6
    Seymour Stein
    4:27
    7
    A Space Boy Dream
    3:01
    8
    Dirty Dream Number Two
    4:13
    9
    The Boy With the Arab Strap
    5:14
    10
    Chickfactor
    3:28
    11
    Simple Things
    1:44
    12
    The Rollercoaster Ride
    6:36

Credits Edit

  1. engineer

    1. Tim Dennen [Mastering]
  2. performer

    1. Chris Geddes [Keyboards, piano]
    2. Ian Mackay [Bagpipes on track 2]
    3. Isobel Campbell [Cello, Vocals, Guitar]
    4. Mick Cooke [trumpet]
    5. Richard Colburn [Drums]
    6. Sarah Martin [Violin]
    7. Stevie Jackson [Guitar, Vocals]
    8. Stuart David [Bass, Vocals]
    9. Stuart Murdoch [Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard]
  1. producer

Other versions Edit

The Boy With the Arab Strap 12 tracks format: 1 x vinyl
catalog number: 311
release dates: Sep 8 1998
view details
The Boy With the Arab Strap 12 tracks format: 1 x cassette
catalog number: 311
release dates: Sep 8 1998
view details
The Boy With the Arab Strap 12 tracks format: 1 x CD
catalog number: 311
release dates: Sep 8 1998
view details
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