Victory for the Comic Muse

Infobox Album | Name = Victory for the Comic Muse
Type = Album
Artist = The Divine Comedy


Released = June 19, 2006
Recorded = December 2005
Genre = Baroque Pop
Length = 44:34
Label = Parlophone
Producer = Neil Hannon
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:2n881vk6zzba link]
*"The Guardian" Rating|4|5 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1798440,00.html link]
*Pitchfork Media (7.5/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37170-victory-for-the-comic-muse link]
*"Scotland on Sunday" (Positive) [http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/review.cfm?id=892132006 link]
Last album = "Absent Friends"
(2004)
This album = "Victory for the Comic Muse"
(2006)
Next album =
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = CD+DVD version cover
Type = album

"Victory for the Comic Muse" is a 2006 studio album by Neil Hannon, under band name The Divine Comedy. It is the second album since the departure of the rest of the band, after 2004's "Absent Friends", and the ninth album released under that banner. The title is a reference to the group's 1990 debut "Fanfare for the Comic Muse".

On the 28^th February 2007, "Victory for the Comic Muse" won the Choice Music Prize at a ceremony that took place in Dublin's Vicar St. venue. The Choice Music Prize is Ireland's equivalent to the Mercury Music Prize. The judging panel was made up of 12 representatives from the Irish music industry. The prize consisted of a trophy as well as a cheque for €10,000. The Divine Comedy's victory was unexpected as the album had received some lukewarm reviews and there was strong competition from the likes of The Immediate, Duke Special and Snow Patrol.

Making of the album

The album is unique in the Divine Comedy catalogue - and in the catalogue of most recent popular music - in that Hannon's original aim with the album was to record it entirely in two weeks, with the minimum of overdubbing. As such, almost all of the music on the album - much to the chagrin of the classical players involved on almost every track, and the Divine Comedy band itself - was recorded in live takes. At first, they attempted to use no click tracks or headphones, but eventually they did. The band would record their part, the orchestra would overdub theirs, and then Hannon would record his vocals. No further overdubbing took place unless absolutely necessary, in a fairly hurried style of recording, and in stark contrast to the modern recording technique of stacking up tracks.

During the recording, Hannon's vocals had to be recorded even more hurriedly than planned because for most of the two weeks he was suffering from a cold that got progressively worse before finally clearing up.

Track listing

# "To Die A Virgin" – 3:39
# "Mother Dear" – 3:47
# "Diva Lady" – 4:17
# "A Lady Of A Certain Age" – 5:47
# "The Light Of Day" – 4:24
# "Threesome" – 1:10
# "Party Fears Two" – 4:02
# "Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" – 3:58
# "The Plough" – 5:14
# "Count Grassi's Passage Over Piedmont" – 3:32
# "Snowball In Negative" – 4:40
# "Premonition of Love" – 3:54 "(Bonus Track for Japan)"
# "Births, Deaths & Marriages" – 4:11 "(Bonus Track for Japan)"

All songs (apart from "Party Fears Two", written by The Associates members Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine) were composed by Neil Hannon.

Miscellanea

*Dougie Payne, bassist with Travis, features on several tracks.
* A special edition version of the album, officially available only on the first day of release, came with second DVD disc and an additional cardboard sleeve.