The Science of Things is the third studio album by British band Bush, released on October 26, 1999, through Trauma Records. The last Bush album released through Trauma, peaked at number eleven on the US Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. It is the penultimate Bush studio album to feature Dave Parsons and Nigel Pulsford.
The Science of Things incorporated electronic elements into Bush’s hard rock sound; particularly on the album’s lead single “The Chemicals Between Us”. Broadly following a science fiction motif, the album’s lyrical themes ranged from the 1980 murder of Dorothy Stratten, the election of Tony Blair in the UK, and environmental damage.
The album was recorded over 4 weeks, at a variety of locations including lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford’s home and Mayfair Studios in London. The album’s musical direction of integrating electronic elements into a rock sound was, according to drummer Robin Goodridge, influenced by Deconstructed, a 1997 remix album of Bush’s music.
Rossdale stated in 1999 that The Science of Things was so-named because the phrase was “a mixture of the specific, science, and the non-specific, things”, a combination that Rossdale felt was “personal, and somehow intimate”.
Following completion towards the end of 1998, the release of The Science of Things was delayed after the band was met with a US$40 million lawsuit from their label Trauma Records, claiming “breach of contract and nondelivery of the album”. A settlement between Bush and Trauma was agreed in June 1999.
Tracklist:
- Warm Machine
- Jesus Online
- The Chemicals Between Us
- English Fire
- Spacetravel
- 40 Miles from the Sun
- Prizefighter
- The Disease of the Dancing Cats
- Altered States
- Dead Meat
- Letting the Cables Sleep
- Mindchanger
Bush
Gavin Rossdale: lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Nigel Pulsford: lead guitar, backing vocals
Dave Parsons: bass
Robin Goodridge: drums
Additional musicians
Sacha Puttnam: piano and string arrangements on “Letting the Cables Sleep”, strings on “English Fire” and “40 Miles From the Sun”
Claire Ashby: violin on “Letting the Cables Sleep”
Alison Dodds: violin on “Letting the Cables Sleep”
David Lasserson: viola on “Letting the Cables Sleep”
Rosie Wetters: cello and string arrangements on “Letting the Cables Sleep”
Gwen Stefani: vocals on “Spacetravel”
Claudia Fontayne: backing vocals on “Jesus Online”
Winston: barks on “Altered States” (uncredited)
Technical personnel
Gavin Rossdale: design
Clive Langer: production, mixing, additional engineering on “The Chemicals Between Us” and “Letting the Cables Sleep”
Alan Winstanley: production, mixing, additional engineering on “The Chemicals Between Us” and “Letting the Cables Sleep”
Tom Elmhirst: engineering and mixing on “The Chemicals Between Us” and “Letting the Cables Sleep”, Pro Tools and additional recording
David J. Holman: mixing on “Warm Machine”, “Jesus Online” and “Prizefighter”
Paul Palmer: mixing on “Warm Machine”, “Jesus Online” and “Prizefighter”
Aidan Love: programming
Jony Rockstar: programming
Robert Vosgien: mastering
Kim Holt: cover photo
Chris Cuffaro: photography
Peter Black: photography
C.B. Smith: photography
Kevin Westerberg: photography
Mixed at Cactus Studio Hollywood: “Warm Machine”, “Jesus Online” and “Prizefighter”
