Taking Back Friday (album)

Taking Back Friday (sometimes referred to as Giant Robot after one of the tracks) is the debut studio album by Scottish rock band Taking Back Friday. It was released on 15 November 1979 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and on 9 January 1980 in the United States by Dreidel Records.

The album was recorded in March and April of 1979 at CaVa Studios in Glascow, It contains a mix of original material worked out in the first rehearsals and reworked versions of songs previously released as singles in the months prior. The sessions took place before the group had secured a recording contract and totalled 34 hours; they were paid directly by Jerry Maclyn, the group's founder and keyboardist with an additional budget paid by Carl Andy after signing the act for Dreidel in North America and cost £1,673 to complete. They were produced by Maclyn, who as a musician was joined by band members Clark Murray (lead vocals), Donald Ramsey (drums) and Wilson Campbell (guitars). The tracks were mixed by Maclyn's childhood friend Ian Mitch, and the iconic album cover showing the character Tetsujin 28-go was designed by the English design group Hipgnosis, scaning from the cover of a manga volume Clark Murray bought from a trip to Japan.

The music features the band's distinctive mix of art-rock with the then emerging new-wave style. Although it recieved mixed reviews at the time, it has since has since been regarded as one of the strongest debut albums.

Cover change
In Japan, in order to avoid legal issues with the owners of Tetsujin 28-go (along with the fact a new anime was being produced around this time), the cover in Japan was changed to just an image of the band taken by Robert Mapplethorpe which could be found on the back of the album normally.

Side One

 * Giant Robot
 * Field Day
 * A Toe into Madness
 * Murdershow of 1999
 * Rodan

Side Two

 * What Goes Up (Must Come Down)
 * Death of a Used Car Salesman
 * What About...
 * Acid Rain
 * Kick the Bucket
 * The Ladder to Nowhere