The Science of Things is the third studio album by British band Bush, released on 26 October 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 both the RIAA and Music Canada. 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", which was released on 14 September 1999 in anticipation of the album. 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.

Background

In 1998, Gavin Rossdale retreated to a countryside house in Ireland to write demos for a new Bush album. 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.

Music

Style

Outlined by MTV to temper a "love of experimentation with a healthy dose of hard rock", in December 1999, SPIN opined that The Science of Things featured a sound "bolstered" by sporadic drum-loops and electronic effects, and that the music had the "polish" of the band's 1994 debut album Sixteen Stone, and the "energy" of Razorblade Suitcase.

Lyrics

Gil Kaufman of MTV News commented in October 1999 that The Science of Things was forged around "a vaguely science-fiction" narrative, as well as reflecting what he proclaimed to be Rossdale's "lyrical fascination with doomed relationships and the decay of modern society". "Spacetravel" was written reflecting Rossdale's feeling of detachment from being in Ireland during Tony Blair's earliest months as Prime Minister of The UK, while "Dead Meat" related to the abusive death of Canadian model Dorothy Stratten in 1980. "Disease of the Dancing Cats" was environmentally-themed; Rossdale stated in 1999 that the song was written about Minamata disease from mercury poisoning.

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave a largely mixed review of The Science of Things. Although praising the record as "crafted and sequenced" and "nicely flowing", and proclaiming it superior to Razorblade Suitcase, Erlwine arraigned the record's lack of "emotional nor musical substance to make a lasting impact". In October 1999, Dan Aquilante of New York Post, though remarking upon signs of promise in the single "The Chemicals Between Us", and commenting that the track "English Fire" had potential for live performances, gave the view that the "main problem" with the record was that the songs were not "created equally". NME praised the album track "English Fire", but dismissed much of the music on The Science of Things as "staggeringly unimaginative modern-rock-by-numbers". Karen Schoemer gave overwhelmingly negative feedback in Rolling Stone in November 1999. Although acknowledging the band's attempts to differentiate their style, Schoemer commented that The Science of Things sounded "exactly like the records that came before".

Retrospective

In July 2023, Stephen Hill of LouderSound included The Science of Things in a list of "10 terrible grunge albums with one classic song", describing the album as "forgettable", though noting the lead single "The Chemicals Between Us" as a standout.

Track listing

All songs written by Gavin Rossdale.

Allusions

Personnel

Bush Additional musicians Technical personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications