Troublegum - Therapy?

“Troublegum”, released on February 7, 1994, was the second major-label album by Northern Irish metal/punk rock band Therapy?. It is often remarked that “Troublegum” is Therapy?’s “Black Album”, as it is probably their most accessible work. Frontman Andy Cairns, who formed the band in 1989 with friend and drummer Fyfe Ewing, was particularly interested in subjects such as isolation, psychosis and psychiatry, and his lyrics dealt mainly with the recurring themes of unrequited love, loss and loneliness, a trait which has persisted throughout Therapy?’s career.
1993 and 1994 were the most successful years in the group's history. 1993 saw the release of the “Shortsharpshock” EP, featuring the band’s classic song “Screamager”, which stunned many when it catapulted into the UK Top 40, peaking at 9. “Troublegum” became an instant metal classic on its release in 1994, delighting Therapy?’s old fans and sucking in new ones. “Screamager” also featured on the album and the song earned the band the first of many appearances on the world-famous UK music show “Top of the Pops”. It was clear that their sound was changing, evolving from experimental noise cacophony into something far more accessible even for those wary of a band with the “metal” tag. A seething but sleek slice of angry rock music, with dark and brooding lyrics paired with upbeat riffs and interwoven with masses of feedback and Ewing's phenomenal drumming, “Troublegum” earned the band appearances at a string of rock and indie festivals over the next couple of years, as well as a clutch of Top 40 singles including “Trigger Inside”, “Nowhere” and “Turn”. It remains the band's high point for many fans and it gained them a string of nominations at the annual Kerrang! Awards, celebrating the best of the year’s metal music. It was also rated the top album of 1994 in the 1000th issue of Kerrang!, published in 2004.
“Troublegum” makes for uncomfortable listening in parts, but it’s indisputably a grower and an album that no metal fan should be without.
Various theories have been put forward over the years by fans and critics as to why the group placed the unusual question mark suffix to their name. However, the truth is rather mundane. When designing the band's first home-produced single, Andy Cairns accidentally misaligned the Letraset adhesive label on the sleeve and decided to simply use the "?" icon to fill the space instead.

1. “Knives”
2. “Screamager”
3. “Hellbelly”
4. “Stop It You’re Killing Me”
5. “Nowhere”
6. “Die Laughing”
7. “Unbeliever”
8. “Trigger Inside”
9. “Lunacy Booth”
10. “Isolation”
11. “Turn”
12. “Femtex”
13. “Unrequited”
14. “Brainsaw”