Behind the Albums: Book Of Days

A selection of quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on Book Of Days, their sixth album, released in 1989.

Richard Butler: "It's probably the most melancholy album I think we've made. It's kind of sad, it's not excruciating [inaudible] but there's a lot... it's very thoughtful. When I put it on it seems like somebody's sitting there thinking. And I like it for that." (120 Minutes (MTV UK) 1989)

Richard Butler: "It tends to be melancholy, but I don't think it's necessarily dark. I just like sad songs." (Albuquerque Journal 1989)

Richard Butler: "The most important thing for us with this record was to make a record that we really liked. We wanted to make an album that sounded like us.

"We weren't worried about it being a commercial-sounding record. We wanted it to be a good record." (Albuquerque Journal 1989)

Richard Butler: "I wouldn't say it's a very, very cynical record. Where it is cynical, I don't see it as heartless. I think cynicism's the disease of a failed romantic – where there is cynicism, that's where it comes from." (The Boston Globe 1989)

Richard Butler: "We just decided to go in and make a really simple album instead of having it very produced." (The Boston Globe 1989)

Richard Butler: "I don't know how many fans we've lost with this record. And to be really honest, it wasn't my major concern. My major concern was to be proud of something I'd done." (The Boston Globe 1989)

Richard Butler: "Having Vince [Ely] back brings a whole different chemistry to the band. He has a way of playing that when he first rejoined us, it immediately started sounding like a sound that I had missed. The sound of the first two records and now this record are basically what the band sounds like when we walk into a room and play." (Chicago Tribune 1989)

Richard Butler: "It's not a very commercial record and we've learned that we're not a commercial band. It's really the only way we can look ahead from here." (Chicago Tribune 1989)

Richard Butler: "I don't think this album is by any means the truth I'm trying to get to but it's a step in the right direction." (Melody Maker 1989)

Richard Butler (on being asked if Book Of Days was an attempt to return to the band's past): "Not really. It's not an attempt to do anything. The last album [Midnight To Midnight] shouldn't even have been made. We were confused and a bit directionless, so for this album we decided the best thing would be that we just went in and played and didn't worry about if it had a single on it, which I don't think it does, or whatever." (New Musical Express 1989)

Richard Butler: "I was certainly depressed when I was making this record. I was on the phone to my girlfriend all the time." (New Musical Express 1989)

Richard Butler: "I don't say I can't have anything happy on this record. It's probably the other way around, you know. I would like to make music with a lighter feel to it." (New Musical Express 1989)

Tim Butler: "The tour [for Book Of Days] has been very interesting so far. The new album has managed to bring back many of our older fans and attract a lot of new, younger ones." (The Salt Lake Tribune 1989)

Richard Butler: "We knew there may not be a hit on Book Of Days when we made it, but that's of secondary importance to me, really. The most important thing, the thing we had to do, was make a record that we liked. Something we felt we could respect." (The San Francisco Examiner 1989)

Richard Butler: "Personally I would think that I've always underestimated the part that chemistry can play and I think that having [Vince Ely] back has a lot to do with why this album sounds the way it does." (Southtown Star 1989)

Richard Butler: "This is quite a melancholic record. It might be nice to make the next album more upbeat." (Southtown Star 1989)

Tim Butler (on being asked if the band had ever been discouraged enough to quit): "Yes, we had this period after [Midnight To Midnight] came out and we were kind of floundering. We had gotten away from the original sound and direction behind the band and gone in a more commercial direction. It took putting the compilation album together for us to realize how far we had strayed. Luckily we got it back together and did this new album which I think is a return to our original sound." (Chicago Music Magazine 1990)

John Ashton: "It was a very conscious effort for us to make an album that was more in keeping with our original style." (Durham Morning Herald 1990)

John Ashton: "With Book Of Days, we just wanted to go back and do what we're best at, not concentrate on what the sound of the band should be or could be, but what it really is, which is us getting together in a room and bashing it out." (Fort Worth Star Telegram 1990)

Tim Butler: "This is much more us. It's too dense, too hard-sounding to be commercial. If it sells only 100,000 copies, we'll still be proud and happy. We still have things to say." (The News And Observer 1990)

Tim Butler: "I guess outside influences were sort of making an impact. We weren't going out there and saying we have to have a more chart-oriented or listenable sound. We were slipping into that subconsciously.

"I think the scenario started with Mirror Moves, where we started to get clean and clinical, started using a bit too much keyboards and toning down the guitar sound.

"It came to a head with Midnight To Midnight, which we weren't very happy with. Halfway through the tour we looked through the album and said, 'We've slipped off the track a bit. We're way away from where our original sound was.' And we just took some time to re-evaluate where we wanted the Furs sound to be, and we went back into the studio with Book Of Days, just to get back on track, just to have fun in the studio again.

"That particular album is very raw. It's just pretty much banging out, having good fun in the studio. We didn't think about any sort of single or anything. We just said, 'Go for it and see what happens.'" (Asbury Park Press 1991)

Richard Butler: "We've got a new drummer, [Don Yallech] as we had had Vince Ely for a while but he didn't work out playing live. We really didn't get along. But outside of that I think Joe McGinty's [keyboards] been with us five years, and Knox Chandler [guitar, cello] has been with us for about four years so that's a fairly long time. So it's pretty much a solid band, the same band that made Book Of Days, really." (B-Side 1991)

Richard Butler: "It was more difficult to do Book Of Days. There was a low feeling in the band after Midnight To Midnight." (B-Side 1991)

Richard Butler (on Columbia being hands off with the band and letting them do their own thing): "Yeah, they always have been. We've been pretty fortunate. I mean I was surprised with Book Of Days, when we came in and said, 'Well look, this isn't going to be a commercial record or be a singles oriented record. And we want to approach press in an alternative way. Cause that's the kind of record it is.' And they said yes! And we said 'Oh!' But yeah, they've been pretty good. Cause they've never really understood what we're doing!" (B-Side 1991)

John Ashton (on the sound of World Outside): "We found we could have done better. That's why we changed directions. We were wrong. We should have stuck to what we're good at. Instead, we got more formulated with albums like Mirror Moves. Guitar-wise, I wasn't particularly happy with that album.

"Then, there's Midnight To Midnight, which was a pompous piece of crud from the album cover on. We tried to recapture more of a guitar edge. It didn't really happen. It became overproduced, underplayed and overbloated. That's why we went back and did Book Of Days, which was a step in the right direction. We slipped a few rungs on the ladder in the mid-80s." (Courier Post 1991)

Richard Butler: "[John Ashton and Tim Butler] thought I should make another record that reflected how I was feeling. I was feeling really down so they said, 'Fine, make a down record' so then we made Book Of Days." (Music Connection 1991)

Richard Butler: "It's funny, the stress and discomfort stopped when we made Book Of Days. It just disappeared." (Music Connection 1991)

Richard Butler: "With the last two albums [Book Of Days and World Outside], we decided not to go into the studio until we had enough songs written, while with Mirror Moves and Midnight To Midnight, a lot of it was written in the studio. I think you tend to lose some of the excitement, the edge and the feel when you spend too much time in the studio. We didn't want to spend too much time on Book Of Days and World Outside. You can examine music too much, and then you tend to have a harder time making up your mind about things. If you go in and put down what you first feel, you're usually right." (Music Connection 1991)

Richard Butler: "I wanted to redeem myself by making an album that was totally uncommercial and as miserable as I felt. Not a produced-sounding record. Now when I listen to it I think it's depressing, but I'm glad I did it." (Q Magazine 1991)

Richard Butler: "When we made Book Of Days is when we got back on track. Lyrically and musically." (Rock 'N' Roll (?) 1991)

Richard Butler: "[Book Of Days] was, on purpose, a low-key record. There wasn't a hit single on it. We just wanted to excorcise some demons. Book Of Days was... making noise... to help us re-evaluate where we wanted to go." (The Tennessean Sun 1991)

Tim Butler: "[World Outside] and Book Of Days were actually recorded as a six-piece band live in the studio, so I think it makes a more live, energetic...more of a human feel to it. You can tell it's six people working with each other in a studio as opposed to someone going in there and over-dubbing their part separately. It's more of a live feel of an album." (Northern Colorado Mirror 1992)

Tim Butler: "[World Outside] and Book Of Days both took eight weeks to record and mix, which is really quick. We did pre-production before going into the studio and just bang (the songs) down without rehashing them too much. I think the more you play over and over a song in the studio you tend to sterilize it a bit so I think the songs on Book Of Days and World Outside are fresher sounding." (Northern Colorado Mirror 1992)

Richard Butler: "When we made Book Of Days is when we got back on track. Lyrically and musically." (The Province 1992)

John Ashton: "Book Of Days was a turning point for me personally, perhaps for Richard and Tim also. We all felt that we could keep it going and that what we were doing was valid and still creative. I was moving to New York so we would all be in the same city (I had also met the love of my life, Catherine—we've been married since June '93). Vince had re-joined the band, something I was sure would bring us all back together in a positive way, somewhat reminiscent of earlier times. The album project was a success in my opinion and the ensuing tour also went well." (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

Richard Butler: "Book Of Days was badly produced and if there was one Furs record that could be called underground, that was it. It was our attempt to right the wrongs of Midnight To Midnight." (Greatest Hits liner notes, 2001)

Richard Butler: "We made Book Of Days, which was a grungy, low-key, some might say 'depressing' record. With that, we lost a lot of fans – at least lots of fans who were looking for 'hits.'" (Ink 19 2002)

Tim Butler (on if he would ever consider to record a PFurs song with a different artist): "It would be cool to have Richard do a vocal duet on a song. We actually approached Kim Deal around the Book Of Days sessions, but there were scheduling conflicts. We liked her vocals on 'Gigantic'." (Ear Candy 2004)

Tim Butler (on the band members never blaming each other for their changing fortunes after Midnight To Midnight): "It tends to pull you together. It was like, 'Well, we made a mistake. Let's turn it around.' There was never a blame game going on. It was down to us all. We'd had a bit of soul-searching about what we should do, and those two albums [Book Of Days and World Outside] made us believe in ourselves again." (Chicago Tribune 2014)

Tim Butler: "Book Of Days was sort of a weird album for us. We'd done the whole Midnight To Midnight thing and got completely disillusioned with the way we were going, chasing the successful American market, veering away from our original goals. Trying to fit in with what was going around.

"So we made a severe right turn, and went back to not using any synthesizers. It was all natural instruments. We didn't really want to do any videos, although we did one. But that sort of disillusioned fans and they drifted off." (WriteWyattUK 2019)

Richard Butler: "I don't listen to my old records much, but when I do... Book Of Days is VERY morose. Which was almost a knee-jerk reaction to Midnight To Midnight. I like it for that, the fact that we hit reset." (Record Collector 2020)

Richard Butler: "I came off [the Midnight To Midnight tour] and just did not want to be in the band anymore at all. I was very depressed about it. And John and Tim said, 'You don't want to leave on a low note. Come back and make a record that you feel honestly reflects the band.' So we did. We came back and did Book Of Days and World Outside, and we toured for those and I didn't want to write songs with that same lineup again. It just didn't seem right, so we took a 10-year break." (Tidal 2020)

Tim Butler: "I think we screwed around with the audience so much going from the really commercial Midnight To Midnight, clawing our way back to that original sound and maybe gain our original audience back with Book Of Days. And we were pretty anti-promoting it, which didn’t help." (WriteWyattUK 2020)

Tim Butler: "Many of our hardcore fans had left, but when we did Book Of Days, they returned. Even though the record company got behind it, it was too late; many of our other fans got tired of trying to follow what we were doing." (GoodTimes 2022)

Photo: Peter Robathan