Wise After the Event
| Wise After the Event | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Anthony Phillips | ||||
| Released | May 1978 | |||
| Recorded | October–December 1977 | |||
| Studio | Essex Studios, England, The Manor Mobile at The Farmyard, England, and CBS Studios | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 47:04 | |||
| Label | Arista Records | |||
| Producer | Rupert Hine | |||
| Anthony Phillips chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Wise After the Event is the second studio album from the English guitarist Anthony Phillips, released in May 1978 on Arista Records in the United Kingdom and June 1978 on Passport Records in the United States. It is Phillips' only album that features himself on lead vocals on each track.
As originally planned, Wise After the Event was to be an album and an accompanying EP. At some point subsequent to the commissioning of the artwork for the record jacket, the material was pared down to just enough for an album. Discrepancies between Peter Cross' original artwork and the actual running order of the album were corrected when it was re-released in 1990.
Two tracks cut from the album came out on a contemporaneous single. "Squirrel" and the brief "Sitars and Nebulous" were coupled on the B-side of the May, 1978, "We're All as We Lie" single. "Squirrel" was later reunited with the album as a bonus track on the 1990 CD reissue.
The rest of the missing music was released on Phillips' 1980 album, Private Parts and Pieces II: Back to the Pavilion. This included three songs (actually just short links) that were definitely planned and sequenced for the earlier album, "Chinaman" (based on the intro to "Paperchase"), "Romany's Aria" (part of "We're All as We Lie" played backwards), and "Von Runkel's Yorker Music" (previously called "Sitars and Nebulous"). Private Parts and Pieces II: Back to the Pavilion includes two additional songs, "Tremulous" and "Magic Garden", that date from the Wise After the Event sessions, but whose position on that album was less certain.
A remastered 2CD version of the album was released in Japan by Arcangelo Records in July 2007 as a limited edition mini-vinyl sleeve. A standard jewel case version was released in the UK by Voiceprint Records in May 2008.
On February 12, 2016, Esoteric Recordings (a Cherry Red Records label) released a 4-disc deluxe edition of the album. Disc 1 contains a new (2016) stereo mix of the album. Disc 2 contains the bonus material (as on the 2008 release). Disc 3 contains a remastered version of the original stereo mix. Disc 4 contains a 2016 5.1 surround sound mix of the album on a DVD. The deluxe edition also includes a poster and a 20-page booklet with photos and extensive liner notes.
Track listing
All songs written by Anthony Phillips except where indicated.
- "We're All as We Lie" – 4:37
- "Birdsong and Reprise" – 6:45
- "Moonshooter" – 5:58
- "Wise After the Event" – 10:28
- "Pulling Faces" – 4:37
- "Regrets" – 6:02
- "Greenhouse" (Phillips, Jeremy Gilbert) – 3:03
- "Paperchase" – 5:34
- "Now What (Are They Doing to My Little Friends?)" – 8:23
- "Squirrel" – 4:30 (CD bonus track)
Note: "Squirrel" was originally released as the B-side of the 7" single release of "We're All as We Lie".
2008 reissue bonus tracks
- "We're All as We Lie" (Link) - 1:23
- "Sleeping on an Interstellar Plane" ("Greenhouse" demo) (Phillips, Gilbert) - 3:04
- "Paperchase" (Instrumental demo) - 5:31
- "Birdsong" (Instrumental demo) - 5:33
- "Moonshooter" (Cottage Tapes demo) - 5:37
- "We're All as We Lie" (Cottage Tapes demo) - 3:53
- "Pulling Faces" (Cottage Tapes demo) - 4:29
- "Squirrel" (Instrumental mix) - 4:28
- "Wise After the Event" (Instrumental mix) - 8:54
- "Magic Garden" (Solo piano mix) - 1:55
- "We're All as We Lie" (7" single version) - 3:49
- "Regrets" (Piano mix) - 6:00
- "Chinaman" (Basic guitar mix) - 0:44
- "Now What (Are They Doing to My Little Friends)?" (Instrumental mix) - 8:14
Personnel
- Anthony Phillips – vocals, guitars, harmonica
- Additional musicians
- Michael Giles – drums
- John G. Perry – Wal custom bass guitar
- The Vicar – guitars, keyboards, sundries
- Jeremy Gilbert – keyboards on "Greenhouse", harp on "Now What?"
- Mel Collins – soprano saxophone on "We're All as We Lie", flute on "Birdsong"
- Robin Phillips – oboe on "Sitars & Nebulous"
- Rupert Hine – percussion, backing vocals, locks, probs, modes and vibraphone
- Perkin Alanbeck – (Alan Perkins, also the recording engineer): Synthesiser on "Birdsong"
- Humbert Ruse & Vic Stench – drums, bass on "Greenhouse"
- Rodent Rabble (including "No Hours from Neasden") – clicks, claps and crampons
- Orchestra on "Regrets" conducted by Gilbert Biberian, assembled by David Katz, and arranged by Anthony Phillips.