Expecting to Fly by The Bluetones

Expecting to Fly, the Bluetones' debut, came out on A&M on 12 February 1996, and the Hounslow band's timing was perfect: it knocked Oasis's (What's the Story) Morning Glory? off the top of the UK Albums Chart for a week. Hugh Jones produced it, and the title comes from the 1967 Buffalo Springfield single, which tells you where Mark Morriss and guitarist Adam Devlin's heads were at.

It's Britpop with its shirt untucked: jangly, sun-dappled guitars, lazy melodies and Morriss's languid croon. "Bluetonic", "Slight Return" and "Cut Some Rug" were the singles, and "Slight Return" is the gem, a breezy, chiming tune that still sounds like a lazy summer afternoon. The album went platinum in the UK in March 1998. Return to the Last Chance Saloon followed.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.