This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, commonly abbreviated to BMW (German pronunciation:[ˌbeːʔɛmˈveː]ⓘ), is a German multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The company was founded in 1916 as a manufacturer of aircraft engines, which it produced from 1917 to 1918 and again from 1933 to 1945 creating engines for aircraft that were used in the Second World War.
BMW is headquartered in Munich and produces motor vehicles in Germany, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Quandt family [de] is a long-term shareholder of the company, following investments by the brothers Herbert and Harald Quandt in 1959 that saved BMW from bankruptcy, with the remaining shares owned by the public.
The Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik was founded in 1910 by Gustav Otto in the Kingdom of Bavaria, which was a state of the German Empire. The firm was reorganized on 7 March 1916 into Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG. This company was then renamed to Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) in 1922. However, the name BMW dates back to 1913, when a company to use the name was founded by Karl Rapp initially as Rapp Motorenwerke. The name and Rapp Motorenwerke's engine-production assets were transferred to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in 1922, who adopted the name the same year.[6] BMW's first product was produced for fighter aircraft of the Luftstreitkräfte. It was a straight-six aircraft engine called the BMW IIIa, designed in the spring of 1917 by engineer Max Friz. Following the end of World War I, BMW remained in business by producing motorcycle engines, agricultural equipment, household items, and railway brakes. The company produced its first motorcycle, the BMW R 32, in 1923.
BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1928 when it purchased Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach, which, at the time, built the Austin 7 under licence from Dixi.[7] The first car sold as a BMW was a rebadged BMW Dixi called the BMW 3/15, following BMW's acquisition of the car manufacturer Automobilwerk Eisenach. Throughout the 1930s, BMW expanded its range into sports cars and larger luxury cars.
Aircraft engines, motorcycles, and automobiles would be BMW's main products until World War II. During the war, BMW concentrated on the BMW 801 aircraft engine using as many as 40,000 slave laborers.[8] These consisted primarily of prisoners from Nazi concentration camps, most prominently Dachau. Motorcycles remained as a side-line and automobile manufacture ceased altogether.
BMW's factories were heavily bombed during the war and its remaining West German facilities were banned from producing motor vehicles or aircraft after the war. Again, the company survived by making pots, pans, and bicycles. In 1948, BMW restarted motorcycle production. BMW resumed car production in Bavaria in 1952 with the BMW 501 luxury saloon. The range of cars was expanded in 1955, through the production of the cheaper Isetta microcar under licence. Slow sales of luxury cars and small profit margins from microcars meant BMW was in serious financial trouble and in 1959 the company was nearly taken over by rival Daimler-Benz.[citation needed]
A large investment in BMW by Herbert Quandt and Harald Quandt resulted in the company surviving as a separate entity. Günther Quandt, was a well-known German industrialist, joined the Nazi party in 1933 and made a fortune arming the German Wehrmacht, manufacturing weapons and batteries.[9] Many of his enterprises were appropriated from Jewish owners under duress with minimal compensation. At least three of his enterprises made extensive use of slave laborers, as many as 50,000 in all.[10] One of his battery factories had its own on-site concentration camp, complete with gallows. Life expectancy for laborers was six months.[10][11] While Quandt and BMW were not directly connected during the war, funds amassed in the Nazi era by his father allowed Herbert Quandt to buy BMW.[8]
The relative success of the small BMW 700 assisted in the company's recovery, allowing them to develop the New Class sedans.
The 1962 introduction of the BMW New Class compact sedans was the beginning of BMW's reputation as a leading manufacturer of sport-oriented cars. Throughout the 1960s, BMW expanded its range by adding coupé and luxury sedan models. The BMW 5 Series mid-size sedan range was introduced in 1972, followed by the BMW 3 Series compact sedans in 1975, the BMW 6 Series luxury coupés in 1976 and the BMW 7 Series large luxury sedans in 1978.
The BMW M division released its first road car, a mid-engine supercar, in 1978. This was followed by the BMW M5 in 1984 and the BMW M3 in 1986. Also in 1986, BMW introduced its first V12 engine in the 750i luxury sedan. The 1989 BMW Z1 marked BMW's return to making a two-seat roadster, the 1995 BMW Z3 was their first mass-production two-seat roadster, and the 1999 BMW X5 was the company's first entry into the SUV market.
The company purchased the Rover Group in 1994, but the takeover was not successful and caused BMW large financial losses. In 2000, BMW sold off most of the Rover brands, retaining only the Mini brand. In 1998, BMW also acquired the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand from Vickers.
The first modern mass-produced turbocharged petrol engine was introduced in 2006 (from 1973 to 1975, BMW built 1,672 units of a turbocharged BMW M10 engine for the BMW 02 Series),[12] with most engines switching over to turbocharging over the 2010s. The first hybrid BMW was the 2010 BMW ActiveHybrid 7, and BMW's first mass-production electric car was the BMW i3 city car, which was released in 2013, (from 1968 to 1972, BMW built two battery-electric BMW 1602 Elektro saloons for the 1972 Olympic Games).[13] After many years of establishing a reputation for sporting rear-wheel drive cars, BMW's first front-wheel drive car was the 2014 BMW 2 Series Active Tourermulti-purpose vehicle (MPV).
In January 2021, BMW announced that its sales in 2020 fell by 8.4 percent due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, BMW witnessed a rise of 3.2% in its customers' demands.[14]
On 18 January 2022 BMW announced a BMW 7 Series (G11) special edition simply called "The Final V12",[15] the last BMW series production vehicle to be fitted with a V-12 engine.[15]
On 5 October 2023 it was announced that BMW UK CEO Chris Brownridge would succeed Torsten Müller-Ötvös as the CEO of Rolls-Royce starting 1 December 2023, as a result of Müller-Ötvös retiring.[16]
BMW is an abbreviation for Bayerische Motoren Werke (German pronunciation:[ˈbaɪ̯ʁɪʃəmɔˈtʰɔʁn̩ˈvɛɐ̯kə]). This name is grammatically incorrect (in German, compound words must not contain spaces), which is why the grammatically correct form of the name, Bayerische Motorenwerke (German pronunciation:[ˈbaɪ̯ʁɪʃəmɔˈtʰɔʁn̩vɛɐ̯kə]ⓘ) has been used in several publications and advertisements in the past.[17][18]Bayerische Motorenwerke translates into English as Bavarian Motor Works.[19] The suffix AG, short for Aktiengesellschaft, signifies an incorporated entity owned by shareholders, thus akin to "Inc." (US) or PLC, "Public Limited Company" (UK).
The terms Beemer, Bimmer and Bee-em are sometimes used as slang for BMW in the English language[20][21] and are sometimes used interchangeably for cars and motorcycles.[22][23][24]
The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, which featured a black ring bearing the company name surrounding the company logo,[25] an image of a horse head on a plinth. BMW retained Rapp's black ring inscribed with the company name, but the interior of the ring is quartered blue and white, reminiscent of the coat of arms and flag of Bavaria (which in turn are based on the arms of the historic House of Wittelsbach, which ruled Bavaria for many centuries).[25] The logo does not bear the distinctive lozenge shape found on the coat of arms, however, as local laws at the time it was introduced forbade the use of state coats of arms on commercial logos.[26]
A persistent myth claims that the logo is based on the image of an airplane propeller spinning in a blue sky. This myth likely stems from a 1929 BMW advertisement that depicted the logo superimposed on a rotating propeller. However, the logo predates that advertisement by 12 years.[25][27]
The current iteration of the logo was introduced in 2020,[28] removing 3D effects that had been used in previous renderings of the logo while removing the black outline encircling the rondel. The logo is used for BMW's branding communications but it is not used on vehicles.[29][30]
The slogan 'The Ultimate Driving Machine' was first used in North America in 1974.[31][32] In 2010, this long-lived campaign was mostly supplanted by a campaign intended to make the brand more approachable and to better appeal to women, 'Joy'. By 2012 BMW had returned to 'The Ultimate Driving Machine'.[33]
Gintama (銀魂, lit.'Silver Soul') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to September 2018, later in Jump Giga from December 2018 to February 2019, and finished on the Gintama app, where it ran from May to June 2019. Its chapters were collected in 77 tankōbon volumes. Set in Edo, which has been conquered by aliens named Amanto, the plot follows samuraiGintoki Sakata, who works as a freelancer in his self-established store, "Yorozuya", alongside his friends Shinpachi Shimura and Kagura, offering a wide range of services to handle various tasks and odd jobs. Sorachi added the science fiction setting to develop characters to his liking after his editor suggested doing a historical series.
The series has been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) by Sunrise and was featured at Jump Festa 2006 Anime Tour in 2005. This was followed by a full 367-episode anime television series, which debuted in April 2006 on TV Tokyo, and finished in October 2018. Three animated films have been produced. The first film premiered in April 2010. The second film premiered in July 2013. The third and final film premiered in January 2021. Besides the anime series, there have been various light novels and video games based on Gintama. A live-action film adaptation of the same name was released in July 2017 in Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The manga has been licensed by Viz Media in North America. In addition to publishing the individual volumes of the series, Viz serialized its first chapters in their Shonen Jump manga anthology. It debuted in the January 2007 issue and was serialized at a rate of one chapter a month. Sentai Filmworks initially licensed the series. The website Crunchyroll purchased the anime's streaming rights and home video rights.
In Japan, the Gintama manga has been popular, with over 58 million copies in circulation by December 2023, making it one of the best-selling manga series. The anime and its DVDs have been featured, at various times, in the Top Ten rankings of their respective media, while TV Tokyo has announced that the first Gintama anime was responsible for high sales overseas along with the anime adaptation from Naruto. Publications for manga, anime, and others have commented on the Gintama manga. Positive responses have focused on the comedy and characters from the series, as well as its overarching plot and action choreography.
The story is set in an alternate-history late-Edo period, where humanity is attacked by aliens called "Amanto" (天人, "Sky People"). Edo Japan's samurai fight to defend Earth, but the shogun cowardly surrenders when he realizes the aliens' power. He agrees to an unequal contract with the aliens, placing a ban on carrying swords in public and allowing the invaders to enter the country. The samurai's swords are confiscated and the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate) becomes a puppet government.
The series focuses on an eccentric samurai, Gintoki Sakata who works as an odd-jobs freelancer. He helps a teenager named Shinpachi Shimura save his sister Tae from an alien group that wants to send her to a brothel. Impressed by Gintoki, Shinpachi becomes his freelance apprentice to pay the bills and learn more about the enigmatic samurai. When the pair rescues a teenage alien girl with super-strength, Kagura, from a Yakuza group, they accept her into their odd-jobs freelancing business, and the three become known as "Yorozuya" (万事屋, 'Store of 10,000 business' or 'We do everything').
While working, they regularly encounter the Shinsengumi police force, who often ally with Gintoki when work involves dangerous criminals. The trio also meets Gintoki's former comrades from the Amanto invasion, including the revolutionary Kotaro Katsura who is friendly toward them despite his terrorist activities against the alien-controlled government.
The story is a balance between episodic and shorter arc based plotlines that resolve quickly, and a rich background plot that develops from its beginning to end.[5] For example, Gintoki's former comrade Shinsuke Takasugi is a major antagonist who regards Gintoki and his other former comrades as enemies and seeks to destroy the shogunate. Over time, Takasugi gains allies, including Kagura's brother Kamui, and the elite fighting unit Mimawarigumi to prepare for his large-scale coup d'état. After the true antagonist—the immortal Utsuro—is introduced, Gintoki works with both friends and enemies to stop Utsuro from destroying the Earth.
Hideaki Sorachi's main focus in Gintama is the use of gags; during the manga's second year of serialization, he started to add more drama to the story while still keeping the comedy.[6] Various jokes from the manga are comments regarding elements from other manga series. For example, in the first chapter, after Gintoki fights a group of aliens to protect Shinpachi and Tae, Shinpachi complains that he only fought for "one page" and Gintoki replies, "Shut up! One page is a long time for a manga artist!" Gintoki's exaggerated desire to read the Weekly Shōnen Jump (which causes him to fight other readers to get it) also makes fun of shōnen series, since during those parts characters quote them.[2][7] Other types of comedic situations are more general so that the reader must know about Japanese culture to understand them.[8] The humor is described by publications as being "bizarre" and "weird". It is also described as being divided between two categories: "sci-fi comedy" and a "samurai comedy" with the former referring to the aliens.[3] It tends to point out "an irritating foible about modern society" including celebration days or famous mythical figures.[5] Additionally, there are references to several historical figures with a few characters from the story being based on them.[9] Besides the series' comedy, the aliens' invasion of Japan brings several social issues between them and the humans with the most recurring one being the lack of social equality.[10] As a result, one of the main themes involves society trying to preserve their way of living rather than fulfilling a dream like in other shōnen series.[11]
Cover of the first issue of the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine that featured the manga
In 2003, Hideaki Sorachi was an up-and-coming manga artist who had already created two one-shots for the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.[12] Although he was preparing to write his first serialized series, his editor suggested he create a manga series based on the Shinsengumi, mostly inspired by an upcoming TV drama about the 1860s troupe as depicted by idol actors. Sorachi attempted to create this series since he admitted to liking the Shinsengumi but ultimately failed to get anything off the ground. Instead of abandoning the idea completely, he remained focused on the historical Japanese era but began to create his own story, adding in elements of science fiction and fictionalizing many of the figures from the era to create a story more to his liking.[13] The original title of the series was meant to be "Yorozuya Gin-san" (万事屋銀さん, lit. "Odd Jobs Gin-san"), but it did not have any impact on Sorachi. After a great debate, he decided to go with the name Gintama after discussing it with his family, deciding on a name that sounded close to the edge without being completely off it.[14] Although Sorachi considered the one-shot "Samuraider" to be very poor, the setting of one-shot served as the base for Gintama such as the addition of alien characters.[15] Sorachi liked the Bakumatsu and Sengoku periods due to how both were eras of change and thus presented the positive and negative points of humanity. The series was then set in an alternate Bakumatsu to give a bigger significance to the characters' bushido as in that time samurais were at the low point of their lives.[11] Sorachi also cited the manga series Rurouni Kenshin (1994–1999), set during the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods, as a major source of inspiration.[16]
The main character of the series was originally meant to be Toshiro Hijikata as Sorachi was a fan of the Shinsengumi, most notably from Hijikata Toshizō (the Shinsengumi who was the base for the one of Gintama) after he saw the film Burn! Sword!. When Sorachi could not "shake off" Hijikata's initial design, he decided not to use him as the lead character but added him along with the Shinsengumi to the story.[14] The pilot chapter from the series had a different plot to the one from the serialization: Shinpachi already met Gintoki in the story and there were more Shinsengumi to the story such as one based on Harada Sanosuke. As all these new Shinsengumi were older than most of the recurring characters from the series, Sorachi removed them thinking they were not entertaining.[17] When asked by a fan, Sorachi mentioned that most characters from the series are based on real-life Edo citizens while Gintoki's character is roughly based on the folk heroSakata no Kintoki.[9]
When starting serialization the manga was unpopular and was close to being canceled. Although Sorachi was pleased with the first tankōbon selling all of its copies, he later learned Shueisha was afraid of poor sales which resulted in the minimum printed.[18] To increase its popularity, the author introduced new characters, the Shinsengumi, who felt memorable to his assistants.[11] Sorachi had little hope on the manga's popularity, as he noted that people used to tell him the manga would not surpass the number of two tankōbon volumes. However, once the third volume was released, Sorachi found that he did not have "any fresh material to use."[19] During the first year of the series, Sorachi believed that the source of the popularity of Gintama was partially connected to the Shinsengumi drama. While the drama ran during the first year of the series, when the manga was mostly shorter stories that established the characters and the world, he felt uncomfortable making things related to the drama. By the second year and beyond, he became more daring in his stories and concepts, creating longer storylines that included more drama while keeping his sense of humor and satirization of modern Japan by way of his fictionalized past.[6]
When working on a chapter of Gintama, Sorachi sometimes had problems finishing the manuscript, leaving his supervisor to take it before he can revise it. He figured out what to write by staying in his room or going for a walk.[20] Although he commented that some of his ideas are "random," he focused on the fact that they are all related to the manga, and when he had problems coming up with ideas, Sorachi was often helped by his editor.[21] Thinking of Gintama as a "non-sense manga," before writing a chapter, Sorachi decided whether it should be a comedy or a drama. Sorachi defined Gintama as a "science fiction human drama pseudo-historical comedy."[22]
When Sorachi illustrated Gintama, he usually used a felt-tip pen, a fountain pen, a brush-tip pen, and a multiliner, but for the major characters, he only used a felt-tip pen and a fountain pen and did their outlines with a multiliner-0.8.[23]
Gintama, written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, started in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on December 8, 2003.[24] Shueisha published the first chapters of Gintama online on their Weekly Shōnen Jump official website.[25] In August 2018 it was announced that the manga would end on September 15 in Weekly Shōnen Jump;[26] however, it was later announced on September 15 that the manga would be transferred to Jump Giga.[27][28] It ran in three consecutive issues from December 28, 2018,[29] to February 22, 2019.[30][31] In February 2019, it was announced that the manga would continue in the free Gintama app.[32] It started in the platform on May 13, 2019,[33] and finished with its 704th on June 20 of the same year.[34][35] Shueisha collected its chapters in 77 tankōbon volumes, released from April 2, 2004,[36] to August 2, 2019.[37][38]
Viz Media licensed Gintama for publication in North America. A 55-page preview from the series was first featured in the January 2006 Shonen Jump issue.[39] Viz acquired the license to publish chapters from the series in the Shonen Jump during the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2006.[40] The chapters were serialized in Shonen Jump from January to May 2007 at a rate of one chapter a month.[41][42] The tankōbon volumes were published under Viz's "Shonen Jump Advanced" imprint.[43] The first volume was published on July 3, 2007, while on August 2, 2011, Viz published the twenty-third volume.[44][45] Publication of the series by Viz Media ended with that volume with no reasons given.[46]
Two animated specials of Gintama were developed by Sunrise for the Jump Festa Anime Tour 2005 and 2008. The first one, having the same title, is composed of various auto conclusive stories meant to introduce the characters from the series.[47] The second special titled Shiroyasha Kotan (白夜叉降誕, lit. "White Demon's Birth") is initially set in the war between aliens and samurai and it is later revealed to be a hoax.[48] On September 30, 2009, a DVD named Gintama Jump Anime Tour 2008 & 2005 was published by Aniplex. It contains the 2005 and 2008 specials and an audio commentary.[48] In Weekly Shōnen Jump's 34th issue of 2014, it was announced that the Gintama anime would return for a one-episode special for the year's Jump Festa.[49] The anime special DVD was bundled with the limited edition of the 58th manga volume released on April 3, 2015.[50] The fourth special was released in 2015.
An anime adaptation by Sunrise debuted on TV Tokyo on April 4, 2006. The first ninety-nine episodes were initially directed by Shinji Takamatsu. Episodes 100 to 105 were directed by Takamatsu and Yoichi Fujita, while the following episodes are being directed only by Fujita.[51] The subtitle for the Gintama anime could be loosely translated as "The starting point is the utmost importance for anything, so trying to outdo oneself is just about right."[52] In January 2009, Fujita mentioned he was not going to work in the fourth season of the series starting in such year. However, in February 2009, it was confirmed that the anime would continue for a fourth year, once again directed by Fujita.[53] The series ended on March 25, 2010, with a total of 201 episodes.[54]
In Japan, Aniplex distributes the anime in DVD format. A total of thirteen volumes were released for the first season, between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007.[55] The second season was released over another set of thirteen volumes between July 25, 2007, and July 23, 2008.[56] Season 3 was also released in thirteen volumes from August 27, 2008, to August 26, 2009.[57] The fourth season was collected released in thirteen DVD volumes from October 28, 2009, to October 27, 2010.[58][59]
In November 2008, an agreement was reached between TV Tokyo and the streaming video service Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll would stream English-subtitled episodes for free one week after they had aired in Japan. Paying subscribers can watch new episodes an hour after they air in Japan.[60] On January 8, 2009, Crunchyroll uploaded their first episode (episode 129) to the service. Alongside new episodes each week, Crunchyroll also uploads episodes from the beginning of the series.[61] The anime is licensed in North America by
This article is about the British cider brand. For information about the parent company, see H. P. Bulmer. For the Irish cider maker, whose product is marketed as Magners outside the Republic of Ireland, see Magners.
Bulmers cider is one of a number of brands owned by British cider maker H. P. Bulmer of Hereford, a Heineken subsidiary. It is one of the biggest selling British bottled cider brands in the UK with a number of variants including Bulmers Original & Pear. It should not be confused with Bulmers Irish Cider, sold outside the Republic of Ireland as Magners.
Fred and Percy Bulmer grew the apples at their family orchard at Credenhill in Herefordshire which would be later used to make the cider for which they became known. Production was initially at Ryelands Street in Hereford, the original buildings, including cider cellars survives today as the Cider Museum and King Offa Distillery.[1] Production moved to the current Plough Lane site in the late 1970s. Today HP Bulmer makes 65% of the UK's five hundred million litres of cider sold annually, and the bulk of the UK's cider exports.[2] From 1937 to 1949, Bulmers operated with Wm. Magners of Clonmel, expanding into Irish distribution markets. From 1949 Magners withdrew from this partnership but retained rights to trade under the name HP Bulmer Ltd in Ireland.[3]
In 2003, the Hereford-based firm was bought for £278 million by Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) with the loss of some 200 jobs initially.[4] In 2008, S&N were bought for £7.8 billion by the Carlsberg and Heineken groups.[5] Bulmers now only survives as a brand name and subsidiary of the Dutch Heineken group, with operations in Hereford scaled back to focus mainly on the production of cider.
During spring 2006, the company relaunched Bulmers Original in the UK, aimed at the "served over ice" market, which had grown in popularity over the past few years. Bulmers Original is a 4.5% ABV cider, primarily sold in pint bottles (568 ml). In November 2007, Bulmers pear cider was launched.[6]
In summer 2011, Bulmers relaunched with a new look and new bottles. In reference to the Bulmers naming tradition dating back to the early 1900s (at the time these were Bulmers 1 through to 8), they number-coded the then-current and all future varieties with Original as "No. 9", Pear as "No. 10" and Crisp Blend as "No. 15". At the same time, the Red Berry and Lime flavour was launched as "No. 17".[7]
In March 2013, two new flavours; "Bulmers Cider Bold Black Cherry" and "Bulmers Cider Pressed Red Grape", number-coded "No. 19" and "No. 20" respectively, were added to the range.[8] In March 2014, two lower-alcohol flavours were added: Bulmers Cider Five Fruit Harvest and Bulmers Cider Indian Summer, number-coded "No. 21" and "No. 22" and with an ABV of 2.8%.[9]
In 2015, the red grape flavour was discontinued and replaced with a new flavour "Zesty Blood Orange", number-coded as "No. 23". The black cherry flavour was discontinued the following year and replaced with "Wild Blueberry and Lime", number-coded as "No. 24".
In 2016, Bulmers rebranded yet again, now with bottles of smaller volume at 500 ml
2017 introduced the "Orchard Pioneers" range, 'artisanal' ciders created by the company's suppliers; the range opened with "Kier's Cloudy Apple Cider" (Kier Rogers) and "Sarah's Red Apple Cider" (Sarah Hawkins), number-coded as "No. 25" and "No. 26" respectively.
As of 2021, only the Original and Red Berry & Lime flavours remain available.
In 2014, a study by The Daily Telegraph found that a pint of Bulmers cider contained five teaspoons (20.5g) of sugar, nearly as much as the WHO recommends as an adult's daily allowance of added sugar, and 5-10 times the sugar of lager or ale.[10]
By law, all cider produced in the UK must contain a minimum of 35% apple juice, but this can be imported concentrate.[11] Bulmers do not disclose the percentage of apple juice in their product.[12]
Bulmers have produced several limited edition flavours:
Bulmers Light, introduced in Spring 2008, had the same ABV as Bulmers Original but with 30% fewer calories. However this was delisted a year later due to poor sales.
In Summer 2010, a limited edition version was made, combining both apple and pear flavours in one and named 'Summer Blend'.[13] In Autumn 2010, another limited edition version was created, made using Katy apples which are allowed to fully ripen in the orchards before harvesting, and named "Red Apple".[14]
In the Summer 2011, Bulmers released the limited edition "Crisp Blend" which is made from sharper tasting apples, with a crisp and slightly drier flavour than Original.[15] It was available in pint bottles only. To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the brand in 2012, Bulmers released Bulmers Vintage Reserve ("No. 18"), made with 100% bittersweet apples from the previous year's crop.[16]
Final Fantasy XIII[b] is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for Windows (in 2014). Released in Japan in December 2009 and international in March 2010, it is the thirteenth title in the mainline Final Fantasy series. The game includes fast-paced combat, a new system for the series for determining which abilities are developed for the characters called "Crystarium", and a customizable "Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters. Final Fantasy XIII includes elements from the previous games in the series, such as summoned monsters, chocobos, and airships.
The game takes place in the fictional floating world of Cocoon, whose government, the Sanctum, is ordering a purge of civilians who have supposedly come into contact with Pulse, the much-feared world below. The former soldier Lightning begins her fight against the government in order to save her sister who has been branded as an unwilling servant to a god-like being from Pulse, making her an enemy of Cocoon. Lightning is soon joined by a band of allies, and together the group also become marked by the same Pulse creature. They rally against the Sanctum while trying to discover their assigned task and whether they can avoid being turned into monsters or crystals at the completion.
Development began in 2004, and the game was first announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006. Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of Final Fantasy games and is the first game to use Square Enix's Crystal Tools engine. Final Fantasy XIII was critically acclaimed in Japan and received mostly positive reviews from Western video game publications, which praised the game's graphics, presentation, and battle system. The game’s linearity received a more mixed reception from some critics. Selling 1.7 million copies in Japan in 2009, Final Fantasy XIII became the fastest-selling title in the history of the series. As of 2017, the game has sold over 7 million copies worldwide on consoles.[1] The Windows version has sold over 746,000 copies according to SteamSpy. A sequel, titled Final Fantasy XIII-2, was released in December 2011 in Japan and in February 2012 in North America and PAL regions. A second sequel, titled Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, which concludes Lightning's story and the Final Fantasy XIII series,[2] was released in November 2013 in Japan and in February 2014 in North America and PAL regions. As of September 2014, the Final Fantasy XIII series has shipped over 11 million copies worldwide.
The game was added to Xbox One backward compatibility in November 2018 along with its sequels.[3][4] It is also Xbox One X Enhanced allowing it to run at a higher resolution.
The player directly controls the on-screen character through a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies throughout the game. The player can also turn the camera around the characters, which allows for a 360° view of the surroundings.[5] The world of Final Fantasy XIII is rendered to scale relative to the characters in it; instead of a caricature of the character roaming around miniature terrain, as found in earlier Final Fantasy games, every area is represented proportionally. The player navigates the world by foot or by chocobo.[6] Players may save their game to a hard disk drive using save stations, where the player can also purchase items from retail networks or upgrade their weapons.[7] An in-game datalog provides a bestiary and incidental information about the world of Final Fantasy XIII.[8] The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International version of the game, released in Japan, also contains an "Easy" mode option.[9]
The Final Fantasy XIII battle system, with the "Paradigm Shift" option, the Active Time Battle (ATB) bar filling beneath it with five slots and two actions queued, and the three active characters' health and roles displayed. The enemy's name and damage percentage are shown in the upper right corner.
As in Final Fantasy XII, enemies are integrated into the open field and can be approached or avoided by the player. When the player's character touches an enemy, the screen transitions from the regular map to a separate battle screen similar to those used in previous Final Fantasy titles;[10] the character's health is fully restored after each battle.[11]
A maximum of three characters may be used in battles, which use a variant on the series' traditional Active Time Battle (ATB) system first featured in Final Fantasy IV. Unlike previous games in the series, the player only controls the lead character while the remaining two characters are controlled by the game's artificial intelligence (AI). During battle, the player selects an action from the menus, such as Attack, Magic, and Item. Each action requires a specific number of slots on the ATB bar, which refills in real time to a set maximum number; this total size gradually increases throughout the game from two to six.[11]
The Paradigm system allows the player to program "Paradigms" in which the active party members have a specific role in combat, roughly akin to the job system of previous games. The player can only choose from a limited stock of paradigms set up outside of battle, limiting the possible combinations of roles available; this is the only way of directing AI-controlled party members.[12] The roles consist of Commando, dealing physical damage; Ravager, using elemental magic; Medic, a role which can heal and remove negative status ailments; Synergist, which uses magic to strengthen allies by giving positive statuses; Saboteur, which uses magic to weaken enemies by inflicting negative statuses; and Sentinel, which has protective abilities and may take on enemy focus.[13]
In addition to a health bar, each enemy has a stagger bar (or "chain bonus"), indicating with a percentage starting at 100 the strength of attacks dealt by the player. When the chain bonus reaches an amount specific to the kind of enemy, they are staggered. Stagger increases damage massively by providing an instant boost to the chain bonus, and may launch the enemy into the air. Stagger is increased by a large amount by magic-based attacks, but will fall unless sustained by physical attacks.[12]
Each leader or controlled character can summon a specific Eidolon into battle.[11] These summoned creatures include series staples Odin, Shiva, Alexander, and Bahamut, and newcomers Hecatoncheir and Brynhildr.[14] When summoned, the Eidolon stays in combat while the characters accompanying the summoner leave the party.[15] While an Eidolon is summoned, the player can trigger a feature called Gestalt Mode, in which the Eidolon transforms into a different form and performs different attacks while the summoning character rides them.[16]
The Crystarium is a leveling system consisting of six crystals and resembles the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X.[17][18] Each crystal in the Crystarium represents one of the six roles, and is divided into ten levels. Each level contains various nodes that supply bonuses to health, strength, or magic, or provide new abilities and accessory slots. These nodes are connected by a semi-linear path. The player may advance down the path by acquiring Crystogen Points, which are awarded after defeating enemies.[19] The full Crystarium is not available to the player at the beginning of the game; at specific points in the game's plot, the player gains access to new crystals or levels.[20]
Final Fantasy XIII is set on the world of Gran Pulse (often simply called Pulse). Central to the story is Cocoon, a massive artificial sphere that floats above Pulse's surface and is ruled by the Sanctum, a theocratic government. The two worlds are controlled by fal'Cie /fælˈsiː/, mechanical beings with godlike power. The Cocoon fal'Cie are responsible for keeping Cocoon floating, as well as providing light and water to the people that live inside. Each fal'Cie handles a specific task.[21] The fal'Cie have the capability of marking the humans that live in Pulse and Cocoon as their servants. These servants, called l'Cie /ləˈsiː/, are branded with a symbol representing either Pulse or Cocoon and are given a "Focus"—a task to complete.[22] If the l'Cie complete their task in time, they are transformed to crystal and according to legend gain eternal life; otherwise they become mindless monsters called Cie'th /siːθ/.[23] The l'Cie are not explicitly told their Focus, but are instead given visions that they must interpret.[24]
Several hundred years before the events of the game, a battle known as the War of Transgression took place between Pulse and Cocoon. During the battle, l'Cie from Pulse attacked and ripped a large hole in Cocoon.[25] Eventually, the l'Cie completed their focus and were turned to crystal. The hole was patched with material lifted from Pulse, and Cocoon's citizens have since lived in fear of another invasion; this fear is used by the Sanctum to remain in power.[26] The Sanctum oversees two military branches: the Guardian Corps, responsible for keeping order on Cocoon, and the Public Security and Intelligence COMmand (PSICOM), the special forces in charge of dealing with any threat related to Pulse.[27] The fal'Cie have given the humans advanced technology, including flying airships and mechanical creatures, and a form of magic also exists. This magic is normally only accessible to l'Cie, fal'Cie, and various monsters in Cocoon and Pulse, though distilled chemical forms can be used by normal humans through the use of Manadrives.[28]
In Cocoon, the citizens of the town of Bodhum are being evicted, or Purged, after coming in contact with something from Pulse.[36] Over the course of the game, the player is shown flashbacks of the events of the previous thirteen days, which began when a fal'Cie from Pulse was discovered near Bodhum. Lightning's sister Serah had found the fal'Cie from Pulse and been changed into a l'Cie by it. Lightning and Sazh derail a Purge train bound for Pulse in an attempt to save Serah. As Snow leads his resistance group NORA to rescue the Purge exiles, several of them are killed. Heading to the fal'Cie Anima to save Serah, Snow is joined by two of the exiles: Hope and Vanille. The two parties meet at the fal'Cie, and find Serah just as she turns to crystal. Anima then brands them as l'Cie and they are cast out into a different part of Cocoon. During this transformation, the newly crested l'Cie all have the same vision: a monster called Ragnarok.[37] Arguing over the ambiguous nature of the dreamed Focus, the party finds Serah in her crystallized form; Snow remains with her as the others leave.
Snow meets Cid and Fang, two members of the Cavalry, after he is captured and detained aboard the airshipLindblum. Meanwhile, the others flee from PSICOM before getting separated by an airstrike; Hope and Lightning travel to Palumpolum, while Sazh and Vanille travel to Nautilus. In Lightning's scenario, she unintentionally supports Hope's goal of killing Snow to avenge his mother's death.[38] In Vanille's scenario, Sazh discusses how his son Dajh was turned into a l'Cie by a Cocoon fal'Cie and was taken by PSICOM to discover his Focus.[39] In Palumpolum, Lightning attempts to dissuade Hope from going through with his revenge and meets Snow and Fang. Fang reveals that she and Vanille were l'Cie from Pulse who were turned into crystals; they were turned back into humans 13 days earlier, sparking the Purge.[40] Hope attempts to murder Snow, but after being rescued during an airstrike, he decides not to go through with it.[41] The four then flee the city with Cid's aid. In Nautilus, Vanille reveals herself to Sazh as a l'Cie from Pulse, and indirectly the reason that Dajh was turned into a l'Cie.[32] Sazh and Vanille are then captured and detained on board the airship Palamecia.
On the Palamecia, the other members of the party reunite with Vanille and Sazh before they confront Galenth Dysley, the Sanctum's Primarch, who is the Cocoon fal'Cie ruler Barthandelus in disguise.[42] Barthandelus tells the party that their Focus is to transform into the beast Ragnarok and slay the sleeping fal'Cie Orphan, who keeps Cocoon afloat above Pulse. Slaying Orphan will result in the destruction of Cocoon. The party flees and learns from Cid that the fal'Cie believe that Cocoon's destruction will summon the Maker, the creator of the worlds. The fal'Cie cannot harm Orphan themselves.[43] Vanille and Fang reveal to the party that they were involved in the War of Transgression centuries earlier, and that their Focus then had been the same: to transform into Ragnarok and attempt to destroy Orphan.[44] The party flies away to Pulse and journeys to Oerba, Vanille and Fang's hometown, where they hope to learn how to remove their l'Cie marks. The town is deserted, and they find no living people on the surface. The party is unsuccessful in removing their marks, and Barthandelus confronts them again. The party learns that Barthandelus has made Cid the new Primarch to create chaos in Cocoon to force the Cavalry to attack Cid and Orphan in a coup d'état.[45]
The party infiltrates Cocoon and heads towards Orphan but soon discover that the Cavalry have been turned into Cie'th. The party defeats Barthandelus, but Orphan awakens and merges with Barthandelus, then compels Fang to finish her Focus as Ragnarok while the others are seemingly transformed into Cie'th. The party reappears in human form, preventing Fang from transforming. The party defeats Orphan[46] and escapes Cocoon, which is now falling towards Pulse. As the rest of the party turns to crystal for completing their Focus, Vanille and Fang remain on Cocoon and transform into Ragnarok together to prevent a collision between Cocoon and Pulse. The rest of the party awaken from their crystallization on Pulse and find their l'Cie brands gone; Lightning, Hope, Snow and Sazh reunite with Serah and Dajh.
Development of Final Fantasy XIII began in February 2004, shortly after the release of Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission in Japan.[47] At the time, the project was internally referred to by the codename "Colors World".[48] Over the first year, director Motomu Toriyama and scenario conceptor Kazushige Nojima conceived ideas for the plot. Nojima thought up the crystal mythology that became the basis for the Fabula Nova Crystallis series, including concepts such as the fal'Cie and l'Cie. Toriyama then created a story premised on this mythology. He wanted to portray "characters at the mercy of a predetermined, unjust fate" who "belong together but collide heavily". In order to achieve this, each of the story's thirteen chapters was made to focus on different protagonists. Chapters seven and eight were to mark a turning point in the interpersonal relationships of the party.[49]
In March 2006, when the structural part of the narrative started to come together, lead scenario writer Daisuke Watanabe joined the team. Toriyama gave him a rough outline of the first eight chapters, which included several cornerstone scenes that needed to be kept, like when party members were separated or reunited. He told Watanabe what he wanted to express with the scenario, and asked him to flesh out the story and to strengthen how the points in his outline connected.[49] For example, Toriyama's rudimentary instructions in the document would say "Snow and Hope reconcile".[49][50] Watanabe had to decide about how the scenes with this reconciliation would play out, then write the scenario that way. To emphasize what the story tried to express, Watanabe adjusted the personalities Toriyama had given to each character. For example, he felt that the party should not have a "reliable and calm leader type" at the beginning of the story, in order to more accurately show the confusion and unease after the protagonists transform into l'Cie. Toriyama has said that one of the storytelling challenges was the despair of the characters and the many points at which they are seemingly cornered. He mentioned the scene where Sazh tries to commit suicide as one such example. Although Toriyama felt it was "almost a little too dark", he wanted to include something like it in the game. In contrast, he said that lighthearted elements such as Sazh's Chocobo chick helped maintain a good balance.[49]
At the beginning of the development, the game was intended to be released on the PlayStation 2.[51] In May 2005, after the positive reception of the tech demo of Final Fantasy VII, the team decided to move the game to the PlayStation 3 and developed it with the new Crystal Tools engine, a seventh generation multiplatform game engine created by Square Enix for its next generation games.[52][53] Square Enix believed that developing a new engine would speed up development time later in the project, though it would initially cause a delay in the game's development. However, the delay was longer than originally anticipated as the engine had to accommodate the requirements of several other games in addition to XIII.[54] Another factor in the platform move was the delayed release of Final Fantasy XII, which came out a very short time before the release of the PlayStation 3.[55] A PC port was considered during development, but was decided against due to how Square Enix saw the video game market situation at the time as well as additional complexities that Square Enix did not have experience with related to the PC platform, such as security issues.[56]Final Fantasy XIII was first shown at the 2006 E3 convention.[57] The trailer shown was an artistic concept that did not represent the final concept for the game, since at the time there was no playable form of the game.[54] Announced alongside the game was Final Fantasy Versus XIII, later retitled as Final Fantasy XV, and the PlayStation Portable game Final Fantasy Type-0, originally titled Final Fantasy Agito XIII, the three of which form the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy series.[58] Square Enix explained that although all three games are thematically linked, they are not directly related in terms of story.[59]
The developers for Final Fantasy XIII were divided into multiple areas, with each developer or team focusing only on a specific task such as developing a specific in-game area or modeling characters.[54] Each physical area of the game was developed separately; after an initial design was approved, teams were assigned to a specific location and filled in details without reusing assets from other areas.[60] Several of the game's developers had worked on previous installments of the series. Director Motomu Toriyama had worked on Final Fantasy X and X-2; producer Yoshinori Kitase had worked on V through VIII and as the producer for X and X-2; main-character designer Tetsuya Nomura had performed the same role for VII, VIII, X, and X-2, and battle-system director Toshiro Tsuchida reprised that role from Final Fantasy X.[61][62] As XIII was the first Final Fantasy game for the PlayStation 3, the development team's internal goal was for the game to have the same "gameplay and craftmanship" impact that Final Fantasy VII and X had as the first games of the series on their respective consoles. They aimed to sell five million copies of the game.[54] Toriyama wanted the game to be "the ultimate single player RPG".[63]
Tsuchida's concept for the battle system was to maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles. The system stemmed from a desire to create battles similar to those found in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.[64]Magic points (MP), which had been a part of the battle system in previous Final Fantasy titles, were removed in the game's battle system as Tsuchida and the other designers felt that it gave players an incentive to not use their most powerful magic attacks due to the MP cost, in turn making battles less interesting. The Paradigm system was designed early in the battle system's development, with the intent of making battles rely on quickly changing strategies and feel fast-moving. Originally there were only five roles, but the Saboteur was later added as the designers felt that its abilities were missing from the game and did not fit with the other roles. Together with the maximum of three characters in a combat situation, the groupings of enemies were designed to force the player to switch Paradigms to keep them engaged in the battles.[65]
Toriyama wanted Lightning to be a new type of female character with an athlete's body and a less feminine nature than some of the previous female characters of the series.[51][66] His guideline to Nomura was to make her "strong and beautiful", and she was intended to be reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife.[51][67] Fang was initially meant to be a male character, but the gender was changed to coincide with the updated character designs during the latter part of development.[68] The graphics capabilities of the PS3 and Xbox 360 compared to previous consoles allowed Nomura to use more complex elements in the character designs than before, such as Lightning's cape and detailed facial features.[69] This in turn meant that the art team had to do much more work for each character or area than in previous games.[70] Nomura did not take an involved role in the creation of the non-playable characters.[69]
Unlike previous games in the series which were more inspired by Asian locations and culture, Final Fantasy XIII was intended by the art team to be reminiscent of the United States. Pulse was based on landscape photographs the team took from across the country, and Cocoon was intended to be a "melting pot" of different ethnicities.[70] The setting was also given a science fiction aesthetic to make it stand out more in comparison with other entries in the series.[71] Art director Isamu Kamikokuryo revealed that many additional scenarios such as Lightning's home, which were functioning in an unreleased build during development, were left out of the final version due to concerns about the game's length and volume.[72] Kamikokuryo said the content they cut was, in itself, enough to make another game.[72] According to Toriyama, the cuts were made in "various stages of [the game's] development", and that some of the content was removed just before the game's completion.[63] The game, unlike previous titles in the series, includes no explorable town areas; Toriyama said in an interview that the team was unable to make them as graphically appealing as the rest of the game and chose to eliminate them.[47] Toriyama intended to have a piece of downloadable content available for the game that would include a new area, weapons and quests, but was forced to cut it as well due to quality concerns so late in the project and difficulties with the different systems for extra content on the two gaming consoles.[73]
A playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII was included in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete, released on April 16, 2009.[74][75] Toriyama stated that the release of the demo, which was not in the original development schedule, helped the team recognize a shared vision for what the game should look and feel like, a problem which had been plaguing the development team up until then. It helped the team prioritize the work that still needed to be done, which increased the development speed for the remainder of the project. The game was intended to appeal to both Western and Japanese audiences, and focus groups from both regions were used. The English localization began while development was still in progress to lessen the delay between the Japanese and worldwide releases.[54][76] The game was initially going to be released solely for the PlayStation 3, but an Xbox 360 version was announced late in the game's development cycle. The Xbox version, due to technical limitations, runs at a lower resolution (720p maximum) than the PlayStation version and is spread across 3 discs.[77]
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
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The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following: p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
This album was the first record after former guitarist Mick Taylor quit in December 1974. As he had done the previous time the Stones were between second guitarists in 1968, Keith Richards recorded the bulk of the guitar parts himself, though the album recording sessions also served as an audition for Taylor's replacement. Richards said of the album that it was used for "rehearsing guitar players, that's what that one was about."[3] Numerous guitarists showed up to auditions; those who appeared on the album were Wayne Perkins, Harvey Mandel, and Ronnie Wood. Wood had previously contributed to the title track from the It's Only Rock 'n Roll album, and became a temporary touring member of the Stones in 1975 and official member in 1976.[4] The Stones rhythm section of bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts appear on nearly all tracks, and frequent collaborators Nicky Hopkins and Billy Preston play keyboards on most of the album, with percussionist Ollie E. Brown also appearing on about half of the tracks. The album was the second to be self-produced, credited to "The Glimmer Twins", a pseudonym used by Jagger and Richards for their roles as producers.
Black and Blue showed the band blending their traditional rock and roll style with heavy influences from reggae and funk music. Only one single from the album, "Fool to Cry", had any significant chart success, and reception to the album was mixed. The album received a few positive reviews at the time of release, though many reviewers found it mostly forgettable, and tended to rank it very low compared to prior Stones releases. Retrospective reviews from more recent publications such as AllMusic have been kinder to the album, with critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine stating that the album's "being longer on grooves and jams than songs" ended up being "what's good about it".[5]
The Rolling Stones returned to Munich, Germany, in December 1974—where they had recorded their previous album It's Only Rock 'n' Roll—and began the recording of their new album at Musicland Studios, with Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (as the Glimmer Twins) producing again. With a view to releasing it in time for a summer 1975 Tour of the Americas, the band broke for the holidays and returned in January in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to continue working—all the while auditioning new guitarists as they recorded. Among the hopefuls were Steve Marriott, Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Peter Frampton, and Ronnie Wood (although only Mandel, Perkins and Wood's guitar work would appear on the finished album). Guitar heroes Rory Gallagher and Jeff Beck both went over for a jam with the band "just to see what was going on," but both declined interest in joining the group, happy with their solo careers. Jeff Beck stated that, "in two hours I got to play three chords – I need a little more energy than that." Beck's jamming with the Stones remains unreleased to date, but is available on bootleg recordings. With much work to follow, it was decided to delay the album for the following year and release the Made in the Shade compilation instead. "Cherry Oh Baby" (which was a cover version of Eric Donaldson's 1971 reggae song) would be the only song from the upcoming album sporadically played on the 1975 Tour of the Americas.
Following the conclusion of the tour, the band went to Montreux, Switzerland, in October for some overdub work, returning to Musicland Studios in Munich in December to perform similar work. After some final touch-ups, Black and Blue was completed in New York City in February 1976. That month the Stones flew to Sanibel Island Beach on Sanibel Island, Florida, to be photographed by fashion photographer Hiro for the album cover art.[6]
Stylistically, Black and Blue embraces hard rock with "Hand of Fate" (solo by Wayne Perkins) and "Crazy Mama"; funk with "Hot Stuff" (solo by Harvey Mandel); reggae with their cover of "Cherry Oh Baby" (Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards weaving guitars); and blues with "Melody," featuring the talents of Billy Preston – a heavy contributor to the album. Musical and thematic styles were merged on the seven-minute "Memory Motel," with both Jagger and Richards contributing lead vocals to a love song embedded within a life-on-the-road tale.
While all the album's songs except "Cherry Oh Baby" were officially credited to Jagger/Richards as authors, the credit for "Hey Negrita" specifies "Inspiration by Ron Wood" and "Melody" lists "Inspiration by Billy Preston". Bill Wyman would later release a version of "Melody" with his Rhythm Kings, crediting Preston as author. "Melody" is based on "Do You Love Me" by Billy Preston and Bruce Fisher, from Preston's 1973 album Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music. The only song to include both session players Wayne Perkins and Harvey Mandel is Memory Motel where Perkins plays acoustic, Mandel electric, but without a guitar solo.
Two extra tracks recorded in the Rotterdam sessions were later released on 1981's Tattoo You: "Slave" and "Worried About You" (guitar solo by Wayne Perkins).[7]
Released on 23 April 1976[8] – with "Fool to Cry", a worldwide top 10 hit, as its lead single – Black and Blue reached No. 2 in the UK and spent an interrupted four-week spell at number 1 in the United States, going platinum there.
The album was promoted with a controversial billboard on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood that depicted the model Anita Russell, bound by Jagger[9] under the phrase "I'm Black and Blue from the Rolling Stones – and I love it!" The billboard was removed after protests by the feminist group Women Against Violence Against Women, although it earned the band widespread press coverage.[10]
Critical view was polarised. According to writer Bud Scoppa, some critics were bewildered by the album, while others dismissed it for its dissimilarities to Exile on Main St. (1972), which by then had become regarded as the group's best work.[20] Author Gary J. Jucha describes the mixed critical reaction as typical of "most progressive albums by an established recording artist."[8]
Lester Bangs wrote in Creem that "the heat's off, because it's all over, they really don't matter anymore or stand for anything [...] this is the first meaningless Rolling Stones album, and thank God".[21] However, Robert Christgau commended the band for taking musical risks, and singled out "Hot Stuff" and "Fool to Cry" for particular praise before concluding: "diagnosis: not dead by a long shot".[22] He also felt that the album represents the Stones' biggest exploration of black rhythms and styles since December's Children (1965).[22] Bill Cosford of The Miami Herald highlighted the record as a musical departure for the band, writing: "Black and Blue is not a rock album. It is a sampler, of sorts, a musical term paper. In it the Stones examine the several influences on pop music today: salsa, disco, reggae. By and large, they do so superbly. But in committing themselves to exercises in musical formulae as tight as these, the Stones attach their music to styles subject to rapid eclipse."[23]
Retrospectively, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the album for being "longer on grooves and jams than songs", which he felt was inevitable as it was recorded while the Stones auditioned a replacement for Taylor, and for profiling the band's musical chemistry. He felt that "groove and sound" characterise the record, generally eschewing straight rock songs for reggae, funk and disco excursions that "sound like integral parts of the Stones' lifeblood".[11] Bud Scoppa of Uncut described the record as an "unlikely triumph", with the groove-oriented material and guesting "hotshot musicians" combining for strong performances, "expertly brought out by the ultra-dry sonics of engineers Glyn Johns and Keith Harwood". He wrote: "Forty-one minutes of super-tight, bone-dry, hi-fi rock and soul, Black and Blue is one of the Stones' most underrated albums – the only Stones LP to focus primarily on feel rather than subject matter."[20]
Less favourably, The Rough Guide to Rock contributor Peter Shapiro wrote that following the addition of Wood to their line-up, the Stones slowly transformed into "caricatures of the worst rock'n'roll excesses", adding that on Black and Blue, the group "tried to answer LeRoi Jones's comment that white people were 'the keepers of last year's blues' by appropriating contemporary funk and reggae stylings, with mixed results."[24]Colin Larkin of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music wrote that the album "showed the group seeking a possible new direction playing variants on white reggae, but the results were less than impressive."[13] Similarly, Martin C. Strong of The Great Rock Discography noted that the record saw "[Wood] brought into the fold and a half hearted attempt at reggae stylings".[25] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Black and Blue is described as a "nearly song-free" album which works best on the sincere ballads "Fool to Cry" and "Memory Hotel" and "the silly but shitkicking cowboy tale 'Hand of Fate'."[17]
In 1977, Keith Richards said that the album "wasn't very good – certainly nowhere as good as Let It Bleed", though he reappraised the record in 1984. Mick Jagger offered his assessment in the 1990s: "It was a bit of a holiday period. I mean, we cared, but we didn't care as much as we had, not really concentrating on the creative process."[20] Mick Taylor praised the album in a 1979 interview.[20]
In 1994, Black and Blue was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, again in 2009 by Universal Music, and once more in 2011 by Universal Music Enterprises in a Japanese-only SHM-SACD version. The 1994 remaster was initially released in a Collector's Edition CD, which replicated in miniature many elements of the original gatefold album packaging.
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