Three Legged Dog is the fourth studio album by Australian indie rock band The Cruel Sea. The album was released in April 1995 and peaked at number 1 on the ARIA Charts. The liner notes of the album lists “For Pandora”, Gormly’s daughter, pictured in the liner notes.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995, the album was nominated for four awards; winning the ARIA Award for Best Group,^[1] Engineer of the Year for Tony Cohen and Paul McKercher's work, and Producer of the Year for Cohen's work.^[2]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[3]

Composition

Three Legged Dog was the first Cruel Sea album with writing contributions from all members of the band. Previously, most songs has originated from home demos recorded by Danny Rumour. Perkins said, "We have been playing together for so many years getting to know each other that creating music as a unit was a natural progression. It was a fresh way of doing things and made the creative process exciting again."^[4]

Cover

The cover photo was taken by Kristyna Higgins, Perkins' partner. The dog, Molly, was owned by a friend of the band. Cruickshank said, "The most beautiful creature you've ever seen. She's a very proud creature, and looks the wiser for not having her other leg.^[5]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald said, "The album marks a significant departure from the pop-inspired hooks and punchlines pf The Honeymoon is Over, getting back to the harder-edged groove and rock sensibilities found on their earlier albums.^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"This Is What It Is"	James Cruickshank Jim Elliott Ken Gormly Dan Rumour	2:47
2.	"Just a Man"	Ken Gormley Stephen Perkins	4:02
3.	"Anybody But You"	Perkins	3:57
4.	"Too Fast for Me"	The Cruel Sea	2:54
5.	"Teach Me"	Cruickshank Gormly Perkins	3:35
6.	"Hard Candy"	Rumour	2:46
7.	"Too Late to Turn Back"	Perkins Rumour	3:10
8.	"Baby Meet"	Cruickshank Elliott Gormly Perkins	2:50
9.	"Save Me"	Cruickshank Perkins	3:49
10.	"Gimme Back My Thing"	Perkins Rumour	1:45
11.	"Better Get a Lawyer"	Cruickshank Elliott Gormly Perkins Rumour	3:00
12.	"Brain Wash"	Cruickshank Elliott Gormly Perkins	2:58
13.	"Three Legged Dog"	Cruickshank Elliott Gormly Rumour	2:53
14.	"The Lot"	Gormly Perkins Rumour	3:55
15.	"Strange Thing"	Rumour	3:56

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[6]	1
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[7]	20

Year-end charts

Charts (1995)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	40^[8]
Australian Artist Albums (ARIA)	3^[8]

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Catalogue
Australia	April 1995	CD, Cassette, LP	Red Eye Records	527537-2, REDCD 50

References

^ "Winners by Year 1995". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ Blair, Dale (August 2017). "Life in a Padded Cell: A Biography of Tony Cohen, Australian Sound Engineer" (PDF). Dale Blair. p. 167. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2020. Note: this source states that Cohen's 1995 ARIA Artisan Awards were both for the Cruel Sea's album, Three Legged Dog. He shared Engineer of the Year with Paul McKercher.
^ "Three Legged Dog> Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ ^a ^b Andrew Perrin. "Rocking with the cool Cruel Sea". The Sydney Morning Herald.(Subscription required.)
^ Rachel Hill. "Legless in Cruel Sea". Canberra Times.
^ "Australiancharts.com – The Cruel Sea – Three Legged Dog". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ "Charts.nz – The Cruel Sea – Three Legged Dog". Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
^ ^a ^b "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 50 Albums 1995". ARIA. 1996. Retrieved 8 January 2019.

v t e The Cruel Sea
Studio albums	Down Below This Is Not the Way Home The Honeymoon Is Over Three Legged Dog Over Easy Where There's Smoke
Compilation albums	Rock'n Roll Duds The Most (The Best of The Cruel Sea)
Extended plays	Down Below
Singles	"Black Stick" "The Honeymoon Is Over" "Better Get a Lawyer" "Just a Man"
Related articles	Discography Red Eye Records Polydor Records