dozen songs by 1991, some difficulties prolonged the start of recording sessions for the next album. Initially, the band had issue with the musical director of Virgin, who, after seeing the songs, was convinced the band "could do better" and asked them to write more material. With the band sitting on the material, the director left the label a year later, and his replacement liked the band's content, hurrying them to record the album. Gus Dudgeon produced, even though Partridge felt he was the wrong choice, and Fairport Convention's Dave Mattacks was brought in as drummer. Nonsuch was received with critical acclaim when released in April 1992, and like Oranges & Lemons, peaked at number 28 in the UK, becoming their second consecutive and final Top 40 album. Rolling Stones Michael Azerrad reviewed: "Emphasizing wonder and wit in opposition to the rage of most college rock, XTC makes alternative music for people who don't like 'alternative music.'" Lead single "The Disappointed" reached number 33 in the UK and was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. Its follow-up "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" reached number 71. "Wrapped in Grey" was intended as the third single, and about 5,000 copies were pressed before being withdrawn from sale. Partridge remembered thinking, "that's it, they've suffocated one of our kids in the cot, they've murdered the album, basically through ignorance." In 1993, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, but lost to Tom Waits' Bone Machine. 1993–present: Legal entanglement, return and breakup Strike period In 1993, Partridge conceived XTC's next project to be an album of bubblegum pop songs disguising itself as a retrospective compilation featuring 12 different groups from the early 1970s. The lyrics were also heavily sexual, with song titles such as "Lolly (Suck It and See)" and "Visit to the Doctor". Partridge recalled playing some demos for Virgin agents, and compared their reaction to the "Springtime for Hitler" scene from the 1967 film The Producers. The label rejected his idea. Virgin denied Partridge's requests to renegotiate or revoke XTC's contract. Paul Kinder believed that the label and the group were "poles apart" and that "the contract was so old it got to the point where Andy wanted the moon and Virgin weren't prepared to give it him." Whatever new music the band recorded would have been automatically owned by Virgin, and so the band enacted