the bed and people find that very odd that I was quite happy to say 'yeah, I'm bisexual and it doesn't really matter.") He also hit the headlines due to a war of words between Rossiter and comedian Paul Kaye which culminated in Rossiter headbutting Kaye in a nightclub. Revelations and leaving Polydor 1998 served as a fallow year for the band, used for writing new material as well as a few low-key shows and events such as Radio 1's Sound City. In fact, the most newsworthy article about Gene during that year was of Martin Rossiter's 'drastic' change in image. Gone were the suit jackets with white shirts and the floppy side-parted hair, in favour of the mod-like Fred Perry polo shirts, jeans and a very short haircut. The new look was to be reflective of the band's rockier forthcoming studio LP, Revelations. On their return from relative wilderness, it appeared that Gene had lost a lot of their prestige during their year out of the limelight, and were no longer the golden boys of the indie scene. First off the LP, released in February 1999, was a Jam-like political single called "As Good As it Gets", which entered the charts at number 23 to lukewarm reviews. Revelations was released that March to very mixed reviews; the NME awarded it 5/10, concluding that the album was "pretty thin on the ground". Revelations carries some political songs, such as the aforementioned "As Good As it Gets", "The British Disease" and "Mayday". Rossiter, who had an occasional political spot on BBC Radio Five Live, launched a vitriolic critique of New Labour's first term in office. The album charted disappointingly at number 23, and the second single from the album, "Fill Her Up", charted at number 37 that April. Despite a successful and comprehensive tour around the country, again selling out many venues, as well as making a successful appearance at the Reading Festival of that year, Gene and Polydor parted ways. The band felt somewhat undermined by their label's lack of support and failure to market the album adequately. As Rossiter explained: "Only when we got to Gretna Green did we realize that Polydor had disembarked at Crewe." Whilst the band made the best of Revelations''' raw, live sound during the album's promotion, as well as the fact that the recording of the album took less than a month to complete