After experimenting with material under their previous name: 'F.R.I.S.K', they both took it upon themselves to record a long-playing album. This time, they were to be called 'Sneaker Pimps'. After a year of preparation and recording, the album was nearly completed, but, they needed a singer. Chris Corner originally demoed the vocals, but they felt they needed a female singer to fit the style and lyrics for the album. Upon recommendation from their manager, they travelled to Birmingham to meet a contact who was in a similar situation as themselves. The girl who they'd arrange to meet was initially performing in a new-wave, punk band at the time called 'The Lumieres'. This turned out to be Kelli Dayton (later changed to Ali). After a lengthy discussion and getting to know her, they convinced her to join them back in Hartlepool to record vocals and add any finishing touches to their current album - which was nearly completed. Now that a singer had been recruited, it needed a mix-down, so for that, they set on their old friend Jim Abbiss for this role, with some input from 'Flood' (who would later work on 'Bloodsport'). With the album finally finished, it was to be called: 'Becoming X'. It was very primitive, in terms of equipment and technique - the entirety of the vocals were sung inside a wardrobe in Liam's bedroom, rather than a traditional recording booth in an actual studio. With not having a drummer, even snares and kicks were sampled, by the band themselves, from their own-made collection of sounds. Sampling itself, was used quite a lot, from David Sylvian's track: 'Let The Happiness In', from his 1987 album: 'Secrets Of The Beehive', to John Barry's James Bond cue: 'Golden Girl', from the James Bond film: 'Goldfinger'. When the album was finally released in 1996, it was labelled under 'Clean-up' records, a subdivision of 'One Little Indian' records. It spawned five hit singles, all of which had a music video (except 'Roll On') and all of which had remixes by artists such as Paul Oakenfold, Jamie Myerson and Armand Van Helden, the most popular being Armand's remix of 'Spin Spin Sugar'; this remix was featured in the 2005 Rockstar video-game: 'Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories', then, in 2014, Rockstar once again chose Sneaker Pimps for the re-release of 'Grand Theft Auto: V' - this time, the track of choice was the Nellee Hooper edit of 'Six Underground', which was also featured in the 1997 blockbuster movie 'The Saint'. These prime examples of exposure supplied attention to Sneaker Pimps from a range of generations - and still do to this day. Aside from the dance orientated music such as the singles noted above, the band delved into other types of musical styles, such as avant-garde, electronica and folk. A prime example; they chose to cover 'Willow's Song', from the 1973 film: 'The Wicker Man', for their track: 'How Do'. The 'Roll On' single also had a b-side called 'Johnny', another song from this film (Director's and Final Cut's only). When released, the 'Becoming X' album was an instant hit as soon as it hit the shelves and the band were almost instantly launched on their way to promote it by supplying a lengthy tour (mainly in America). To help prepare to play live (as the album was mostly drum loops and sample based material), they brought along their friends Joe Wilson (for bass) and David Westlake (for drums). This rendition of the band stayed the same until their last album: 'Bloodsport' (with the exception of Kelli Ali leaving the group after the 'Becoming X' tour). Upon release, it was pressed onto LP, cassette and CD. The Japanese CD's had extra tracks included from the 'Becoming X' sessions (see below). In 1997, the album was re-released with different cover art and alternate tracks (some remixes were used in place of the original versions). Then in 2008, the album was re-pressed on 2-LP, 200gram, Direct Metal Mastered vinyl, only 'One Little Indian' records used the track-list from the re-release of 'Becoming X' (with the remixes) rather than the original album. To make it even more confusing, they used the original album art for this release, rather than the 1997 'Becoming X' artwork. It was also re-pressed once again in 2016 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album release, all identical to the 2008 edition, except the vinyl was pressed at 180gram instead of 200gram. It was planned to re-release 'Becoming X' for free in 5.1 surround-sound form, but it was cancelled.

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