Tom Waits "Heartattack and Vine" (1980)

Heartattack and Vine
release date: Sep. 9, 1980
format: vinyl (reissue) (AS 52 252) / cd (1989 reissue)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: Bones Howe
label: Asylum / Elektra - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Heartattack and Vine" (4 / 5) - 3. "Saving All My Love for You" - 4. "Downtown" (4 / 5) - 5. "Jersey Girl" (5 / 5) - 6. " 'Til the Money Runs Out" (4 / 5) - 7. "On the Nickel" (5 / 5) (live) - 8. "Mr. Siegal" - 9."Ruby's Arms"

7th studio album by Tom Waits following two years after Blue Valentine (1978) is his last studio release under his own name with Bones Howe as producer - a near-fast fixture since '74 and the producer of a total of six albums. The unusual two-year period between new albums may be seen in the light of the lifestyle he practices together with Rickie Lee Jones. Since her solo debut in early '79, the pair had been living a life on the music industry's infamous shadow side, and Waits had ended their relationship in the fall of '79, simultaneously questioning his continued musical career. He left his 'beloved' LA motel, The Tropicana, his home for the better part of a decade, and moved to the East Coast and New York to find a new focus in life and with the clear intention of starting a healthier life. The change was not the success he had hoped for, and four months after leaving LA 'forever' and with a handful of new experiences, he returned to the City of Angels but this time in his own apartment - away from The Troubadour and away from The Tropicana clientele. It was also during this period that he found his (lasting) love in Kathleen Brennan, whom he (already) married in Aug. 1980. Waits had been engaged to write the music for a Francis Ford Coppola musical film, "One From the Heart" (1982) and Brennan worked at Coppola's Zoetrope production company.

Heartattack and Vine is on my top-5 favourite list of Tom Waits albums and it's also one of the first Waits albums that I bought on vinyl back in 1988 / '89. Bruce Springsteen had led me to this album when he included the beautiful ballad "Jersey Girl" on his 1986 live box set, and I became curious to hear the original version.

The album shows in several ways a 'new' Tom Waits. All of his previous albums are stylistically linked in a singer / songwriter, blues, and vocal jazz framework, but this one is his first electrified album. The title track and the first track start with a raw bluesy rock and r&b guitar and feauture a Tom Waits who almost spits out his words accompanied by a completely different sound stemming from percussion and trombone - an r&b backbone. The style is still centered around his narratives, the stories of lost destinies, and there is still a lot of vocal jazz in the music but the compositions have become simpler, more direct, rawer, almost like a type of garage rock, and in that way functions as a transitional album to a more experimental side to his music. You may wonder what The Pogues would have sounded and looked like had this album not been released.

The album is Waits' second to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Mojo 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Underworld "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" (1994)

Dubnobasswithmyheadman
release date: Jan. 24, 1994
format: cd (1998 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,14]
producer: Underworld
label: JBO (Junior Boy's Own) - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Dark & Long" - 2. "Mmm Skyscraper I Love You" - 4. "Spoonman" - 7. "Cowgirl"

3rd studio album by Underworld released on the newly-established electronic label Junior Boy's Own. The album is also known as the band's first as mk2 [make 2], where the band has become a trio as Darren Emerson joined Karl Hyde and Rick Smith in 1990. With Emerson, the band completely reshaped its profile and began experimenting with electronic techno music.
An outspread misconception states that Emerson was the mastermind behind the early successful years of Underworld, and that Hyde and Smith only profited from his direction when he left the two in 2001. The truth is that Hyde and Smith are credited as songwriters of all compositions on this album, whereas Emerson is only credited on two. Also, after the first incarnation of Underworld had dissolved, the new trio started out making electronic music together, rather than one person showing the others what new styles could accomplish.
Now, the album is not one of my favourites, though. I really enjoy Underworld and its take on house but I never really liked the electronic shape of trance and original techno all that much, but for what has now become a trio this is a U-turn in musical style, and the music was welcomed as "innovative".
Dubnobasswithmyheadman was released to positive reviews, reaching number #12 on the national albums chart list, and it became Underworld's breakthrough and prize-winning album.
I really don't know of their two earliest releases, "Underneath the Radar" (1988) and "Change the Weather" (1989), but from what I've read, these two releases were new wave and funk-styled, which seems aeons away from this. So this was highly experimental for these guys - and especially for Hyde and Smith - and Underworld has stuck to electronic and house in different disguises on all their albums to follow.
Now, the album is not bad, but really more of "putting a finger in the air" to see where to go.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright" (1986)

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
release date: Aug. 1986
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Mike Hedges
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Everything but the Girl is a move into more sugary sophisti-pop with stress under pop. All songs are as usual credited either the two together or solely Watt or Thorn. Gone are the jangle pop and jazz elements, and it's a clone of swing, big band, and pop soul with lots of violins, brass, and... marimbas.
I have tried to like it, but fail each time - and I think of it as their perhaps least interesting release ever. Not even the front cover is any good. This is really difficult to like.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Frank Zappa "Apostrophe (')" (1974)

Apostrophe (')
release date: Mar. 22, 1974
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" - 2. "Nanook Rubs It" (alt. version) - 5. "Cosmik Debris" - 7. "Apostrophe"

18th studio album by Zappa! And his best selling album.
This is still a fine album, and very much in family with his albums released from 1973, with Over-Nite Sensation, to his last albums of the decade with Joe's Garage II & III (1979). The music is experimental rock with elements of jazz rock / rock fusion, and the ever presence of satire.

Suede "Coming Up" (1996)

Coming Up
release date: Sep. 2, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Ed Buller
label: Nude Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Trash" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Filmstar" - 3. "Lazy" (4 / 5) - 4. "By the Sea" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "She" - 6. "Beautiful Ones" (4 / 5) - 7. "Starcrazy" - 8. "Picnic by the Motorway" - 9. "The Chemistry Between Us" (4 / 5) - 10. "Saturday Night" (4 / 5)

3rd studio album by Suede and the 3rd consecutive and so far last album to be produced by Ed Buller. With this, the band appears with a new line-up with Richard Oakes (replacing Bernard Butler) on guitar (Oakes had been selected among approx. 500 candidates to be guitarist of the band), and Suede introduces a more simple and lighter pop-minded album, which feels much as a natural follow-up to the glamorous debut with focus on glam rock, pop / rock (loads of 'flanger' guitar effect), and gone are the more complex and darker orchestrated arrangements found on Dog Man Star.
The album fared better than the '94 album (as it sold 'Platinum', selling more than 300.000 copies), and it also went to number #1 on the British album charts, just like the debut.
In the late 90s I found it a bit of a difficult one - I liked the hit songs, but also felt it too deep into "simple pop", which I found was the wrong turn compared to the stronger rock-bonds of Dog Man Star. In retrospect, I find it a much better album than just plain matter over content. I think, it represents a fine and durable collection of songs and it also displays the unique sound they established with this album, which I simply consider the band's second best studio release.
Recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Rust Never Sleeps" (1979) (live)

Rust Never Sleeps (live)
release date: Jul. 1979
format: cd (1993 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Neil Young, David Briggs and Tim Mulligan
label: Reprise Records, Germany - nationality: Canada

Tracklist: 1. "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" (4 / 5) - 2. "Thrasher" (4 / 5) - 3. "Ride My Llama" - 4. "Pocahontas" - 5. "Sail Away" - 6. "Powderfinger" (4 / 5) - 7. "Welfare Mothers" - 8. "Sedan Delivery" - 9. "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" (4 / 5)

Live album released as Neil Young & Crazy Horse is Neil Young's second official and perhaps best received live album. This is not his great albums come to live but actually all new tracks recorded for a live audience. First half of the album is almost entirely Neil on his own, just singing, playing guitar and harmonica, whereas the second part (tracks #6-9 - the actual B-side on vinyl) is an electrified Young with Crazy Horse. Mostly, the cheering and clapping of the audience has been removed, so it's a different kind of a live album in more than one sense. It was released and classified as a live album, but basically it has been heavily re-produced and overdubbed in the studio.
The album put him back on top of the world of rock despite new times with punk rock, post punk and new wave. It's enlisted in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and it's a certified must-have item in any Neil Young collection, which means: highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Orange Juice "Rip It Up" (1982)

Rip It Up
release date: Nov. 1983
format: cd (1998 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Martin Hayles
label: Polydor - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Rip It Up" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "A Million Pleading Faces" - 3. "Mud in Your Eye" - 4. "Turn Away" - 6. "I Can't Help Myself" (live) - 7. "Flesh of My Flesh"
*The 1998 remaster contains 3 bonus tracks

2nd studio album by Orange Juice released only nine months after the debut from Feb. '83 doesn't sound much like the former, and basically more than anything reflects the band's transformation rather than its natural progression. Fact is, both drummer Steven Daly and guitarist James Kirk left the band soon after having released You Can't Hide Your Love Forever. Replacing members are guitarist Malcolm Ross (ex-Joseph K) and drummer Zeke Manyika. Having substituted half of the band the end result is noticeable. The music is still indie pop, but what was left of post punk influence seems abandoned here. There's also less focus on the bold jangle pop element that had put the band alongside its Glasgow comrades in Aztec Camera. Instead, this new formation has put emphasis on funk and African music influences, and I can't help thinking that they play closer to the many sources of inspiration one will hear in music by Talking Heads - also with a distinct new wave touch that wasn't found on the predecessor.
I don't recall hearing the album back in '83, although, I'm quite certain I came across the title track, which I thought had a great guitar hook in the chorus, but after my first listens back when the album was re-issued (the remastered edition of '98), I must say that I find it a clearly lesser album compared to the strong debut. Edwyn Collins still sings in his highly original way, which then almost is the only common ground one will find on the two albums.
The album peaked as number #39 on the UK albums chart list, but the single release of the title track reached number #8 on the singles list making it the band's only true hit. Subsequently, also track #7 was issued as a single but only reached a position as number #41. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Rip It Up undoubtedly sounds more polished but it also points in many directions and despite the extraordinary songwriting craftmanship of Collins it's an album left without that something that could've held it all together. It's not that the songs are poor compositions, 'cause several great tracks appear here, neither lacks the band skilled instrumentalists - the songs just fail to summon up a sensation of cohesion. The album remains quite remarkable but also somewhat unfinished.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

The Vaccines "Come of Age" (2012)

Come of Age
release date: Sep. 3, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,60]
producer: Ethan Johns
label: Columbia Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "No Hope" - 2. "I Always Knew" - 3. "Teenage Icon" (4 / 5) (live) - 4. "All in Vein" - 7. "Weirdo" - 9. "Change of Heart, Pt. 2"

2nd full-length studio album by The Vaccines is a fine and somewhat overlooked follow-up to the extremely over-hyped debut.

The band deliver simple indie pop / garage rock, which makes me think of the band as an American version of Arctic Monkeys, but wait a sec.., The Vaccines are from London, England, UK! Lead vocalist Justin Young only has that thing for American tone. Oh well, anyway, the band leaves out the artistic neo-psychedelia inspiration and spit out chorus-fuelled punches one after the other. They must be a great live (party) band. The songs may not be suited for heavy lyrical analysis and interpretation - but that's really something I don't see as necessarily bad. Music is music, great poetry... well, apart from Cohen and Waits, it mostly and rather conveniently comes in... books.

I think this release is just as good as their first, and frankly (Mr. Shankly), I don't really find much progression from the debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (2011) but when 'power pop' songs come out so naturally, I mean, who gives a polite f#*k?

Quite enjoyable.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 3 / 5, Uncut, SputnikMusic, PopMatters 3,5 / 5, NME 4 /5 stars ]

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"Teenage Icon"

"Oh look at me, so ordinary
no mystery with no great capabilities
but I could make out as if I had it but you know
God, I'm so obvious and I should let it go
Oh I don't know, oooh

I'm no teenage icon
I'm no Frankie Avalon
I'm nobody's hero

Reserved and shy, your average guy
No piercing stare, just out of shape with messy hair
but I always figured I was somebody in wake
and now I'm guessing that my woman must be late
'cause I need her, oooh

I'm no teenage icon
I'm no Frankie Avalon
I'm nobody's hero

I'm not magnetic or mythical
I'm suburban and typical
but I've got it, I've got it, I'm overrun with it all

Seductive charm, a way with words
So effortless, not leather-clad or dangerous
but I always did it like a real rebel would
I had a photo where John Lennon may have stood
or so I'm told, oooh

I'm no teenage icon
I'm no Frankie Avalon
I'm nobody's hero
[repeat]"

~ ~ ~

The Vaccines "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?" (2011)

What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? [debut]
release date: Mar. 14, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Dan Grech-Marguerat
label: Columbia Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wreckin' Bar" - 2. "If You Wanna" - 6. "Nørgaard" (4 / 5) (live in London) - 7. "Post Break-Up Sex" (4 / 5) (live session) - 9. "All in White" - 10. "Wolf Pack"

Studio debut album by London-based 'indie' rock quartet The Vaccines consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Justin (Hayward-)Young, lead guitarist Freddie Cowan, bassist Arni Arnason and drummer Pete Robertson. The band was formed around 2009 by Young and Cowan.
Not surprising, everyone seems provoked to answer the question in the title, as to "What did [I] expect from the Vaccines?" My initial thoughts were damp and my interest was almost absent but rapidly I came to appreciate it as more than Okay. When looking at how many new bands and artists that pop up all the time and are hyped as the new prophets, I just have to say that I didn't expect much from this singles-hit band, however, they have surely surprised me in a positive sense. It's simply not just "Post Break-Up Sex" and "Wreckin' Bar", and they're a refreshing blow of air when everyone tries to be the new Arcade Fire, Strokes, Frans Ferdinand, Interpol, and-who-knows-who.
The band and the album was launched as the new biggest thing - to say it mildly - they were extremely hyped by the British music media, and the album peaked at number #4 on the national albums chart, but with such media exposure, they were basically doomed to fail to some degree, and by looking at some of the reviews it's quite evident that the hype was too immense. As Alexis Petridis of The Guardian put it: "It's not class that's a problem for the Vaccines, it's being hyped more than their catchy retro indie deserves." Well, I guess what he actually means is that they deserve more then they he hands them then...
Anyway, The Vaccines don't make it harder than necessary and that's a very nice starting point - too many could learn from that. It's nice & fine & I like it!
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5, NME, Mojo, Spin, Q, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

(Live perfomance on Jools' Annual Hootenanny, 2011)

Suede "Dog Man Star" (1994)

Dog Man Star
release date: Oct. 10, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Ed Buller
label: Nude Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "We Are the Pigs" (4 / 5) - 3. "Heroine" - 4. "The Wild Ones" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "The Power" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "The 2 of Us" - 11. "The Asphalt World" (4 / 5) - 12. "Still Life" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by Suede introduces a new sound, although, it's made with the same producer. It has a more subtle, less glam rock production, and it's more orchestrated with horns and strings, making it more of a chamber pop release than its predecessor (e.g. "Still Life" exits with strings and horns playing Ravel's "Bolero"). With this, it appears that the band wanted to distance itself from the britpop hype and the album wasn't launched with the same pop hit videos, which may or may not be the reason to its fine reception among music critics.
I find Dog Man Star an even better release than their praised debut, and it's a highly acclaimed follow-up to a fine and original debut. It has a conceptual feel but failed to sell as rapidly as the debut. To me, this is their best studio release, and it's by many considered their masterpiece, but it also marks the end of the original line-up as the band's main musical composer and guitarist, Bernard Butler (who had already been labelled the best guitarist of a generation) left the band after the release due to disagreements on the band's musical direction. Like the debut this is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, NME 4,5 /5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Clinic Q "Aye" (1982)

Aye [debut]
release date: 1982
format: vinyl (25266)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Per Gericke, Jan Degner & Clinic Q
label: CBS Records - nationality: Denmark

Studio album debut and only album release by Danish post-punk, and art rock band Clinic Q consisting of vocalist and guitarist Lise Cabble, bassist Gitte Trier, keyboardist Dorte Kopp-Rasmussen, and percussionist Susanne Unruh.
The band line-up changed around '84 when Rasmussen left the band and both Anne Vig-Skoven (vocalist and guitarist) and Mette Soele Mathiesen (keyboards and drums) joined. Trier left in '85 and was replaced by Lene Eriksen, and in '86 Unruh left and the four members: Gabble, Vig-Skoven, Eriksen and Mathisen changed its name to a longer lasting constellation, Miss B. Haven.

TV-2 "Natradio" (1981) (single)

Natradio, 7'' single
release date: 1981
format: vinyl (A 1664)
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Jan Degner
label: CBS Records - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: A) "Natradio" - - B) "Vi er det bedste hold"

Single release by Danish new wave band TV-2.

[ collectors' item ]

Ebba Grön "Ebba Grön" (1982)

Ebba Grön
release date: Apr. 1982
format: vinyl (MLR-25) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Stefan Glaumann, Ebba Grön, Tony Thorén
label: Mistlur - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Flyktsoda" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Uppgång & fall" (4 / 5) - 3. "Heroinister & Kontorister" (4 / 5) - 4. "Stopp!" - 5. "Die Mauer" - 6. "Musketör" - 9. "Kärlek e stark" - 10. "Tittar på tv"

3rd and final studio album release by Ebba Grön who has been expanded to a quartet as Stry Terrarie (aka Anders Sjöholm) has been included on keyboards. Once again, the band has changed its sound as the album turns towards a new era with a more mainstream sound with traces of blues rock utilising horns, keyboards and strings, which basically makes it a near chamber pop release, but also points to later releases by the band Imperiet that should be founded by most of the band members from Ebba Grön.
I really loved this particular album at the time of its release, and forced to choose, I find it their best and most coherent album.
After this, the band officially split in 1983. The band's bassist Lennart 'Fjodor' Olof Birger Eriksson rejected to do obligatory military service in '82 and was subsequently imprisoned, which basically left the remainders of the band with their side-project Rumdimperiet, and in early 1983 it was announced that Ebba Grön had ceased to exist, but Thåström, Stry and Gurra continued in Imperiet.

Maxïmo Park "The National Health" (2012)

The National Health
release date: Jun. 11, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "The National Health" - 3. "Hips and Lips" (3 / 5) - 4. "The Undercurrents" (4 / 5) (live session) - 6. "Reluctant Love" (3,5 / 5) (live) - 7. "Until the Earth Would Open" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "This Is What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" - 10. "Wolf Among Men"

4th studio album by the Scottish band Maxïmo Park released on V2 records. The style is by some regarded as post-punk revival. Well, the style actually comes close to a fine combination of two other British bands: Editors and Scottish Snow Patrol, and frankly they simply play energetic alt. rock and indie pop / rock, which is a long way from Interpol and Bloc Party. They have sort of evolved from a more simple and raw form of what may be labelled as post-punk "inspiration" to a more voluminous sound utilizing synths and keyboards not unlike the other bands mentioned. Maxïmo Park make sing-a-long choruses with a guitar-driven 18-wheeler truck. It's great for background noise or uptempo music in the car cd-player. "The Undercurrents" is a great track but also very close to the sound of Snow Patrol. I think, this is their best album so far.

Suede "Suede" (1993)

Suede [debut]
Release date: Mar. 29, 1993
format: cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Ed Buller
label: Edsel Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "So Young" - 2. "Animal Nitrate" (4 / 5) - 3. "She's Not Dead" (4 / 5) - 5. "Pantomime Horse" - 6. "The Drowners" - 7. "Sleeping Pills" - 9. "Metal Mickey" - 11. "The Next Life" (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Suede originally released on Nude Records is a glam rock and britpop release. The album is produced by Ed Buller, who would go on to produce all their first three albums and the 2013 comeback album, Bloodsport. The sound of the band is slightly different here compared to their successive albums as guitars and Brett's voice are more distorted - especially on their single hit tracks ("So Young", "Animal Nitrate"), which is a kind of a shame, I think. Beside that, I think it's quite a strong release with really fine songs. Suede is known as a britpop band alongside Blur, Pulp, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, The Verve, and several other artists of the '90s but Suede has a distinct glam rock style that distinguishes it from the others.

Suede was rather well-received by the British music press, as it was nominated to a lot of prizes, and also won the Mercury Music Prize in '93 ahead of Sting, PJ Harvey, and New Order, among others.

I purchased the album shortly after the release but had a difficult time getting accustomed to the British glam rock revival and actually resold it a year or two later in a stack with other cds in order to finance new albums. In the mid-90s I simply found it too extravagant; however, I got hold of the album again at some point in the late 90s, and when the remastered 2-disc Deluxe Edition was released in 2011, I simply purchased the album to see if the process of the remastering would improve the sound. The release contain an additional 7 bonus tracks (demos) and a disc consisting of B-sides (and 'Extras') with two single releases from the album, which makes it a fine bargain. However, I'm not fully convinced that the remaster makes that big difference. Edsel has made it a bit of their 'virtue' to harvest the market - and especially the independent music industry - for small record labels that have ceased to exist. Edsel then buy a specific record label's back catalogue with all master recordings, and then engage an engineer to 'remaster' the original releases, add (unedited) bonus material and resell the whole lot as 'Remastered Deluxe Edition'. Now who's to blame? Fact is, they make big profit from it, and we all help Edsel to exist. Naturally, a remastered edition with (the right) people involved in the original recording, mixing or mastering process, as well as say: central band members, would serve as a more adequate setup, which is not the case here. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Suede

~ ~ ~

Suede: formed 1989, London, UK. Current members: Brett Anderson (vocals, 1989-2003; 2010-), Mat Osman (bass, 1989-2003; 2010-), Simon Gilbert (drums, 1991-2003; 2010-), Richard Oakes (guitar, 1994-2003; 2010-), Neil Codling (keyboards, 1996-2001; 2010-).

Former members: Justin Welch (drums, 1989-91), Mike Joyce (drums, 1991), Bernard Butler (guitar, 1989-94), Alex Lee (rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, 2001-03).

Aka The London Suede. Suede was the new hype already before releasing anything. They had been labelled "The Best New Band in Britain" by the English music press (who has always been notoriously "good" at hyping new artists). In the initial state of a line-up, Mike Joyce, former member of The Smiths, played drums for a short period, although, he left the band before they made any major releases. After a decline in their sales and after two poorly received albums, the band split in 2003. In 2004, Brett and Bernard (together with 3 other band members) formed The Tears, a band that lasted until 2006. In 2010 Suede was officially a band again. My first acquisition of Suede was the debut. I believe, I bought it second-hand round about 1994 but before their second album was released. I enjoyed it... some but eventually found it too strange and extravagant, too "glamourish" and resold it to buy something else, I guess. After listening to Dog Man Star, I was impressed, and rebought the debut. The only albums, I have bought upon their release were Coming Up, Head Music, and Sci-Fi Lullabies. The other albums have been bought some time after their original release. I have always had ambivalent emotions for their music. Some of their songs are utter beauty, and I love the electric energy on i.e. Sci-Fi... and the early period, and although I enjoy their harmonic (lost) love songs, I also think it too much at times. Their strength is both the energetic 'pop/rock' songs and the slow ballads, but sometimes the 'glam' 'pop' and Brett's wining phrasing are sometimes... over the hill. You really have to be in the mood for this music, but when you are, it's really great.

~ ~ ~

The Police "Synchronicity" (1983)

Synchronicity
release date: Jun. 17, 1983
format: vinyl / cd / cd (2003 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,73]
producer: The Police & Hugh Padgham
label: A&M Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: A) 2. "Walking in Your Footsteps" - 3. "O My God" - 4. "Mother" - 6. "Synchronicity II" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Every Breath You Take" (4 / 5) - 2. "King of Pain" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (4 / 5) - 4. "Tea in the Sahara" (4 / 5)

5th and final studio album by The Police follows 1½ years after their most recent album, Ghost in the Machine (Oct. 1981). What remains intact is the choice of co-producer Hugh Padgham - and the songwriting credits are (as usual) reserved Sting as exclusive name on eigth out of ten tracks with Copeland alone being resposible for "Miss Gradenko" (track #A5) and Summers having his only second exclusive song (track #A4) in the band's discography.
Here, the band utilize all their stylistic sources of inspiration for the better. Most tracks all contain elements of jazz, synthpop, fusion rock and more contemporary pop / rock but still maintaining a quite homogeneous output - much contrary to what didn't succeed on the predecessor.
The album is the band's number 1, best-selling, and best-awarded album. In my mind, that has to do with chosing what the people want. It's a fine example of knowing what most of their fans enjoy, which makes me think of Coldplay (from a contemporary perspective), although, I find The Police a more substantial band, but that's also ultimately the reason that it's not one of my favourite The Police albums. I simply find it too slick, too sweet, and a bit boring in the long run. It seems they have given in trying to progress artistically. Yes, it contains great pop songs, and "Mother" is a nice funny and daring ingredient but the colour remains the same. "Every Breath You Take" is possibly the bands most popular song ever. I just find that the title track (track #6) together with "King of Pain" are the best on this album.
Synchronicity won the 1984 Grammy Award for Best Album of The Year, Best Song ("Every Breath.."), and just as the band's previous three albums, it made it to number #1 on the UK albums chart list, just as it did in a number of other countries. It's the only album by the band to top the chart on the US Billboard 200 in USA.
After touring with the new album, the band was found disputing internally, and they officially took a break from one another. Sting threw himself into the project that would be released as his first solo album, and both Copeland and Summers became occupied with solo projects. After what should have been a get-together and a projected new album in '86, the band only managed to re-record the single "Don't Stand so Close to Me '86" after which The Police officially disbanded in 1986 while releasing their first compilation album Every Breath You Take: The Singles (Oct. 1986).
Synchronicity is the second album by The Police to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Underworld

~ ~ ~

Underworld: is a British electronic (primarily) house and progressive house trio, formed as a quintet in 1987 in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Karl Hyde and Rick Smith had played together since 1980 and throughout this period they mostly played new wave and / or funk-inspired music. With bassists Baz Allen and Alfie Thomas, and drummer Bryn Burrows the quintet formed Underworld and released its debut album, Underneath the Radar in 1988. After the departure of Burrows they released Change the Weather in 1989. Both albums were released to little interest and this formation of the band dissolved in 1990. Hyde and Smith stayed together working with art design in the Tomato design collective and they soon formed a trio with DJ Darren Emerson and began playing electronic music where they released singles and remixes as Lemon Interupt and Steppin' Razor before settling with their former name of Underworld. From hereon things started falling into place with their electronic style for which they today are renowned. From 2002 the band was back to the initial members of Hyde and Smith as Emerson left to engage himself in solo projects, but the duo managed to continue their well-known style founded on electronic house.

~ ~ ~

Sort Sol "Unspoiled Monsters" (1996)

Unspoiled Monsters
release date: Mar. 20, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Ian Caple, Sort Sol
label: Columbia Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 2. "Sharks Capital" - 3. "My Stars" - 6. "Sol 66" - 10. "Erlkönig"

7th studio album by Sort Sol and the first after guitarist Peter Peter left the band. The album is released nearly 3½ years after the band's best-selling album Glamourpuss from 1993 and it seems the intentions to see if they can take their national success to an international scale with British producer Ian Caple by their side. Undoubtedly, Caple has helped shaping a more international sound and stylistically, this is a big move away from their two previous albums into primarily alt. rock.
Unspoiled Monsters sounds much like a clone of U2, R.E.M. and former Sort Sol with much focus on form, and it's hard to imagine the album without the sound of U2's Achtung Baby (1991).
I find it a surprising change of sound and it's an album almost without any great tracks, and as I recall, the general verdict was rather hard on a band that many had buried after Peter Peter was gone. It's not entirely bad as it has it's moments, but it failed to attract international interest. Once again, you may add, this left Sort Sol in a vacuum without or in search of a successful style.
After this, the band took a break from the spotlight and put the band on a halt, where several of the band members pursued individual projects. Eg. primary songwriter, bassist Knus Odde turned to concentrate on his personal interest in painting - the cover (painting 'The Black Plague', '95) here is by Karen Kilimnik, who seems a clear inspirational source to Odde (works by Odde). Vocalist Steen Jørgensen released the acclaimed trip hop alt. rock album Ginman / Jørgensen together with bassist Lennart Ginman in 1998.

Rum 37 "Rum 37" (ep) (2011)

Rum 37 (ep)

release date: Dec. 5, 2011

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: ?

label: Target Records - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Sabotør" - 2. "Dagen er ny" - 4. "Mozarts Plads"

Studio ep debut by Danish indie rock band Rum 37 consisting of vocalist Kristian Helmuth (son of actor Frits Helmuth), guitarist Camillo (Gino) Askjær, bassist Søren Adolph, and drummer Mikkel Lumbye. The ep counts 5 tracks with a total running time of just under 23 minutes.

Stylistically, it's indie rock echoing the early days of Danish band Love Shop and especially Swedish band Kent with some influence from Suede. Lyrics are held in Danish but without a strong original output it becomes so-so in terms of contributing with more than addressing familiar musical sources. The positive side to it, is that we get to meet a Danish band who dares playing indie rock.

Kitchens Of Distinction

~ ~ ~

(L-R) Julian Swales, Patrick Fitzgerald and Dan Goodwin

Kitchens of Distinction (aka KOD) was a British trio formed in London 1986. Band members: Patrick Fitzgerald (vocals, bass), Julian Swales (guitar), Dan(iel) Goodwin (drums) (all born in '64). While still active they never hit any big sales or high charts but the band has become a major source of inspiration for bands and artists later on. Actually, I had my troubles in accepting the sound of Interpol as they blew everyone over with their critically acclaimed debut Turn on the Bright Lights (2002), more than ten years after KOD's debut, and had a whole world kneeling for a sound that really was built on two of my favourite bands characteristics: Joy Division and KOD. With the emergence of new post-punk bands with references to British dream pop and shoegaze in the new millennium, KOD had a revival, or their reputation and albums had. Although, they haven't reformed, rumour has it that members of the band are writing songs together again. I was particularly extremely fond of their first three albums only. Actually, after listening to their fourth album Cowboys and Aliens (1994) upon its release, I was so disappointed that I simply never bought the album until a few years ago. I thought it was way too much indifferent pop with all the characteristics of dream pop and shoegaze completely gone. Eventually, as I said, I bought the last studio release as well. I had read lots of good reviews and decided I could have been wrong about my then verdict. So, I bought it without listening to it and was positively surprised as I put it on... although, I understand my reservations at the time of the release. I had been hoping for some return to the initial sound and their two best albums, and then this further approach into dream pop with more focus on 'pop' but it's not bad, not at all.
The group disbanded after 10 years in 1996. And yes, in the aftermath this band has been praised and has gained much more recognition than when they released and played together. I know several artists who has had a similar experience, but still, the fine position they hold today is rather noteworthy. In the early 2000s the whole music scene was overtaken by a post-punk, dream pop, shoegaze, and noise pop revival with prominent bands like Interpol, Editors, Snow Patrol, The Bravery, Bloc Party, and with post rock and progressive bands like Muse, Mogwai, and Sigur Rós - all bands and artists who play and experiment with some of the same ways of expression as one will find in the music of KOD. It's not to say that they invented a genre or style as such. They were themselves clearly inspired by noise pop, post-punk and the indie scene (The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth) and they developed a unique style founded on the sort of guitar sound of The Chameleons, Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine, although KOD's music was much more based on up-tempo beats and melodic arrangements. Songs and lyrics are what many tend to focus on when listening to 'pop' music, and in the case with KOD this is what make critics reject the band. Patrick Fitzgerald's lyrics is / were often about gay issues but in what way is this an issue when the strength of their music is... their music? The sound they produce, regardless textual analysis of lyrics, is their music - which is not to say it wouldn't have mattered if they had praised a Lord Almighty, or the Nazis, as they obviously didn't. Some music is just not all about lyrics (this is not Leonard Cohen or Robert Zimmerman!) and I generally tend to focus on music's emotional effect. For me it doesn't really matter if Fitzgerald sings about killing Margaret Thatcher with a lethal injection ("Margaret's Injection" on the ep Elephantine, 1989) or how being gay or sexual experiences are a huge source of inspiration for writing songs ("Prize", "Hammer", "Within the Daze of Passion", "Breathing Fear", and "When in Heaven") when it's expressed and accompanied with brilliant sound of music BUT on the other hand it only becomes a secondary experience digging into that,; AND: life experiences are not that strange a source to dig from when writing music...
Kitchens of Distinction is one of my all-time favourite bands. I still listen to all of their albums occasionally, despite the fact that their music is 19-24 years old and part of a stylistic evolution. For me, it still holds and if not as refreshingly new at least as highly original and uplifting music that I still find emotionally touching.

My own Kitchens of Distinction collection of vinyl and cd albums (1989-1994)

~ ~ ~

Uriah Heep "Look at Yourself" (1971)

Look at Yourself
release date: Oct. 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Gerry Bron
label: Bronze Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Look at Yourself" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "July Morning" (3 / 5) - 4. "Tears in My Eyes"

3rd studio album by London-based band Uriah Heep. The album didn't attract much attention at the time of release and later albums fared considerably better, however, Look at Yourself is considered one of the band's best efforts and one of the genre's most prolific albums. I find it of little interest. It's one of many albums from that time when everyone (especially) from Britain made progressive music of some sort. There's hard rock like heard (better) in Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, and there're elements of psychedelic rock as one will find in Pink Floyd and early Black Sabbath. The title track and "Tears in My Eyes" both have a fine "sonic" feel of energy to it, blending electric and acoustic guitars, but apart from that there's simply too much jam session and unstructured Hammond organ fusion rock about it to my liking.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Under Two Flags "Lest We Forget" (1983) (single)

Lest We Forget, 10'' single
release date: 1983
format: vinyl (SIT 27 T)
[single rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Jeremy Green
label: Situation Two - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "False History" - - B) 1. "Lest We Forget" - 2. "Drown inside"

Single release by British post-punk and gothic rock band Under Two Flags issued in a rare 10'' format. The single was also released as a normal 7'' single without the A-side track.

Saybia "Eyes on the Highway" (2007)

Eyes on the Highway
release date: Aug. 27, 2007
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Rune Nissen-Petersen, Saybia
label: EMI Music Denmark - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "On Her Behalf" - 2. "Eyes on the Highway" - 3. "Angel" - 4. "Godspeed Into the Future" - 7. "Pretender"

3rd studio album by Saybia, who has timed up with Danish producer Rune Nissen-Petersen, although, still blending melodic soft rock and pop / rock in a mix with acoustic ballads and more uptempo chorus-based rock tunes the style very much seems unchanged compared to These Are the Days from 2004.
Tracks #2-4 make up a collection of very strong compositions but the rest doesn't quite match this high level, but what's worse is that the band has been met by a declining interest from music fans, and despite being well-received by most critics, the album became the band's so far least successful release in terms of sold albums - only reaching 15.000 sold copies nationally, where it also peaked at number #2 on the national albums chart list. And it secured the band top-20 entries in Norway, Switzerland and in the Netherlands, where the band most likely experienced greater success than they did nationally.
Eyes on the Highway is by no means a bad album - it's just as unfocused and incoherent as its predecessor. The band members play with instrumental skills, but they still sound like they are too much inspired by others. You listen to one of their songs, and immediately ask yourself, what artist and song it sounds like 'cause it's really hard to point to the very essence of Saybia without mentioning 4-5 familiar names, which is kind of sad. Also, this band doesn't exactly release new albums every year - you have to wait some years, which should leave them time to make something coherent and original. And frankly, if you put together the band's last two albums, you actually have enough great songs to make two great but also very different albums, but instead we have two fine and yet much alike releases pointing in too many directions to call them great.
Tragically, the wife and daughter of Huss were involved in a traffic accident, Dec. 2007, in which the wife was killed and the daughter hospitalised with severe injuries. This of course came to have a significant impact on the band's further engagements. In late summer of 2008 Saybia officially announced to take a planned hiatus, although they played their scheduled Autumn concerts.
[ Gaffa.dk 3 / 6 stars ]

Bronski Beat "Hit That Perfect Beat" (1985) (single)

Hit That Perfect Beat, 7'' single
release date: Nov. 1985
format: vinyl (Bite 6)
[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Adam Williams
label: Forbidden Fruit - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Hit That Perfect Beat" - - B) "I Gave You Everything"

Single by British synthpop trio Bronski Beat included on the band's second studio album Truthdare Doubledare (Apr. 1986), and also found on the (various artists') soundtrack album Letter to Brezhnev (1985). The single was one of three singles by the band to reach number #3 on the UK singles chart as their highest ranked releases - the other two being the Donna Summer cover of "I Feel Love" (with Marc Almond) (Apr. 1985) and their debut single "Smalltown Boy" (May 1984).
I wasn't a big fan of their music but still found Somerville's vocal quite extraordinary and a fascinating instrument.

Marie Key Band "Hver sin vej" (2008)

Hver sin vej
release date: Sep. 8, 2008
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,85]
producer: Morten Bue, Henrik Balling, Marie Key Band
label: Genlyd, Sony BMG - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Bum bum" - 2. "Almindelig dag" - 8. "Dope" - 10. "Går hun ikke meget for sig selv?" - 11. "Fjernsyn"

2nd and final studio album by Marie Key Band before songwriter, composer and lead vocalist Marie Key initiated her solo career. Most track are credited Key solely, which may have led to her trying out a career on her own. The style is much like on the debut just with a more up-tempo pop beat on top of the folk pop compositions. Although, the album clearly betters the debut, it's still not really fine. Best tracks here are "Almindelig dag" co-written by Anne Linnet and "Går hun ikke meget for sig selv?" but the rest doesn't match the same level, and it remains a fine attempt, although, it's not really anywhere near what Marie Key later released as solo artist.
[ Gaffa.dk 4 / 6 stars ]

Marie Key Band "Udtales ['Kæj]" (2006)

Udtales ['Kæj] [debut]
release date: Feb. 6, 2006
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,62]
producer: Henrik Balling
label: Genlyd - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 1. "Mormor" - 3. "Kleptoman" - 4. "Hun kysser ham nu"

Studio album debut by Marie Key Band consisting of vocalist Marie Key Kristiansen, Jakob Thorkild on guitar, Marie Louise von Bülow on bass, and with Mads Andersen on drums. The title is an original way to point out how her surname is pronounced - the title translates to "Pronounced ['Cay']".
The music is a sort of combo of folk pop and singer / songwriter based compositions focusing on the simplistic narratives by Marie Key about humorous sides of ordinary life. I don't find it particular entertaining - it sounds much like a combo of Swedish jazz pop band Bo Kaspers Orkester and other Scandinavian bands playing folk pop with elements of either jazz, and rhythm & blues, just... indistinct and a wee bit boring in the long run.
[ Gaffa.dk 3 / 6 stars ]

The Smiths "Meat Is Murder" (1985)

Meat Is Murder

release date: Feb. 11, 1985
format: vinyl (ROUGH 81) / cd
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,44]
producer: The Smiths
label: Rough Trade / MNW - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "The Headmaster Ritual" (4 / 5) - 2. "Rusholme Ruffians" (5 / 5) - 3. "I Want the One I Can't Have" (5 / 5) (live 1985 - live 2011) - 4. "What She Said" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (4,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Nowhere Fast" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Well I Wonder" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Barbarism Begins at Home" (4 / 5) - 4. "Meat Is Murder" (5 / 5)

2nd studio album by The Smiths was anticipated with huge expectations from fans and the British Press. After the debut, and in the same year, the record company had released the compilation album Hatful of Hollow with previously unreleased material and singles omitted from the debut, so naturally, a real studio album was awaited. Morrissey and Marr were apparently unsatisfied by the sound on the debut album, and they have here put themselves in the production seats assisted by engineer Stephen Street. The Smiths had managed to fill out a space as new British invasion icons with their self-consciousness, lyrical links to Oscar Wilde and a great and highly praised ancient Britain, and daring texts on moral issues including abuse and sex debate. This album exposed further critical aspects from Morrissey: vegetarianism, most explicitly in the title track of course, as well as sharp political criticism. Also, the music is more experimental featuring rockabilly and funk elements, and the production side is much more spacious and elegant. Morrissey always had his say on the album covers - he decided and chose design and photographs. For this album sleeve he picked a 1967 photo, depicting a soldier apparently in the Vietnam War, with a new edited wording on his helmet "Meat Is Murder" instead of the original text: "Make War Not Love". The original footage is featured in Emile de Antonio's '68 documentary "In the Year of the Pig". It took me a little time getting used to the new sound of the band but within few weeks this was my then favourite Smiths album with the tracks "Meat Is Murder" and "I Want the One I Can't Have" as the album's best. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine, Uncut, Select 4 / 5, Sounds 4,5 / 5 stars ]

1985 Favourite releases: 1. Ry Cooder Paris, Texas - 2. The Smiths Meat Is Murder - 3. The Pogues Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

Gorillaz "The Singles Collection 2001-2011" (2011)

The Singles Collection 2001-2011 (compilation)
release date: Nov. 25, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Gorillaz
label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Compilation album by Gorillaz. It's already the band's 3rd compilation album, but it's first best of collection. In 2002 the compilation album G-sides was released containing B-sides to tracks from its first issues (eps and the debut) - the title referring to 'Gorillaz', and in 2007 they released the remix and B-sides album D-sides, this time referring to Demon Days, as it follows; however, The Singles Collection 2001-2011 is of course a summarized catalogue containing its best selling tracks from three studio albums. It's striking that it doesn't contain a single track from The Fall (Dec. 2010), which kind of reflects what many critics suggest that it was more of an extra release meant for the fan base - "a gift" from Albarn with his own experiments, and not as much the result of worked-through compositions.
The Singles collection is a quite nice collection, although, it only contains material from three albums. So who's it for then? It's more of a "buy-this-if-you-don't-have-all-3!"-album, and yeah, all three albums do contain some fillers that you're necessarily left without. What the album also sustain is that Gorillaz in fact is a singles-project reflecting contemporary music industry in a nutshell: A large amount of artists and bands of 'popular' music are nowadays more preoccupied in the making of singles meant for streaming services than spending weeks and months recording and producing studio albums. That said, this The Singles Collection 2001-2011 is a mighty fine collection / release.
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Earth, Wind & Fire "I Am" (1979)

I Am
release date: Jun. 9, 1979
format: vinyl
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: Maurice White
label: ARC - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "In the Stone" (4 / 5) - 2. "Can't Let Go" - 3. "After the Love Has Gone" - 5. "Boogie Wonderland (feat. The Emotions)" (5 / 5) - 6. "Star" - 9. "You and I"

9th studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire originally released by Columbia Records and American Recording Company (ARC).
I believe my brother handed me this as a Christmas present back '79, as he knew I listened to Boney M.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5, MusicHound 4 / 5 stars ]

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

China Crisis "Wishful Thinking" (1983) (single)

Wishful Thinking, 7'' single
release date: 1983
format: vinyl
[single rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Mike Howlett (A-side); Jeremy Lewis (B-side)
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Wishful Thinking" - - B) "This Occupation"

Single release by synthpop band China Crisis is the third single release taken from the band's second studio album Working With Fire and Steel from (1983). The single peaked at number #9 on the UK singles chart list in the Spring of '84 and became the band's only national top-10 single hit.
I probably purchased this shortly after it had been released at a point where I embraced the new tones of synthpop, and China Crisis seemed to be part of the same musical direction, as bands like New Order, OMD and Simple Minds. However, in hindsight, and also soon after; I understood that China Crisis was much more pop-oriented and basically shared more traits with Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and Culture Club. Also in retrospect, I find it somewhat difficult to discover my original fascination for the A-side hit.

Alabama Shakes

~ ~ ~

Alabama Shakes: formed 2009, Athens (AL), USA; Initially the band was a trio (without Heath) that made a demo tape. Heath Fogg (who knew Brittany from high school) listened to the demo, and he asked if the trio would play a live concert before his own band should play, on the condition that he could play with them at the concert. They agreed, and (also because that concert was a huge success) the band was then a quartet, The Shakes that eventually became The Alabama Shakes.
Band members: Brittany Howard (vocals, guitar), Heath Fogg (guitar), Zac Cockrell (bass), Steve Johnson (drums); aka The Shakes

~ ~ ~

Modern English "Life in the Gladhouse" (1982) (single)

Life in the Gladhouse, 12'' single
release date: Jun. 7, 1982
format: vinyl (BAD 208) / digital
[single rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Hugh Jones; Modern English
label: 4AD Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "Life in the Gladhouse" - - B) "The Choicest View" (4 / 5)

Single release by Modern English with the A-side taken from the album After the Snow (May 1982). The A-side is an extended remix of the album track. The B-side is a previously unreleased track with a playing time above 11½ mins. The A-side single track is a rather ordinary post-punk track, or at least, so I found it at the time; however, the B-side really is the most daring and also most interesting composition here. Not only is it quite unusual having a lengthy playing time (the '80s considered), it's also a strong blend of styles and genres but somehow it still remains a rather strict composition with art rock, progressive rock and neo-psychedelic traits.
I purchased this at the time of its release without knowing anything of the band. The cover itself made me pick it up and ask for having it played. Coincidentally, and quite luckily, I heard the B-side first, and it really attracted me. Only afterwards, I unfortunately came to understand that this experimental style wasn't what the band usually played. The A-side is in that respect closer to the bands repertoire, but the B-side is the true gem here.

Siouxsie and the Banshees "Juju" (1981)

Juju

release date: Jun. 6, 1981

format: cd (2006 remaster)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,12]

producer: Nigel Gray & Siouxsie and the Banshees

label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Spellbound" (4 / 5) - 2. "Into the Light" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Arabian Knights" - 4. "Halloween" - 5. "Monitor" (4 / 5) - 6. "Night Shift" - 7. "Sin in My Heart" (4 / 5) - 9. "Voodoo Dolly" - *10. "Spellbound" (12'' Mix) - *12. "Fireworks" (Nigel Gray Version)

*Bonus track on 2006 remaster

4th studio album by Siouxsie and the Banshees following ten months after Kaleidoscope (1980) is the second album featuring Sioxsie Sioux, Steve Severin, John McGeoch and Budgie, and it's one of the very first albums I listened to with this band.

The sound and style has refined from the first albums and taken the first moves of experimental nature from the predecessor to a new stage of post-punk. Sioxsie and the Banshees was one of the first bands to be associated with the style of gothic rock, which had its origin in the post-punk and art rock scene of the late 1970s. The sound always was their trademark, and they truly sounded like no one else at a time when many artists experimented with new styles of post-punk, and The Banshees perhaps even played post-punk and gothic rock already from their debut album The Scream in 1978, at a time when the style hadn't been named yet.

The hypnotic voice of Siouxsie Sioux of course attracted attention but it rather was the combination of instruments and the production sound that first appealed to me. Steve Severin plays the bass with "new" chords often using a fretless bass to make his unique sound, John McGeoch has a distinct guitar-razorblade-like-sound, and Budgie... well, he is the backbone of the band, and a very fine and skilled drummer, who lays the foundation to build on.

Saleswise, the album fared rather well peaking as number #7 on the UK albums chart list, thus being the second and last album by the band to make a top-10 entry, and two songs were chosen for single releases: "Spellbound" and "Arabian Knights" peaking as number #22 and #33 on the UK singles list, respectively.

Although, it may not be my all-time-favourite by the band, it is indeed one of the most intriguing releases in a very fine year, and it's also enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The album truly showcases McGeoch's swirling guitar sound and it's also a release with no real fillers.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Sounds 4,5 / 5 stars ]