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.
