Morrissey "Viva Hate" (1988)

Viva Hate [debut]
release date: Mar. 14, 1988
format: vinyl (7 90180 1) / cd (1988) / (2012 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,18]
producer: Stephen Street
label: HMV - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Alsatian Cousin" (4 / 5) - 3. "Everyday Is Like Sunday" (5 / 5) - 4. "Bengali in Platforms" (5 / 5) - 5. "Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together" - 6. "Late Night, Maudlin Street" (4,5 / 5) - 7. "Suedehead" (4 / 5) - 8. "Break Up the Family" - 9*. "The Ordinary Boys" - 10. "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me" (4 / 5) - 11. "Dial-a-cliché" - 12. "Margaret on the Guillotine" (4 / 5)
[ full album ]
*[track replaced on 2012 remaster by the original outtake "Treat Me Like a Human Being"; on the US version track #9 is the bonus track "Hairdresser on Fire"]

The solo studio debut album by (Steven Patrick) Morrissey, former vocalist of The Smiths. This was a marvellous album demonstrating how much he could do without his former band members in The Smiths and especially without his usual friend, guitarist, and composer Johnny Marr. The composer duo Morrissey / Marr was already a legendary brand like Lennon / McCartney, so it truly was one of the major questions if Morrissey as a solo artist could perform without Marr. Producer Stephen Street co-wrote the songs with Morrissey and helped writing the music for his lyrics - he did the Marr part - and Street was more than adequate in filling that task because he brought in an essential person who helped giving birth to the album, as well as filling the shoes of Marr: guitarist Vini Reilly (aka The Durutti Column), who really has his fingerprints all over most of the tracks on the album. Allegedly, Reilly absented from being credited just as long as he could have control of the musical part. He was not credited, and nor was he given any royalties to this day. In fact, Reilly, who was credited as instrumentalist on the original issues isn't even mentioned on the 2012 remaster. 

The album was generally well-received, especially in the UK a huge crowd of fans just wanting to hear more of The Smiths. The two singles for the album, "Suedehead" and "Everyday Is Like Sunday" both received much success, whereas the final track "Margaret on the Guillotine" was regarded highly controversial as Morrissey in the song suggests that former Prime Minister Thatcher was beheaded.
Morrissey won as Best Solo Artist at the NME annual prize awards - a prize he would go on to win the following consecutive four years.
The album remains one of only three Morrissey solo albums to top the UK album charts list, and it is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars, NME, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 ]

1997 remaster

2012 remaster

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"Bengali In Platforms"

"Bengali, Bengali 
Bengali, Bengali 
No no no,
He does not want to depress you
Oh no no no no no
He only wants to impress you
Bengali in platform
He only wants to embrace your culture
And to be your friend forever - forever

::Bengali, Bengali

Oh shelve your Western plans
And understand 
That life is hard enough when you belong here
A silver-studded rim that glistens
And an ankle-star that...blinds me
A lemon sole so very high
Which only reminds me, to tell you
I break the news gently
I break the news to you gently
"Shelve your plans"
"Shelve your plans"
"Shelve them"

::Bengali, Bengali
It's the touchy march of time
That binds you
Don't blame me
Don't hate me
Just because I'm the one to tell you
That life is hard enough when you belong here
That life is hard enough when you belong here

(Shelve your western plans)
(Shelve your western plans)
'Cause life is hard enough when you belong
Life is hard enough when you belong here
Shelve your western plans
'Cause life is hard enough when you belong here
Life is hard enough when you belong here"

~ ~ ~

Crystal Castles "Crystal Castles" (2008)

Crystal Castles [debut]
release date: Mar. 18, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,20]
producer: Ethan Kath, Matthew Wagner, Squeak E. Clean
label: Lies Records - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Untrust Us" (3 / 5) - 9. "1991" (2,5 / 5) - 10. "Vanished" (3 / 5)

Studio debut album by Crystal Castles, a Canadian duo consisting of musical composer and instrumentalist Ethan Kath and vocalist Alice Glass. The music is experimental electroclash with incorporation of samples. The album is actually a collection of unreleased material and singles compiled as the band's first album. I mostly find it annoying and of little interest. Apparently, the band wanted to re-use the cover art from their first ep Alice Practice (2006), which featured artwork by Trevor Brown but wasn't granted permission.
[ allmusic.com, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

<  show cover art >

Album cover art
by Trevor Brown
for "Alice Practice", 2006.

Omara Portuondo "Flor de amor" (2004)

Flor de amor
release date: Jul. 13, 2004
format: digital
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Jerry Boys, Nick Gold, Demetrio Muniz, Ale Siqueira
label: World Circuit Records - nationality: Cuba

Studio album by Omara Portuondo. Another splendid release by this great singer.

Julian Cope "World Shut Your Mouth" (1984)

World Shut Your Mouth [debut]
release date: Mar. 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Steve Lovell
label: Mercury Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bandy's First Jump" - 2. "Metranil Vavin" - 5. "Quizmaster" - 6. "Kolly Kibber's Birthday" - 9. "Pussyface" - 10. "Greatness and Perfection of Love" (4 / 5)

Solo studio debut by Julian (David) Cope - former frontman of The Teardrop Explodes. All songs are written and composed by Cope and released by Mercury Records, who saw a potential in Cope with the continuation of the style and music set out by his former band. Musically, Cope does continue much down the same path as characterized by The Teardrop Explodes, also because some of the songs had actually been composed and intended for a follow-up to the group's last album Wilder (1981) - the third album was released posthumously in 1990 as Everybody Wants to Shag... The Teardrop Explodes, but fact is, the nature of the recording sessions with Cope sacking most of the band members before finishing the album is practically a Cope solo release.

World Shut Your Mouth did not sell all too well and wasn't reviewed in the most positive of ways, and Cope was more or less written off by the English music press, who saw him as a bit of a tyrrant as well as an LSD-wreck. And because the time of the early 80s needed music to belong to a specific sound and style, which this clearly contradicts. The neo-psychedelia was yet a new and not-appreciated style at this point. It seems Cope was somewhat too early out combining styles and using unusual ways of composing music.

The album has, however, become widely accepted as an important and great release of the early and mid-80s and an early example of neo-psychedelia.

I find it close to the hights of Kilimanjaro but also somewhat slightly weaker.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Thåström "Thåström" (1989)

Thåström [debut]
release date: Sep. 1989
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Stefan Glaumann
label: Mistlur Records - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Ståaldrigstill" (live) - 2. "Hon o han" - 3. "Djävulen och jag" - 5. "Pang boom krash" - 7. "Alla vill till himlen" - 8. "Döden i Schlager-SM" - 9. "Karenina" - 11. "I en spegel som jag har"

Studio album debut by Thåström (aka Sven Joachim Eriksson Thåström) as solo artist after leaving the band Imperiet - here with familiar producer Stefan Glaumann following only one year after Imperiet officially disbanded.
The sound and style is not far from what Thåström released with Imperiet. In fact, this first solo album sounds much like a combo of several albums by the band. It contains a certain post-punk vibe (tracks #1 and #11), keyboard-driven synthpop songs (#5 and #7), blues rock-inspired songs (#2 and #3), smooth pop ballads (#4, #6, #9, and #12), and songs that rest somewhere in a mix of what Imperiet released on its last three studio releases (some songs even sound like reworks of material released by Imperiet), which nevertheless represent a unique mix - like if you think Rolling Stones released its back catalogue in modernised synthpop versions... I guess.
At the time of the release I didn't pay much attention to the album and would probably have rated it as a mediocre release. Of course the sound and production reek of the 1980s but it's actually not a bad album altogether. Thåström has written a bunch of fine songs and balances these on sheer energy and soft and mellow ballad-like compositions, and despite pointing in (perhaps too) many directions, it really serves to document his songwriting qualities. Especially his ballads may have inspired Kent on albums they would later record, but by now Thåström already has put himself upfront with the best-known Swedish artists.

Thin Lizzy "Vagabonds of the Western World" (1973)

Vagabonds of the Western World
release date: Sep. 21, 1973
format: cd (1990)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Nick Tauber
label: Deram Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Mama Nature Said" - 4. "The Rocker" - 5. "Vagabonds of the Western World" - 6. "Little Girl in Bloom"

3rd studio album by Thin Lizzy originally released on Decca Records following the album Shades of a Blue Orphanage (1972), also produced by Nick Tauber. Stylistically, the band touches on some of its later characteristic sonic style, although, there's still a lot of more traditional blues rock and other influences around making it a bit of a mixed experience.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

David Sylvian "Secrets of the Beehive" (1987)

Secrets of the Beehive
release date: Nov. 7, 1987
format: vinyl (VL 2471) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,08]
producer: Steve Nye
label: Virgin Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "September" (4 / 5) - 2. "The Boy With the Gun" (3,5 / 5) - 3. "Maria" (5 / 5) - 4. "Orpheus" (4 / 5) - 5. "The Devil's Own" (3,5 / 5) - 6. "When Poets Dreamed of Angels" (4 / 5) (live) - 7. "Mother and Child" (3 / 5) - 8. "Let the Happiness In" (5 / 5) - 9. "Waterfront" (4 / 5)

4th solo studio album by David Sylvian, former vocalist of Japan. The album has a beautiful atmospheric sound, and is produced by Steve Nye, who has been in the production seat for Sylvian before as a solo artist and with Japan. This was the first album I bought with Sylvian after having listened to his brilliant solo debut Brilliant Trees (1984). Sometimes I can't decide which of these two albums, I prefer, as they're both great and among his three best ever, but mostly I would choose this as his greatest effort ever. This is Sylvian when he is most mainstream. He has experimented with styles and expressions ever since and he has never tried to please record buyers, record labels, nor the critics. His music is always art pop, mostly experimental and sometimes synth pop or electronic. He is always interesting, and never releases the expected, and then he has an ear for spacious sound that require the attention of a listener's ear. Introvert? Nah, just meaningful and delightful music.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"September"

"The sun shines high above
The sounds of laughter
The birds swoop down upon
The crosses of old gray churches

We say that we're in love
While secretly wishing for rain
Sipping coke and playing games

September's here again
September's here again."

~ ~ ~

Rangleklods "Home EP" (2011) (ep)

Home EP, ep [debut]

release date: Nov. 6, 2011

format: digital (3 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]

producer: Esben Nørskov Andersen

label: self-released - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: 1. "Home" - 2. "Young and Dumb" (live 2012) - 3. "Behaviour"

Studio ep-debut by Danish one-man electronic project Rangleklods consisting of Esben Nørskov Andersen. The EP was originally released on CD via independent label Sound Of Copenhagen (founded by the two Danish DJs Kjeld Tolstrup and Le Gammeltoft) and later distributed via bandcamp.

Although, this first release only contains three compositions, it's quite a varied 'collection', basically showcasing what Rangleklods is all about. It appears as influenced by idm, drum n bass as you know it from Aphex Twin and then with influence from house, big beat, and 'beats' in general - music with an electronic dance appeal - and some indietronica where rock blends with the electronic genre. I hear bonds to other Danish artists such as Veto and Trentemøller, but also with influence from LCD Soundsystem, Aphex Twin and Fatboy Slim.

Best song here is the end-track "Behaviour", which also sounds like a fine mix of Veto and Aphex Twin.

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds "Kicking Against the Pricks" (1986)

Kicking Against the Pricks
release date: Aug. 18, 1986
format: cd (1992 Japan reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Flood, Tony Cohen, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
label: Mute Records - nationality: Australia

Track highlights: 1. "Muddy Water" - 3. "Sleeping Annaleah" - 7. "Black Betty" - 10. "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"

3rd studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds following The Firstborn Is Dead (1985) is an album entirely of cover versions. This is the first album to introduce an actual drummer, Thomas Wydler, in the band who had used the multi-instrumental skills of Mick Harvey and Barry Adamson. The band still plays post-punk but perhaps even more punk blues, and the album is the first time Nick Cave appears as a crooner. Some of the songs are rather fine and others are poorer covers of great songs, but all in all it's a fine album, and above mediocre... for once by these experimental Aussies.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5, Rolling Stone Album Guide 3 / 5 stars ]

R.E.M. "New Adventures In Hi-Fi" (1996)

New Adventures in Hi-Fi
release date: Sep. 10, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,45]
producer: Scott Litt & R.E.M
label: Warner Bros. - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" - 2. "The Wake-Up Bomb" - 3. "New Test Leper" - 4. "Undertow" - 5. "E-Bow The Letter" (4,5 / 5) (live) - 6. "Leave" - 7. "Departure" - 8. "Bittersweet Me" - 9. "Be Mine" - 10. "Binky The Doormat" - 11. "Zither" (2,5 / 5) - 12. "So Fast, So Numb" (live) - 13. "Low Desert" - 14. "Electrolite" (4 / 5)

10th studio album by R.E.M. is a 14 track album and the 6th consecutive but also final album to be co-produced by Scott Litt and the band - 6 albums, which more less constitute THE most interesting material by the band excluding Lifes Rich Pageant, from 1986, produced by Don Gehman, and they all represent a decade of heydays spanning from 1986 to '96.
The band has almost always throughout their long career been able to seek out new ways of expression, and this is no exception, although, the change from Monster (1994) to this is huge, it's still a small change from the sound they had before Monster. I've always felt that it was more like the natural follower to Automatic for the People (1992) with Monster in between as a unique and highly original release. Their musical style here is expanded to embrace americana and a stronger folk rock style, although, it's still certified alt. rock. It also contains some grunge rock fragments left in the distorted guitars as heard on "The Wake-Up Bomb", "Undertow", and "Departure". Patti Smith adds vocal to the great single hit "E-Bow The Letter". Overall, it's mighty fine, it doesn't contain a lot of poor tracks or fillers (perhaps with "Zither" as the only), it's like a bit... safe with many fine compositions but not many great ones either. The album is the band's best selling album to date, and it went to number #1 on more than a dozen of albums hit lists world-wide except for in the US where it reached number #2. Furthermore, it's known for being the band's own favourite among their own releases. Whether or not personal emotions play a major role in this their own ranking, is of course difficult to verify, but fact is that this was the first album to feature Bill Berry back on drums after his departure from the band due to a serious brain aneurysm on the live tour with Monster. I remember how it was in the news at the time, and frankly I recall thinking that he would most likely never return to such a stress-related job in the spotlight after that. But for a short while he did return to studio recordings, and this is the so far only album to feature Bill Berry back on drums as he would leave the band permanently in '97.
This was the last R.E.M. album that I purchased at the time of its release. All their following 5 studio albums were not my cup of tea, but along the way, I have looked for and found the band's soul in what followed, and I also found it necessary to acquire them all, although, I don't really listen much to exactly those 5 releases but like all the band's 15 studio albums, they also do contain fine songs.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 /5, Rolling Stone 4,5 / 5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"E-Bow The Letter"
(feat. Patti Smith)

"Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me florescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise
The bus ride, I went to write this, 4:00 a.m.
This letter
Fields of poppies, little pearls
All the boys and all the girls sweet-toothed
Each and every one a little scary
I said your name

I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas
Whoever she is
This fame thing, I don't get it
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves
I can take you far
This star thing, I don't get it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink
Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Phone, eat it, drink just another chink
Cuts and dents, they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link

I don't want to disappoint you
I'm not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet
But is that the sickest move?
I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow
And who'd have thought tomorrow could be so strange?
My loss, and here we go again

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, it pulls us near
I'll take you over

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me florescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise
I can't look it in the eyes
Seconal, Spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavored neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, the victory and sorrow
The smell of fear, I got it

I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near
I'll take you over

It tastes like fear, pulls us near
Tastes like fear, pulls us near
I'll take you over
...
Nearer, nearer
Over, over, over, over
Yeah, look over
I'll take you there, oh, there
I'll take you there
Oh, over
I'll take you there
Over, there, let me
I'll take you there...
There, there, baby, yeah"

~ ~ ~

Aztec Camera "Frestonia" (1995)

Frestonia
release date: Oct. 31, 1995
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,76]
producer: Roddy Frame, Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley
label: WEA/ Warner - nationality: Scotland, England

Track highlights: 1. "Rainy Season" (4 / 5) - 2. "Sun" - 3. "Crazy" - 4. "On the Avenue" (4 / 5) (live on Later) - 6. "Debutante" (4 / 5) - 7. "Beautiful Girl" - 9. "Method of Love" - 10. "Sunset"

6th and final studio album released as Aztec Camera is produced in a collaboration work with the big 1980s producer-duo Winstanley / Langer, who stood behind many British mainstream and alternative artists who sought a "broad" mainstream appeal. Despite this, the album is far from the almost sterile synthpop of the previous album Dreamland (1994). I see Frestonia as an attempt to make a more 'naked' / 'honest' album without synths, drum machines and instrumental programming. Instead it's more traditional music blending folk rock, pop and jangle pop accentuating the singer / songwriter aspect of Roddy Frame. Aztec Camera was always just a moniker for Roddy Frame, and I think he just came to terms with the fact that he should release his music under his own name. The album turns out as a more sincere album dedicated to personal experiences with a minimum amount of additional musicians, and it sort of kick-starts / underlines his forthcoming solo career as Roddy Frame.
Music critics and album buyers simply rejected the album, and Frestonia may be regarded as a commercial failure. It only made it to number #100 on the UK albums chart list and far from previous sales numbers of any album by the Roddy Frame moniker, which may have led to his decision to start releasing material in his own name after this.
What I initially experienced as another hits and misses attempt from this 'had-been' artist is actually more of a new beginning. Had he only released it as Roddy Frame, I think it would have been much more appreciated at the time. Aztec Camera was jangle pop and sophistipop, but this is not. It's much closer to his first release, North Star as Roddy Frame, which would be released in 1998, but it also continues with the jazz and folk elements from Stray, which I always considered his best. This is simply one the best album by Aztec Camera / Roddy Frame and therefore highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

The Style Council "The Lodgers" (1985) (single)

The Lodgers, 12'' single
release date: 1985
format: vinyl (TSCX10)
[single rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Paul Weller & Brian Robson
label: Polydor Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) "The Lodgers (Extended Mix)" - - B) 1. "The Big Boss Groove" - 2. "Move on Up" - 3. "Money-Go-Round / Soul Deep / Strength of Your Nature (Medley)" - 4. "You're the Best Thing"

Single release by The Style Council Featuring Dee C. Lee issued after the album Our Favourite Shop. The band has now officially been extended to include drummer Steve White and backing vocalist (and future wife of Paul Weller) Dee. C. Lee. This is not one of the band's best issue's, although, it's the first time they release live takes. The first three tracks on the B-side are live recordings with the track "Move on Up" being a familiar cover, which The Jam used to play live.

Tindersticks

~ ~ ~

Tindersticks: formed 1992 (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, UK); against the traditions of popular music context, the band originally counted 6 members: Stuart A. Staples (vocals, rhythm guitar), David Boulter (keyboards), Dickon Hinchcliffe (violin), Neil Fraser (guitar), Mark Colwill (bass), Al Macaulay (drums).
Before forming Tindersticks several members played in the band Asphalt Ribbons, formed in 1988. Members of AR were: Garry A. Watt (bass), Gaynor Backhouse (cello, trumpet), Rob Howard (guitar, accordion), Stuart A. Staples (vocals), later joined by Neil Fraser (guitar) and David Boulter (keyboards). In 1991 three new members were recruited: John Thompson (bass) and two of the members that should later form (i.e. change its name to) Tindersticks: Dickon Hinchliffe (violin), and Al Macaulay (drums). The band released an ep in 1991 titled Old Horse. Still as Asphalt Ribbons, and shortly before changing the band name, bassist John Thompson was replaced by Mark Colwill, which meant that the two bands basically now had identical line-ups.

Tindersticks is one of my absolute favourite bands. They make music that in an almost disturbing way suits my temper on most occasions. I have followed their progression from the very start, as I bought the debut album upon its release. The only time I've seen the band perform live was back in 1997 when they held a fabulous tight and intimate concert in Copenhagen (with Cornershop as warm-up band!).

~ ~ ~

My collection of Tindersticks albums (1993-2012)

~ ~ ~

Peter Murphy "Love Hysteria" (1988)

Love Hysteria
release date: Mar. 1988
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Simon Rogers
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "All Night Long" - 3. "Dragnet Drag" - 5. "Indigo Eyes" - 6. "Time Has Got Nothing to Do With It" - 7. "Blind Sublime" - 8. "My Last Two Weeks"

2nd studio album by Peter Murphy following his acclaimed debut Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986) after the disbandment of Bauhaus. Where the debut consisted mainly of music written by multi-instrumentalist Howard Hughes, Love Hysteria is an album where Murphy has teamed up with another established composer in the form of guitarist and composer Paul Stratham (of B-Movie) with whom Murphy has written most of the tracks, and together with Simon Rogers from The Fall and a new backing band called The Hundred Men, the album marks quite naturally a change of sound. The album includes a cover of "Funtime" by Bowie and Iggy Pop, originally included on the 77 album The Idiot by Iggy Pop.

The dominant art pop touch Murphy demonstrated his interest for with the project Dalis Car as well as on his solo debut, has stepped into the background for a style, which instead combines Murphy's taste for melodrama rooted in the gothic rock scene, which characterised the Bauhaus period and older styles based on his obvious fascination and inspiration in glam rock, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and with hints of Tom Verlaine, which also had been a component of the Bauhaus era. On the one hand, you'll find hints of a continuation of a will to explore bright pop-melody structures as found on his debut, but more layers appear on this one, both containing a darker tone but also points in new stylistic directions.

With Love Hysteria, Murphy aims his solo career for an audience with a taste for the darker sides of Bauhaus as opposed to complex rhythms and art pop, as he demonstrated on the otherwise fine Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986). The new album garnered quite positive reviews, where it was noted that Murphy partly continues to show his influence from Bowie, but also that he has made his so far most solid release since leaving Bauhaus. My initial verdict was experienced as a disappointment because he hadn't continued in his new-found style of the debut, but that sensation wore off after a while, and when comparing with his later releases, there's no doubt that this very album stands stronger than what his more detached and impersonal debut turned out to be.

Putting Murphy's Bowie-imitating style aside, Love Hysteria is quite a solid and distinctive album that stands the test of time and actually may be his very best.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Joy Division "Substance - 1977-80" (1988)

Substance - 1977-80 (compilation)
release date: Jun. 1988
format: cd (1999 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 /5]
producer: Joy Division, Martin Hannett
label: London Records - nationality: England, UK

10 track compilation album by Joy Division originally released by Factory Records, is a collection of early single releases and only really interesting for fans and collectors. I bought it because it contains the four track ep An Ideal for Living, and the "Licht und Blindheit" single. The original LP version doesn't really do justice to the band as a good and reasonable buy if you don't have their two studio albums but it really only expands the view on Joy Division in terms of insight in the original sound. Nonetheless, the 1991 cd version contains the addition of 7 tracks (making it a 17 track cd), which seems like a more interesting issue as it also includes "Glass", "From Safety to Where", and "Komakino" - tracks that are hard to find elsewhere. Other compilations exist but I don't really find them that useful. A box-set 1977-1980 has been released consisting of 5 discs and it includes their official studio albums as well as Substance but really, although it's an attempt to embrace most of the band's material: you'll be better off just buying the original studio albums. It doesn't include any of The Peel Sessions at all, and the 'problem' with a compilation of Joy Division material is basically how much they changed over short time. This will not be easy to obtain on any disc, changing from Unknown Pleasures over Closer, to Still with its poor sound quality and so forth. Best of releases and Martin Hannett editions and the like... no, just start from the beginning. It's not a long journey after all. I resold the vinyl album at some point in the early '90s.

The Cranberries "No Need to Argue" (1994)

No Need to Argue
release date: Oct. 4, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]
producer: Stephen Street
label: Island Records - nationality: Ireland

Track highlights: 1. "Ode to My Family" (4 / 5) - 2. "I Can’t Be With You" - 4. "Zombie" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Empty" - 6. "Everything I Said" - 9. "Ridiculous Thoughts" - 13. "No Need to Argue"

2nd studio album by The Cranberries is like the debut produced by Stephen Street. All lyrics are by Dolores O'Riordan, as well as most of the music, or it's written in collaboration with guitarist Noel Hogan (7 of 13 tracks).
It follows closely down the same musical path as the fine debut, although, this seems somewhat less coherent - the lows here are of lesser quality, and there is left more room for a more traditional celtic rock and celtic folk inspiration.
The album launched the two best-selling singles: "Zombie" and "Ode to My Family", the first is a protest song and a track most will associate with The Cranberries. It also became the band's first and only registered song to top the singles chart lists in several countries (e.g. Australia, France and Germany). "Zombie" (released as the only single prior to the album release) shows an angry grunge rock tone, which is never carried out on the remaining tracks on a primarily acoustic-driven album - what makes me think of it as incoherent. No Need to Argue became the band's highest charting and best-selling album with several number #1 positions, nationally, and in countries like Germany, Australia, New Zealand, France and Canada.
My initial verdict (from 1994) would only have secured a score just above 2,5 / 5; however, once I had finally come to terms with / accustomed myself to the vibrant and insisting voice of O'Riordan, I find the album much closer to the quality of the debut 'cause there's simply too many fine songs left on the album. It is a front-loaded album with several great tracks, but the second half doesn't quite suffice resulting in a fine follow-up
[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 2,5 / 5, Sputnikmusic 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Moby "18" (2002)

18
release date: May 13, 2002
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Moby
label: Mute Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "We Are All Made of Stars" - 2. "In This World" - 11. "Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)" - 15. "Harbour" (feat. Sinéad O'Connor) - 17. "The Rafters"

6th studio album by Moby follows closely in the footsteps of his international break-through album Play from 1999 incorporating many samples. It contains 18 tracks and has a total running time above 71 mins. and it turns out a bit more experimental compared to his great '99 album, as it isn't composed in the same danceable house-style but reflects a bolder ambient and downtempo electronic release.
Possibly, aided by the success of the predecessor, 18 became an immediate world-wide top-selling album reaching number #4 on the Billboard 200 in the US - topping the Dance / Electronic list there, and also topping albums chart lists in several countries including Australia, France, Germany and the UK making it his so far best-selling album.
For a long time, I found it a bit of a disappointing and mediocre affair, possibly handing it 2,5 / 5, but over the years I have come to regard it as much better than that. It doesn't contain strong singles like "Porcelain" from the '99 album, but it's nicely held together and has an underlying melancholic tone, which makes it quite gripping once you get to the core of the album. In fact, it's a much more coherent collection of songs than the big mish-mash of styles and almost two-sided affair from start to finish that you find on the acclaimed Play.
A grower of an album, mind you.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Q Magazine 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Richard Hawley "False Lights From the Land" (2010) (ep)

False Lights From the Land, ep
release date: Jun. 8, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,07]
producer: Richard Hawley and Colin Elliot
label: Mute Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Remorse Code" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Shallow Brown" (feat. the Smoke Fairies) - 3. "The Ellan Vannin Tragedy" (feat. the Smoke Fairies) - 4. "There's a Storm a Comin' "

An ep in between album releases. The first track is the epic track from Truelove's Gutter (2009), which means beautiful chamber pop, but the remaining tracks are very different, but the collecting theme here is sailors' songs, which also is implied in the title. "Shallow Brown" is an a capella, or more correct: a sea shantie song, or: sailors' song (here) without music. "The Ellan Vannin Tragedy" is likewise a track with a clear sailor motif with scarce music accompanying, and the last track "There's a Storm a Comin' " is more in style with his normal production. The two shanties drag in the negative way, I think, and overall it's a bit too varied style-wise.

Peaches "The Teaches of Peaches" (2000)

The Teaches of Peaches [debut]
release date: Sep. 8, 2000
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5] [2,68]
producer: Peaches
label: Kitty-Yo / XL Recordings - nationality: Canada

Track highlights: 1. "Fuck the Pain Away" - 2. "AA XXX" - 4. "Set It Off" - 5. "Cum Undun" - 8. "Lovertits" - 10. "Sucker"

Studio album debut by Peaches [aka Merrill Beth Nisker] but her second studio album, as she released Fancypants Hoodlum in 1995 as Merrill Nisker. I haven't come by her actual debut, which I have seen enlisted in the genre of post-punk, and this is far from that. Peaches is a Canadian performance artist mainly associated with electronic genres as electroclash, electro-disco with elements of glam rock. I also find an evident use of industrial in her first two albums as Peaches. She currently lives in Berlin, and knowing that it may seem easier to associate her with Nina Hagen. Like the German "art punker", Peaches make use of shock and provocation as means in her musical shape, and she also refers to and speak much about sex - both as subject, as well as part of her language. This is not bad. it really has great beats and tracks but some of the songs seem like fillers. Anyway, the overall rating may not do justice to the originality of this.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Killing Joke "Night Time" (1985)

Night Time
release date: Mar. 1985
format: vinyl / digital (2008 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Chris Kimsey
label: E.G. Records - nationality: England, UK

5th studio album by Killing Joke released on EG, sub-label of E.G. Records.