Infected
release date: Nov. 17, 1986
format: cd (reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Matt Johnson with W. Livesey, R. Mosimann, G. Langan
label: Epic Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Infected" - 2. "Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)" - 3. "Heartland" (4 / 5) - 4. "Angels of Deception" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Sweet Bird of Truth" (4 / 5) - 6. "Slow Train to Dawn" (feat. Neneh Cherry) (4 / 5) - 7. "Twilight of a Champion" - 8. "The Mercy Beat"
2nd studio album by The The follows three years after Soul Mining (Oct. 1983) and it's like that originally released by Some Bizzare / Epic. It's produced by Matt Johnson and Warne Livesey (4 tracks), Matt Johnson and Roli Mosimann (2 tracks), and Gary Langan (2 tracks). All compositions are credited Johnson except one (track #7, "Twilight of a Champion") co-composed by Mosimann.
Stylistically, this continues the style laid out on the predecessor, only adding more synths and more complex arrangements and by being even better produced. Where the '83 album was introspective Infected is the wry outlook on contemporary Britain where Thatcherism implies rough economic times for the working class, and the Tory politics led to years with striking miners and the Falkland War. Johnson is by no means a fan of Thatcher nor does he hide his left-wing sympathies but he does with conviction. Best examples of his more direct political songs are the title song and "Heartland". Other songs deal with personal struggles, such as "Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)", where Johnson speaks openly about male lust, and "Slow Train to Dawn", a song about the consequences of two individuals in a relationship growing each separate way. Despite dealing with personal matters, the album is a near conceptual one where different themes may be applyied to that of a society and the aspect of new-colonialism. In this way and at a first glance, Johnson deals with politics and personal matters, but he also reflects on our very existence when greed, ignorance and disrespect show the ugly sides of human nature. It's an album of relations: on a personal level between partners in a relationship, it's about the political elite versus the people of a country, and it's about the everpresent Western exploitation of developing countries.
Johnson hadn't followed album releases with live tours and had no wish in starting now, but he was also fully aware that the label would want some promotion in order to sell the album, so he and manager Stevo came up with the idea of a film about the album, and to that purpose they needed to shoot a music video for each song on the album, where Tim Pope is director on most videos. Films were shot in the UK, in New York, and most problematic, several videos were shot in the Peruvian jungle amidst a political uproar.
Infected is my all-time favourite by Matt Johnson. It doesn't contain any weak tracks, and what's so remarkable about it is Johnson's strength in both writing great lyrics, often with critical view on political and moral issues, as well as composing complex pop songs that really swing. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
