release date: Jun. 13, 1989
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Warne Livesey, Roli Mosimann, Matt Johnson
label: Epic Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Good Morning Beautiful" - 2. "Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)" - 4. "Kingdom of Rain" (feat. Sinéad O'Connor) (4 / 5) - 5. "The Beat(en) Generation" - 6. "August & September"
3rd studio album release by The The following more than 2½ years after the acclaimed Infected (Nov. 1986). Previously, Matt Johnson had been the only official member of his band as he had worked with studio musicians to record his former albums, as well as working with and hiring various members for live performances. But for this, Johnson included a fixed group of members, and fundamentally changed his project to a functional band, all depicted on the back cover. Band members here are now Matt Johnson on vocals, guitar and keyboards, Johnny Marr (The Smiths) on guitar and harmonica, James Eller (Julian Cope band) on bass, and with Dave Palmer (ABC) on drums. Eller had been hand-picked by Johnson, who had enjoyed the bass-sound on the albums Saint Julian and My Nation Underground by Julian Cope, and he had wanted to continue working with Palmer who had been the drummer on Infected. On songwriter / composer level it doesn't make a big difference since all tracks except one are written entirely by Johnson, so he hasn't given away much in the decision process. The only noticeable difference is a change to a stronger pop / rock style with less room for experiments and art pop, and the sound is very 80s in a not so positive sense with much focus on drum and bass. That said, the album still differs from contemporary releases by incorporating instrumentation and styles from a broad variety.
The album is his so far best-selling album making it to number #4 on the UK albums chart list, and the single "The Beat(en) Generation" is the best-faring single by The The peaking as number #17 on the national charts, as many may have found this release more (mainstream) digestible. The album had the working title of "Psychonaut" - together with the actual title this referred to Johnson's perception of the deceptive mind - whether the topic is religion or ideology. Both Johnson and Livesey had aimed to release "Kingdom of Rain" as promotion single, but apparently they had all 'forgotten' to have O'Connor accept this whilst her mind was set on her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990).
Following the relase of the album, Johnson and the band prepared for Johnson's first live tour in almost a decade - he had detested and feared performing live, so he had always found ways around that - with Infected it became a film project including every song on the album directed by Tim Pope, but now with this great line-up, he admitted to his colleages that they were much better experienced with this, and they rehearsed in dept to just get to some point of acceptance that yes, they were able to do this. A complete world tour was scheduled: "The The Versus the World" it was titled. Halfway through an exceptional succesful tour, while Johnson and girlfriend Fiona Skinner were on a week-long break on Mallorca, he got a phone call that had him consider calling the tour over. His younger brother Eugene had been found dead back home from a ruptures brain aneurysm. They hurried back home to find everyone devasted - his mother never fully recovered. After awhile, Matt decided they should finish the tour - life had to win. Alledgedly, he found it more than hard to go through the rest of the tour with Eugene having taken a role helping out, selling merchandise and attending gigs. Matt kept seing his brother's face in the audience - and he had to cope with his own mind going astray when thinking how he called the album "Mind Bomb", with what that implied, thoughts on religious matters, AND a brother who died from a decease in his brain... entering his mind... a Mind Bomb! No wonder he was caught off foot. I have always been in two minds about this - I think, it's more than just good, on the other hand I somehow don't find it as interesting and unique as Infected, and then I'm not a huge fan of the production sound here, and then again: "Armageddon Days Are Here (Again", "Kingdom of Rain" with Sinéad O'Connor, and "August & September" are absolute great songs. "The Beat(en) Generation" might be one of his most familiar songs but it's also a track, I find doesn't show Johnson as the great songwriter he truly is, and according to his autobiography "Long Shadows, High Hopes" it's neither one of his personal favourites.
This is one of the few albums that doesn't have cover art by Johnson's brother Andy Dog; instead Johnson's girlfriend Fiona Skinner is credited artwork [The The logo magnified on back cover, sleeve and inner sleeves] together with stills by fashion photographer Andrew Macpherson to match the label's wish to sell the album with a photo of the main man behind the music, which should have more people fall for the cover instead of 'masturbating devils' or the like - meaning the art by Johnson's brother, Andy.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
