release date: Mar. 2, 1987
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Warne Livesey, Ed Stasium
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Trampolene" - 3. "Eve's Volcano (Covered in Sin)" - 4. "Spacehopper" - 6. "World Shut Your Mouth" - 8. "Pulsar"
3rd solo album by Julian Cope who has now signed with Island Records. The album is alt. rock but also a turn to a slightly more mainstream pop / rock glam pop style as proposed by the new label, but it is nevertheless one of Cope's lesser neo-psychedelia albums.
It basically reeks of a typical 1980s production sound with its heavy drums' sound. Island Records put more effort in promoting the album, which was launched as an intended commercial breakthrough, and although it did reach #11 on the national albums chart list as Copes best-charting solo album, it didn't gain same popularity on an international scale. "World Shut Your Mouth" is the best song here, and "Spacehopper" and "Trampolene" are fine, the latter probably being his biggest hit (ever), but the album as such is not really a big favourite of mine, and I find it a too obvious attempt of selling Cope as a Brittish Tom Verlaine.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
