release date: Sep. 4, 1989
format: vinyl (PL 90344) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,86]
producer: John Fryer, Love and Rockets
label: RCA / Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "**** (Jungle Law)" - 2. "No Big Deal" - 3. "The Purest Blue" - 4. "Motorcycle" (4 / 5) - 8. "So Alive" (4 / 5) - 9. "Rock and Roll Babylon" - 10. "No Words No More"
4th studio album by Love and Rockets originally released by Beggars Banquet. The band has teamed up with the more 'pop-tuned' producer, John Fryer. The album is a move away from the psychedelic style they have worked deeper into from a chronological perspective, but here they incorporate glam rock and post-punk elements and basically come out with an album closer to the Bauhaus sound than anything else they have made since they began 6 years and 3 albums earlier. The track "So Alive" became a (surprisingly) rather big hit as it went as high as number #3 on the Billboard 100 in the US, and the album reached number #14 in the US (the highest charting album by L&R). In 2002 the album was re-issued as a double disc album with 13 bonus tracks. I remember, when I bought the album, how I used to play "Motorcycle" at maximum volume. "So Alive" was without doubt the big hit of the album, but I simply loved the hard rockin' mc song. To me, this was clearly a shift of style in the right direction, however, the band would not release a follow-up until 5 years later, as both Daniel Ash and David J focused more on solo projects and by the time they again came together as a band, the music was not around this one. Love and Rockets fifth studio album Hot Trip to Heaven from '94, I never understood - I hand it 2 / 5 stars and the 6th album Sweet F.A. from '96 is likewise not an album, I would recommend. I think, they kind of lost their drive and lust for music, or drifted apart in the 1990s - the band's 7th and final album is Lift from '98. I haven't come across the album but I've read an interview with Daniel Ash talking about their lack of musical drive. The critics also became less enthusiastic and in 1999 the band officially disbanded. The band reunited in 2007 to play a concert in tribute of Joe Strummer, toured and played several concerts in 2008 before finally disbanding.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]
