release date: Jun. 1981
format: digital (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Cameron Allan
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 1. "Icehouse" [same song by Flowers] - 2. "Can't Help Myself" [same song by Flowers] - 4. "Walls" [same song by Flowers] - 6. "We Can Get Together" [same song by Flowers] - 10. "Not My Kind" [same song by Flowers]
Studio album debut by Australian band Icehouse; or actually: the international debut 'cause fact is, in Oct. 1980 this band was called Flowers, and they released the debut album Icehouse exclusively for the Australian and New Zealand markets on Regular Records. Flowers was founded in '77, and the debut album provided some entries on the Australian charts and the band soon signed with Chrysalis, who wanted the album released worldwide. Songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and oboist Iva Davies was the band leader and together with bassist and backing vocalist Keith Welsh they founded the band, who were joined by keyboardist Michael Hoste - who is replaced during the recordings of the first album by Anthony Smith, and together with drummer John Lloyd they were Flowers. Now with a record contract with Chrysalis the quartet was sat out to re-record both music and vocals, and the company wanted Flowers to pick another band name for the release, since a Scottish band were already called Flowers, so they came up with the title of their first track for new band name. The two albums (Flowers' Icehouse and Icehouse by Icehouse) appear almost identical. The '80 album was released with eleven tracks - one more than the Icehouse album, and then the track order is different.
Stylistically, it's in the category of uptempo synthpop and pop / rock with influences from especially Ultravox, Gary Numan, David Bowie, early Roxy Music, and T. Rex.
I didn't listen to this until some point in the 90s, and by then found it of little interest but simply had to hear it 'cause Icehouse's sophomore album, Primitive Man (1982) was such a distinctive and originally strong release. Despite also being 'synthpop', it's still quite far from their more famous album(s), and what really strikes me - of course listening to it from a later point - is how little original it sounds. It is very much with Ultravox, Gary Numan, Roxy Music and Bowie in mind that you listen through (nearly) all of these songs.
Only a must for collectors.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]
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"Icehouse" by Flowers (1980) |
