Julian Cope "Interpreter" (1996)

Interpreter

release date: Oct. 14, 1996

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "I Come from Another Planet, Baby" (4 / 5) - 2. "I've Got My TV & My Pills" - 3. "Planetary Sit-In" - 5. "Cheap New-Age Fix" - 7. "Arthur Drugstore" - 9. "Re-Directed Male" - 12. "Dust"

12th studio album (some file it as his 13th and probably include his collaboration album Rite) by Julian Cope is like its predecessor 20 Mothers (Aug. 1995) released on Echo, as his final on another company after which he should only release his music via his own labels. Alledgedly, Cope had rejected to perform in the US, which made Echo cancel their work with Cope. The incident was perhaps the last straw, which made Cope turn his back on the established music industry and from hereon take full control of everything he would do. The album follows more or less the same musical paths as his '95 album, albeit as a stylistically narrower release, where the compositions are Cope's own neo-psychedelic mix of glam rock, beat, folk rock, space rock, and pop. Thematically, it varies between the cosmic, about space travel, and the more down-to-earth stories, but especially strong political positions are noteworthy, which take their starting point from Cope's commitment as an environmental campaigner. There has also been room for his 'Neolithic hobby', although it's only reflected in a poster and the album front cover.

Musically, this appears quite complex with a certain grandiosity, but still with a strict simplicity in the harmonies, as an echo of 70's nostalgia.

The album was not commercially successful, briefly peaking at number #39 on the UK albums chart, and with two singles - tracks #1 and #3 both peaking at number #34 on the singles chart.

Personally, I think there's too much room for distorted guitars, heavy rock attitude, orchestral arrangements, and a repetition of naïve choruses, but still: it's probably part of his fascination of space rock. On the whole, there is a lot of recycling without much originality and at times I find myself wondering if he had either Lou Reed, David Bowie, Tom Verlaine, Scott Walker, or Neil Young on his mind when he wrote and recorded individual tracks. However, it's not only in the somewhat more distant music history that he finds his inspiration. At times he takes completely different paths when incorporating new styles with electronic or a synth-pop touch - and wherever he moves, Cope's strength is to write songs and to speak his mind, even if the messages occasionally drown a little in pompous and odd mixtures of styles. And you really have to give it to him: despite pulling all kinds of stuff from his musical shelves, there's still a remnant of presence and strong universal musical skill at stake - a Copesque charm and completeness, which manages to elevate the album to anything but copycat and mediocrity.

The album was Cope's final on Echo and all of his subsequent music has been self-released either through his own label Head Heritage or through his internet site, carrying the same name, and where he has commented on this and that up until Mar. 2014 when he made his final post. However, he has kept releasing and issuing new albums via Head Heritage since.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "20 Mothers" (1995)

20 Mothers

release date: Aug. 28, 1995

format: cd (ECHCD 5)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wheelbarrow Man" (live) - 2. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" - 3. "Try Try Try" (Top of the Pops performance) - 4. "Stone Circles 'n' You" - 10. "Adam & Eve Hit the Road" - 15. "Senile Get" - 16. "The Lonely Guy"

11th studio album by Julian Cope is like the one year old predecessor Autogeddon released on the Chrysalis-owned sublabel Echo. With the album, Cope returns to his 'habit' of releasing extensive albums - 20 Mothers is nearly 72 minutes long and is divided into four 'phases', as was also the case with Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991). His new album is similar to his most recent concept albums without it' being absolutely obvious where the focus lies, because it's more of a unifying album for all of Cope's thematic interests: climate and environment, the condition of our planet, consumerism, cars, religion, prehistoric cultures, and then as a more recent theme of his: stories from one's own lived life about family relationships. In the same way that themes are diverse, the music aspect is even more varied than on most of his other albums. Yes, there is the usual neo-psychedelia and space-rock, and then you'll also find indie rock, funk, and tracks with a clear folk touch, but also elements taken from Europop, synth-pop and rock & roll - in other words, the range is w--i---d----e, and the seemingly conceptual title, supported by the cover featuring family members - wife Dorian and friends, all of whom are actually mothers (as mentioned in the inlay) - then the album basically covers everything, and in that way it comes across as a bit of an all sorts mix - on all levels.

20 Mothers is by no means a bad album, the best side to it being Cope's stories, but at the same time it's somewhat incoherent and occasionally odd to listen to in its entirety.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

 

back cover: 
Julian with his
two daughters

inside:
Julian with family and friends
(wife Dorian on Julian's right)

Queen Elizabeth "Queen Elizabeth" (1994)

Queen Elizabeth [debut]

release date: Nov. 1994

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,28]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Superstar" - 2. "Avebury: The Arranged Marriage of Heaven and Earth"

Studio album debut from duo Queen Elizabeth consisting of Julian Cope and multi-instrumentalist Thighpaulsandra (aka Tim Lewis) - the latter features on Cope's most recent Autogeddon (Aug. '94). The album (only) consists of two compositions running just under 35 and just over 31 minutes, respectively.

The music is characterised by experimentation and is mainly kept in a simple electronic universe, where synths, mellotron, and programming are main components, and although traditional instruments such as guitar, bass, piano, and drums are part of the compositions, the final product is a work of electronic model completely without any apparent influence from styles that one might be inclined to associate with Cope, such as funk, space rock, or neo-psychedelia. As the experimental collaboration album Rite - made by Cope and the long-time musical associate Donald Ross Skinner (who, by the way, also features here) from '93 - it's easy to think of Queen Elizabeth as music made for a film, but where Rite was influenced by many well-known styles and genres from the past three decades, the album here appears far more minimalistic, more stylish experimental - without being downright masterful for that matter.

Julia Cope "Autogeddon" (1994)

Autogeddon

release date: Aug. 9, 1994

format: cd (ECHCD 1)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Echo - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Autogeddon Blues" - 3. "Don't Call Me Mark Chapman" - 4. "I Gotta Walk" - 6. "Paranormal in the West Country (Medley): i) 'Paranormal Pt. 1', ii) 'Archdrude's Roadtrip', iii) 'Kar-ma-kanik' " - 7. "Ain't But the One Way"

10th solo album by Julian Cope follows The Skellington Chronicles (Jun. 1993) but is seen as the natural sequel to Jehovahkill (Oct. 1992). Also, following the '92 album, he released the collaboration album Rite (Feb. 1993), made with Donald Ross Skinner. The album is the first issue on the newly founded sublabel Echo, a division of Chrysalis Group.

Autogeddon [whose title is a play on the Christian term 'Armageddon' for the annihilation of the Earth] is on the one hand his final part of a trilogy, but at the same time it appears very much as a fairly independent release, as it doesn't contain a smilar extensive tracklist as the other two albums - it comes with 'only' eight tracks but stil has a total playing length of 46 minutes - and then it's not divided into phases either. Musically, focus is also on other styles. The cosmic space rock and the German krautrock have been reduced and / or replaced by an indie rock style mixed with neo-psychedelia and progressive rock. The compositions are longer but not unusually long - with the exception of two songs: "West Country (Medley)" consisting of three parts, i) "Paranormal Pt. 1", ii) "Archdude's Roadtrip" and iii) "Kar- ma-kanik" with a total running length of 8:30 minutes, and the song "S.T.A.R.C.A.R." running 11:28 minutes. Common to all tracks is an overall theme of car culture as an image of (especially) Western consumerism and Cope's perspective on the destruction of the global environment - which in this way adds the album to his main theme in the trilogy. A greater focus has crept in on progressive compositions at the expense of more catchy songs, which nearly always were part of his albums. Perhaps Cope has simply adjusted to his own mindset of getting messages across instead of following the record companies' desire for sales ability - this new perspective on music is emphasised by giving the individual tracks an explanation in the inlay, rather than the regular reproduction of the song's text (also seen on Peggy Suicide).

Autogeddon received a mixed reception but still sold well and is ranked as Cope's second best solo album with a number #16 in the UK, only surpassed by Saint Julian (1987). Despite good sales figures, the album appears as less accessible, where focus has been accentuated on musical originality and perhaps especially on the message, which in any case may also be seen as an increased demand for the listener's attention and his / her willingness to come to terms with the actual meaning of the songs as something other than just pure musical enjoyment.

Shortly after this, Cope and Thighpaulsandra released the instrumental album Queen Elizabeth (Nov. '94) under the same name.

[ allmusic.com, Q Magazine 3 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "The Skellington Chronicles" (1993)

The Skellington Chronicles

release date: Jun. 1993

format: digital

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,26]

producer: Julian Cope

label: Ma-Gog - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: [see Skellington 1] [from Skellington 2] 13. "Electrical Stormgirl" - 16. "I've Got My T.V. & My Pills" - 25. "London Underground"

9th studio album by Julian Cope chronologically following Jehovakill (Oct. '92) with certain reservations, as the album here contains the entire original lo-fi album Skellington from '89 in its original version and in addition to that, the continuation Skellington 2 or: Skellington 2: He's Back... and This Time It's Personal! All 25 tracks are contained on a single CD with a total playing time of just over 71 minutes. As the first part, Skellington 2 was also recorded over just two days and here released on Cope's own company Ma-Gog. However, the most recent release with Cope is the album Rite (Feb. '93), credited Cope & Donald Ross Skinner.

Musically, it's 'just' more of the same - mainly Cope alone accompanied by acoustic guitar and with contributions from Donald Ross Skinner and Mark 'Rooster' Cosby in a mix of folk rock and psychedelic folk with tracks of varying length - however, half of the songs are just under two minutes.

The album was re-released in '99 on Cope's label, the former Ma-Gog Records, now Head Heritage, under the name Ye Skellington Chronicles [except one track of more than 8 minutes with a slightly different style containing more distinct krautrock and space rock, and instead added a newer live track and an uncredited version of "Trampolene"]. In 2018, Skellington 3 followed ('only' with twelve new tracks) with the subtitle "The All-New 21st Century Adventures of Skellington" as the provisional end of the Skellington series.

The album serves as an example of Cope's idea of creating music in the moment as flowing ideas and musical improvs - which you will also find on Rite - but it is rather far from contemporary albums like Jehovakill (1992) and Autogeddon (1994). The second part of the "Skellington" series is, albeit recorded in the same spirit, an even more experimental continuation, which probably appeals more to hardcore fans.

This album can't be recommended as a start, but it contains quite fine moments.

Skellington 2: He's Back...

Julian Cope & Donald Ross Skinner "Rite" (1993)

Rite

release date: Feb. 1993

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]

producer: Donald Ross Skinner

label: Ma-Gog Records - nationality: England, UK

1st album by Julian Cope in an official collaboration with musical friend Donald Ross Skinner, who has featured on Cope's solo releases since Fried (1984). The album is the first on Cope's own label Ma-Gog, which later became Head Heritage.

Musically, there is not much that ties this to previous albums from Julian Cope. The only common feature is Cope's experimentation with styles, and he has previously found inspiration from krautrock and elements from electronic styles, but the album here consists only of long instrumental ambient compositions with the shortest track running 9 minutes whereas the longest clocks in just below 25 minutes. With a release on their own label, Cope and Skinner have ultimate freedom to do whatever they feel like, regardless of fans and others. And well, here they have thrown themselves into something completely different, like a playground of theirs.

The result may not quite live up to expectations for an album by Julian Cope, who has guaranteed quality music of original content since the early 80s. Most of all, Rite sounds like a soundtrack to a non-existent film, or like a mix of music from funk of the 70s and electronic forays of the early nineties, but apparently, also without great renewal. Still, don't expect to find tracks here that resemble anything Cope has released before. Some of the music may be found on the BBC documentary "The Modern Antiquarian (A Megalithic Road Trip)" from 2000 [better version here] based on Julian Cope's book of the same name. The documentary demonstrates Cope's interest in Neolithic finds and is an extensive field trip with Cope as tour guide to various interesting prehistoric finds in Southern England, Scotland, and Orkney. With images of the magnificent nature and ancient stones, the music comes into its own right - which again shows us that this music is suitable as an accompaniment to a visual side that the album itself lacks.

If nothing else, Rite shows some of Cope's sources of inspiration with ties to a more experimental side, which at the same time points in the direction of the perhaps more exciting collaboration with Thighpaulsandra (aka Tim Lewis, who later should become an essential part of the space rock band Spiritualized), and together they form the duo Queen Elizabeth, who released the homonymous debut album in '94.

Not recommended.

Julian Cope "Jehovahkill" (1992)

Jehovahkill

release date: Oct. 19, 1992

format: digital

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]

producer: Julian Cope & Donald Ross Skinner

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Soul Desert" - 2. "No Hard Shoulder to Cry On" - 4. "The Mystery Trend" - 5. "Up-Wards at 45º" - 6. "Know (Cut My Friend Down)" - 10. "Poet Is Priest..." - 11. "Julian H. Cope" - 12. "The Subtle Energies Commission" - 13. "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fine" - 14. "Fear Loves This Place"

8th studio album by Julian Cope follows only two months after Cope's first best of album Floored Genius - The Best of Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes 1979-91 and 1½ years after Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991) is also Cope's final on Island Records.

The album follows closely the style of the '91 album, although with a stronger influence from krautrock. Thematically, you'll also notice several similarities, as this has also been divided in phases - here three of a kind and with a total of 16 tracks and playing length of just over 70 minutes, this is yet another relatively extensive album, where Cope dwells on themes of global environment, modern lifestyle, and religion, which undoubtedly are his major subjects at this point. The album is sometimes referred to as the second in Cope's trilogy about Mother Earth - with Autogeddon (1994) as his final - and with all three releases delivering their specific perspective on the conditions of the planet. Jehovakill mainly touches the theme of religion with focus on the paradoxically huge importance that Christianity has acquired [the title: Jehovah = Christ with the addition of 'overkill', literally meaning 'too great importance' on the subject] in relation to 'our' older origins in the form of early pagan faith - which is reflected in the front cover depicting the outline of the rock formation "Callanish Stones", which seen from above takes shape of a [Christian] cross but is dated to approx. 3.000 years BCE. Originally, Cope intended to name the album "Julian H. Cope" with reference to "Jesus H. Christ", but the record company objected, just as they weren't exactly happy on the recorded material, so Cope had to add several (more) acceptable tracks to an album that still ends up evoking memories of Skellington (1989) and Droolian (1990), and probably more than Island Records cared for, which ultimately caused the company to break with Cope.

Much like Peggy Suicide the new album was met by positive reviews and also peaked at number #20 on the UK albums chart, Cope's second highest ranking (only bettered by Saint Julian and its position as number #11). Still, the sales figures weren't enough for Island, who perhaps focused more on the international reaction, and the album didn't perform that well outside Britain. The only single released from the album was "Fear Loves This Place" peaking at number #42. Incidentally, Cope never landed a top-10 single, and his highest-ranking single of all time remains "World Shut Your Mouth" with its number #19 - a song taken from Saint Julian.

Jehovakill is an exciting acquaintance, which both contains an incredible variation of styles and genres, but which nevertheless appears as a whole. You'll find energetic short songs with focus on rock, quiet ballads cut across folk rock and a singer / songwriter scene, neo-psychedelia mixed with krautrock and funk, and then there's also rave, ambient, experimental bits and improvs at large. Needless say, it's a pretty complex album, where Cope has a lot on his mind. At a first listen, you're invited in one direction, and on later visits you may feel taken to a completely different place. In that way, you'll find music for many hours, yet Cope ties it all nicely together. Overall, it comes across as his second best, and it probably deserves more than the praise it has received anyway.

Jehovakill is highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Select 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Floored Genius - The Best Of..." (1992)

Floored Genius - The Best Of... (compilation)

release date: Aug. 1992

format: digital

[album rate: 4 / 5]

producer: diverse

label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

1st best of album by Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes with the full title: Floored Genius - The Best of Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes 1979-91 released on Island Records and issued two months before Cope's eigth studio album Jehovakill on the same label.

The album is finely structured in temporal phases starting with 'Phase 1' consisting of six tracks from the early period together with The Teardrop Explodes - a band who only managed to release the two full studio albums Kilimanjaro (1980) and Wilder (1981) before Cope initiated a solo career. The album is pushed to the limit in terms of running length for the CD format with a total of twenty compositions and a total running time exceeding 77 minutes. 'Phase 2' through to 'Phase 4' (tracks #7-20) are all Cope as soloist and listed chronologically up to and including three tracks from Peggy Suicide (1991).

This album could be a mighty fine place to start if you don't know much about Julian Cope, and it was also a release that garnered quite fine reviews, and which probably contributed to Cope gaining greater recognition - and which generally helped drawing a different and more positive image than that of an LSD-stricken megalomaniac, which some described him as. The album paved the way for a whole series of "Floored Genius" releases, including Floored Genius 2 - Best of the BBC Sessions 1983-91 (1993), Floored Genius 3 - Julian Cope's Oddicon of Lost Rarities & Versions 1978–98 (2000) , and Floored Genius 4 - The Best of Foreign Radio, Rare TV Appearances, Festival Songs & Miscellaneous Lost Classics 1983-2009 (sic) (2009), all followed with covers in the same style, although only the first best of album is released on Island Records.

Highly recommended.

Julian Cope "Peggy Suicide" (1991)

Peggy Suicide
release date: Apr. 22, 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]
producer: Julian Cope, Donald Ross Skinner
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Pristeen" - 3. "East Easy Rider" (4 / 5) - 5. "Hanging Out & Hung Up on the Line" - 6. "Safesurfer" (4 / 5) - 7. "If You Loved Me at All" - 12. "Head" - 14. "Beautiful Love" - 17. "The American Lite" - 18. "Las Vegas Basement"

7th studio album by Julian Cope released on Island Records officially follows My Nation Underground (1988); however, in between these, Cope released the two lo-fi albums Skellington (1989) and Droolian (1990), which may be regarded as his protest to the record company's desires concerning the promotion and the artistic direction following his '88-album. In that regard, these two parenthetic releases may be seen as the necessary valves / extremes paving way for a new charachteristic sound and style for Cope.

With 18 tracks and a total running time exceeding 75 minutes Peggy Suicide simply stands as Cope's most fascinating album to date. It feature a vast bunch of musicians - some of which are reappearing guests from previous albums and some usual suspects, such as Donald Ross Skinner, Mark 'Rooster' Cosby and Ron Fair, and apart from these the album also sees former The Smiths' drummer Mike Joyce on three compositions.

The style manifested here (for the first time) is Cope's own original blend of alt. rock incorporating psychedelic rock, space rock, and neo-psychedelia are all traits of his music following this very release. The album contains beautiful ballads, hard rock energy, and complex arrangements - altogether held in place by fascinating stories and / or catchy hooks. Furthermore, the stylistic cocktail builds on traditionel rock & roll, blues rock, and glam rock, and the whole album is a genuine conceptual manifest, thematically touching on religion, spirituality, women's rights, ecology, global critisism and consumerism. 'Peggy Suicide' is Cope's image and conception of Mother Earth after humans has ravaged the planet. All themes are a compound, which he brings with him on successive albums.

It's quite a strong statement, alone in how it's all staged together but also in the way the single tracks are arranged in relation to one another. And the compositions are all treated with textual explanations by Cope in the included cd-inlay and in place of lyrics. You'll notice clear elements of progressive rock here and there, but more than speaking of specific styles, the whole album appears as a narrative with chapters, repeating motifs and themes already revealed, after which they resurrect in new contexts.

Quite understandably, Peggy Suicide is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", as Cope's only. The album is no less than his best ever and naturally highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Droolian" (1990)

Droolian

release date: 1990

format: digital

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]

producer: Ron Fair

label: Zippo Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Sqwubbsy" - 3. "Unisex Cathedral" - 5. "Safe Surfer" - 7. "Jellypop Perky Jean"

6th studio album by Julian Cope is his second sel-released album to follow his pompeous and disowned My Nation Underground (Oct. 1988). The album follows closely on the same path laid out with Skellington (1989) despite both pointing back on the '89-album as a kind of leftovers and at the same time laying out his future fully-formed style, which comes to full blossom on the successor Peggy Suicide (Apr. 1991) .

Droolian is a peculiar mix of spontaneous fanciful ideas - appearing as improvs and quite subtle arrangements. Cope demonstrates original ideas, although, he may have followed an urge - as a result of the lawsuit tried by Island Records [see Skellington] - just to record and release a complete album without the proper finish, which could have resulted in something closer to Peggy Suicide. As a curiosity Droolian contains "Safe Surfer", which on the '91-album is rearranged to "Safesurfer". Some tracks sound like complete improvs and at times Cope appears as an artist, who is about 100% on some (acid?) trip, which often create unconventional, not seldom quite funny, but also easily forgotten moments.

All in all, Droolian is funny, different, and flawed, and nevertheless worth a moment of your time.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Skellington" (1989)

Skellington
release date: 1989
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,35]
producer: Julian Cope
label: Copeco / Zippo Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 4. "Robert Mitchum" - 5. "Out of My Mind on Dope & Speed" - 6. "Don't Crash Here" - 9. "Great White Wonder"

5th studio album by Julian Cope marks a big change of style. The album was recorded after Cope's disillusions with what he saw as an over-polished and over-produced My Nation Underground (Oct. 1988) before that album was even released. He did not like the end result and initiated his work with musical collaborator Donald Ross Skinner on Skellington, which was recorded over a span of only three days. Island Records refused to release the album, so Cope established his own label Copeco in order to release the album, later reissued on Zippo Records (Apr. 1990). He then ran into a legal law suit with his record company, Island Records, for neglecting his contractual obligations; however, Cope only released another lo-fi album Droolian, this time on the independent label Mofoco, and Island called it a day.
Skellington is anything but polished mainstream and over-produced pop / rock aimed to satisfy the same audience who had been targeted with the predecessor. It's neo-psychedelia above anything. Secondly, it's also an alt. rock and singer / songwriter album with the addition of a certain amount of satire with only Cope, Skinner and drummer Rooster Cosby performing on the album. A track like "Out of My Mind on Dope & Speed" perhaps says much about Cope's situation at this point of his career. The satirical element sometimes makes Cope sound like the closest one ever gets to a British version of Frank Zappa.
I think, its immediate strength is a spontaneous lightness of catchy tunes and hooks - it's playful and reflects the exact opposite of self-consciousness, in contrast to My Nation Underground. Above anything, it's quite interesting much like the successor, but still with some distance from being great.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "My Nation Underground" (1988)

My Nation Underground
release date: Oct. 1988
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,02]
producer: Ron Fair
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "5 O'Clock World" - 3. "Charlotte Anne" - 5. "China Doll"

4th studio album by Julian Cope continues where Saint Julian (Mar. 1987) ended only introducing a bit more neo-psychedelia to stronger orchestrated arrangements of mainstream pop / rock closely related to David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, and Tom Verlaine.

To me, My Nation Underground is without much originality or interest, and in imho it's simply his least interesting album. Although, his very first solo album with Island Records, Saint Julian and this one are his so far commercially best-selling albums, Cope himself apparently has disowned this as no less than an artistic mistake. It's also clear that the successive albums showed a very different side to his talent, and thankfully so.

[ allmusic.com 2 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "Saint Julian" (1987)

Saint Julian
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 ]

Julian Cope "Fried" (1984)

Fried
release date: Nov. 1984
format: cd (1990 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Steve Lovell
label: Mercury Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Reynard the Fox" - 2. "Bill Drummond Said" (4 / 5) - 3. "Laughing Boy" - 5. "Sunspots" (4 / 5) - 6. "The Bloody Assizes" - 9. "Holy Love" (4 / 5)

2nd solo album by Julian Cope released only eight months succeeding the release of his debut album is also his final album on Mercury.
The style here has already changed somewhat. In a way, it has become more original in the way that it's a more coherent whole, though it's still neo-psychedelia. Perhaps the post-punk and new wave styles have subsided on account of a stronger pop / rock and singer / songwriter profile. There's clearly a link to the first [musical] Brittish invasion exemplified by The Beatles and The Kinks, and therefore also to modern contemporaries like XTC, Robyn Hitchcock, and Echo and The Bunnymen.
The album was met by poor reviews and likewise sales. Apparently, Cope's original neo-psychedelia blend was out of tune with time and the album only shone a decade later, but the poor sales led to Mercury dropping Cope after this album.
In retrospect, the album is a stronger release than his more introvert debut, and it bonds nicely with the music of The Teardrop Explodes.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Julian Cope "World Shut Your Mouth" (1984)

World Shut Your Mouth [debut]
release date: Mar. 1984
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Steve Lovell
label: Mercury Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bandy's First Jump" - 2. "Metranil Vavin" - 5. "Quizmaster" - 6. "Kolly Kibber's Birthday" - 9. "Pussyface" - 10. "Greatness and Perfection of Love" (4 / 5)

Solo studio debut by Julian (David) Cope - former frontman of The Teardrop Explodes. All songs are written and composed by Cope and released by Mercury Records, who saw a potential in Cope with the continuation of the style and music set out by his former band. Musically, Cope does continue much down the same path as characterized by The Teardrop Explodes, also because some of the songs had actually been composed and intended for a follow-up to the group's last album Wilder (1981) - the third album was released posthumously in 1990 as Everybody Wants to Shag... The Teardrop Explodes, but fact is, the nature of the recording sessions with Cope sacking most of the band members before finishing the album is practically a Cope solo release.

World Shut Your Mouth did not sell all too well and wasn't reviewed in the most positive of ways, and Cope was more or less written off by the English music press, who saw him as a bit of a tyrrant as well as an LSD-wreck. And because the time of the early 80s needed music to belong to a specific sound and style, which this clearly contradicts. The neo-psychedelia was yet a new and not-appreciated style at this point. It seems Cope was somewhat too early out combining styles and using unusual ways of composing music.

The album has, however, become widely accepted as an important and great release of the early and mid-80s and an early example of neo-psychedelia.

I find it close to the hights of Kilimanjaro but also somewhat slightly weaker.

[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

The Teardrop Explodes "Wilder" (1981)

Wilder
release date: Nov. 1981
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]

producer: Clive Langer

label: Mercury Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Bent Out of Shape" (5 / 5) - 2. "Colours Fly Away" (4 / 5) - 3. "Seven Views of Jerusalem" (4 / 5) - 5. "Falling Down Around Me" (4 / 5) - 7. "Passionate Friend" (4 / 5) - 8. "Tiny Children" (5 / 5) - 11. "The Great Dominions" (4 / 5)

2nd and final real studio release by Teardrop Explodes. In less than a year the band has been through various changes of line-ups, but here they are back to a nucleus of undisputed leader and only songwriter Julian Cope on lead vocals, guitars, bass, piano and organ, new member Troy Tate on guitar, David Balfe on keyboards and with Gary Dwyer on drums. James Eller, who played bass in the band during concerts to free Cope to concentrate on vocal parts is credited as additional personnel.

This is just great. Like the debut, it's a rather huge fusion pot of styles and genres but here it's under control and direction, and the neo-psychedelia fits nicely with what else Mr. Cope did later on. This is a rare album of the early '80s insofar that I still enjoy it. The album has so many fine tracks on it that one could easily think of it as a compilation album. I've had various favourite tracks on this release. Back then it was probably "Falling Down Around Me" and "Passionate Friend". Today, I think "Tiny Children" is a masterpiece.

The album was, however, met by poor sales and luke-warm reviews. After yet another period of internal conflicts the band was reduced to a trio of Cope, Balfe and Dwyer, and without a guitar-player, and after unsuccesful attempts of recording a follow-up album in '82, the band was dissolved in '83 after which Cope initiated his solo career.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Alt. cover

The Teardrop Explodes "Kilimanjaro" (1980)

Kilimanjaro [debut]
release date: Oct. 1980
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: The Chameleons
label: Mercury Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" - 2. "Sleeping Gas" - 3. "Treason" - 11. "When I Dream"

Studio debut album by British band The Teardrop Explodes, initially consisting of lead vocalist and bassist Julian Cope, guitarist Mick Finkler, keyboardist David Balfe and drummer Gary Dwyer. Up until the foundation of the band, Cope had shortly played in the trio Crucial Three together with Ian McCulloch and guitarist Peter Wylie, who should go on to establish the two successful bands Echo & The Bunnymen and The Mighty Wah!, respectively. During the recording sessions Finkler was sacked by the band (Cope) and substituted by Alan Gill, which means that Finkler is credited as guitarist on eight and Gill on three of the first issue's eleven songs. The album was issued in at least two original versions: the first with the UK cover (see below) and a second issue featuring the small hit song "Reward" and five songs featuring Gill and six with Finkler. Two songs are substituted with new compositions for the second issue, which has a rather different running order.

I only came across the album some four years after its release, and long after the great Wilder album. I don't think Kilimanjaro has the same greatness as the follow-up, but it still contains some fine compositions. The style is more new wave-shaped on this one, although horns are ever-present, and the general impression is a style that is too mixed up and pointing in all directions. For some reason the album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

New guitarist Alan Gill left the band by the end of the year and was replaced by Troy Tate.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

UK cover