Lloyd Cole and The Commotions "Rattlesnakes" (1984)

Rattlesnakes [debut]

release date: Oct. 12, 1984
format: vinyl (LCLP 1) / cd (1985 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Paul Hardiman
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Perfect Skin" (4 / 5) - 3. "Rattlesnakes" (4,5 /5) - 4. "Down on Mission Street" (4 / 5) - 6. "Charlotte Street" - 10. "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?"

Studio debut album by Lloyd Cole and The Commotions consisting of songwriter and main composer, vocalist, and guitarist Lloyd Cole, guitarist Neil Clark, bassist Lawrence Donegan, keyboardist Blair Cowan, and percussionist Stephen Irvine.
The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
My cd issue is a '85 reissue with an additional four bonus tracks to the ten track standard release.
[ allmusic.com, Record Mirror, Sounds 4,5 / 5, Mojo, Uncut 4 / 5, Q Magazine, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Imperial Bedroom" (1982)

Imperial Bedroom
release date: Jul. 2, 1982
format: digital (1994 remaster Extended Play) / digital (2012 remaster)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,32]
producer: Geoff Emerick
label: Rykodisc / MFSL - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Beyond Belief" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Tears Before Bedtime" - 3. "Shabby Doll" - 4. "The Long Honeymoon" - 5. "Man Out of Time" - 6. "Almost Blue" (5 / 5) - 7. "...And in Every Home" - 9. "Human Hands" - 10. "Kid About It" - 12. "Boy With a Problem" - 14. "You Little Fool" - 15. "Town Cryer"

7th studio album by Elvis Costello and his fifth consecutive album with The Attractions originally released on F-Beat sees Costello back with his own material as the natural successor to Trust (1981), but it also introduces a new producer as Costello wanted something else, than what he knew Nick Lowe could garantee.

The song "Almost Blue" soon became a stable by Chet Baker [Baker's version - and live in Tokyo], however, the album basically failed to produce single hits as Costello and Emerick had been concentrating on creating a special sound for the entire album, and apparently, Costello didn't come up with full-finished compositions as much as an idea to follow before re-arranging and re-working the song with Emerick.

The '94 Extended Play remaster contains 9 bonus tracks of which five are demos or early / alternate versions and the remaining four are cover songs. Despite not containing top-10 single hits, I think of it as packed with great songs, and I really enjoy the sound of one of his most coherent albums.

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

1982 Favourite releases: 1. Laurie Anderson Big Science - 2. Dead Kennedys Plastic Surgery Disasters - 3. Elvis Costello & The Attractions Imperial Bedroom

Felt "Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death" (1986)

Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death
release date: Jun. 1986
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,75]
producer: Felt (recorded by)
label: Creation Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Song for William S. Harvey" (5 / 5) - 2. "Ancient City Where I Lived" (4 / 5) - 3. "The Seventeenth Century" (4 / 5) - 4. "The Palace" - 5. "Indian Scriptures" - 6. "The Nazca Plain" (4 / 5) - 7. "Jewel Sky" - 8. "Viking Dress" - 9. "Voyage to Illumination" (4 / 5) - 10. "Sapphire Mansions"

5th studio album by Felt and the first to be released on Creation Records after leaving Cherry Red. Most likely the album production was handled by the band, but no producer credits were filed. It wasn't the first album, I heard with the band, but it's one of my all time favorites of the mid 1980s. The downside is the short playing time of a total of only 19 min. It was released as the first album on the new label but is hardly more than an ep. The band's previous release Ignite the Seven Cannons (1985) was another great album but with a very different style. Throughout their career and spanning the 10 albums (band leader) Lawrence had declared they would release in all - no more, no less [!] - the band may be associated with jangle pop. The style is more linked with the 1960s folk rock and country rock artists closely related to The Byrds 12-string guitar sound than to the more contemporary post-punk bands evolving from / influenced by punk rock and new wave. However, the '85 release was their most dream pop ("over"-)produced album to date. One reason was that it was produced by Cocteau Twins founder Robin Guthrie, which is quite evident, and also features that bands' lead vocalist, Elizabeth Fraser on several tracks, only adding to the dream pop sound, but Felt also worked with the band's lead guitarist, Maurice Deebank for the last time. His guitar sound helped shaping their sound on their first 4 albums, and now with Deebank gone the band understood to keep their special jangle pop sound but simultaneously focusing much more on the keyboardist, Martin Duffy's Hammond organ. Although, this album only lasts 19 min., it still contains 10 tracks like any conventional pop album, but the single tracks only last from 1:00 to 2:49 min. and they are all instrumental tracks. Despite my interest in listening to energetic power pop and dark post-punk in the mid 1980s, I simply loved this album for its serene simplicity. I remember having found the album at the library and copied it to a cassette. A few years later, on a warm and wonderful summer of '90, I rode on my bicycle 300 km to visit my older brother and I had handpicked a bunch of cassettes to play on my walk-man for the ride. I had this album on the same cassette as their '85 album Ignite... and great '86 album Forever Breathes the Lonely Word and that was one of the most played cassettes on that trip along with Love Is Hell by Kitchens of Distinctions. Whenever I listen to Let the Snakes... today, I always get the feel of the sun shining bright on a clear blue sky, a scent of summer with warm breezes and images of a beautiful landscape just to pass through, which in the end, makes it hard not to like.
[ allmusic.com reviewer Greg Adams didn''t like it and hands it 3 / 5 stars ]

Lloyd Cole

~ ~ ~

Lloyd Cole (Jan. 31, 1961), born in Buxton, Derbyshire, United Kingdom. He is an English singer / songwriter who became famous for his leading role in the Scottish formed pop / rock, indie pop band Lloyd Cole and The Commotions (1984-89) while studying philosophy and English at the University of Glasgow. Their debut album Rattlesnakes (1984) is handed 4,5 out of 5 stars at allmusic.com. The band only released three albums together before Cole moved to USA and initiated his solo career. With The Commotions, Cole faced commercial success as all three albums sold either Gold or Platinum and the second studio album Easy Pieces (1985) peaked at number #5 on the British albums chart. The band also faced critical acclaim but it peaked with the debut, and the third album wasn't well-received by the press. Musically, Cole started his solo career very much in style with what the band had released in an indie pop / rock singer / songwriter territory. The debut was attributed some attention, both commercially (Gold in the UK) and critically, but he hasn't really met the same success as with his former band. The singer / songwriter genre is the collecting genre one may attribute all of his solo releases but he has touched on various styles moving from a pop / rock universe of indie to more folk-oriented music. I think, my first musical experience with Lloyd Cole was either Easy Pieces or Rattlesnakes by Lloyd Cole and The Commotions. I was very disappointed with the third studio release but I immediately bought his solo debut upon its release, as I did with the following solo album before tiring somewhat of his music. As a solo artist, I think, he peaked in the early 1990's with his first two solo albums and the overlooked beautiful Love Story (1995), before releasing minor and less interesting albums for some time, but recently he has made at least two fine albums with the more folk rock country rock singer / songwriter album Broken Record (2010) and Standards (2013), both of which have made me listen with interest to his music again.

~ ~ ~

Bauhaus "Burning From the Inside" (1983)

Burning From the Inside
release date: Jul. 1983
format: vinyl (BEGA 45) / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,02]
producer: Bauhaus
label: Beggars Banquet - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "She's in Parties" (4,5 / 5) (official video) - 2. "Antonin Artaud" (4 / 5) - 5. "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight" (4 / 5) - 6. "Slice of Life" - 7. "Honeymoon Croon" - 8. "Kingdom's Coming" - 9. "Burning From the Inside" - 10. "Hope"

4th and final studio album release by Bauhaus..., or so it appeaared to be at the time, but the band eventually regrouped and released the album Go Away White in 2008.

Some consider this their most polished and their most pop-styled album, whereas others regard it their most experimental release.

It took me some time getting used to it. Initially, I really loved "She's in Parties", and I was ready for a journey into more pop-styled songs in the dark gothic rock universe, and probably found that closer to e.g. The Cure's recent releases, but the album is much more than mainstream, and contains really experimental stuff. The great angry punk rock tracks "Antonin Artaud", "Slice of Life", and "Honeymoon Croon" are the one part giving new life to their otherwise more gloomy sentiments, only represented in the title track, and then the album also contains some tracks that point in a completely new direction. "King Volcano", "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight", "Kingdom's Coming", and "Hope", are all tracks that have more in common with what was later released by Love and Rockets, a band consisting of all but one member of Bauhaus. After the disbandment, Peter Murphy (lead vocalist) initiated his solo career, and the remainders founded the band Love and Rockets, a band that continued the experimental side of Bauhaus but who also took the style far away from the dark and glam rock-inspired post-punk and gothic rock. After the disbandment in 1983, the band's status has only grown. Bauhaus re-united briefly in 1998 for a concert tour, and again in 2005 continuing throughout 2006 - this time for a longer period, which eventually brought them back in the studio to record new material and the album Go Away White was released in 2008 only to see the band 'finally' split after the release. I think, Burning From the Inside is a better album than the likewise experimental The Sky's Gone Out from 1982. Although, the band incorporate many styles, it remains a whole with the more experimental tracks scattered in between more melodic tracks like small breaks. Initially, I didn't like it, and I would probably only have handed it 2,5 / 5. Nowadays, I consider it one of the band's major albums.

The front cover artwork is by (Daniel Ash' art school friend) Glenn Campling.

[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Tom Waits "Heartattack and Vine" (1980)

Heartattack and Vine
release date: Sep. 9, 1980
format: vinyl (reissue) / cd (1989 reissue)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,28]
producer: Bones Howe
label: Asylum / Elektra - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Heartattack and Vine" (4 / 5) - 3. "Saving All My Love for You" - 4. "Downtown" (4 / 5) - 5. "Jersey Girl" (5 / 5) - 6. " 'Til the Money Runs Out" (4 / 5) - 7. "On the Nickel" (5 / 5) (live) - 8. "Mr. Siegal" - 9."Ruby's Arms"

7th studio album by Tom Waits following two years after Blue Valentine (1978) is his last studio release under his own name with Bones Howe as producer - a near-fast fixture since '74 and the producer of a total of six albums. The unusual two-year period between new albums may be seen in the light of the lifestyle he practices together with Rickie Lee Jones. Since her solo debut in early '79, the pair had been living a life on the music industry's infamous shadow side, and Waits had ended their relationship in the fall of '79, simultaneously questioning his continued musical career. He left his 'beloved' LA motel, The Tropicana, his home for the better part of a decade, and moved to the East Coast and New York to find a new focus in life and with the clear intention of starting a healthier life. The change was not the success he had hoped for, and four months after leaving LA 'forever' and with a handful of new experiences, he returned to the City of Angels but this time in his own apartment - away from The Troubadour and away from The Tropicana clientele. It was also during this period that he found his (lasting) love in Kathleen Brennan, whom he (already) married in Aug. 1980. Waits had been engaged to write the music for a Francis Ford Coppola musical film, "One From the Heart" (1982) and Brennan worked at Coppola's Zoetrope production company.

Heartattack and Vine is on my top-5 favourite list of Tom Waits albums and it's also one of the first Waits albums that I bought on vinyl back in 1988 / '89. Bruce Springsteen had led me to this album when he included the beautiful ballad "Jersey Girl" on his 1986 live box set, and I became curious to hear the original version.

The album shows in several ways a 'new' Tom Waits. All of his previous albums are stylistically linked in a singer / songwriter, blues, and vocal jazz framework, but this one is his first electrified album. The title track and the first track start with a raw bluesy rock and r&b guitar and feauture a Tom Waits who almost spits out his words accompanied by a completely different sound stemming from percussion and trombone - an r&b backbone. The style is still centered around his narratives, the stories of lost destinies, and there is still a lot of vocal jazz in the music but the compositions have become simpler, more direct, rawer, almost like a type of garage rock, and in that way functions as a transitional album to a more experimental side to his music. You may wonder what The Pogues would have sounded and looked like had this album not been released.

The album is Waits' second to be included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

Highly recommended.

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

Underworld "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" (1994)

Dubnobasswithmyheadman
release date: Jan. 24, 1994
format: cd (1998 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Underworld
label: JBO (Junior Boy's Own) - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Dark & Long" - 2. "Mmm Skyscraper I Love You" - 4. "Spoonman" - 6. "Dirty Epic" - 7. "Cowgirl"

3rd studio album by Underworld released on the newly-established electronic label Junior Boy's Own. The album is also known as the band's first as mk2 ['Underworld make 2'], where the band has become a trio as Darren Emerson joined Karl Hyde and Rick Smith in 1990. With Emerson, the band completely reshaped its profile and began experimenting with electronic techno music.
An outspread misconception states that Emerson was the mastermind behind the early successful years of Underworld, and that Hyde and Smith only profited from his direction when he left the two in 2000. The truth is that Hyde and Smith are credited as songwriters of all compositions on this album, whereas Emerson is only credited on two. Also, after the first incarnation of Underworld had dissolved, the new trio started out making electronic music together, rather than one person showing the others what new styles could accomplish. Some early singles were released by Lemon Interupt and some performances were also credited Steppin' Razor.
Now, the album is not one of my favourites, though. I really enjoy Underworld and its take on house but I never really liked the electronic shape of trance and original techno all that much, but for what has now become a trio this is a U-turn in musical style, and the music was welcomed as innovative.
Dubnobasswithmyheadman was released to positive reviews reaching number #12 on the national albums chart list, and it became Underworld's breakthrough and a prize-winning album that showed a new direction to follow.
I really don't know of their two earliest albums: "Underneath the Radar" (1988) and "Change the Weather" (1989), but from what I've read, these two releases were new wave and funk-styled, which seems aeons away from this, although, some tracks here contain funky elements. This was highly experimental for the trio - and Underworld has stuck to electronica and house in different disguises on all their albums to follow.
Now, the album is fra from bad, but it's really more of 'putting a finger in the air' to see where to go to from here.
[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Everything but the Girl "Baby, the Stars Shine Bright" (1986)

Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

release date: Aug. 1986
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,96]
producer: Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Mike Hedges
label: Blanco y Negro - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Everything but the Girl is a move into more sugary sophisti-pop with stress under pop. All songs are as usual credited either the two together or solely Watt or Thorn. Gone are the jangle pop and jazz elements, and it's a clone of swing, big band, and pop soul with lots of violins, brass, and... marimbas.
I have tried to like it, but fail each time - and I think of it as their perhaps least interesting release ever. Not even the front cover is any good. This is really difficult to like.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Frank Zappa "Apostrophe (')" (1974)

Apostrophe (')
release date: Mar. 22, 1974
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]

Track highlights: 1. "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" - 2. "Nanook Rubs It" (alt. version) - 5. "Cosmik Debris" - 7. "Apostrophe"

18th studio album by Zappa! And his best selling album.
This is still a fine album, and very much in family with his albums released from 1973, with Over-Nite Sensation, to his last albums of the decade with Joe's Garage II & III (1979). The music is experimental rock with elements of jazz rock / rock fusion, and the ever presence of satire.

Suede "Coming Up" (1996)

Coming Up
release date: Sep. 2, 1996
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Ed Buller
label: Nude Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Trash" (3,5 / 5) - 2. "Filmstar" - 3. "Lazy" (4 / 5) - 4. "By the Sea" (3,5 / 5) - 5. "She" - 6. "Beautiful Ones" (4 / 5) - 7. "Starcrazy" - 8. "Picnic by the Motorway" - 9. "The Chemistry Between Us" (4 / 5) - 10. "Saturday Night" (4 / 5)

3rd studio album by Suede and the 3rd consecutive and so far last album to be produced by Ed Buller. With this, the band appears with a new line-up with Richard Oakes (replacing Bernard Butler) on guitar (Oakes had been selected among approx. 500 candidates to be guitarist of the band), and Suede introduces a more simple and lighter pop-minded album, which feels much as a natural follow-up to the glamorous debut with focus on glam rock, pop / rock (loads of 'flanger' guitar effect), and gone are the more complex and darker orchestrated arrangements found on Dog Man Star.
The album fared better than the '94 album (as it sold 'Platinum', selling more than 300.000 copies), and it also went to number #1 on the British album charts, just like the debut.
In the late 90s I found it a bit of a difficult one - I liked the hit songs, but also felt it too deep into "simple pop", which I found was the wrong turn compared to the stronger rock-bonds of Dog Man Star. In retrospect, I find it a much better album than just plain matter over content. I think, it represents a fine and durable collection of songs and it also displays the unique sound they established with this album, which I simply consider the band's second best studio release.
Recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Neil Young & Crazy Horse "Rust Never Sleeps" (1979) (live)

Rust Never Sleeps (live)
release date: Jul. 1979
format: cd (1993 reissue)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,88]
producer: Neil Young, David Briggs and Tim Mulligan
label: Reprise Records, Germany - nationality: Canada

Tracklist: 1. "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" (4 / 5) - 2. "Thrasher" (4 / 5) - 3. "Ride My Llama" - 4. "Pocahontas" - 5. "Sail Away" - 6. "Powderfinger" (4 / 5) - 7. "Welfare Mothers" - 8. "Sedan Delivery" - 9. "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" (4 / 5)

Live album released as Neil Young & Crazy Horse is Neil Young's second official and perhaps best received live album. This is not his great albums come to live but actually all new tracks recorded for a live audience. First half of the album is almost entirely Neil on his own, just singing, playing guitar and harmonica, whereas the second part (tracks #6-9 - the actual B-side on vinyl) is an electrified Young with Crazy Horse. Mostly, the cheering and clapping of the audience has been removed, so it's a different kind of a live album in more than one sense. It was released and classified as a live album, but basically it has been heavily re-produced and overdubbed in the studio.
The album put him back on top of the world of rock despite new times with punk rock, post punk and new wave. It's enlisted in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and it's a certified must-have item in any Neil Young collection, which means: highly recommendable.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 5 / 5, Q Magazine 4 / 5 stars ]

Orange Juice "Rip It Up" (1982)

Rip It Up
release date: Nov. 1983
format: cd (1998 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,66]
producer: Martin Hayles
label: Polydor - nationality: Scotland, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Rip It Up" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "A Million Pleading Faces" - 3. "Mud in Your Eye" - 4. "Turn Away" - 6. "I Can't Help Myself" (live) - 7. "Flesh of My Flesh"
*The 1998 remaster contains 3 bonus tracks

2nd studio album by Orange Juice released only nine months after the debut from Feb. '83 doesn't sound much like the former, and basically more than anything reflects the band's transformation rather than its natural progression. Fact is, both drummer Steven Daly and guitarist James Kirk left the band soon after having released You Can't Hide Your Love Forever. Replacing members are guitarist Malcolm Ross (ex-Joseph K) and drummer Zeke Manyika. Having substituted half of the band the end result is noticeable. The music is still indie pop, but what was left of post punk influence seems abandoned here. There's also less focus on the bold jangle pop element that had put the band alongside its Glasgow comrades in Aztec Camera. Instead, this new formation has put emphasis on funk and African music influences, and I can't help thinking that they play closer to the many sources of inspiration one will hear in music by Talking Heads - also with a distinct new wave touch that wasn't found on the predecessor.
I don't recall hearing the album back in '83, although, I'm quite certain I came across the title track, which I thought had a great guitar hook in the chorus, but after my first listens back when the album was re-issued (the remastered edition of '98), I must say that I find it a clearly lesser album compared to the strong debut. Edwyn Collins still sings in his highly original way, which then almost is the only common ground one will find on the two albums.
The album peaked as number #39 on the UK albums chart list, but the single release of the title track reached number #8 on the singles list making it the band's only true hit. Subsequently, also track #7 was issued as a single but only reached a position as number #41. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
Rip It Up undoubtedly sounds more polished but it also points in many directions and despite the extraordinary songwriting craftmanship of Collins it's an album left without that something that could've held it all together. It's not that the songs are poor compositions, 'cause several great tracks appear here, neither lacks the band skilled instrumentalists - the songs just fail to summon up a sensation of cohesion. The album remains quite remarkable but also somewhat unfinished.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

The Vaccines "Come of Age" (2012)

Come of Age
release date: Sep. 3, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,60]
producer: Ethan Johns
label: Columbia Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "No Hope" - 2. "I Always Knew" - 3. "Teenage Icon" (4 / 5) (live) - 4. "All in Vein" - 7. "Weirdo" - 9. "Change of Heart, Pt. 2"

2nd full-length studio album by The Vaccines is a fine and somewhat overlooked follow-up to the extremely over-hyped debut.

The band deliver simple indie pop / garage rock, which makes me think of the band as an American version of Arctic Monkeys, but wait a sec.., The Vaccines are from London, England, UK! Lead vocalist Justin Young only has that thing for American tone. Oh well, anyway, the band leaves out the artistic neo-psychedelia inspiration and spit out chorus-fuelled punches one after the other. They must be a great live (party) band. The songs may not be suited for heavy lyrical analysis and interpretation - but that's really something I don't see as necessarily bad. Music is music, great poetry... well, apart from Cohen and Waits, it mostly and rather conveniently comes in... books.

I think this release is just as good as their first, and frankly (Mr. Shankly), I don't really find much progression from the debut album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (2011) but when 'power pop' songs come out so naturally, I mean, who gives a polite f#*k?

Quite enjoyable.

[ allmusic.com, The Guardian 3 / 5, Uncut, SputnikMusic, PopMatters 3,5 / 5, NME 4 /5 stars ]

Show lyrics <- click...

~ ~ ~
"Teenage Icon"

"Oh look at me, so ordinary
no mystery with no great capabilities
but I could make out as if I had it but you know
God, I'm so obvious and I should let it go
Oh I don't know, oooh

I'm no teenage icon
I'm no Frankie Avalon
I'm nobody's hero

Reserved and shy, your average guy
No piercing stare, just out of shape with messy hair
but I always figured I was somebody in wake
and now I'm guessing that my woman must be late
'cause I need her, oooh

I'm no teenage icon
I'm no Frankie Avalon
I'm nobody's hero

I'm not magnetic or mythical
I'm suburban and typical
but I've got it, I've got it, I'm overrun with it all

Seductive charm, a way with words
So effortless, not leather-clad or dangerous
but I always did it like a real rebel would
I had a photo where John Lennon may have stood
or so I'm told, oooh

I'm no teenage icon
I'm no Frankie Avalon
I'm nobody's hero
[repeat]"

~ ~ ~

The Vaccines "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?" (2011)

What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? [debut]
release date: Mar. 14, 2011
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Dan Grech-Marguerat
label: Columbia Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Wreckin' Bar" - 2. "If You Wanna" - 6. "Nørgaard" (4 / 5) (live in London) - 7. "Post Break-Up Sex" (4 / 5) (live session) - 9. "All in White" - 10. "Wolf Pack"

Studio debut album by London-based 'indie' rock quartet The Vaccines consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Justin (Hayward-)Young, lead guitarist Freddie Cowan, bassist Arni Arnason and drummer Pete Robertson. The band was formed around 2009 by Young and Cowan.
Not surprising, everyone seems provoked to answer the question in the title, as to "What did [I] expect from the Vaccines?" My initial thoughts were damp and my interest was almost absent but rapidly I came to appreciate it as more than Okay. When looking at how many new bands and artists that pop up all the time and are hyped as the new prophets, I just have to say that I didn't expect much from this singles-hit band, however, they have surely surprised me in a positive sense. It's simply not just "Post Break-Up Sex" and "Wreckin' Bar", and they're a refreshing blow of air when everyone tries to be the new Arcade Fire, Strokes, Frans Ferdinand, Interpol, and-who-knows-who.
The band and the album was launched as the new biggest thing - to say it mildly - they were extremely hyped by the British music media, and the album peaked at number #4 on the national albums chart, but with such media exposure, they were basically doomed to fail to some degree, and by looking at some of the reviews it's quite evident that the hype was too immense. As Alexis Petridis of The Guardian put it: "It's not class that's a problem for the Vaccines, it's being hyped more than their catchy retro indie deserves." Well, I guess what he actually means is that they deserve more then they he hands them then...
Anyway, The Vaccines don't make it harder than necessary and that's a very nice starting point - too many could learn from that. It's nice & fine & I like it!
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5, NME, Mojo, Spin, Q, Uncut 4 / 5 stars ]

(Live perfomance on Jools' Annual Hootenanny, 2011)

Suede "Dog Man Star" (1994)

Dog Man Star
release date: Oct. 10, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]
producer: Ed Buller
label: Nude Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "We Are the Pigs" (4 / 5) - 3. "Heroine" - 4. "The Wild Ones" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "The Power" (4,5 / 5) - 9. "The 2 of Us" - 11. "The Asphalt World" (4 / 5) - 12. "Still Life" (4 / 5)

2nd studio album by Suede introduces a new sound, although, it's made with the same producer. It has a more subtle, less glam rock production, and it's more orchestrated with horns and strings, making it more of a chamber pop release than its predecessor (e.g. "Still Life" exits with strings and horns playing Ravel's "Bolero"). With this, it appears that the band wanted to distance itself from the britpop hype and the album wasn't launched with the same pop hit videos, which may or may not be the reason to its fine reception among music critics.
I find Dog Man Star an even better release than their praised debut, and it's a highly acclaimed follow-up to a fine and original debut. It has a conceptual feel but failed to sell as rapidly as the debut. To me, this is their best studio release, and it's by many considered their masterpiece, but it also marks the end of the original line-up as the band's main musical composer and guitarist, Bernard Butler (who had already been labelled the best guitarist of a generation) left the band after the release due to disagreements on the band's musical direction. Like the debut this is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".
[ allmusic.com, NME 4,5 /5, Q Magazine 5 / 5 stars ]

Clinic Q "Aye" (1982)

Aye [debut]
release date: 1982
format: vinyl (25266)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Per Gericke, Jan Degner & Clinic Q
label: CBS Records - nationality: Denmark

Studio album debut and only album release by Danish post-punk, and art rock band Clinic Q consisting of vocalist and guitarist Lise Cabble, bassist Gitte Trier, keyboardist Dorte Kopp-Rasmussen, and percussionist Susanne Unruh.
The band line-up changed around '84 when Rasmussen left the band and both Anne Vig-Skoven (vocalist and guitarist) and Mette Soele Mathiesen (keyboards and drums) joined. Trier left in '85 and was replaced by Lene Eriksen, and in '86 Unruh left and the four members: Gabble, Vig-Skoven, Eriksen and Mathisen changed its name to a longer lasting constellation, Miss B. Haven.

TV-2 "Natradio" (1981) (single)

Natradio, 7'' single
release date: 1981
format: vinyl (A 1664)
[single rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Jan Degner
label: CBS Records - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: A) "Natradio" - - B) "Vi er det bedste hold"

Single release by Danish new wave band TV-2.

[ collectors' item ]

Ebba Grön "Ebba Grön" (1982)

Ebba Grön
release date: Apr. 1982
format: vinyl (MLR-25) / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,96]
producer: Stefan Glaumann, Ebba Grön, Tony Thorén
label: Mistlur - nationality: Sweden

Track highlights: 1. "Flyktsoda" (4 / 5) (live) - 2. "Uppgång & fall" (4 / 5) - 3. "Heroinister & Kontorister" (4 / 5) - 4. "Stopp!" - 5. "Die Mauer" - 6. "Musketör" - 9. "Kärlek e stark" - 10. "Tittar på tv"

3rd and final studio album release by Ebba Grön who has been expanded to a quartet as Stry Terrarie (aka Anders Sjöholm) has been included on keyboards. Once again, the band has changed its sound as the album turns towards a new era with a more mainstream sound with traces of blues rock utilising horns, keyboards and strings, which basically makes it a near chamber pop release, but also points to later releases by the band Imperiet that should be founded by most of the band members from Ebba Grön.
I really loved this particular album at the time of its release, and forced to choose, I find it their best and most coherent album.
After this, the band officially split in 1983. The band's bassist Lennart 'Fjodor' Olof Birger Eriksson rejected to do obligatory military service in '82 and was subsequently imprisoned, which basically left the remainders of the band with their side-project Rumdimperiet, and in early 1983 it was announced that Ebba Grön had ceased to exist, but Thåström, Stry and Gurra continued in Imperiet.

Maxïmo Park "The National Health" (2012)

The National Health
release date: Jun. 11, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5]

Track highlights: 2. "The National Health" - 3. "Hips and Lips" (3 / 5) - 4. "The Undercurrents" (4 / 5) (live session) - 6. "Reluctant Love" (3,5 / 5) (live) - 7. "Until the Earth Would Open" (3,5 / 5) - 9. "This Is What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" - 10. "Wolf Among Men"

4th studio album by the Scottish band Maxïmo Park released on V2 records. The style is by some regarded as post-punk revival. Well, the style actually comes close to a fine combination of two other British bands: Editors and Scottish Snow Patrol, and frankly they simply play energetic alt. rock and indie pop / rock, which is a long way from Interpol and Bloc Party. They have sort of evolved from a more simple and raw form of what may be labelled as post-punk "inspiration" to a more voluminous sound utilizing synths and keyboards not unlike the other bands mentioned. Maxïmo Park make sing-a-long choruses with a guitar-driven 18-wheeler truck. It's great for background noise or uptempo music in the car cd-player. "The Undercurrents" is a great track but also very close to the sound of Snow Patrol. I think, this is their best album so far.

Suede "Suede" (1993)

Suede [debut]
Release date: Mar. 29, 1993
format: cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Ed Buller
label: Edsel Records - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "So Young" - 2. "Animal Nitrate" (4 / 5) - 3. "She's Not Dead" (4 / 5) - 5. "Pantomime Horse" - 6. "The Drowners" - 7. "Sleeping Pills" - 9. "Metal Mickey" - 11. "The Next Life" (4 / 5)

Studio album debut by Suede originally released on Nude Records is a glam rock and britpop release. The album is produced by Ed Buller, who would go on to produce all their first three albums and the 2013 comeback album, Bloodsport. The sound of the band is slightly different here compared to their successive albums as guitars and Brett's voice are more distorted - especially on their single hit tracks ("So Young", "Animal Nitrate"), which is a kind of a shame, I think. Beside that, I think it's quite a strong release with really fine songs. Suede is known as a britpop band alongside Blur, Pulp, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, The Verve, and several other artists of the '90s but Suede has a distinct glam rock style that distinguishes it from the others.

Suede was rather well-received by the British music press, as it was nominated to a lot of prizes, and also won the Mercury Music Prize in '93 ahead of Sting, PJ Harvey, and New Order, among others.

I purchased the album shortly after the release but had a difficult time getting accustomed to the British glam rock revival and actually resold it a year or two later in a stack with other cds in order to finance new albums. In the mid-90s I simply found it too extravagant; however, I got hold of the album again at some point in the late 90s, and when the remastered 2-disc Deluxe Edition was released in 2011, I simply purchased the album to see if the process of the remastering would improve the sound. The release contain an additional 7 bonus tracks (demos) and a disc consisting of B-sides (and 'Extras') with two single releases from the album, which makes it a fine bargain. However, I'm not fully convinced that the remaster makes that big difference. Edsel has made it a bit of their 'virtue' to harvest the market - and especially the independent music industry - for small record labels that have ceased to exist. Edsel then buy a specific record label's back catalogue with all master recordings, and then engage an engineer to 'remaster' the original releases, add (unedited) bonus material and resell the whole lot as 'Remastered Deluxe Edition'. Now who's to blame? Fact is, they make big profit from it, and we all help Edsel to exist. Naturally, a remastered edition with (the right) people involved in the original recording, mixing or mastering process, as well as say: central band members, would serve as a more adequate setup, which is not the case here. The album is enlisted in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".

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