special introductory
paragraph!
White Music
Go2
Drums And Wires
Black Sea
English Settlement
Mummer
The Big Express
Skylarking
Chips From The Chocolate
Fireball (as 'The Dukes of Stratosphear')
Oranges & Lemons
Rag & Bone Buffet
Transistor Blast: The Best Of The BBC Sessions
Nonsuch
Apple Venus Volume One
Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume
2)
(Mattro Reviews) Coat Of Many Cupboards
Listening to XTC's early records, one gets
the sense that they never intended to be a normal pop band. They were all herky-jerky
and kind of punk/new wave-ish like Oingo Boingo and Devo mixed with The Jam. But
before you know it, leader Andy Partridge had an onstage nervous breakdown (he
apparently suffers from severe stage fright) and the band flew off to Happy Cheery Land
like so many bags of sugar down the turnpike. They're from England. I'm not super-
attached to them, so don't expect the most excitable reviews you've ever seen, unless I
become super-attached to them through the course of the review program (sponsored by
Yale and General Electric).
Ever heard the phrase "Boring like The Jam"? If not,
you've either been living in a corpse for the past twelve years or you're simply aware
that
it's not a true clich‚ at all, having been spoken mainly by me, Mark Prindler, the Critic
With An EdgeT. But it's true - The Jam were, for the most part, a fairly middling little
band. No real personality, a hoarse, throatgutted singer and more tired chords than
you'll
find in Michael Hutchence's closet ch clever, let's - next paragraph please That's the
problem with the debut XTC album. Although they 50% of the time rise above early
punk mediocrity (Vibrators!) with some great riffs, herky-jerky rhythms, crangy guitar
and noisy, circusy organ, their apparent appreciation of dub reggae and simple pop punk
nothingness flubs up about half the record (49% - I honestly have no idea what happened
to the other 1%). That's a big problem I have with early British punk - it's simple and
fast, but too often there is STILL no identifiable energy, it slapdashes over into
Jamaican
styles as if punk and reggae have anything AT ALL in common with each other besides
ugly women, and, most tire-some of all in this good year, the riffs are SOOOO old,
Michelin. "Into The Atom Age," "Spinning Top" - no no no nah. These songs weren't
written - they existed before MUSIC did. Even "New Town Animal In A Furnished
Cage," as interestingly put together as it is, is the kind of song that makes you look at
your watch and wonder what those little numbers are for. Plus a lot of it has that
sluggish,
ugly Elvis Costello feel and the dude sings with a really weird voice. Thank God they
redeem the whole thing with a sickening dub reggae version of "All Along The
Watchtower"! No. They redeem half of it with great trebly guitars, little swatches of
synth bloops, dubby bass, fast, fun, jankly piano and oddball song constructions (a
number of examples: "I'm Bugged" is herky-jerk to the eXXXtreme, "Cross Wires" has
some loopyass rhythms and "Do What You Do" is superfast with INSANE rhythm
changes!). And "I'll Set Myself On Fire"? Why, that's damn near a GOOD reggae-ish
song! In short, White Music isn't nearly as racist as one might hope (I
docked it four points for that). It IS, however, a hearteningly creative yet
disappointingly
routine record. IN SPOTS, mind you. IN SPOTS. (WET spots, if you know what
I'm sayin'. Heh heh heh HEH!)
That said, I enjoy this record a lot. It's kind of like finishing off a bag of jellybeans first thing in the morning. Tastes really good going down, gives you a sugar high, but you feel kind of washed out and cranky when it's all done. Just don't O.D. on early XTC and you'll be ok. My favorite tunes? "Cross Wires" sounds like double-time Talking Heads (circa '77) and it's tons of fun with a real interesting drum part. "Into the Atom Age" is pretty damn catchy too. "Radios in Motion" is a hilarious "hey we're ready to goooo! we're so pumped up!" kind of song that's infectious in its enthusiasm. That's a good name for this album: "Enthusiastic Music." 8/10
I'll give this album a 7.5. I'm more into this period of XTC than like "English Settlement" and all that. This particular album is a lot of fun, and I actually like every song here (so I don't have much to say about it). I think a more viable comparison to this album would be the first Talking Heads album. Also, Andy's voice gets on my nerves after a while on later albums, but here it sounds fine.
This one seems more herky-jerky and robotic. Less Jam,
more Oingo Boingo or Devo. Lots of skaish bouncy stuff. But not your "Mighty Mighty
Bosstones" ska. This is just a ska influence added in to the punk/new wave stew of
Brunswick synths and Beef guitars that they had already conquered or whatnot. So it's
reggae, ska, pop, punk and new wave all played together at the same time. If that's okay
with you! Strange thing about this band (at least on these first two albums) - they
sound incredibly intelligent, yet still manage to record way too many dumb songs. "Life
Is Good In The Greenhouse," for example, sounds like a floor. And "Jumping In
Gomorrah" is TOTAL ska and, therefore, by definition, a woman pooping on you. The
intelligence comes through in the song constructions that feature an odd drumline, a
scraggly reverbed distorted guitar playing something neat in the background, a dubby-ass
bass dubbin' along singin' a song, and then those oddball synths jingle/jangle around,
then the guitar gets really loud and plays something else entirely, then everything
speeds
up and a happy barroom piano comes in - see, these guys, at their best, combined super-
eclectic youth music influences in a wildass NEW manner - listen close to amazing
tracks like "Buzzcity Talking," "Meccanik dancing (Oh We Go!)" and "I Am The
Audience" - just neat thingies! But again, not even clever songwriting and production
ideas can save an album if it's full of bum riffs like "The Rhythm" and "Red" (though
you gots to dig that saxophone and neat guitar break!). I don't know. I'm totally
primed to love this era of the band, but man some of the songs just BLOW!
Go 2 is THE definitive early XTC album. "Meccanik Dancing (Oh we go!) is one of the most unusual catchy songs I've ever heard. The psychedelic "Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian)" sounds like brainwashed factory workers at work.
"Buzzcity Talking","Crowded Room" and "The Rhythm" are some of Colin Moulding's most exciting
contributions to the XTC cannon. Check out the crazy ascending/descending chords in "The Rhythm".
"Red" sounds like a hot, sweaty nightclub somehow and does feature some interesting saxophone from Barry Andrews.
"Beatown" and "Jumping in Gomorrah" are hyper Partridge workouts.
"My Weapon" and "Super Tuff" are sarcastic, amusing and pretty entertaining.
Although the Andrews songs that should have appeared here are "Sargasso Bar" and "Things Fall To Bits".
"I Am The Audience" features the yob chorus of Terry and Barry (with Terry on the football rattle).
But the most innovative and interesting track here is "Life Is Good In The Greenhouse".
Sure it's far from Partridge's best by a long shot but the "dub" process used as far as emptying things out is brilliant.
Very unique drumming from Terry Chambers on this one. The excellent "Are You Receiving Me?" single is the featured bonus track here. There's really no reason why its B-Side, "Instant Tunes" isn't on this issue of GO 2. Virgin screwed up the first time and added it as a bonus trach to White Music. Why they screwed up a second time is beyond me. It's also creatively in line with the production line concept behind GO 2. Barry's playing makes a bit more sense and in place on this album
and Terry and Colin prove to be a rhythmic force to be reckoned with. Andy and Barry are uninhibited mavericks scribbling merrily
over Terry and Colin's canvas. The only LP in existence like this one is Adam And The Ants debut Dirk Wears White Sox but that's way more of a sour experience than this. This record delights, surprises, entertains, rocks, baffles, innovates and inspires.
Sophomore slump my arse - better than most bands' debut platters. Highly reccomended!
Something that most medical journals tend to ignore
about gonorrhea is that it This is the third XTC and, in the opinion of this lousy
author, their finest creation of every times. Describe for me if you will the abrasive,
hard-edged, intelligent, guitar-heavy approach to the pop song that they take on
here. Oh wait, that's what I'm supposed to be doing. Okay, there are almost no
keyboards on this one, but TWO crankly scrakkle guitars intertwining in strange stereo-
aided ways, a bass that bends, twirls, frightens and bounces - and then happy vocals on
top somehow making everything sound like a normal pop song! This was the
experimental peak of XTC's career, and both Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge were
writing feverishly about such topics as the "Scissor Man" and a woman who spirals
around like a "helicopter-copter" and a "Complicated Game" that not only doesn't make
Chris Isaac roll around on the beach with a busty young woman but actually makes the
singer scream his frightened heart out into an echo pedal as the song progresses. I
personally have kind of a weirdo version of this album (it starts with the non-LP single
"Life Begins At The Hop" instead of "Making Plans For Nigel" and includes a three-song
7" that KICKS ASS!), but I'm fairly certain that all of these tracks appear on the CD
reissue so I feel confident asking you to run out to your store right now, pick it up and
run
back out the door, ignoring the sirens and gunshots. Because, believe you me - Primus
didn't choose to cover two songs from this album for no reason! They chose to do so
because XTC's outlook at this point was a little KoOkY oDdBaLl and WeIrD. And not
every song is so goddamned happy like on their later stuff, fuckin happy piles of monkey
bananas. There's still a little Jam influence on one or two tracks, but this has been
replaced by lots of odd changes, moody arpeggiation and super-interesting guitar and
bass riffs. Last night I dreamt that it was my birthday and goofy Jewish convert Eric
Sowkowlsky tried to play some hardcore song for me, before old school violin-playing
nerd Kim Heggerberg (I purposely spelled their names wrong so that this page doesn't
come up on a google search) took her shirt off to do the music for some "Calvin And
Hobbes" skit that two other folks did for me, for no clear reason. Afterwards I went
around telling everyone about how Kim showed her boobs ahoy to everyone. Which was
NOT something that stuck-up tattletale bitch Kim Heggerberg would EVER do! But you
know how college can change a person (lesbian). We all must find ourselves at some
point (munchin rug), and the liberal university atmosphere (tongue bath) fills our young
minds with ideas that the repressive home environment has been hiding from us for far
too (predatorial clam-lapping lipstick dyke with an insatiable thirst for gullible
Freshman
pink that winks and stinks) long.
But one of the nice things about smoking pot at work is that you (sometimes) remember to bring your copy of "Drums & Wires," which originally contained a cover of a man beating a small seal to death with a shovel while two small children watched in horror. The first thing that gets you are the lyrics which, as Evil Bastard detailed earlier, are quite happy, kooky, and at times political. It sometimes takes a while, but soon you hear the obvious: these guys were a very tight, precise, and fucking awesome little band at this point in their career. Strong argument: a Metallica freak I knew in college (he was always practicing some guitar lick from "Master Of Puppets") stopped by and this album was playing. He asked me who they were, I explained and asked him if he liked it. "Not really," he said, "it's just that those guitar parts are pretty fuckin' good!" I felt so proud, even when Andy exclaims how he feels "like a jellyfish" right before a nice guitar break. And may I add again that Colin Moulding is one hell of a bass player?
Wanna know why that new Hot Hot Heat album is so good? Cuz they spent their time practicing from this album instead of "Master Of Puppets."
My personal copy has the same extra stuff you're talking about, but presents "Life Begins At The Hop" at the start of the "bonus track" section of the cd where it belongs. However, I think I also have a weirdass version, since it came in a cardboard case and had lyrics translated into Japanese.
Drums and Wires is one of those albums. It is a proggy new wave album - without the choir. It is heady, yet superficial and the time signatures are, as in GO2, enough to make Keith Emerson throw his hands up in air and wonder why he worked so hard all those years for perfection. Those brats - no respect for their betters.
Billy Joel had the right, albeit smarmy, attitude - "It's still rock 'n' roll to me". That's fine, but Drums and Wires isn't just a rock album. It's a serious New Wave album in the richest form and yet 'this is pop'. There are others from the period that rival this perptually odd work and XTC did not quite reach anything so singular to the point. For me, Black Sea came across a bit too commercial and more as a contractual obligation than Drums. I guess Drums was at the cusp - Black Sea a fine album in its own right, doesn't quite hit that same level of cerebral interest for me.
By 1983, when the last of the great New Wave songs came out such as "the Safety Dance" and "Our House in the Middle of the Street", XTC was already waning from the mainstream. But they and their kind all did decline, unless they turned out for the trend.
Enjoy Drums and Wires. It's a great part of a most interesting era in popular music. In days long, long before the internet or even Windows 3.1.
In spite of its brutally offensive title and cover (the photo
shows Andy Partridge in full Nazi regalia laughing as a river of blood carries thousands
of dead African-Americans out to sea), this is a surprisingly upbeat, happy collection of
great songs. Aside from the awesome screwball lead track "Respectable Street," these
tunes are non-abrasive and not nearly as creatively performed as on Drums And
Wires, but if your favorite Beatles songs were Paul's, you will be all over this
bouncy, cheerful collection of pop jollies. There's some piano and keyboard on here too,
smoothing the sound down so it's not just a couple of crackling guitars teaching you how
to rock. Speaking of which, I really like how these guys play guitar! Lots of
arpeggiation, several different tones, melodies featuring lots of notes instead of just
simple chords, and quite often very unexpected ways of playing the tunes. A perfect
example is aforementioned "Respectable Street," in my opinion one of their best songs
ever. Sure, Andy is singing a peppy memorable little voice melody, but check out what
the guitars are doing! They're just cranking and splacking away at these ugly little
chords! But it works anyhow. The bassist guy rules too. He bends lots of notes, does
tons of little slides and keeps things busy when the guitarists fail to do so. In
short, as
I review them, I'm becoming more and more of a fan of this band. At first glance,
they're just ska-and-dub-influenced pop guys, but the more you listen, the more depth
and smarts you find.
Black Sea sounds huge thanks to some heavy handed production from Steve "$50,000 An Hour" Lillywhite and gloss from engineer Hugh "I have Sting & Phil Collins home
numbers on my speed dial" Padgham. Whatever they charged, I can't complain at all about how this album sounds and it holds up well some twenty years after it's first
pressing.
Next, let me ask an open question concerning the cover in which Mark speaks of. What cover is this from? I've been through three formats of this album: vinyl, cassette, and
cd and none of them looked like the one he describes. The vinyl was the original domestic (RSO records, home of the BeeGees) that had the dorky deep see cover that was
surrounded by green paper with the band name and title, the cassette and cd were both the Virgin import of the same image, without the stupid paper. I think I have an XTC
book somewhere that said the offensive cover was scrapped (wonder why) in favor of a last minute shot of our heroes dressed as semen, er sea men. Apartheid in England's
suburb of South Africa was in full hate mode at the time, so maybe Partridge was smackin' whitey's bitch up. It's gotta be a rare one. As much as I think Musicland is run by
Nazis, I don't think they'd stock an album with this cover at all. Come to think of it, I don't think they carry any XTC albums anyway.
So I've gone on like a geek about the record's producer, engineer, and album cover; what about the tunes. Top notch rock and John was my favorite Beatle with George in
second place. At the time, I didn't dig "Travels In Nihilon" but now that I've gotten older and bought a few Can albums, I love it. Not that the song sounds anything like Can,
it's just that when you buy an album by Can you're automatically cool and understand everything. That's what the man told me at The Record Collector in Iowa City. So
eleven tracks total, and not a dud in the lot. Even the B-sides from my cd re-issue aren't half bad, which means that these guys could probably record themselves belching and
it would sound better than Can. All German art prog rock joking aside, this makes Black Sea a ten in my book.
The performances are awesome and Prindle's right on about the guitar interplay of Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory. I dare some of those shit hot metal guitarists to come up
with some of the sounds, patterns, and phrasing that these two toss of as easily as I toss off butt nuggets. Yup, Colin Moulding's a hot little four banger ranking right up there
in my top five thunderbroomers of all time. Let me add some praises too for (then) drummer Terry Chambers who holds this mother together. I'll betcha Lilywhite took two
weeks just to get the kit miced, 'caused they're all nice 'n compressy, bessy.
So there's my boner for XTC and the Black Sea album which ranks in at #4 on my Baker's Dozen list of 1980 albums. If you give a shit, AC/DC's Back In Black came in at
number one, proving that you can love both smart rock and retard rock at the same time. Still need proof? Here's my big XTC for you to suck on. You love my XTC boner,
don't you? Come on, suck it good. Yeah, that's real nice.
Drums and Wires may have been a songwriting and performance breakthrough, but I think Black Sea is the first time they really have a fully-formed identity. Part of this is in the big booming sound that makes its first appearance here but will be a touchstone of most of their subsequent releases. The drums have that big echoey gated sound that characterized (and ruined) many recordings made in the 80s, but they really seem to suit Terry Chambers' style very well - he's just loves hitting those tom-toms. And let's not forget Colin Moulding, who contributes the huge hit "Generals and Majors" which is almost annoyingly catchy, and "Love at First Sight", which has one of my favorite XTC guitar hooks. How they hell do they play that? Must be a non-standard tuning. Ever try to read XTC guitar tabs? Damn those guys.
And Andy's songs! Wonderful! Check out "Towers of London" - it starts out fantastic, and then gets doubly good for the unexpected bridge! Kinda like the Beatles - starts your expectations out high, then exceeds them. Absotively gangbusters, mang. "Respectable Street"? - more like BigTesticle Street! Nice ballsy arrangement, with a chorus neatly reminiscent of McCartney's "Junior's Farm". And another odd, amazing guitar lick. Oh yeah, and one of my favorite XTC songs ever, "Burning With Optimism's Flames." This song defines "exuberant joy". We all love our moody depresso songs too, but when a song is THIS determinedly joyous, you gotta love it too. Try not singing along with the chorus!
As good and intricate as they were yet to become, XTC was never this balls-out in-your-face ever again. Musta been that breakdown that Partridge had. Bummer (Mummer). So don't miss this one.
XTC's fourth album is easily their finest as XTC: Influental touring rock quartet. They hinted at the greatness that is this album with 1979's masterful Drums & Wires. Let's examine shall we? The LP opens with their best-ever opener, "Respectable Street"- a dig at suburban pretentiousness. The song may in fact be their most rockest (is that even a word?) song ever. Followed by the chiming dual guitar attack of "Generals & Majors" which succeeds in making cold war paranoia ultra hummable (or whistle-able if you will). Possibly Colin Moulding's finest single, it also features the currently very popular disco/new wave hi-hat action influenced by Terry Chambers.
"Living Through Another Cuba" is cold war paranoia to dance to. "Love At First Sight", another fine Moulding single,
is perfect psychedelic new wave with it's echoing refrain, quirky chorus, stuttering guitar solo and the always inventive
drumming of Chambers. "Rocket From A Bottle" and "Buring With Optomism's Flames" are both upbeat,
optomistic songs with some great, great playing. The former sounds like The Kinks backing Paul McCartney - tuneful but rocking.
"No Language In Our Lungs" may in fact be one of XTC's all-time greatest songs (a feat in itself).
The "I would have made this instrumental" & the repeating "way" parts still give me goosebumps. Ouch!
"Towers Of London" provided XTC with yet another English folk (folk as in folklore) classic. "Paper & Iron (Notes & Coins)"
points to where people like Damon Albarn & Blur learned a few tricks (just listen to their Modern Life Is Rubbish LP).
It's subject of working-class struggle is common subject matter but this song is above and beyond others
like it as we listen in on a band truly WORKING. "Sgt. Rock", a hit single in England is fun catchy fluff complete with mock hard-rock riffs. "Travels In Nihilon" is possibly XTC's most haunting song. The repetitive thundering drums and spooky bass line create an atmosphere not accomplised often in popular music. It sounds like stumbling upon a tribe of early homosapiens on a foggy shore or something.
The bonus tracks are nice as well -"The Somnabulist" is interesting an exceptional. "Don't Lose Your Temper" is a nifty throwaway
(with The Jam's Rick Butler on Handclaps for what it's worth) and "Smokeless Zone" is a sub-par Moulding contribution. The Rhythym section of Moulding and Chambers are at the height of their powers. As were Dave Gregory and Andy Partridge's dual guitar attacks. The Album went U.S. Top 40 and spawned five, yes five singles. Melodic, atonal, inspired, inspiring and great/complex/clever arrangements. Complex and intelligent rock never sounded so easy except for maybe that band from the sixties. What were they called again?
Oh yeah The Beatles. Whoever told the reviewer guy, Mark, he was "funny" must have had down syndrome.
Mark, you seriously need to listen to GO 2 (named after the Japanese strategy game GO and it being their second "go" at an ablbum)
again this time without the bug in your ass which leads you to believe this album isn't 100% kick ass art-rock (still sounds ahead of it's time).
Interesting little album the world has here in XTC's
British Plantation. Interesting in that the first half features example after
example of astonishingly excellent pop gems, and the second half is pretty crappy! Still
worth it though, this being a 72-minute CD and all, and eight of the songs being grate.
The overall sound of the first half is fuller, moodier and slightly more gothy like The
Cure or the later Damned stuff, with Andy's voice pushed back into the mix as "jai"
(industry lingo for "just another instrument". Hey, don't yell at me! I never said
WHICH industry!). But you know what sucks though? The second half tries to be all
Caribbeany or Jamaican or something, and that particular sound is not one that appeals to
me. In fact, I despise all islands. Thank God I'm here on a full safe connected piece
of
land, New York City, where nothing bad ever happens. Oh! But the album! Yes,
well, the songs also seem calmer than before. And less overtly cheerful. There's
certainly some "down" mood on this album. As well as "Melt The Guns," a truly
horrendous song by all accounts. Unless you like really irritating human beings going
`DUBBA DUBBA DUH!" over and over again, in which case it's a fool's paradise filled
with toucans and naked ladies. The CD's too damn long and filled with beans though,
and you can take THAT to the bank of Gibraltar. Also, there's this punkyass song
called "Fly On The Wall" that has the same title as an AC/DC song and a The Jesus
Lizard song, that title being "Tight And Shiny Big Balls." Oh FRIDGERATOR!
"Senses Working Overtime" is on here! There's a chorus that you'll never get
out of your head! Take it from me, Mark Prindle - THAT is a florist you'll never get out
of your bed! Having said all that, English Settlement has some of their best
songs and some of their worst songs, all together in a calmer, slightly gothy-esquer
collection of half-dream-pop and half-stupid-Jamaican-drumming-crap songs. 1-2-3-4-5!
Senses Working Overtime! You know, I realized something today that I think I'm
going to have to point out to all of my managers at work, perhaps in an email or office
memo - it suddenly hit me that, technically speaking, there's no "we" in "team"
either.
Good album! Jolly good show! Colin Moulding is at his best, least fruity yet! This whole record is a great piece of work! I absolutely love every song and
think that this is XTC's masterpiece, even though I'd only give it a 4.5 out of 5 because I don't think any of their albums are fully consistent the whole
way through! And Wasp Star was really, freakin' terrible! What happened? No "Grass"? No "Great Fire"? No "This Is Pop?" for Christ's sakes? I'm all for
taking different musical directions, but why did this group have to take that direction?
Yeah. There you go. All right. This is the kind of thing that tells you why I don't have my own successful review page up and running yet.
The first four batters (Runaways/Ball & Chain/Senses Working/No Thugs) start pushing this thing into classic territory. Then, things start to get a bit soggy (Melt The Guns/Leisure/Knuckle Down/Fly On The Wall) with tunes better left in the vault. I guess a two-year hiatus and a recent declaration that they were retiring from touring had the boys feeling a little generous at our expense.
Let me point out that Hugh Padgham does a great job of prepping for his future Police work with "It's Nearly Africa" starting just like The Cops' "Walking In Your Footsteps." We used to fast forward both of those songs in high school anyway.
So give me a razor and some splicing tape and let me make this thing into a full on classic. On the other hand, after the piece of shit that followed this, "English Settlement" remained (for a while) as the last great XTC release.
Even so, there are plenty of classic XTC songs, enough to justify much
of its praise. "Senses Working Overtime" frickin rules, as everyone
agrees. What a great, original batch of hooks! And I'm a pretty big
fan of two underdogs here: the lazy loping beat of "Leisure" (one of
Andy's least favorite songs ever, apparently) is fun and catchy, and
"Down in the Cockpit" is a wonderful dance tune that directly
contradicts the album's pastoral reputation. Anyone who likes XTC is
going to like this album, but if you're just getting into them, don't
expect a masterpiece. 8/10.
Just because a drummer employs a Blue-beat/Ska-influenced rhythm hardly means that the songs are trying to be "all Caribbeany or Jamaican or something" or so went your little un-informed disclaimer as to why you didn't like it. Sorry, but if you're looking for basic 4/4 drum beats you should ignore XTC as a whole. Terry Chambers is one of few drummers to have influenced the likes of Stewart Copeland
- while on tour with The Police (tastes aside S.C. does somewhat rule) to namecheck. You said the second half was very Jamaican and
that's why you didn't like it. "Knuckle Down" sounds like an old English dancehall number (somewhere just South of "Your Mother Should Know"), "Leisure" sounds nothing like reggae and "Fly On The Wall" is (for XTC) straight-ahead rock. And if you think that "Down In The Cockpit" sounds remotely Jamaican you need to get you ears cleaned.
If anything it sounds like early Talking Heads with a drummer who can be something
more than minimalist (via their own ability). "Melt The Guns" and "It's Nearly Africa" do have something of a reggae feel but, if you are
at all familliar with reggae, you'll know it's never quite as A) intricate and B) busy - but you already stated your dislike for it
(thus implying your vast knowledge of it) and Island music is never this tense and nervous sounding.
"English Roundabout" uses a heavy Blue-beat beat done somewhat against Colin Moulding's
(the writer of the song) wishes but it was left this way as it does provide for an interesting overall feel for this playful song.
As far as the first half "moodier and slightly more gothy like The Cure or the later Damned stuff" - far from anywhere near an acurate description. Does echo constitute as gothy? I think not. The Cure could never be as medieval as "Jason" and "Senses" are in spades.
And didn't use an acoustic guitar until 1985 (three years after this release). And The Damned's later material, as crap as they became, sounds nothing like anything on side one. And as far as Andy's voice acting as instument (your ever witty "jai" uh, "desciption") -
welcome to XTC! Glad you could make it! He's been doing this for a few albums now.
Funny that you think side two is "pretty crappy". The last song "Snowman" rates amongst XTC's fans (and band members come to
think of it) as one of Andy's finest moments.
Must have been that damned excessive Terry Chambers drumming that every XTC fan adores that screwed it up for you.
What impostures, they're not Jamaican. Boy, what fools.
I only noticed there was a longer version when i found the cd in import
Christ on a Mustard Sandwich! This is a bunch of slow,
morose, tuneless crap! Or at least 50% of it is (the half that I gave a 0) - you see,
according to XTC legend, Andy Partridge went nutso beginnigo at the start of a concert
and ran offstage all nervous to collapse. Thereafter, he refused to tour, citing
"exhaustion," "stage fright" and "intense nausea at the mere thought of having to play
for
all those pricks that buy my albums." So this album may be some attempt to redefine
himself or something. But it comes across almost like The Cure's The Top --
you sit there and wait for the songs to elevate themselves above mediocrity and they
hardly ever do. And the songs ddddddddddddrag and dragggggggggg and
draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag. (aww! That word looked like a cute dachshund! Look at it!
Adorable!!!) It's like his pop sensibilities got embarrassed by his sissy "run off the
stage" behavior and left to go hang out with John Cougar. LUCKILY, SAVING THE
DAY IN THIS ROUGH PERIOD, the album honestly does start great, end great and
feature one great song in the middle (this will remain nameless to pique your interest in
this exciting puzzle, about which you and your friends should start a top-dollar betting
pool), but golly Pete, every other song just seems to jiggle along with no direction.
Occasionally they'll happen upon a fantastic pop la-de-da, but far too often, as in the
cases of "Deliver Us From The Elements," "Human Alchemy" and "Wonderland," the
songs get their musical tires stuck in layers of slow, sloppy, sappy, shitty goopy
musical
murk-mud. It's all too slow and dreamy, almost hippyish - dreary, bland, mostly synth
and piano, very little interesting guitar. And even when the main riff is nice, it
almost
always switches to something with all the charm and precision of a guy falling asleep
with his head resting on the "synthesizer strings and bird noises" button.
OK, certain songs were always great... Beating of Hearts and Funk Pop a Roll
(beginning and ending the album with a bang, as you point out in your
review), plus Love on a Farmboy's Wages, Me and the Wind, and... I always
had a super soft spot for Deliver Us From the Elements and In Loving Memory
of a Name, two of Colin's most underrated gems. But my overall impression
of Mummer was that it somehow, despite its moments of greatness, on the
whole, just... bit.
Upon buying the reissue, I have experienced twin revelations. One, that
synth-heavy songs that sounded twee and lame previously, now have the
digitally restored, remastered, rejiggered OOMPH necessary to take them over
the top. And two, that Mummer's "penalty tracks", as I like to refer to
them, having been stuck in between sides one and two on the Geffen CD,
completely sabotaged the flow of the album and ruined the entire experience.
Let's talk about these extra tracks. Now, Jump is a classic, deserving of
inclusion. Maybe XTC's greatest B-side not to make it onto an album. And
Toys is good kitschy fun. Goofy, childish, but hey, that's what it's about.
Two good ones.
But Gold? Andy's never sounded more like a parody of himself and that
annoying 3-note descending "Go-o-old!" over and over in the chorus really
irks me. Combined with the incessantly repeated 4-note rising line ("And
it's O.K....") it adds up to a persnickety chorus that won't get out of my
head, and I don't mean that at all in a good way. Then... Desert Island has
been exiled to my own private desert island, where it and a small handful of
XTC songs I'd be perfectly happy to never, ever, hear again in my life
reside. (Right next door to Sgt. Rock and just across the way from Wounded
Horse.) "Me and poor Crusoe sharing the same fate... Cast away on a desert
island, with Great Britain written on its nameplate." Paging Dr. Obvious,
Dr. Obvious, you have a call on the white courtesy telephone, please... It's
the Metaphor Men and Ms. Simile and they'd like to remind you that
*suggesting* a connection is generally much more effective than bloody
spelling it out... on a nameplate, no less...
Finally, the two instrumentals. Now, I actually like them quite a lot... in
proper context. When I'm in a funky electro-experimentational ambient
jazzbo mood, one of my favorite listens is the Homo Safari series, 1-6, as
put together on the Dear God CD-single. I've put Egyptian Solution and
Mantis On Parole on mixes in the past. And I love listening to these
outcasts across the years as if they were a coherent instrumental suite or
concerto. Really enjoyable. Exciting, even.
Know what they are when you separate them and wedge them between actual
songs with actual lyrics and actual foregrounded attention-demanding
content? Lame. Really, really lame. It would be as if Tool stopped
rockin' non-stoppin' and slammed weird ambient instrumentals between their
powerdirges, breaking the flow. Oh. Wait. ...Tool do that already.
Uh... er... OK, but nonetheless, Tool do it to build or release
tension between songs, contributing to an overall mood across their albums.
The instrumentals serve a purpose. When Frost Circus and Procession Towards
Learning Land (the most ambient and most atonal of the Homo Safari series,
respectively) interrupt Mummer, well, by the time Human Alchemy comes on,
you've forgotten why you began listening to the album in the first place (or
even that you're listening to XTC at all), and it never regains momentum.
By moving the bonus tracks to the end and allowing Side Two to directly
follow Side One, the reissued Mummer has risen about 3 points on a scale of
10 in my estimation. Human Alchemy now *means* something, building on the
steam of Deliver Us From The Elements. It's an expression of ultimate human
disaster through human failing, following an evocation of ultimate natural
disaster through cosmic indifference. And it sounds fucking fabulous. The
album goes up another 2 points for the new fuller sound breathing life into
that song, Great Fire, and even Wonderland... plus, all the ones that
already sounded great sound even better. In the end, the remastering and
resequencing makes Mummer rate as highly in my book as Black Sea,
Skylarking, English Settlement, Oranges & Lemons and The Big Express. All
of which have their weak songs and failings, but constitute the portion of
the XTC library that never fails to bring a smile to my face and a
hoarse-throated imitation of Andy from my lungs. Bravo!
(XTC. Instrumentals. Not, generally speaking, two great tastes that taste
great together. I'm sort of intrigued about Instruvenus. And filled with
dread at the prospect of Waspstramental.)
A word in defense of the "penalty tracks" (thanks to Dan Koster above
for coining a great phrase! I'm gonna use that myself more often). I
personally think "Gold" is a great tune, ascending/descending vocal
hook and all. So there. "Toys" is pretty cool too, though the lyric
is kinda corny. I personally can do without all those "Homo Safari"
tracks (bonus B-sides scattered across several of the releases from
this period, characterized by instrumental synthesizer noodling). 7/10
My feeling is that the production on this album is from
1984. Not only are there big synthy drums, fake horns, fretless bass like Paul Simon
would probably like and keyboards that would make the Human League sound like John
Fahey*, but there's also TVs everywhere and this room where they make you confront
your biggest fear (Supertramp). Most of the songs sound mighty happy though, and the
poppiness will warm the hearts of even the most spaghetti noodle. Jazzy pianos, awful
harmonica in "Reign Of Blows," the worst song EVER "Shake You Donkey Up**."
Trashing the music industry. They're back to sounding like XTC is what I'm trying to
say. Radio-ready chugalug dandy pie music. A bit of reggaefication here or there.
Bounciness. Circusy. Cheerful. Sgt. Peppers. Clapping. Music that your mother would
like, and I would know because I'm your father***. Yesterday I bought my dog a soft
plush saxophone that plays a catchy saxophone tune whenever he bites it hard enough.
It's the cutest thing in the world****. But he keeps biting it while I try to review
albums,
so now all my reviews say things like "Fantastic McCartney-esque piano ballad! Until
the middle of the 2nd verse, when a really out-of-place saxophone solo comes in. It
repeats again at the beginning of the next song, continuing in a seemingly random rhythm
for several minutes after the album is complete." Seriously! Read all my reviews! They
ALL say that now! Go check the Led Zeppelin ones. Cut and paste them into a Word
document, type the paragraph "Fantastic McCartney-esque piano ballad! Until the
middle of the 2nd verse, when a really out-of-place saxophone solo comes in. It repeats
again at the beginning of the next song, continuing in a seemingly random rhythm for
several minutes after the album is complete." at any point you want in the review. Then
do a search for the phrase. THERE IT IS!!! SEEEE???? I THINK IT'S CUZZA
TITS!***** *John Fahey plays the acoustic guitar. **I'm exaggerating here.
Obviously it's not as bad as "American Pie." ***Let me explain what I mean here. I
don't mean that I raised you and nurtured you or even that I fucked your mother (though I
did); I mean that I'm God, your heavenly father. ****I'm exaggerating here.
Obviously it's not as cute as Luke Skywalker or the StormTroopers in Nazi
Germany. *****Tits play the acoustic guitar. The BOUNCY acoustic guitar, that
is!!!!!
Actually, the digital gloss is about the only thing wrong with this album, which is probably what Mark was getting at in the first place. So maybe I should listen to "Skylarking" again and curse Prindle for being right again. Let me again hint at my age by saying that even when I purchased this thing when it was originally released I thought it sounded way glossy. This was also during a time in which the only XTC albums available on cd were at fucking Tower records in the import section. And after "Mummer," the last thing I wanted to do was to shell out extra jack for an album that might suck as much ass as its predecessor. I did and the sucking is reduced to tracks like "Train Running Low On Soul Coal" "Blue Overall" or "Washaway." Everything else is pretty solid "look at me playing with my model train set" XTC pop rock, which is exactly what Partridge wanted.
Wait, did I say Saccharine Trust above? Aw screw it, you know what I
mean.
Tracks I can do without:
All kidding aside, 7/10.
Thanks for posting my Sparks Propaganda comment. And now, swelling with a delightful surge of self-importance, I offer the following:
How come no one mentions "Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her"? Too obvious or something? It's one of the best songs XTC ever recorded. Way near the top. But since no one else mentions it here, maybe there's something uncool about liking that one, so actually it's a piece of crap that elevates the rest of The Big Express to such high levels. Wow, "Seagulls" is awful. Can't believe that they wedged that turd in between so many GEMS.
Glad we're best friends now!
I'm home from work again, and it's time to write another
review. Let me pull out my notes. Ah yes, this is the CD that is very peaceful and
meditative until halfway through when it suddenly gets awfully depressing. I remember
it now. Filled with cricket noises, pianos, acoustic guitars, bongos and keyboards,
Skylarking rescued the band from the 80s production of Tha Big Ex-To-
The-Izzo Press-To-The-Ozo to create an intertwining, outerflowing collection of
dreamy, timeless post-hippy peace, love and understanding. Scarlet eyes in the stream,
leaves of beauty drifting over lazy streams and couples kissing in the grass.. Err. Umm,
until the violin-driven "1000 Umbrellas" announces that "Now I'm crawling the
wallpaper that's looking more like a roadmap to misery." But hey! Then there's more
gentle peaceful pop songs about the change of the seasons, umm - then we're halfway
through and suddenly we're confronted with worries about money, marriage, love,
loneliness, religion and DEATH. Don't tell Roger Waters! He'll sue! Is it a rock
opera? Some (Rich Bunnell) might argue so. A couple of the tunes seem a little
misplaced, but for the most part, it's quite incredible how both the lyrics trace a
basically
clear path from wide-eyed young innocence through adult pain and anxiety through to
meditations about our final moments on Earth. As such, it's easy for me to understand
why this is such a highly-regarded CD by most fans and critics. But not for me - too
many of the tunes just aren't memorable enough! I don't want you worrying about which
ones I might mean, so let me avoid controversy by being explicit: I find the "Supergirl"
song only okay. I actually HATE the lyrics, so the fact that some of the music seems
okay is a surprise to me: "Season Cycle" is awfully bouncy but necessarily creative: "Big
Day" is more interesting than it is likable (it sounds like a George
Harrison song!): I actively LOATHE the Tom Waitsy "The Man Who Sailed Around His
Soul" and the hit single "Dear God" - well, "dear god" is really all you can say about
this
pretentious failed attempt to recreate John Lennon's spiked anti-religious vomit. But
all the other songs (especially the odd-noisey "Satellite" and harmonious Beatlesy "Big
Day") are so good, I forgot the fiber! As such, would you mind sticking your
cellphone up my ass to scrape the 40 pounds of dried waste out of my large
intestine? Don't tell Roger Waters! He'll record it and turn it into a "bread
crunching" noise!
In 'God' (written around 1970), Lennon is giving up on his dreams allowing them all to fall like a house of cards. He declares he no longer believes in God, The Beatles, Elvis,
politicians of his era and many other things he once found important. Lennon sounds exhausted as if the energy it took to believe in all these things finally just wore him down.
'God,' like much of Lennon's work, is deeply personal to him and is perhaps not as broadly applicable as 'Give Peace a Chance' for example. 'Dear God' is a much more focused
open letter expressing specific frustrations with religion's contradictions. To me, Lennon's 'God' is about giving up on everything while XTC's 'Dear God' is at its core
confrontational... the opposite of giving up.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I had been listening to XTC and 'Dear God' for many years before I ever explored John Lennon's solo work. In my mind, 'God' and 'Dear God'
have no associated relation to one another and I don't find 'Dear God' contrived at all. This is not to say that XTC is free from contrivance ('President Kill Again' from
Oranges & Lemons for example tries a little too hard to over state its point). 'Dear God' has always seemed sincere to my ears and noggin. I remember admiring how
brave XTC was to release this song in such a conservative political climate (as a single no less!). Braver still were those DJs who played the track back in those days.
Enjoying the gulag fellas?
This is a great site as I now know I'm not a wierdo for thinking XTC were/are great!
Also thanks to this site I can now get Dukes of Stratosphear on CD, my cassettes have long since died and the original albums were never released on CD as far as I'm aware. But I wasn't aware of Chips From The Chocolate Fireball which is on CD - so thanks for that!
Oh yeah...I almost forgot to mention..."Dear God" is TERRIFIC.
5/10 (6/10 if I'm in a particularly good mood)
Released under the false moniker of THE DUKES OF
STRATOSPHEAR, Chips From The Chocolate Fireball is comprised of an EP
entittied 25 O'Clock and a full album called Psonic Psunspot. The
schtick here is that all the music sounds like it comes straight out of the Psychedelic
Psixties, but - and here's the thing - the members of XTC weren't OLD enough during
the 60s to have actually created this music during that era!!!!!! Using deductive
reasoning, one comes to the conclusion that either (A) Some other group filled with
people who were old enough recorded these songs in the 60s or (B) XTC actually
recorded these songs in the late 80s, and the whole "sounds like the 60s" thing is a mere
optical illusion. I have spoken with many experts on this matter and general consensus
is
that I read somewhere that B is correct. But MAN! What a trick they pull off - these
songs are written, played and developed EXACTLY like all the best stuff from 66-67.
Hints of Syd-era Floyd, John-era `tles, Brian-era Boys and Pre-David Prunes permeate
the proceedings, but the great riffs and melodies are NEW. And WONDERFUL. Unlike
The Rutles, who parodied the period by simply taking Beatles songs and changing a
couple of chords here and there, The Dukes Of Stratosphear have written oodles of
delightfully catchy original compositions in the fields of acid-drenched fuzz rock, music
hall piano tap, shiny bubblegum pop and Eastern-influenced groove. Hecky, one song
even sounds as the EARLY SURFY Beach Boys! Bubbly bass lines, wild sound
effects, 60s-era organs, uber-British vocals, backwards tape loop samples, strings and
horns - all present and accounted for! Whether or not you enjoy XTC, if you're a man
(or naked lady) that enjoys listening to Nuggets under the influence of sodium
hydrocarbonate (LSD), you'll LOVE Chocolate Chips On Fire by the
Psychedelic Dukes Of Hazzard. My personal favorite song = "Little Lighthouse," an
uptempo guitar pop/rock song with vocal harmonies so gorgeous, they bring back
magnificent memories of the Hollies song "Stop Stop Stop," with which I became
enamored in the 6th grade, thinking it was the Monkees, and thus purchased the
astonishingly lame Present LP, hoping that the song "Oklahoma Backroom
Dancer" was the song that I knew as "Stop Stop Stop All The Dancing" -- Hey, it wasn't
out of the realm of possibility - it took me MONTHS to discover that that awesome
Moody Blues song that goes "Listen To The Tide That Is Turning" was not, in fact, "And
The Tide Rushes In" (a completely DIFFERENT Moody Blues song), but, in fact, "The
Story In Your Eyes," even though that phrase is only said ONE TIME in the entire
goddamned song, and the Tide line is sung at least three and possibly 58,0000 times. So
I
cried about Present sucking and my Dad said "Hey you stupid asshole, that song
is by The Hollies, you stupid stupid asshole who always strikes out because you
suck." He didn't really say that, but it's hard to justify taking all these pills when
my
childhood was so normal and mostly pain-free. So why only an 8 instead of a 10?
Because only 10 of these 16 songs are so great, I'd hurl myself under a train if there
was
a guy under there singing them. Most of the others are okay, you understand, but
I would be remiss if I didn't warn you that the sissy bouncy Fuckathon "Brainiac's
Daughter" makes me so angry, I throw my entire apartment building out the window
every time it comes on.
First off, I wish Prind would specify which 8 goddamn tunes he finds to be not as great as the ten he said were "so great, he'd hurl himself under a train if there was a guy under there singing them," as to be able to aptly rip apart his opinions. Now I'ved used a quotation, can I have an A* for English GCSE yet, or do I have to describe Prindle's language techniques?
Anyway, you can tell the band didn't want anyone to find out that it was really XTC doing all these songs and not an actual band called "The Dukes of Stratosphear" because Colin and Andy write under the uber-subtle monikers, "The Red Curtain" and "Sir John Johns." Unfortunately, their nerdy-as-hell vocals give them the fuck away. I think Dave and Ian Gregory had monikers too, but I can't remember. This is basically XTC's "tribute to the music of their youth" (i.e. massive musical self-indulgence), that being '60s psychedelia n' Nuggets comps n' shit like that, and what a tribute it is! It's like they'd just finished Skylarking and thought "Fuck it, we can go more psychedelic than that!" Unlike a lot of '80s albums, the overproduction actually WORKS!! And there's not a bad song in sight!! A couple of average numbers though...
Let's start with the near-stinkers, so I can end with the greatness. I don't hate "Brainiac's Daughter" as much as Mark does, but it's just one of those "Yellow Submarine" moments in my mind -- a song that's OK in a sing-along way, but that pales against the rest of the material on its respective album. I'm not too big on "Albert Brown" (still like it though!) as I feel Andy tries too hard at pulling a Ray Davies-style social commentary, and "Respectable Street" absolutely blows it out of the water. Still, the lyrics are pretty funny! "Your Gold Dress" has a very nice chorus, and given time the verse gets pretty swirly and droney thanks to the sitar, but it takes too long.
That's three I'm not especially keen on, but the rest is fantastic! I'll stick to my favourites as I've already written too much: on "The Mole From the Ministry" it sounds as if Andy actually fused "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus" together, and it's so damn smooth even the most diehard Beatles fan could be forgiven for not noticing on first listen. "What In the World??..." is arguably Colin's best song here, but his other three are all fantastic songs! It sounds kinda like "Only a Northern Song," only BETTER!!! "Little Lighthouse" has an absolutely gorgeous hook that makes me want to dance and overuse exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!! See? I coulda sworn "Vanishing Girl" takes a couple of chords from an ABBA song or something -- not very psychedelic if you ask me. Anyway, it's a great song, with an other great hook.
Play "My Love Explodes" straight after The Doors' "My Eyes Have Seen You." Notice the similarity? XTC stole the bloody riff, but "adapted" it enough for it to be really difficult for anyone to notice. "Pale and Precious" starts like one of the more tender moments on Pet Sounds, but it quickly picks up some hilarious low-voiced Beach Boys parody backing vocals, and THEN some early Beach Boys style surf guitar to parody it even further!! GREAAAAAT!!!
In conclusion, I write too much in reader comments, which explains my reluctance to write them. As for the album, I'll be happy giving it a happy 9. It's one of my favourite XTC albums!
There's only one thing that separates us from the animals,
and that thing is this: Animals think that XTC's Apples, Peaches, Bananas &
Pears is a good album and we don't. NEVER FORGET THIS, LEST YE BECOME
BEAST THYSELF. That's what it says in the Bible. It goes on to bitch and moan about
how many songs on here are completely nondescript. Let's speak of a few songs at
random: "Here Comes President Kill Again": marching drums, very slow, piano,
bland vocal melody, atrocious "politically aware" lyrics. Then a guitar comes in,
playing
a "melody" that I won't remember four seconds after I turn the song off. NEXT!
"Poor Skeleton Steps Out": African-sounding talking drum thingies, instantly
forgettable bass "line" and vocal "melody." Another one that just screams at you, "I'M
SCREAMING AT YOU! WHY CAN'T YOU REMEMBER HOW I GO???" next:
"Cynical Days": Slow, bendy note bass, tambourine (possibly fake), keyboard -
COME ON, THIS DOESN'T EVEN COUNT AS A SONG, DOES IT???? IT'S NOT
DOING ANYTHING AT ALL!!!! AND IT'S SLOW!!!!! Next please, sir: "Across
This Antheap": Oh great. There's a jazzy horn at the beginning. OH GREAT, it's an
EASTERN song, like the hippies used to do in "Continental Drift" on the 1989 Steel
Wheels album. Shit SHIT shit Shit shiT shIt sHit sHiT ShIt ShiT. In any language,
it's No Good! NEXT! Ah here we go, "Pink Thing." Wait a minute.. "Anytime
you rise, I'm here"? "When I stroke your head, I feel a hundred heartbeats high"? "Spit
in my face, I'd love you for it"? HEY!!! THIS SONG IS ABOUT A PINK BIRD
THAT'S RUDE TO PEOPLE!!!!! I don't like songs about asshole birds. NEXT!
"Miniature Sun". A trumpet. A bass line. A piano. Lounge jazz. So somebody
please explain: At what point did Joe Jackson acquire the rights to the "XTC"
name? They try to be all things to all people, but in doing so, they've completely
alienated all of their listeners (me). Where's the awesome upbeat guitar pop and catchy
vocals that I so deserve from Ecstacy? Oh! There it is! It's called "The Mayor Of
Simpleton" and it might be the greatest song that any band has ever recorded! And okay,
a few others are good too, but not enough. Just simply not enough. 5 great out of 15,
don't cut it. There's lots of pianos and horns, and less guitars than I personally would
enjoy. But again, my main concern is the complete lack of hooks on a full half of this
lengthy album. But I guess that's what you get when your whole band is gay and
addicted to heroin! Oh, I'm sorry - I didn't mean to imply that XTC are gay and
addicted to heroin. I was just thinking that, you know, if your band was gay and
addicted to heroin, then you might have trouble writing good hooks. Maybe this isn't
the right forum to discuss how having sex with a guy makes your creative juices wind up
dripping out of his ass.
i think you're doing the wrong drugs.
The "superb quality" of this album inspired a couple of unlikely talent
scouts in the music biz: Pat Mastellotto, who plays drums here, was
soon recruited to play drums for KING CRIMSON! It was either this
album or that kickass Mr. Mister album he played on.... Also, producer
Paul Fox was recruited by none other than PHISH to produce their stab
at the commercial life, "Hoist". So this album influenced a lot of
people. All the while the venerable Terry Chambers, long having tired
of Andy's refusal to tour, sits in a Swindon pub with his mates,
getting pissed.
This is a ragtag collection of rare cuts & leftovers,
ranging from BBC sessions to B-sides and remixes to garbage. It's really long and in my
opinion gives a dandy overview of all the types of music that XTC is wont to play (it
sure
helped to turn ME into a fan!). Plus it has alternate versions of such great-o-riffic
songs
as "Ten Feet Tall," "Respectable Street," "Another Satellite" and "Scissor Man" (right
there, that's four of my favorite XTC songs right.. THERE!). Also featured are a
couple of Christmas songs, a Colin Moulding solo release, some Eno-style electronic
nothingness, a bit of bad funk, a tad of GOOD funk, a little piano lounge snazzy, some
pop so happy you'll tell your pappy, a bit too many songs where they go "Oh oh oh oh oh
oh!" at the beginning and a 22-second "History Of Rock'n' Roll" that will have you
rolling (joints) on my floor. Aaah how music will take you back. This CD was one of
the ones that I bought in Arizona before my wedding so we were able to listen to it
during
our honeymoon in Hawaii. Not on Kuaui - no no NO! But on The Big Island. We
stayed in the jungle with these meditation sex therapy hippy freaks who set us up with a
CD player and told us where the nude beach was. So almost every day we cruised a good
hour or so down the ol' Highway to the tunes of XTC or Thatcher on Acid or any of the
other CDs I had bought as cheapies in Arizona, just to get naked and look at naked
college girls. Not that I could CONCENTRATE on all the pretty girls as I spent most of
my time in the water with a boner, gazing lustfully at all the 65-year-old stoned naked
smelly men with huge beards and little shrively ding-dongs. My point being that my
wife got really sick of this CD and made me stop playing it.
The BEST of the BBC Sessions? It's FOUR FUCKING CDS!!! How many BBC Sessions did they DO!?
As such, this CD features alternative renditions (some live with an audience, others studio produced) of:
As demonstrated by this wide-ranging collection, XTC wrote some really fun songs! They were a bit too reggae-poppy for my tastes at times, and every once in a while they'd get purposely super-ugly, but you can't beat their early forays into 'new/no wave' or later sweet McCartney pop. Of particular interest to fans might be Disc 3, a live show recorded when the band had only been together for 15 months. Energy was high!
If I were to rate each disc separately, I'd give disc one a 7, two and three each a 6, and disc four an 8. However, there's also a bit of overlap (six songs are repeated across multiple discs), so I'm sticking with a full-box grade of very high 6. But remember that I'm not the hugest fan in the world of these guys; I don't even know their work well enough to recognize the differences between these versions and the better-known LP recordings. If you're a big XTC fan, you should probably check it out because I absolutely love the BBC Sessions discs of bands I'm more familiar with (Kinks, Who, Pink Floyd, The Fall, others). It's just neet to hear alternate well-recorded studio takes of songs I've loved for years - to hear them interpreted in a slightly different way by the songwriters themselves.
SERIOUSLY HELP ME I'M BEING HELD PRISONER IN A BUBBLE GUM FACTORY
So that's my review for today. I hope you are all doing well.
(HUBBA BUBBA IS PEOPLE!)
Suddenly they're all mature and low-key, with mostly
piano/keyboard calm pop music and vocal melodies extremely reminiscent of post-Wings
McCartney. Actually the entire mood of the CD is pretty similar to something like
Tug Of War. There's no exuberance or excitement - it's just a collection of
poorly-arranged songs. Let me clarify what I mean by that: In my opinion, more than
half of these songs start with a really great hook and then almost immediately shift to
another part that is so non-descript, you'll swear that an Alien came down from space and
sucked all the "verve" out of your cd player. Quite eerie and not more than a little lot
of
small kind of eerie thing. Unfortunately the music itself is NOT eerie. It's really
pretty basic low-key pop stuff. If this sounds astonishingly exciting to you, then you
have no choice but to run outside, hop in a horse-and-buggy and galumph on over to Old
Man McGarnigle's Compact Disc Store That's Open and buy
NonGOODSONGS by X-D-cent-band! OH! ZINGED YOU, COLIN
MOULDING FUCK! I do love five songs though, so let me point those out for
people who already own the record and wonder which songs I love: "The Ballad Of
Peter Pumpkinhead," "My Bird Performs" (although admittedly, the second part is
awfully weak), "The Smartest Monkeys" (DARK ECHOEY GUITAR AND THE
COOLEST LYRICS EVER. I appreciate songwriters that don't feel the need to outright
EXPLAIN the social point of their songs, as if the listeners are too dim to figure it out
for
themselves), "Omnibus" and "Then She Appeared." Please note that "Crapped In Grey"
is not on this list.
Well, I'll pull a big goopy blob of snot out of my nose
and wipe it on your cheek, it IS possible to mature without being boring! Urm. Let's go
back and try that again. Well, I will be a son of an uncle, it turns out that it IS
possible
to become more mature without becoming dull! This CD is REGAL. Knightly and fit
for a queen and princess in love. Full of beautiful strings, royal trumpets and British
church organs, reserved yet danceable. You won't find any rock and roll on this LP, but
you also won't find any bad songs. Having a good SEVEN YEARS to come up with
strong material while trying to stop Virgin from, in a move of unprecedented irony,
"screwing them," they have plied their trade, galoshed all the tardo bubblies and Blando
Calrissians, and gived up a whole big bowlful of haughty fair for the elite. Even the
song
titles are wearing dapper mustaches and asking for your daughter's hand in marriage -
"River Of Orchids," "Easter Theatre," "Knights In Shining Karma," "Harvest Festival" -
15 Huzzahs for a GRAND, BEAUTIFUL collection of non-XTC-esque material!
Rich Bunnell wants me to hurry up and finish my XTC
reviews, so here's a hurried, half-ass review of their newest CD. They brought the
guitars back - LOTS OF DISTORTED AND EVEN NON-DISTORTED GUITARS -
playing catchy rock riffs for the kids to dig (while their parents sip tea to the last
release).
Only problem is that all the songs are super-SUPER-simple, as if they were really were
all thrown together in the ONE year between the last release and this one. You'll get a
catchy guitar hook, start tapping your foot and three and a half minutes later, you'll
realize that nothing in the song has changed. No chorus, no new instruments, no nothing.
OH NO! I MADE A DOUBLE NEGATIVE! THE WORLD HAS TILTED ON ITS
AXIS! Oh hang on. Sorry, it was like that to begin with. As I was saying (or was I
washing dishes? Hmm. I'll be fucked all if I can remember!). Wash wash wash wash
wash wash wash wash wash wash OH THIS ISN'T RIGHT AT ALL The songs all
feel like instant gratification. They're instantly catchy, but will they sound as good
ten
listens on? I can see myself getting really sick of some of `em, by golly. The
repetitiveness almost makes me feel like they were shooting for direct Alternative Radio
success. Which is icky! It's like when REM did Monster - I just got the feeling
that they were dumbing themselves down for popular tastes. Plus XTC is using dancier
beats on here, which is never a good sign of the times. It's still a supercatchy album.
I
just hope it's a one-shot and they return to the complex pop songwriting that they're so
good at - check "River Of Orchids" from the last album - WOW! THAT IS A GREAT,
CREATIVE, AWESOME SONG. Okay done. RICH! RICH, BRING ME MY
MALLET! TIME FOR A QUICK ROUND OF CROQUET BEFORE SUPPER!
(kook!) GOOD SHOT, BEAN OL' CHAP!
Though XTC got pissed at Virgin and split after Nonsuch,
Virgin and the band hooked up again for this gorgeous 4-disc box set
of their years spent together. It collects early live tunes, b-sides,
demos, rehearsal recordings, later live tunes (you heard me!), two
Dukes of Stratosphear tracks, and a small handful of hits selected by
the band themselves. The package is in the form of an actual hardback
book with four nifty CD compartments in it. The book portion consists
of a long (but very interesting) history of XTC / essay thingy on why
they are the bitchenist band ever. It's written by a dude named
Harrision Sherwood who runs an important XTC website somewhere out
there in cyberland. Though Sherwood's article is great (I enjoyed how
it helped flesh out historical curiosities such as the Dukes of S.)
the coolest thing about the written portion of Coat of Many
Cupboards is this: Every single track (and there are 60 of them
here) has commentaries by Andy Partridge and/or Colin Moulding. There
are even two commentaries by Barry Andrews corresponding with songs
he wrote (and the band rejected) for Go 2. XTC historians will
quickly point out said rejection of these tunes is ultimately why
Barry quit the group. The tracks are 'Things Fall to Bits' and 'Us
Being Us'. Partridge also writes little blurbs for the Andrews tracks
and admits to liking them very much even though HE was the one who
convinced the producers that including these tracks would take XTC in
the "wrong direction". There are sixty little stories like that for
you to read here (most equally as interesting).
The live material is raw - a word rarely used when describing XTC
which has been exclusively a studio perfectionist outfit for the
past twenty years. The live material is also great sounding
and historically precious. From the write ups, one gets the sense
Partridge and Co. wishes they'd recorded more of their live shows. Ah
remorse! But you do get to hear 'Spinning Top', 'Meccanik Dancing',
'Atom Medley', 'Paper and Iron','Crowded Room' and 'Snowman' with
crowd noises. XTC are also nice enough to include live versions of
'Yacht Dance' and 'Books are Burning' from rare TV appearances that
took place long after they quit touring! Other interesting bits:
Moulding's home demos of 'Wake Up', 'Grass', 'King for a Day' and
'Let's Make a Den'; a band demo of 'Dear God' (sans singing kids and
orchestra); demos of never released tracks: 'Terrorism', 'The
Troubles' and 'Find the Fox' (all Rundgren rejects from the
Skylarking era); and 'Didn't Hurt a Bit' (from Nonsuch).
I could go on and on. With all the reading material and photographs
and all the tunage, there's a ton of stuff to review here. Let's just
say Cupboards is a nice package that XTC fans should love. I
have no idea how much this set runs for in the stores. I requested my
local public library order it for their catalog and was very pleased
when they agreed and placed me first on the waiting list to loan it
out when the postman finally delivered. For four solid weeks,
Cupboards was mine and I paid not one dime! King County
Library System will save us all (lots of money)!!!
Other XTC Sites
vibrators has some tunes (shadow love?) but uh but not many. also: what is this? XTC comes before the wipers????
True story: the band originally wanted to call this "Black Music", but the record company thought it might be construed as racist. So what did they do? "White Music"? Is that any better? They STILL caught shit from the public. The first in a long line of misunderstandings about this naive bunch of rural pub-dwellers from Swindon. Whatever the case, the title certainly fits the music pretty well. I can't imagine any music whiter than this. Show me a black man or woman who's ever willingly listened to this album and I'll show you Tiger Woods. This is White Music!
I wouldn't call The Jam boring, overrated and obnoxious certainly but not boring. I'll rant on The Jam later when I review their albums here one day.
Nobody ever talks about this album, but it is one of
my favorites. Of course I think "Buzzcity Talking" is
the worst track on it, but I do agree "The Rhythm"
comes close to being as bad. Still the rest is great
and filled with surprises.
Not too bad for a sophomore slump. It's the classic case of a new band that's had a little bit of success, and proceeds to go out on endless tours with no sleep and tons of junk food and booze, and try to write and record an album in between vomiting. Only a select few can come up with an album this good in those circumstances. Early signs of psychedelic influence here, in "Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian)", the "Brian" being Brian Eno. This song has a nice "Bjorn Borg" onomatopoetic bass line (Colin Moulding's description), and drifts in semi-ambient mode for the first minute or so. Elsewhere, there's their first great pop single (though it flopped) in "Are You Receiving Me?" which wasn't actually on the original album, but it's on the CD. There's two songs by Barry Andrews that aren't too bad, but sounds really strange in context - "My Weapon" and "Supertuff" - both basically half-serious cock-rock tunes. Colin's got a couple more doozies here too - "The Rhythm" is pretty ace, as is "Crowded Room" and "I Am the Audience." Andy's songs are pretty inconsistent still - either great ("Mechanic Dancing") or terrible ("Red"). Overall just a smidgen worse than White Music. 7.5/10
A really strange album that is probably the most fun XTC album out there.
"My Weapon", "Super-Tough", "Battery Brides", "I Am The Audience", "Are You
Receiving Me", and "Jumping In Gomorrah" are some of the most entertaining
songs ever written. , I even learned to like Mekkanic Dancing" and always
liked that greenhouse song. There are some duds, but this is the most fun
XTC album, no probably.
XTC's explosive funhouse art rock album
I gotta give this a higher grade than Caucasian music. I might even also like this better than the next album. Not only is this album more fun, but it's more diverse than its underrated predecessor. Only bad songs I can think of here are "Life is Good" and "Super Tuff". All the other songs are pretty good though. Some are danceable, catchy, rocking, whatever. I've run out of positive analogies for this album. I'll give it an 8.5.
The songs on this one sometimes take a while to sink
in, but this is their masterpiece. Great review.
Mark Prindle is an evil bastard. Check out how dumb he makes me look in the "Black Sea" review below. I'll even admit to checking into my little XTC biography book to confirm the presence of an alternate "Black Sea" cover art. And then I get a note suggesting that Mark was just fuckin' with me. Maybe it's all that weed I've been smoking at work...
When I found out this album had both "Making Plans For Nigel" and that crazyass "Scissorman" song Primus covered, and also saw that it got the 10 on Mark Prindle's XTC review page, I immediately forgot about it for several months, then spotted it used in a record store and remembered again. And I am glad I did, because although there are a few songs that are just too ugly for it to be 10-worthym namely "Roads Girdle The Globe" and "Millions" (the percussion and that weird jumpy guitar lick that keeps popping up are laudable, but that's just not a likeable melody at all), the rest is a great shining moment for paranoid joviality and oddball pop. Even the numbers that could otherwise pass for yer average 70's punk/new wave band have this patina of weirdness about them. The Jam could have come up with the main riff of "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty", but would they come up with that just-enough-off-tempo-to-be-disorienting bridge? Or even concieve of that paranoid "now I'm feeling like a jellyfish" bit, let alone put goofy synth noises that actually sound like jellyfish in the background? I think no(t).
There are very few songs in the world that make me always feel good and uplifting. "Helicopter" is one of them.
This album is good. I think it was one of Steve Lillywhite's first producing jobs! Prior to this, he had done other kinds of jobs. But that's the way it goes in the music business. Some of XTC's greatest songs are on here, but also a couple of their worst. Colin became a pin-up boy after the success of "Making Plans for Nigel" which pissed Andy off because Colin was a cute boy with long hair and Andy was not. The flawless pop of "Life Begins at the Hop" (also by Colin) didn't help matters either. Andy more than holds his own though. He saves his two best songs for last: "Scissor Man" and "Complicated Game". The former is so fast and playful it almost feels like an exercise in dexterity (they used to test themselves in concert by taking the tempo as fast as they dared), but it's tuneful as all heck. "Complicated Game" is the most disturbing song they ever did, at least until the death anthems that close "Skylarking". Atonal guitar noise, electronic pulse, paranoid screaming... are you sure this is XTC? Scary stuff. On the down side, there are a couple of clunkers in the middle of the album: "Reel By Real" (more Big Brother paranoia) and "Millions" (an ode to China!). Not terrible, just a tad boring. Overall, a very solid effort though: 9/10.
This one takes dedication from the listener. There are many really low key
songs that take a while to appreciate like "Millions", "That Is The Way",
"Day In Day Out", "Roads Girdle The Globe", but that is what makes the CD so
much fun. "Making Plans For Nigel", "Life Begins At The Hop", "Outside
World", "Complicated Game", and "Reel By Reel" are undeniable and stand out
as an embarrassing bundle of songwriting riches. I am not a big fan of
"Scissor Man", even though I first thought this was an ace, and "Helicopter"
is another hyper track that doesn't do much for me, but if these are the
duds I agree this is a ten and keeps rewarding repeated listens.
New wave with mustard. One of the things that immediately grabs you about the album is the cover and it reflects the era perfectly. From about 1978 to 1983 was an odd time for music. Ever since Johnny Rotten stuck up his finger at the rock hegemony by wearing a t-shirt with "I HATE PINK FLOYD" written on it in 1977, the road works began on punk and its close companion - new Wave. Groups suddenly didn't have to worry about producing rock music for an orchestra and full choir to get respect. In fact, they managed to create their own kind of prog-rock and suddenly made guys like Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull seem like grumpy old men.
I'm hoping that the lack of posts on the XTC section doesn't mean that their fan base has diminished. If so, sweet Jesus, the populous is really missing one hell of a rock
band. Let me start by saying that XTC are like Gods in my world. Let me add that my religion of XTC started with this album. Perhaps this is why it remains as my favorite
XTC album, but there are other remarkable albums in the XTC cannon too, so I really could give a shit where you start to approach this band (avoid Mummer though,
please!) just get on board The Big Express with us!
Do you mean to tell me that Mark WASN'T joking about that album
cover???!!!!!
You're all silly.
That's the great thing about some of these self-taught guitar players. They don't really know how to play or name chords, so they make up their own. Andy Partridge does plenty of that on this album (as he did on Drums and Wires). Dave Gregory sticks to the classically-trained virtuoso stuff, often the rhythm parts, which gives both rhythm and lead a nifty off-kilter complexity.
"Respectable Street" is the only song that really is magical. The rest is
easy to listen to and seems to be non-stop excellent songs, but for some
reason never takes hold of me. I really don't understand why.
Here's my little comment (that is virtually asked for after the reviewer's review):
I'm afraid that on this completely superfluous, uninspiring evening, I have suddenly been struck with the urge to fill this unfortunate empty space below
your English Settlement review with some delightfully insightful comments of my own. Except I'm feeling far too superfluous and uninspiring to at all
strive toward insight.
Prindle's probably right about this one, but I'm going to argue just because I'm in an argumentative mood. It's a double, but XTC's American distributor actually had a good idea when they set out to whittle this thing down to a single player. The problem was, whoever sequenced the fucker was a moron as they left some nice songs out of the American pressing that I had to find out about later when they reissued the whole thing in the original (UK) form. Make sense? Of course not: we live in America where nothing makes sense and everyone makes money. I'm looking right at you, David Geffen.
Following the extroverted bombast of "Black Sea" and still only a few
years into their career, "English Settlement" must have been kinda
novel and neat when it came out, but as everyone now acknowledges, it's
kind of overrated. It's got some filler, yes, but also, the pastoral
sound that it's known for is mainly just a product of more acoustic
guitars paired with a more muffled, ambiguous sound. Many of these
tracks work wonderfully: "Jason and the Argonauts" is a great example
of this fuzzy acoustic frenzy, with it's cyclical acoustic guitars and
psychedelic mood. "It's Nearly Aftrica", however, takes it a tad far.
And Colin's "Fly on the Wall" sounds pretty impressive at first but
wears thin kinda quickly, as does his "English Roundabout."
My opinion on this one changes daily. At first it was easy to tell which
songs were good and which sucked. Now I find my self liking things like
"It's Nearly Africa", "Down In The Cockpit" and even "Yacht Dance"(at one
time thought this was the worst song ever made). I have always loved "Fly
On The Wall" and can't for the life of me figure out how everyone rips it
acting like it is an obviously bad song. This is a classic. "5 Senses
Working Overtime" deserves all the praise it gets, and there are tons of
other classics like Roundabout, Thugs, Jason, Ball, Runaway, and Sudden so
overall a really great album to keep discovering.
Comments on XTC's English Settlement...
I note thats you complain about half the album
buy the australian version all the craps not there
apparently the story goes that the double album was to much for the
australian market
well its to much for any market in my mind.
Geeze, Ian Pillar, my Australian English Settlement consists of two vinyl 33 1/3's and all 15 songs present and correct, and its even numbered. Everey XTC record has a couple of duds, this being no exception, but in the main I think its the ducks guts.
I agree for the most part, except i enjoy a few of the bonus tracks on the
version of the album i have ("Jump, "Toys") so i give it a 6. I absolutely
love "Love On A Farmboy's Wages". I wish there were more songs like this on
the album. "Beating Of Hearts", "Funk Pop A Roll" and "Great Fire" are also
fantastic, but i could never get into this album.
I can't believe nobody has pointed out the fact that "Ladybird" is one of
Partridge's finest songs EVER. Justifies the album's entire existence, in
my opinion.
You know what? I always thought this album sort of... bit. Hard. Then I
got the 2001/02 reissue (yes, in the super-geek-fetish imitation vinyl
sleeve, if you must know) and my opinion has changed considerably.
You may never want to actually play this album, but if
you do put it on for some strange reason you will
enjoy it more than you thought you would.
Or as I like to call it: "Wimper." This album was/is so bad that it nearly prompted me to put them into the same category that I put Ultravox in: shit to sell back to the record store when I need some fast cash for crack. A piece of tepid studio noodles that Mark has been, believe me, extremely generous on. Cheers to Dan (nice review) for trying to steer us to reconsider "Mummer" but it ain't going to happen anytime soon at my place.
I think of this as a failed attempt to do what they eventually did much
better on "Skylarking." A mood piece, yes, but pretty darn
inconsistent too. And although I can only think of one track that rubs
me the wrong way ("Funk Pop a Roll" ... sorry...), about a third of the
songs are pretty nondescript - but not at all bad. The best tracks are
as good as anything they've ever done. "Love on a Farmboy's Wages",
"Great Fire", "Ladybird", and "Beating of Hearts" would have made a
great EP.
Thoughts change after you spend time with an album so I wanted to write
about my new perspective. OK I feel pretty much the same. I think the
slagging of this album goes overboard and still feel like when you play this
album it is much better than you expect. The only songs I hate are "Great
Fire", which everyone seems to like and always finds its way onto greatest
hits compilations for some reason I can't understand and "Me And The Wind".
I think "Human Alchemy", "Deliver Us From The Elements", "Ladybird", "In
Loving Memory Of A Name", and "Funk Pop A Roll", are masterpieces. The rest
is pretty darn good with "Love On A Farmboy's Wages", and "Wonderland",
being deserved hits. I think this one doesn't deserve any of the slagging,
even the bonus tracks aren't bad, and actually stands out as a highpoint in
XTC's catalog.
It does definatly have that 80's production quality, but the songs are all
excellent. I couldnt picture any of them being big hit 80's singles, as most
of em are weird and pretty inaccessable (except "This World Over", which is a
very nice ballad), even though they all have excellent melodys. I love how
they have 2 guitars playing in different beats on "Wake Up", and also the
funny huge bombastic drums in "All You Pretty Girls". Hate "Shake You Donkey
Up" all you want, but i think its hilarious, not to mention catchy as hell.
"...Smalltown", "I Bought Myself A Liarbird", and "I Remember The Sun" are
also enjoyable and "Train Running Low On Soul Coal" is an awesome ending to
this album. I also enjoy the bonus tracks (except "Blue Overall" is kinda
dumb). I give it a high 8.
You, sir, are on crack. But it's funny crack.
Here we have one of Prindle's best record reviews and a great example of why I keep coming back here urinating in his yard. Everyone and their dog except Mark Prindle would have easily given "Skylarking" higher marks than "The Big Express." Yet, God bless him (wait a minute, he declared that he is the Heavenly Father) that Mark feels the need to praise the hyper-exaggerated production value of this lifeless studio fart.
It took a while to sink in but have to admit that Mark is right about this
one and I can now easily see why he gave it a higher rating than
'Skylarking'. In my view the best songs on 'The Big Express' are far more
memorable than those on 'Skylarking'. So even crap like 'Reign of Blows' and
'Shake You Donkey Up' cannot stop me from preferring it to the following
album.
The Big Express gives me a headache. But pain is real... as real is
pain... as real is now. All is mind... as mind is all... flesh is
stone... as stone is flesh.... Anyway Saccharine Trust's first EP
Pagan Icons is a raging cross between a railway station and a sea
shanty. You couldn't ask for a more overstuffed leadoff sundae track
than "Wake Up", which will make you do just that. Producer David Lord
took one of Colin's most simple songs, and turned it into a clanging
anthem. That ping pong effect with the opening guitars is just the
SHIT! That's basically the whole song too, all 5 minutes of it... but
it's so good you don't mind. Some of the tracks go way overboard,
though, resulting in the headache mentioned above.
"All You Pretty Girls" - a bunch of Vikings singing a maritime song
about girls they're gonna ram when they get home if they haven't
already shot their wad from all that raping and pillaging.
"Shake You Donkey Up" - the soundtrack to said Vikings "strumming the
big Open-E" in the ship's bathroom (did Vikings use bathrooms?) between
rapings and pillagings.
"Shooting Star" - a ballad about a schoolboy who hears his first
Beatles song ("Love Me Do", I think it was) and goes on to be a rock
and roll star, only to be raped and pillaged by Vikings, thus resulting
in the release of an album called "Dangerous Age"
"Reign of Blows" - a song about a gay Viking who rapes and pillages his
own ship.
This is a pretty darn good album that most ignore. Personally I like "Reign
Of Blows" and "Train Running Low" a lot and don't understand why others
don't. I do agree "Shake Your Donkey Up" is just stupid. This is better
than Skylarking. Great review.
Mark:
My favorite track from Skylarking (both then and now) is the brilliant 'Dear God'. If you recall the political climate of the mid-80s you know that this track is not
some homage to (nor rip-off of) John Lennon's somber 'God'. XTC's 'Dear God' is a reaction to the puritanically oppressive politics and "spiritual values" of the
Thatcher/Reagan era.
I do agree some of the lyrics are too precious even
for a wimp like myself. I mean "Ballet For A Rainy
Day", "Supergirl", and "1000 Umbrellas" are bloody
awful, but "Dear God" is brilliant and about time rock
actually showed any rebellion at all. I mean you
listen to any group besides, "Motorhead", and their
brainwashed little minds spout the same religious
hypocrisy you would expect from Pat Robertson. It is
pathetic. Just for that single this album deserves a
place in every record collection, but if you don't
mind music that sounds pretty the rest of the album is
pretty enjoyable as well in a relaxing sort of way.
This album is really overrated. For some reason XTC felt the need to create the 80's version of Magical Mystery Tour (also attempted by Prince on Around the World In a Day, another notoriously bad album) and the results aren't so great. The first two tracks do a pretty good job of establishing that morning vibe, but the rest is cheesy 80's crap like "Supergirl," "1000 Umbrellas," and "Ballet for a Rainy Day." Side 2 is a bit better, I actually like "Earn Enough For Us" and "Another Satellite" a lot. But "the Man Who Sailed Around His Soul"? Please guys, leave this stuff to Tom Waits, he's much better at it than you. "Dear God" would be okay if the lyrics weren't so dumb. If you don't believe in God, why are you sending him hatemail? If you were to send God mail, what address would you send it to anyway? In the end, neither of these questions are answered, and I'm left utterly disappointed.
Sometimes the greatest artistic albums are born in a sea of disparity.
You take the worlds two weirdest recluses and stick them in a studio in
Woodstock, New York, and even though the English Prog-Rock nerd, (no that
isn't Elvis Costello,) goes crying home disappointed, what you have left is
one of the very great albums of the eighties. The marriage of Todd Rundgren
and Andy Partridge would seem a marriage in heaven to a disassociated music
fan, unfortunately their egos clashed and created legendary
animosity. What's also forgotten is the legend that Colin Moulding stormed
out of the sessions threatening to quit although he was probably scared
back to Todd's farm when he couldn't find the roundabout and was nearly
killed by driving head on into traffic. All the while, David Gregory was
happily perfecting his solo for That's Really Super Super Girl on one of
Todd Rundgren's, axes which happened to be the paisley guitar that Eric
Clapton used in Cream. Let's face it, the English are often homesick,(who
knows why?), luckily the Runt pulled them into his studio and saved their
careers after the drum machine from the Big Express was repossessed.
Just listen to the music, Beethoven's sixth pastoral symphony would be a
perfect intro-musick to a fantasy XTC live Skylarking performance with the
London Symphony Orchestra. Todd Rundgren, who as legend has it is a
chopsticks piano player, created some of the most beautiful electronic
orchestration I've ever heard on Colin's ode to either sex, cannabis,
truancy, or ice cream on the second track. The analog cricket's chirping
and the lyrical imagery of Mister Partridge on the albums first track are
masterful. The open chord tuning and chorus to the Meeting Place are some
of Colin's finest moments. The revolver styled guitar rock of Earn
Enough, the incredible D.Gregory string arrangements on Two thousand....,
the secret agent 60's style arrangement of the Man who Sailed around..(the
flute was incredible!), and even the last set of songs, (I wouldn't want to
drop dead at the supermarket!), resonate with a kind of studio virtuosity
which is very rare to find in the bubblegum machine of 80's, 90's, and 21st
century pop. As far as the hulabalu about Dear God and the Mermaid, I say
put 'em both on the album. Perhaps in an earlier life Andy Partridge was
burned at the stake as a heretic, but hey, Skylarking with all of its
tracks was one of the twentieth century's great lost albums, and, except if
you are living in Florida, most of the witch hunt's are long over.
Regardless of what your particular burning question is, Dear God is a great
pop song. Forests have been levelled to page the lengthy tomes that have
been written and burned regarding theological disputes, but leave it to my
man Andy to put it down in a three minute pop song with one of the greatest
lead-in drum fills I've ever heard . Throw in some ridiculous technical
electric guitar work with a beatle-esque chord progression and what your
left with is a song that will hold its own regardless of its lyrical
content. But, hey, let's face it, in the words of the Monty Python's-You
Can Never Escape The Spanish Inquisition.
Skylarking is one of my favorite albums of all time. I'd love to pick
it apart like I've done with all the other XTC albums that have
enriched my life, but I can't. Sometimes Todd Rundgren threatens to
turn the album into his own, but I like his work too, so my hands are
tied here. "The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul" sounds like cheesy spy
music, but I love cheesy spy music, so I keep coming back. Rabbit
turds. No matter how you slice it, it comes up peanuts. Everyone
should buy this album, especially if you like chocolate. I should
really go on a diet.
Some time has passed since I first wrote about this album. I basically feel
the same. "Dear God" is a classic and there are a lot of other really good
songs. "Big Day", "Earn Enough For Us", "Grass", "Season Cycle", the summer
song and bonfire song are all really good. "Satellite", "The Man Who Sailed
Around His Soul", and "Dying" stand up pretty well and the rest keeps it
from being a classic. I mean "Ballet For A Rainy Day", "1,000 Umbrellas",
"The Meeting Place", "Supergirl", and "Mermaid Smiled" are some of the worst
XTC songs ever. God do I hate "1,000 Umbrellas.
prindle my man you are one good record reviewer, and i am an expert on the reviewing process. i love your humor and creativity. i love the skylarking lp and am fond of a few of these songs too. manage to diss an xtc lp without pissing people off. but i love the skylarking lp, you are forgiven. also agree that the mummer lp in all its japanese-cd sonic glory is not that bad afterall. sounds rich and kinda cool. love xtc. good job
As someone born in Swindon, I found out XTC were from there too and felt obliged to listen to some of their stuff. I already knew and liked their hits. But as Swindon was only known for Diana Dors and the Magic Roundabout (English Roundabout on English Settlement is about this traffic nightmare) at that point in time, I wasn't expecting too much. But after borrowing their early albums from a library, I went out and bought Black Sea and Big Express. I spent most of my childhood in small rural villages near Swindon but far enough away from this uninspiring dull english town. I left home around the time Skylarking was released and moved into a bedsit in the city of Gloucester. Skylarking completely captures the essence of rural Wiltshire and helped me forget the alien surroundings of my basement hovel with buses thundering past a few feet away. Whilst other XTC albums have more memorable tunes, I love this one because it still reminds me of where I come from.
I love this band. XTC is one of the last radio friendly pop-rock bands that's worth a damn. Fanboy asslicking out of the way, this album is the 1980's equivalent of Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. A good album but not worthy of the exaggerated hype and universal critical praise. No. Fucking. Way. A "legendary" or "classic" album should have a healthy amount of "timelessness" to deserve those labels, in my not-at-all humble opinion. At least a handful of these tracks sound unbelievably corny and dated, as if they were recorded for the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. Drums and Wires (which was released a full SEVEN years earlier) sounds a hell of a lot more timeless (and exciting). Listen to that album if you want intelligent pop-rock that will erect your private parts.
The Dukes of Stratosphear was a fantastic idea, and on this EP and LP,
XTC really does a fantastic job at executing a pretty risky project -
so much so, in fact, that it's one of my favorite XTC albums. Hats off
to John Leckie for using his vast production experience to create
something that sounds pretty faithful to the psych/garage aethetic,
especially given the normal embarrassing and prevailing production
values of the mid-80s. Andy Partridge (as usual) leads the creative
attack, showing off his knowledge of semi-obscure bands from the late
60s, even being so tasteful as to NOT include a pastiche of the likes
of "Pushin too Hard". Most of these songs are perfect. I even like
"Brainiac's Daughter" - but then again, I grew up listening to
Beatles/McCartney/Wings, so I've got a soft spot for that stuff. Colin
Moulding contributed his usual brilliant couple of tunes ("What in the
World", "Vanishing Girl", "Shiny Cage" and "The Affiliated" - the last
two of which are simply astonishingly good!), even though he knew jack
about the psych era. Dave Gregory again proves that he is the ideal
musical adaptor - that guy can play anything, it's a shame Andy was
never really open to Dave contributing his own tunes, assuming he could
write worth a shit. Listen to "Mole From the Ministry" and then
immediately put on "I Am the Walrus" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" -
you'll be impressed.
OK, so I'm sat here reading up what you think of the Flaming Lips' albums, Clouds Taste Metallic specifically. I see you call it "Dukes Of Stratosphear happy," and then the goddamn intro to "Making Plans For Nigel" starts playing on the TV! But of course, this poses a very complex question with an even more complex answer: do I now make a comment for Chips From the Chocolate Fireball or Clouds Taste Metallic? Well, since said Lips album has about a billion comments and XTC's moniker album has one, my mathematical/economical fucktard of a brain is pushing me to do Colin and Andy. Not before I review the album!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
'Brainiac's Daughter' is by far my favourite track. How can you not love this gem? The tune is so inside-out fantastic, looping back on itself improbably and wonderfully, that I marvel at how they came up with it. Then there are those addictive backwards guitars. It's a blast of good-natured fresh air and melodic joy. This album is masterful and I far prefer it to anything XTC released as XTC. Then again, I prefer Pink Floyd's (Alcoholics Anonymous-sponsored album) The Final Cup to (their earlier Alcoholics Anonymous-sponsored album) Wish You Were Beer, so what do I know?
I give it an 8. "Mayor Of Simpleton", "King For A Day", "The Loving",
"Cynical Days", "Pink Thing" are all fantastic pop songs. The record is a bit
overproduced but i think the songs are mostly great. Some are quite dumb
("Merely A Man", although supposedly tongue-in-cheek) and some i just plain
dislike ("Miniature Sun"). I love "Chalkhills And Children" the most, as its
a beautiful, soothing ballad. Woulda even better as a single album, i think.
this has absolutely nothing to do with your review, but
Good album. I give it an 8. Most of the songs sound over-cluttered right away, but upon multiple listens, the hooks really reveal themselves. This
purchase served as my introduction to XTC, and at first, I thought it only had four or five good songs (including "The Mayor of Simpleton," of
course). But now I think Oranges and Lemons has several upstanding moments--I just think (like everyone) that the double LP is overproduced
and overlong. The overall effect of this album is bright and engaging, if you're not overwhelmed right away and if you give it enough chances to
grow on you.
Sure this album is a bit over produced, but so is Apple Venus Vol 1, and you liked it. Maybe there is a tad too much social commentary on this album, but you must
remember, this came out in '89, when a lot of pretencious social commentary shit was starting to surface in adult pop (and lasted the whole of the '90s). Also, they had just
come from a very turmultuous recording period with Todd Rundgeren on Skylarking, whom they grew to dispise, but copied in their next effort, Oranges and Lemons. (The
band later admits that egos ran amuck and that Skylarking was their most cohesive effort to date) These songs are every bit as well written and performed as anything they've
put out, and a damn sight better than Black Sea and Mummer. Everybody wants this band to be one of those one hit wonder '80s new-wave bands, only their music isn't dated
and shallow enough, nor is it full of really bad synth and drum machines (or bad hair).
The last time I checked we were animals. We fuck like
animals, eat like animals, shit like animals, and in
every way are animals. Maybe you are a vegetable or a
mineral, but that is beside the point. This album is
overproduced and has some of the worst lyrics ever
along with some brilliant ones. Too bad some
brilliant producer didn't step in and make this the
album it could have been.
A pop record to please your music teacher via smart changes and dense grooves. But yes, also a painfully indulgent double LP that really should have been cut down. It's a shame, really, because there are so many good ideas on this record.
Pretty much agree with your review. Mayor of Simpleton and Chalkhills and Children are the only songs that do anything for me. But Pink thing is not about a bird its actually about Andy Partridge's penis! he himself has admitted it (Partridge that is not his dick!)
What a tragedy. There are some good songs here, but they promote the
godawful, "Mayor Of Simpleton"(even a wimp like me can't relate to how much
of a wimp Andy proclaims to be), "The Loving", and "King For A Day". All
just awful. Than they ruin "Pink Thing" and "Daddy", which are good
musically, but the lyrics deal with a baby and unrequited love of a father
that are the sappiest I have ever heard and it sickens me making them
unlistenable. Than they continue with the atrocious lyrics in "President
Kill Again". I'm even a liberal. They continue to ruin the album with
terrible sound. I never mention this and find many production techniques
acceptable, but this production job is just awful. Everything is cold,
distant and harsh. Ironic in a way as having such sappy liyrics that would
require a soft touch. It is really a shame because I love the rest of the
songs, lyrically and musically, but find them unlistenable because of the
terrible sound. What could have been?
God, I have such mixed feelings about this one. There's clearly some
good songs going on here, but there's WAAAY too many mediocre songs,
and those that are on the fence are so dated by Paul Fox's production
that it's a wonder anyone still listens to it today as anything other
than an 80s period piece. But ask most people who know/like only one
XTC album, and chances are this is the one. The record company really
pushed this one to be a blockbuster pop album I suppose, and XTC even
did a "tour" of radio stations, playing unplugged versions of a few of
these songs live on the air! I've got a recording of one such
performance (KROQ), and it's really great! But these studio takes are
mostly kinda cold and lifeless - I hate to quibble, cause it's my
wife's favorite XTC album, and it's an album we can agree on
music-wise. I do love "King for a Day" - Moulding sure has a nice way
with melody. And "Scarecrow People" is very cool, but only because I
got to like the song via the aforementioned unplugged bootleg.
- 2 3D EP songs AND WHO GIVES A SHIT
- 10 White Music songs WHOOPYGODDAMNDO
- 5 Go2 songs AND I CAME IN MY PANTS JUST THINKING ABOUT IT
- 7 Drums & Wires songs JESUS WEPT
- 7 Black Sea songs MOSES SWEPT (THE RED SEA, WHICH IS CLOSE)
- 4 English Settlement songs I'M TWIRLING A FINGER IN SARCASTIC MOCK EXCITEMENT
- 0 Mummer songs GOOD IDEA
- 3 The Big Express songs I'M TIRED AND HUNG OVER
- 2 Skylarking songs I HAVE TO WRITE TWO PRESS RELEASES AND TWO CLIP REPORTS AND I JUST WANT TO SLEEP FOR ANOTHER SIXTY-FIVE HOURS
- 4 Oranges & Lemons songs HELP ME I'M BEING HELD PRISONER IN A BUBBLE GUM FACTORY
I think your rating is about right. The first two discs were the real BBC sessions, and the other two were straight up live. I don't blame you for not really being able to tell the difference between the studio and BBC recordings...I do the same thing sometimes and I'm a huge XTC fan. Those discs you can listen to once or twice, but they really don't do anything new to the songs, and they don't even jack up the tempo. So why not be satisfied with the studio versions? Disc three is a fine and punchy recording, but the band is fairly sloppy. Disc four is the real jewel for me, a recording from the Black Sea era, with a good amount of energy and a great track selection, but even then there's a problem, Andy seems to be suffering from a cold and his voice sounds hoarse. So instead of singing the lyrics to "Respectable Street" it sounds like he's just making seal noises. It's still good stuff though. If you really need 4 discs of XTC, you should get the Coat of Many Cupboards set instead, where the different renditions of the songs really ARE different, and there's lots of great songs as outtakes too!
Rule of thumb when writing for a music review website that you do not also maintain: don't
insult one of your maintainers' five favorite songs of all time. FROM NOW ON, THE LETTER
"E" WILL NO LONGER APPEAR IN YOUR REVIEWS.
I'll have to agree with your assesment here. I really like about 4 or 5 songs, and the rest sounds like great ideas left unfinished. And leave it to Colin Moulding to turn any little
pop diddy into a boring and depressing dirge. I guess he usually adds a bit of irony to all Partridge's pop, but he's too moribund on this release. Other than the 4 or 5 gems, the
rest of this album plays out like a contractually obligated, piece mealed effort.
6/10 is about right. apart from 5 or 6 tracks this is pretty weak. the bad
stuff isn't as laughable as that on Oranges and Lemons. Its just plain dull.
Have to disagree about the Smartest Monkeys though. used to think it was
ok but these days its heavy handed lyrics really irk me.
that is ironic! also, the guy below me has something to say.
No bad songs!!! What do you call "Fruit Nut",
"Frivilous Tonight" or "The Last Balloon". They are
as boring as the worst XTC songs ever. I am an XTC
fan. I think all their albums are worth getting
because 50% or more is usually excellent, but
consistency has always been their problem and this
album falls right in line.
A bad XTC album : only 3 good to very good songs ( River,Easter and Green ).
It's a fantastic album!
The highlights are among the best songs written the last 10-15 years:
River of Orchids, Easter Theatre, We're all Light, Greenman and
Harvest Festival all in one album. Incredible!
If you chaps on the other side of the Big Pond are at all interested in
music which reflects what being British is like, and you may not be, if you
are at least interested in something original, then forget Led Zep
pretending to be black men, forget the twee warblings of Morrissey, forget
The Clash pretending to be radical, XTC is the real thing. Check out the
Libertines as well.
