I've only recently begun to fully appreciate Neil Hannon's astounding body of work as The Divine Comedy.
I mean, he's been writing, recording, performing and at times the sole member of the band for over three decades now. Although there's a definite peak in the mid-late 1990s, with a degree of commercial success and stack of UK Top 40 singles, The Divine Comedy has released a dozen albums, half of them in the 21st Century.
In the last year, from owning zero albums, I've been slowly catching up with The Divine Comedy's back catalogue, up to and including the most recent album, 2019's Office Politics. To these ears, there is no dip in the lyrical wit, deceptively dark narratives and sing-a-long tunes throughout.
Here then is a selection of a baker's dozen of tunes. I haven't represented every album but it has a go at spanning The Divine Comedy's history to date. Ironically, the song that provides the post title - Infernal Machines - didn't make the final cut as I'd used it in a previous mix. There's only one "hit" and one "near miss" but they all sound like classics to me.
The penultimate track is from a mammoth boxset released in 2020, secondhand copies of which will set you back nearly £300 on Discogs. I could have left it off to make the selection an even dozen and hit the 45-minute mark, but I couldn't resist the title.
Enjoy!
1) Neapolitan Girl (2010)
2) My Imaginary Friend (2004)
3) The Life And Soul Of The Party (Album Version) (2019)
4) To Die A Virgin (Album Version) (2006)
5) Generation Sex (Single Version) (1998)
6) The Dogs And The Horses (Album Version) (1996)
7) Secret Garden (1990)
8) If I Were You (I'd Be Through With Me) (Album Version) (1997)
9) When A Man Cries (Album Version) (2010)
10) Love What You Do (Deadly Avenger Mix) (2001)
11) Queen Of The South (Album Version) (1993)
12) Olivia, New Tron Song (2019)
13) How Can You Leave Me On My Own (Album Version) (2016)
1990: Fanfare For The Comic Muse: 7
1993: Liberation: 11
1996: Casanova: 6
1997: A Short Album About Love: 8
1998: Generation Sex EP: 5
2001: Love What You Do EP: 10
2004: Absent Friends: 2
2006: Victory For The Comic Muse: 4
2010: Bang Goes The Knighthood: 1, 9
2016: Foreverland: 13
2019: Office Politics: 3
2020: Venus, Cupid, Folly And Time: Thirty Years Of The Divine Comedy: 12
These Are The Things That Dreams Are Made Of (47:13) (KF) (Mega)
On a final note...
You may have noticed a slight change to the links. I've had continual headaches with Box, the latest being that I keep getting warnings that I'm nearly at my 10GB limit despite having barely 1.5GB of selections uploaded at any one time.
After numerous attempts to ask Box to fix it and deleting and restoring the files, both to no effect, I've given Box the heave-ho and moved to Kraken Files. I'm also sticking with Mega. I've re-uploaded all of the linked files for the past month, although only 'new' posts so any recent Box links back to previous 'sides' will be dead.
I hope this doesn't prevent any of you from accessing my MP3s but feedback would be welcome.
