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The Album Review Club - End of Round #9 Break (page 1904)
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
threespires
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If hugely disappointed is a 6, I'd hate to see what a 3 is.
AGDCFF
Oh hang on, no that was a 1 which if 6 is hugely disappointed I suppose I should just be glad I'm still at large in the community instead of being held pending a show trial for war crimes.
;-)
Mancitydoogle
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RATTUS NORVEGICUS
Excellent debut BMR welcome to the club.
I was a fan of The Stranglers back in the day and bought the first three albums on release.They along with The Clash and The Jam were my favourite bands of that era, I saw a lot of punk/new wave bands around that time, loved the energy in the music played live although a lot couldn’t really play well.But this was the time anyone could form a band and get a record deal ala Slaughter and The Dogs!
The big difference the above bands were all good musicians and songwriters.As has been mentioned by the OP The Stranglers like Joe Strummer came out of The Pub Rock scene hence they were older and more experienced musicians than their counterparts ,but used Punk Rock to gain fame and fortune.I get the comparisons to The Doors due to their music being keyboard led but I don’t believe they were influenced by them ,nor sound much like them.To me The Doors songs are timeless whereas this album is very much of its time.
Anways it was fun to listen to again, it sounds a bit dated now but there are some great tracks on it,namely the singles and ‘Down in The Sewer’.The lyrics were always tongue in cheek but the music was vibrant and well played, I didn’t particularly like the JJB vocal tracks as much as the others with the exception of ‘Ugly’ where his voice suits the song perfectly.
Thanks for the nostalgia BMR.
A solid 8/10
Excellent debut BMR welcome to the club.
I was a fan of The Stranglers back in the day and bought the first three albums on release.They along with The Clash and The Jam were my favourite bands of that era, I saw a lot of punk/new wave bands around that time, loved the energy in the music played live although a lot couldn’t really play well.But this was the time anyone could form a band and get a record deal ala Slaughter and The Dogs!
The big difference the above bands were all good musicians and songwriters.As has been mentioned by the OP The Stranglers like Joe Strummer came out of The Pub Rock scene hence they were older and more experienced musicians than their counterparts ,but used Punk Rock to gain fame and fortune.I get the comparisons to The Doors due to their music being keyboard led but I don’t believe they were influenced by them ,nor sound much like them.To me The Doors songs are timeless whereas this album is very much of its time.
Anways it was fun to listen to again, it sounds a bit dated now but there are some great tracks on it,namely the singles and ‘Down in The Sewer’.The lyrics were always tongue in cheek but the music was vibrant and well played, I didn’t particularly like the JJB vocal tracks as much as the others with the exception of ‘Ugly’ where his voice suits the song perfectly.
Thanks for the nostalgia BMR.
A solid 8/10
BlueMoonRisin’
Well-Known Member
Thanks pal. Seems like Rattus has been well received on the whole so I'm pleased I chose a good album to debate. I have a few more albums I'd like to nominate and most of them are less well known but really good albums IMO.RATTUS NORVEGICUS
Excellent debut BMR welcome to the club.
I was a fan of The Stranglers back in the day and bought the first three albums on release.They along with The Clash and The Jam were my favourite bands of that era, I saw a lot of punk/new wave bands around that time, loved the energy in the music played live although a lot couldn’t really play well.But this was the time anyone could form a band and get a record deal ala Slaughter and The Dogs!
The big difference the above bands were all good musicians and songwriters.As has been mentioned by the OP The Stranglers like Joe Strummer came out of The Pub Rock scene hence they were older and more experienced musicians than their counterparts ,but used Punk Rock to gain fame and fortune.I get the comparisons to The Doors due to their music being keyboard led but I don’t believe they were influenced by them ,nor sound much like them.To me The Doors songs are timeless whereas this album is very much of its time.
Anways it was fun to listen to again, it sounds a bit dated now but there are some great tracks on it,namely the singles and ‘Down in The Sewer’.The lyrics were always tongue in cheek but the music was vibrant and well played, I didn’t particularly like the JJB vocal tracks as much as the others with the exception of ‘Ugly’ where his voice suits the song perfectly.
Thanks for the nostalgia BMR.
A solid 8/10
But will they be be really good albums in your opinion?
Time will tell...
threespires
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I’m too young by a couple of years to have been properly into them when this came out and I suspect that colours my view a bit. As I’ve already said I kind of simultaneously like/dislike this album, and them to a degree. So a weird relationship with The Stranglers that is quite contrary but then I think this album is full of contradictions too.
Proper musicians seemingly hitching a ride on a style and place in time that wasn’t really them. Except listening to the lyrics, they fit the times pretty well. So, did they mean them or were they a pastiche to fit in with what was selling at the time? They sound like they mean them but who knows?
Lots of tracks make a strong initial impact, due in no small part to the excellent brutalist approach of JJ Burnel but then tonally I actually think it becomes a bit monotonous. Burnel’s bass and Greenfield’s keyboards are so distinctive that ultimately for me it almost ends working against them. Creating an interesting sound but then flogging the living daylights out of it
Even down to individual songs I’m conflicted. Everyone seems to love Down in The Sewer but I swing between thinking it’s a really brave and atypical track to put on a record of the time, to thinking it’s overlong self-indulgent twaddle. As I type and listen, I feel the former but there’s been times this last week I’ve felt the latter.
I’m fairly familiar with their back catalogue up to and including Aural Sculpture, though I noticed we have a copy of Dreamtime knocking around which I assume is Mrs Spires. So I've enjoyed flicking around their albums this week. Seems to be a fair few that think they started tanking after the first three albums, but in some ways, I think the later ones are probably more indicative of who they were as musicians. Either way I’d say their back catalogue contains a real varied mix of the good, the strange and then stuff that doesn’t come off. Though they are proper musicians, to me they are only occasionally great song writers.
Back to this album, they seemed to want the energy and nasty vibe in this to fit with the times but couldn't help chucking in all the other stuff they’d already mastered by that point. So, you end up with what for me is a slightly dissonant mix of fairly sophisticated music, with lots of stylistic influences, with some utterly twat-faced lyrics.
Interestingly on my final play the next two autoplay songs after were Both Ends Burning and then Ever Fallen In Love. And between the two they sort of sum up my issue with The Stranglers, which I think is one of identity. Probably the equal of Roxy musically but without maybe the discipline to not try and show-off or cram everything in there (Roxy could get more than a bit baroque but it always seemed to hang together). Then The Buzzcocks, a simpler song but with a bag load of sincerity and clear intent whereas to me, early doors The Stranglers often didn't seem to know what they were saying or if they did it seemed a bit unpleasant.
I have sympathy with people who say they are hugely underrated and an unfairly forgotten part of that scene compared to inferior bands. But to some degree I think it's of their own doing in making music where their identity was hard to pin down and not always in a good way.
For all the flaws it's worth a 7 but then again to me it also sounds pretty dated I think, probably in part because of the lyrics, so it's getting a point docked for that. It’s been interesting to compare this to the recent Jam pick; JJ might think he's a much better bassist than Foxton, but I'd happily listen to Foxton for hours whilst Burnel I’m happy with in small doses. I like both these recent nominations, but All Mod Cons has stood the test of time much better for me.
So 6/10 from me, though if you asked me a bit later it would probably be back up to 7.
Proper musicians seemingly hitching a ride on a style and place in time that wasn’t really them. Except listening to the lyrics, they fit the times pretty well. So, did they mean them or were they a pastiche to fit in with what was selling at the time? They sound like they mean them but who knows?
Lots of tracks make a strong initial impact, due in no small part to the excellent brutalist approach of JJ Burnel but then tonally I actually think it becomes a bit monotonous. Burnel’s bass and Greenfield’s keyboards are so distinctive that ultimately for me it almost ends working against them. Creating an interesting sound but then flogging the living daylights out of it
Even down to individual songs I’m conflicted. Everyone seems to love Down in The Sewer but I swing between thinking it’s a really brave and atypical track to put on a record of the time, to thinking it’s overlong self-indulgent twaddle. As I type and listen, I feel the former but there’s been times this last week I’ve felt the latter.
I’m fairly familiar with their back catalogue up to and including Aural Sculpture, though I noticed we have a copy of Dreamtime knocking around which I assume is Mrs Spires. So I've enjoyed flicking around their albums this week. Seems to be a fair few that think they started tanking after the first three albums, but in some ways, I think the later ones are probably more indicative of who they were as musicians. Either way I’d say their back catalogue contains a real varied mix of the good, the strange and then stuff that doesn’t come off. Though they are proper musicians, to me they are only occasionally great song writers.
Back to this album, they seemed to want the energy and nasty vibe in this to fit with the times but couldn't help chucking in all the other stuff they’d already mastered by that point. So, you end up with what for me is a slightly dissonant mix of fairly sophisticated music, with lots of stylistic influences, with some utterly twat-faced lyrics.
Interestingly on my final play the next two autoplay songs after were Both Ends Burning and then Ever Fallen In Love. And between the two they sort of sum up my issue with The Stranglers, which I think is one of identity. Probably the equal of Roxy musically but without maybe the discipline to not try and show-off or cram everything in there (Roxy could get more than a bit baroque but it always seemed to hang together). Then The Buzzcocks, a simpler song but with a bag load of sincerity and clear intent whereas to me, early doors The Stranglers often didn't seem to know what they were saying or if they did it seemed a bit unpleasant.
I have sympathy with people who say they are hugely underrated and an unfairly forgotten part of that scene compared to inferior bands. But to some degree I think it's of their own doing in making music where their identity was hard to pin down and not always in a good way.
For all the flaws it's worth a 7 but then again to me it also sounds pretty dated I think, probably in part because of the lyrics, so it's getting a point docked for that. It’s been interesting to compare this to the recent Jam pick; JJ might think he's a much better bassist than Foxton, but I'd happily listen to Foxton for hours whilst Burnel I’m happy with in small doses. I like both these recent nominations, but All Mod Cons has stood the test of time much better for me.
So 6/10 from me, though if you asked me a bit later it would probably be back up to 7.
Mancitydoogle
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I actually prefer the lesser known albums as I use this thread and the playlist thread to try and discover artists and albums I’d not heard before.I’ve come across a few gems Frightened Rabbit and JJ Cale to name but two.
Don’t worry if not everyone likes your nomination, if you think it’s good and it’s personal to you that’s all that matters.
We’ve all got our own tastes and we align with some posters more than others.
Nobody’s trying to win the best album award with the possible exception of @BlueHammer85 lol.
The scores are a bit of fun.
Don’t worry if not everyone likes your nomination, if you think it’s good and it’s personal to you that’s all that matters.
We’ve all got our own tastes and we align with some posters more than others.
Nobody’s trying to win the best album award with the possible exception of @BlueHammer85 lol.
The scores are a bit of fun.
BlueHammer85
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I actually prefer the lesser known albums as I use this thread and the playlist thread to try and discover artists and albums I’d not heard before.I’ve come across a few gems Frightened Rabbit and JJ Cale to name but two.
Don’t worry if not everyone likes your nomination, if you think it’s good and it’s personal to you that’s all that matters.
We’ve all got our own tastes and we align with some posters more than others.
Nobody’s trying to win the best album award with the possible exception of @BlueHammer85 lol.
The scores are a bit of fun.
I can’t help having the best music taste.
Worth noting I have 4 nominations in the relegation battle.
@threespires , true to 'it was supposed to be so easy', listen to Soft Play's Bin Juice Disaster. An Homage of sorts.
Sorry, not relevant to this album, but relevant to the thread, plus didn't know where else to put.
Sorry, not relevant to this album, but relevant to the thread, plus didn't know where else to put.
threespires
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@threespires , true to 'it was supposed to be so easy', listen to Soft Play's Bin Juice Disaster. An Homage of sorts.
Sorry, not relevant to this album, but relevant to the thread, plus didn't know where else to put.
I am mostly ready for that Jelly. Couple of tracks arguably a little bit too Heavy for my palette but overall really good.The outrage of Idles meets the mundanity of AGDCFF and properly heartfelt having been through the wringer.
No idea what's #1 at the moment but it should be Everything and Nothing.
I am mostly ready for that Jelly. Couple of tracks arguably a little bit too Heavy for my palette but overall really good.The outrage of Idles meets the mundanity of AGDCFF and properly heartfelt having been through the wringer.
No idea what's #1 at the moment but it should be Everything and Nothing.
I just loved the lyrics of Bin Juice, reminded me of Easy. The song Punk's Dead is all made up of online comments on boards, which is a good concept. Wonder what kind ol lyrics this thread would generate