By the time this album was released, the group had branched out a bit from their punk-influenced pop music stylings and grouchy personal-relationship-based lyrics. Half the songs on this album (among them "Dead
Loss Angeles'', "Nuclear Device," "Shah Shah a Gogo," and "Genetix") spout verses critical of social or political issues. Only the first of these four numbers, with its clipped vocal delivery and stripped-down, bass-heavy arrangement, shows significant Brit-punk influence. Certain songs here exhibit strong mainstream tendencies with no hardcore sensibilities whatsoever, such as "Duchess" (a tuneful power pop number with clear chart-oriented influences) and "Don't Bring Harry" (a slow-tempo, piano-dominated selection). Still other influences can be seen in "Meninblack," a Devo-derived number featuring a synthesized clipped beat/electronic pulse texture, chilly and sanitized-sounding organ, lockstep drums, and Alvin and the Chipmunks-style sped-up vocals. The intriguing "Ice" boasts interesting production touches and an inventively dubious tonal focus. The songs are lengthy, with at times prolix instrumental openings and interludes. Sound quality on the EMI America re-release is uneven at times, with occasional distortion in the drums and percussive low synthesizer. This is a generally good album worth hearing. Original pressings of this release have a 3-D picture on the front cover. Approximately half the songs on this album would be reissued one year later on the U.S. label release IV.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
The Stranglers - the raven (1979)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Contact
Popular Posts of the Week
-
Rating: 8.4/10 Modern Music Review The new Tangerine Dream release has gotten my attention for two weeks. A kind of music that you only rela...
-
I mixed a good post which includes random links from blogosphere. Don't forget to thank folks at there, as you know it takes huge time s...
-
Velvet Revolver is a rock supergroup with three former members of Guns N' Roses--Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum--with Scott Weila...
-
History They originally called themselves The Reactionaries , with additional band member and singer Martin Tamburovich. According to Watt, ...
-
An end has a start, it sounds interesting when you read on the art work. So this is Coldplay's faster version with a lot more Ian McCull...
-
Rating: 10/10 Modern Music Review How many bands do you know that greatly have an impact in your ears, but unfortunately people don't ...
-
After success as the frontman of Pavement, Stephen Malkmus's solo career is marked by the smarts, eclecticism, and cheeky surprise. ...

1 COMMENTS:
Pass = crunchiedo
Post a Comment