It's difficult not to find Super Furry Animals' brand of pop infectious, particularly the collection of numbers compiled for Guerilla, the band's third full-length and arguably most cohesive -- albeit pleasingly and consistently unpredictable -- to date. Old-school techno remains in remnants, such as in "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)." When it rears its head otherwise, it rests easily beside and within the majority of the fully fledged pop songs. The High Llamas contribute to the dreamy "Turning Tide"; there's the tropicalia of "Northern Lites," and, as ever, there are shades of punk and distortion in "Night Vision." Amazingly, the super bouncy rocker "The Teacher" does not credit a sample to the Who's "Baba O'Riley."
Unveiling the new model of a machine that made its debut three years prior, alternative rock outfit Garbage polished the raw grind of their hazy first album with the sparkling digital sheen of 1998 sophomore effort Version 2.0. Emerging from the eerie trip-hop and bleak grunge of the critically acclaimed, multi-platinum Garbage, the quartet expanded their vision, going into overdrive with a futuristic sound that blended their inspirations both classic (the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Pretenders) and contemporary (Björk, Portishead, and the Prodigy). While Garbage retained the sleaze and effortless cool of their debut -- hinted on early tracks "As Heaven Is Wide" and "A Stroke of Luck" -- they infused Version 2.0 with deeper electronic layering, improved hooks, and an intimate lyrical focus courtesy of iconic vocalist Shirley Manson, who seized her place as the face and voice of the band with authority and confidence. On the propulsive "When I Grow Up" and the bittersweet "Special," Garbage took cues from '60s girl groups with "sha-la-la"s and stacked vocal harmonies, grounding them with a delivery inspired by Chrissie Hynde. Elsewhere, the hard techno edges of Curve and Björk cut through the frustrated "Dumb" and the lusty "Sleep Together," while Depeche Mode's Wild West years received tribute on the stomping "Wicked Ways." Beyond the blistering hit singles "I Think I'm Paranoid" and "Push It," Version 2.0 is also home to Garbage's most tender and heartbreaking moments, from the pensive "Medication" to the trip-hop-indebted "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing" and "You Look So Fine." Balanced and taut, Version 2.0 is a greatest-hits collection packaged as a regular album, not only a peak in Garbage's catalog, but one of the definitive releases of the late '90s.
China Crisis underwent a complete change in sound for their third album, completely ditching the heavy dub rhythms and challenging arrangements of 1982's Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms, Some People Think It's Fun to Entertain and 1983's Working with Fire and Steel (Possible Pop Songs, Vol. 2) with an altogether smoother and less aggressive sound. That doesn't equal a commercial capitulation, however; if anything, the choice of Walter Becker (of the then-unfashionable Steely Dan) as producer was a more commercially daring maneuver than anything the group had previously attempted. The overall sound is considerably prettier than before -- the placid Eno-like "Black Man Ray? is downright beautiful -- and the arrangements mix synthesizers with traditional instruments in what was for 1985 an unusually graceful way, with neither predominating. Another difference from the earlier albums is that the group's songwriting is much improved, the failed instrumental experiments and tiresome dance workouts that occasionally marred their earlier albums replaced with a newfound melodic sophistication and lyrical acuity. By the time of 1987's What Price Paradise, this sophistication will be unfortunately replaced by callow slickness, but Flaunt the Imperfection is the one album where China Crisis got the balance right.
Blancmange's first album, 1982's Happy Families, yielded the radio hit "Living on the Ceiling," which also received a good deal of attention from early MTV. Though Happy Families can accurately be described as techno-pop, it's techno-pop with a modicum of taste and sophistication, putting it more in the ballpark of genre pioneers like OMD and Yazoo than of annoying '80s anachronisms like Kajagoogoo or EBN-OZN. Neil Arthur's lyrics are interesting enough to reward close listening, and his Bowie-esque voice, while somewhat limited, serves the material well. The sound of Happy Families is built largely around synthesizers, played by Arthur and partner Stephen Luscombe. The duo have a knack for catchy basslines and drum programming, on top of which they strategically deploy guitars, Eastern instrumentation, and female backing vocals. Particular highlights include "I Can't Explain" "Feel Me," "Sad Day," and "God's Kitchen."
When synthesists Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware left the Human League in 1980, the decision seemed iffy; after all, the League appeared on the way up and would achieve global fame the very next year with Dare! The first album from Heaven 17, Marsh and Ware's new trio with singer Glenn Gregory, wasn't greeted with quite the same commercial kudos when released in 1981, but it turned out to be an important outing nevertheless. Picking up where Kraftwerk had left off with The Man-Machine, the group created glistening electro-pop that didn't skimp on danceable grooves or memorable melodies. What set Heaven 17 apart was the well-deep vocals of Gregory, who managed the difficult trick of sounding dramatic without seeming pretentious, and an overtly left-wing political outlook best expressed on the debut single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang." Other standout combinations of witty lyrics and whiplash electro-grooves include "The Height of the Fighting" and "Play to Win," while the funky title track draws on American R&B for its popping bassline. Despite the catchy material, chart success proved somewhat elusive; the group didn't score a major hit until its next album, 1983's The Luxury Gap. Nevertheless, Penthouse and Pavement stands as one of the most accomplished debuts of the '80s. [The Deluxe 2010 repackage truly lives up to the title. It would do so if it only included a remastered version of the album with bonus 12" mixes, a fold-out poster, a handful of postcards, extensive liner notes, and a DVD documentary on the making of the album. That it adds a disc of demos from 1980 that were previously thought lost makes it something extra special. The 20 tracks are made up of demos for the album, B.E.F. demos, and a batch of experimental songs that paint a complete picture of the process of creating the finished album. This collection is a must for any fan of synth pop.]
Only Kirsty MacColl's second solo album in the tenth year of her career (she took several years off to have children after marrying producer Steve Lillywhite), 1989's Kite is the pinnacle of her achievement. By far her best-sustained work, this lengthy 15-track album features some of the singer/songwriter's best work on both sides of the hyphen. Her always-terrific vocals -- MacColl was quite likely the best female singer of her generation -- are overdubbed several times on most tracks to create thick, lush harmonies, most notably on the gorgeous cover of the Kinks' "Days." Her songwriting is excellent as well, with some of her sharpest and cleverest words and most memorable melodies found here. The piercing "Innocence" and "Free World" are two of MacColl's most combative songs, while "What Do Pretty Girls Do?" and "Fifteen Minutes," for all their tart lines, are MacColl at her most sympathetic. Besides the excellent originals, another pair of terrific covers -- the Smiths' "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby" and Kate and Anna McGarrigle's "Complainte pour Ste. Catherine" (given a rather Cuban rearrangement that foreshadows her later experiments in Latin music) -- show both MacColl's widely varied influences and her immense interpretive powers
Released following the number-one success of "Three Lions" -- the official song of the England football team's Euro 1996 campaign (written with comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel) -- Dizzy Heights was the product of an artist whose stock was running unnaturally high. As a result, it could boast three Top 20 singles: "What If...," "Sugar Coated Iceberg," and "You Showed Me." But guess what -- this album sounds just like all of main man Ian Broudie's other creations; it has that same obsession with the perfect '60s melody, polite guitars, and saccharine vocals on an endless quest to rewrite "Unchained Melody" for the '90s. Too many plays will send you running to the dentist, or back to your Iggy albums at the very least.
Shed Seven were one of the leaders of the secondary Britpop brigade, which featured the likes of Suede, Gene, Echobelly, Geneva, Dubstar... Pretty much any of the Britpop bands that took The Smiths as their main influence. That said, Shed Seven was always notable among that group of bands for fusing their Morrissey driven influence with the more popular, 'Laddish' culture promoted by genre leaders like Oasis and Blur.
'A Maximum High', Shed Seven's 1996 sophomore LP, showed the band at the peak of it's popularity. Most of the band's biggest hits reside here, such as 'Going For Gold', 'On Standy', 'Bully Boy' and 'Getting Better'. But more than just being a singles album, 'A Maximum High' also ranks as Shed Seven's best overall record.
The album's sound is a very basic but satisfying one, combining The Smiths' jangle pop with scuzzy guitar and sing-along choruses. Except it's more than that. You see, the guitarist of Shed Seven (Paul Banks) is an absolute genius. Seriously.... The man has so much melodic talent that pretty much every note he plays on this album is awesome. So much so, in fact, that any faults that this album suffers from can all be attributed to Rick Witter, the band's frontman.
That's a harsh statement, but the fact is that the only two weak tracks on the entire LP both stem from Witter-related problems. The lovely mid-album acoustic country strum of 'Out By My Side', for example, is pretty much murdered by Witter's out-of-key vocal line, which sounds like he's going through puberty. The other mis-step is the epic seven minute closing track 'Parellel lines', which sees Witter mercifuly drowned out with explosive distortion, but only after an agonizing build-up which puts the vocals into sharp focus over quiet, clean guitars. Witter's lyrics on on the latter track also factors in it's downfall with the likes of "I could fax you at work / Pick you up in my merc / Dig deep in your dirt / It's the in thing to do" being particularly cringe worthy... And that's such a shame, because the epic backing composition by Banks is flat out brilliant.
But elsewhere, Rick Witter is on top form, producing a set of excellent lyrics ("We went to the early learning centre / With the money that I lent you / It's the price of an education") and catchy vocal lines. The best cuts are, of course, the singles with the towering ballad 'On Standby' being perhaps the best Shed Seven song ever recorded, with it's aching chorus of "It's like I've never been born / We concede in the allyways" feeding off an impassioned vocal performance that quickly pushes the singers flaws into the background.
'Where Have You Been Tonight?' and 'Getting Better' are the pogo-pop classics of the bunch, with punchy distortion and strident anthemnics lending the tracks a growling, psudo-punk presence. The jangle pop angle is also well covered by the remaining two singles; the trumpet emblazoned hit 'Going For Gold' and the distinctly Smiths-esque 'Bully Boy', with it's rousing refrain of "I'll fight you to the death!" making for a wonderful sing-along moment. Other album tracks also keep the quality high, with the Stone Roses aping 'Lies' retaining the epic catchy feel of the singles. Electro-acoustic pop ditty 'Ladyman', meanwhile, goes wholeheartedly into The Smiths territory ("I'm a lady / I'm a man / Doing the best that I can") with it's trans-gender lyric sounding very much like it was penned by Morrissey, even including the line "I'll die for my pride / My bones are burried alive"... But despite it's blatant theft, it's yet another fantastic track.
The remainder of the songs are also good, with 'This Day Was Ours' having enough glitter guitar pomp and interesting lyricism ("I'm in the dark all the time / Of that I must be king") to make for an energetic addition, whilst 'Falling From The Sky' has a great swaggering riff that catches the ear and doesn't easily let go... But the best of the album-only bunch is 'Magic Streets', with it's excellent stuttering indie guitar framing a fantastic lyrical ode to the seedier sides of northern England, taking a tounge-in-cheek snapshot of a town overrun by dirty drug abuse, trannies and nefarious men in 'anaraks'. Lord knows why it wasn't a single... Perhaps a little controversial for the time?
Smog's seventh full-length album, Knock Knock, proves to be singer/songwriter Bill Callahan's subtlest collection of songs yet. Indeed, one of the album's greatest accomplishments is its gently optimistic tone; if his other albums made a deadpan joke out of misery, on this album Callahan delivers the punch lines with traces of a grin. It's a moving album on many levels; not only do the songs have Smog's usual emotional intimacy, their subjects move away from difficult, claustrophobic situations toward maturity and acceptance. "Let's Move to the Country" and "I Could Drive Forever" are all about escape, whether it's from the rat race or bad relationships -- "I feel light and strong," Callahan sings on "I Could Drive Forever," summing up Knock Knock's lyrical tenor. But moving also implies distance. As the album travels the emotional spaces between people, Callahan himself seems more removed from these songs; more than ever, his songs read more like short stories than diary entries, particularly on "River Guard," about a warden watching prisoners swim, and the enigmatic "Sweet Treat." "Cold Blooded Old Times" and "Teenage Spaceship" capture the awkwardness of youth, while "Left Only With Love" accepts a lover's departure in stride. Musically, Knock Knock builds on Red Apple Falls's folky, flowing sound, but throws in twists like drum loops, electric guitars, and, surprisingly, a children's choir. "Hit the Ground Running" combines all three elements, driven by rolling guitars and accented with strings, with the children's choir urging Callahan on his way. "Held"'s drum, guitar, and feedback loops take a collage approach to a classic rock sound; along with "Cold Blooded Old Times" and "No Dancing," it's one of Callahan's most up-tempo songs since 1995's "Wild Love." Over time, Knock Knock reveals itself as one of Smog's finest moments
