Note: the CD I listened to was the US issue which varied greatly from the UK issue.
Like most music associated with singer/songwriter Terry Hall (Specials, Fun Boy Three, etc.), what we've got here is a collection of pop songs that went against the then-current grain of popular music (here in the US, anyway). This album doesn't sound like your typical 1985 album; more of an early '70s groove. Absent are the ubiquitous synths and drum machines of the time. Of course, this led to many imitators so the sound doesn't sound as innovative in 2013 as it did in 1985. I didn't have this album back in the '80s; it's one of those that I'd read about so many times that I finally decided I needed to hear it and picked it up 10-15 years ago. Because of that, there's no teenage nostalgia factor for me when I listen to this which means I don't play it as much as other albums from the time. The songwriting is great, but varies greatly from acoustic folk-pop to bossa to proto-punk covers. It's no wonder why the album wasn't more popular in the US at the time - how do you market that many different sounds?
Here's a nice love letter to the album from 2010 at The Quietus.
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| Smash Hits, April 24, 1985, p. 20 |
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart
Tracks: My picks are Pushing Up Daisies, Faint Hearts, Take, and a beautiful cover of The Roches' Hammond Song. My least favorite tracks are The Colourfield and Cruel Circus.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None
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