Thompson Twins - Here's To Future Days (1985)

UK Import

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2008 reissue with all sorts of bonus tracks over two discs.

As I've written before, I listened to a dubbed cassette copy of this album quite often during the fall of 1985, almost nightly for months. But that was passive listening, with this album more or less playing in the background as I sat around and talked with college friends. As such, it was never really on my radar as an old album that needed to be replaced on CD. I didn't listen to it that much anyway, right? And besides, I already had the good songs from the album on the group's greatest hits package. The disc sat on my Amazon Wish List for almost 5 years because I never felt the need to pick it up.

Earlier this year, I needed to add something to my Amazon order to bump the total up to $25 to get the free shipping, so I just picked this at random from the Wish List. It arrived, was slipped into the truck's CD player and I immediately wished I had purchased this earlier. It sounds cliché, but reconnecting with these songs was like reconnecting with old friends. Today is the first time it's left my truck since it got here, and when I'm done writing this post, it will probably return there.

To be honest, I'm surprised the album had that effect on me since it is an uneven affair, at best. Still, there's something about Nile Rodgers' tight production and rhythm guitar along with Steve Stevens' lead guitar that set this apart from earlier TT synthpop releases. Not that it would matter much to me anyway, as I'm awash in nostalgia as soon as I hit the play button. Great liner notes to boot.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone: "crammed full of relentless melodies, singalong choruses, swooning synths, percussive exotica and the sort of hooks that should be baited with Excedrin."
• CashBox: "Tight production and nice synth and vocal colorings"
• Smash Hits (5 out of 10): "A major disappointment"
• Stereo Review: "Disappointing."
• Robert Christgau (C+): "I'd pay money not to hum these tunes."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #20
• CashBox CD: #19
• Rolling Stone: #15

Tracks:  The album had two US top ten hits with Lay Your Hands On Me (#6) and King For A Day (#8). That's good stuff for sure, but my favorite track could be the odd ballad You Killed The Clown. With a title like that, it has every right to be a stinker, but it turns out to be reminiscent of If You Were Here. Of the 11 original album tracks, the only one I want to skip is Emperor's Clothes (Part 1). Thankfully, part 2 was not included. I'm not crazy about the cover of The Beatles' Revolution, but the band (and Stevens) sound like they're having fun and that's infectious.

The bonus tracks, for me anyways, are mostly unnecessary. Being a child of the '80s, I normally loves me some 12" remixes, but the remixes here don't amount to much more than instrumental versions of the original tracks (would be great for karaoke if ya need it), the exceptions being the Breakaway remix titled Desert Dancers and a remix of Roll Over titled Rollunder. There are 18 b-sides and remixes included here, stretching the original 43 minute album to 154 minutes. Great for a true TT fanatic/completist, but I don't include myself in that group. I'll be happy ripping only the original album to the iTunes.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  See above.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Greatest Hits (1996)