Celebrating the Stranglers' 30th anniversary, Norfolk Coast -- the veteran U.K. punk ensemble's first album in six years -- may lack the magic of the many discs the group made with original frontman Hugh Cornwell in tow, but it's still respectable in its own right. While Paul Roberts gives his own pub rock style to the vocal duties Cornwell left behind in 1990, it's bassist/lyricist Jean Jacques Burnel who is the spark that kindles the band's latest achievement. Burnel's aggressive rhythms give life -- along with Dave Greenfield's proven keyboard abilities -- to the title opener and they resonate throughout, but "Big Thing Coming" is a vibrant rocker of its own, courtesy of new guitar wizard Baz Warne and the machine-gun drumming of Jet Black. Sure, "Long Black Veil" is sluggish pop -- but the Stranglers have always transcended this form, as evidenced by 1984's "Skin Deep" and 1986's iconic "Always the Sun." Matters trend downward by the time the lackluster blues number "Dutch Moon" arrives, and "Into the Fire" is disappointing, anonymous rock. In a nutshell, Norfolk Coast is hit and miss. Yet there are enough moments of redemption here (the scorching "Lost Control" and the scathing manifesto "I Don't Agree" among them) to give a nod of approval to this legendary troupe. [The Japan-only edition featured a bonus track, a "Laid Black Version" of "Cruel Garden."]
While not as good as Live (X Cert), this does have some things to recommend it. First, it was recorded a decade down the line and was able to draw from a wellspring of generally excellent material written since X Cert was released. Secondly, at this stage of their career, the Stranglers remained just about relevant and were still a robust live act, though some Stranglers fans reacted warily to the presence of brass on favorites such as "Down in the Sewer." So thanks for the live album but no thanks for the awful packaging, intended to cash in on the success of "All Day and All of the Night." The Stranglers' workmanlike hit version of the Kinks' chestnut is incongruously added to the end of the album. [The 2001 reissue adds eight more songs, including "Shakin' Like a Leaf" and "Nuclear Device."]
La Folie is a welcome album in the Stranglers' oeuvre, mainly a collection of tight, punchy songs that often suggest the forthright approach of American new wave bands. With one exception, the songs are shorter and more pointed, harking back to the comparative conciseness of some of the tunes on the band's first two albums, Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes, though acidic lyrics still predominate. "Non-Stop" is a typical example, featuring a half-spoken vocal that suggests Lou Reed, a Cars-influenced organ sound, and a bouncy, dance-derived drum beat; this particular song is atypical, however, because it employs a blues-oriented progression. An interesting excursion is encountered in the song "Golden Brown," a subdued, jazz-influenced number with purring vocals, a coolly executed synthesizer/harpsichord backing texture, and a periodically stumbling beat. Only the plushly understated title track suggests the sprawl typical of the group's immediately preceding releases. This fine album is well worth purchasing. [The 2001 reissue includes five bonus tracks.]
Track #
Track
Time
Composer
1
Non Stop
2:29
Cornwell, Greenfield, Black, Burnel
2
Everybody Loves You When You're Dead
2:42
Burnel, Greenfield, Black, Cornwell
3
Tramp
3:04
Black, Burnel, Cornwell, Greenfield
4
Let Me Introduce You to the Family
3:08
Cornwell, Black, Burnel, Greenfield
5
Ain't Nothin' to It
3:56
Black, Burnel, Greenfield, Cornwell
6
The Men They Love to Hate
4:22
Cornwell, Greenfield, Black, Burnel
7
Pin Up
2:46
Burnel, Greenfield, Cornwell, Black
8
It Only Takes Two to Tango
3:37
Greenfield, Burnel, Cornwell, Black
9
Golden Brown
3:27
Burnel, Black, Greenfield, Cornwell
10
How to Find True Love and Happiness in the Present Day
UK repackaged reissue of 1981 album, includes new artwork with extensive sleeve notes & previously unseen photos. 17 tracks including six bonus tracks, 'Cruel Garden', 'Cocktail Nu...
By the time The Raven was released, the Stranglers 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 British 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 heard in "Meninblack," a Devo-derived number featuring a synthesized clipped beat/electronic pulse texture, chilly and sanitized-sounding organ, lockstep drums, and Alvin & 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. [The 2006 reissue includes four bonus tracks.]
UK repackaged reissue of 1979 album, includes new artwork with extensive sleeve notes and previously unseen photos. 15 tracks including four bonus tracks, 'Bear Cage', 'Fools Rush ...
Recorded at various gigs in 1977-1978, Live (X Cert) is worthy if only to hear Hugh Cornwell bait and insult the audience (very punk!). Plus the band sounds pretty good, loads of aggression and volume add to the fun. Not essential but a very interesting snapshot of an era. [The 2006 reissue includes seven bonus tracks.]
UK repackaged reissue of 1978 album, includes new artwork with extensive sleeve notes & previously unseen photos. 18 tracks including seven previously unreleased bonus tracks, 'Pea...
The first and finest of the band's many albums, Rattus Norvegicus is also the closest the Stranglers came to defining how they were lumped into the punk movement -- even if it is still difficult to tell why. Brutal, bleak, and bellicose, the Stranglers ranged in temperament between the bully boys hiding in the alley round the corner and a bad-tempered uncle who invites himself over for dinner, then spends the day complaining about the price of the bus fare. Rattus is as split between these extremes as anything the Stranglers ever did but, even at its most pointlessly offensive (and between them, "Ugly" and "Peaches" conspire to upset almost everyone who reads the lyrics), the album disports itself with both a musical and a lyrical conviction, which means you can't take the insults too seriously. Or, if you do, you're as much of a problem today as the whiners who didn't get the joke back then. Remastered sound means, among other joys, that the manifold sonic niceties that highlight the landmark "Down in the Sewer" come across with brand new clarity -- catch it on headphones and you can feel the rat breath on the back of your neck. And three bonus tracks wrap the single offered free with early pressings of the original vinyl together with "Go Buddy Go," the manic pub-punkhead's mindless madness that surfaced on the B-side of the U.K. "Peaches" 45 to give nervous DJs something harmless to play in its stead. It is, quite possibly, the most deliberately stupid song the Stranglers ever recorded and, as such, should be cherished in the spirit it was intended -- in other words, crank it up. In other words, BOOGIE!
Track #
Track
Time
Composer
1
Sometimes
4:55
Stranglers
2
Goodbye Toulouse
3:16
Black, Cornwell, Burnel, Greenfield
3
London Lady
2:32
Stranglers
4
Princess of the Streets
4:37
Burnel, Black, Cornwell, Greenfield
5
Hanging Around
4:27
Greenfield, Black, Cornwell, Burnel
6
Peaches
4:07
Greenfield, Cornwell, Burnel, Black
7
(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
4:01
Stranglers
8
Ugly
4:07
Stranglers
9
Down in the Sewer: Falling/Down in the Sewer/Trying to Get Out Again
UK repackaged reissue of 1977 album, includes new artwork with extensive sleeve notes & previously unseen photos. 12 tracks including three bonus tracks, 'Choosey Susie', 'Go Bu...
Like the Vibrators, the Stranglers were an older band which managed to gain visibility and success through association with Britain's punk movement. Musically, the group is much more polished than some of their rawer brethren such as the Adverts and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The Stranglers' early work is most properly described as stripped-down pop played with a hardcore sensibility; fairly lengthy songs with frequent solo breaks, prominent keyboard usage, and occasional employment of vocal harmony sets them apart from their peers. But snarling lead singing that puts forth macho/critical/distasteful lyrics predominates here, clearly showing the group's punk affinity. Most of the songs on this album fit the description of hardcore pop to a tee, but there are a few deviations from this model. "Princess of the Streets" is a slow-tempo selection with blueslike echoes. The ambitious "Down in the Sewer" crosses the concept of episodic numbers like the Who's "A Quick One" with early-'60s instrumentals. And the energetic "London Lady" is almost a true punk song -- or at least as close as the band gets to one. While not the equal of their best album, No More Heroes, this release is solid and worthwhile, a rewarding listen.
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