A defining 80s album that still sounds as fresh today as it did in 1982. From the excited insanity of Party Fears Two to the adrenaline rush of Club Country to the drug addled paranoia of No, Sulk is a multi dimensioned album that desperately needs a wider audience in this very one dimensional world. Billy sounds great, Alan is able to keep up (just!) and Sulk is defiant and definite. Gloomy Sunday is sumptuous, sultry and even the tatty version of Love Hangover literally bursts with energy, ideas and excitement.
All changes and switches aside, it's still very much the Associates at probably the best period of their career. Mackenzie's impossibly piercing cabaret falsetto rivals that of obvious role model Russell Mael from Sparks, while Rankine's ear for unexpected hooks and sweeping arrangements turns the stereotypes of early-'80s synth music on their heads…
The Beatles: The Collection was a vinyl box set of UK released Beatles LPs, remastered at half speed from the original stereo master recordings. Each album was pressed on virgin vinyl by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) ensuring the best sound quality possible…
The Beatles: The Collection was a vinyl box set of UK released Beatles LPs, remastered at half speed from the original stereo master recordings. Each album was pressed on virgin vinyl by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC) ensuring the best sound quality possible…
One of Hawkwind's stronger 1980s releases, their last U.K. Top 30 hit, and certainly the high point of their two-year/three-album stint with RCA, Choose Your Masques boasts a vision and energy that neither of its predecessors could match, coupled with some excellent songwriting and - again, unlike its predecessors - more than a couple of songs that demanded revisiting. Part of the improvement was surely down to the return of saxophonist Nik Turner, absent since 1978. Both his pen and his instrument are eminently visible across an album that matches a newfound sense of high drama with Hawkwind's traditional emotional punch, with the title track, the "Arrival In Utopia"/"Utopia" suite, and the closing "Waiting for Tomorrow" not only proving their worth in the studio, but restoring Hawkwind to the highest standards in concert as well…