The Stranglers

Rattus Norvegicus, the Stranglers' first album (and first of two in 1977), was hardly a punk rock classic, but it outsold every other punk album and remains a pretty good chunk of art-punk. On the other hand, No More Heroes, recorded three months later and released in September 1977, is faster, nastier, and better…

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…

Of the first three Stranglers albums, Black & White is arguably the weakest, yet it still has some absolutely stunning moments. For example, the epic "Toiler on the Sea" picks up where "Down in the Sewer" and "School Mam" left off on the band's two previous efforts…

The Stranglers formed as the Guildford Stranglers in the southern England village of Chiddingfold (near Guildford) in 1974, plowing a heavily Doors-influenced furrow through the local pub rock scene – such as it was. Of the four founding members, only Hugh Cornwell had any kind of recognizable historical pedigree, having played alongside Richard Thompson in the schoolboy band Emil & the Detectives.

The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring some 23 UK top 40 singles and 17 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning four decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving and most "continuously successful" bands to have originated in the UK punk scene…

Rattus Norvegicus is the first studio album by The Stranglers, released on 17 April 1977. The band's name was printed as "The Stranglers IV" on the sleeve. The album was originally to be entitled "Dead on Arrival" but was changed at the last minute. It was one of the highest-selling albums of the punk era in Britain, eventually achieving platinum record sales. The album's title is the taxonomic name for the common brown rat. It was produced in one week by Martin Rushent, and was basically a snapshot of the band's live set at the time. Some websites incorrectly list the title of the album as IV and the artist as Rattus Norvegicus. The first 20,000 copies of the original vinyl release included a free 7" single, containing "Peasant in the Big Shitty (live)" and "Choosie Susie".