This is an ALBUM REVIEW.
Jan. 29th, 2009 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatXTC's Go 2 has one of the most amusing album covers I've seen.
It was changed somewhat for the initial cassette and CD releases (including the CD copy I have), but I believe the most recent CD versions just have the record text in a smaller form. I suppose I should get to the album itself, though, shouldn't I? I think it's a somewhat lackluster followup to White Music, not having as much of that record's contagious energy, yet not quite having the poetic pop style of the later albums. Still, it's XTC, and it's worth listening to. Let's examine the songs now.
Meccanic Dancing - A strong opening track, with jerky guitars and a fun organ part. I remember reading that someone misheard the lyric "I feel like a giant tonight" as "I feel like a giant tuna." One who still believes in that chunky stew, probably.
Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian) - An interesting but repetitive song with a sort of mechanical sound to it, this is apparently based on Andy's assumption that young girls who work as cashiers are dreaming about marriage and kids. Kind of an offensive assumption, but the sad part is that he's probably right about a lot of them. The Brian mentioned in the title is Brian Eno, who was considered to produce the album, or something like that.
Buzzcity Talking - A fun song to listen to, but kind of forgettable when considering the XTC corpus in general.
Crowded Room - A Colin Moulding number with more than a touch of paranoia about it. I think this is one of the most fully realized songs on the album.
The Rhythm - I know I can't stop that chorus about "the rhythm in his head" out of MY head. A very driving song overall, but I think my favorite part might just be the "inside, outside, west side, east, we kill the beast" section.
Are You Receiving Me? - Yeah, I know I said I'd separate out the bonus tracks, but this is the only one on here, and I think it might have been on some versions of the vinyl record anyway. I don't know. When a record has several slightly different versions, it can get remarkably confusing. Anyway, this is a really catchy single, featuring the line, "I put it in a telegram, just like the Son of Sam." I think the song loses a little of its meaning when you learn that it's about Andy fearing his then-girlfriend was having an affair as retaliation for his own, but I still quite like it.
Red - A chaotic number about the negative aspects of the color red. Hey, Andy, red is my favorite color! Oh, well. I like the song, but have to admit that the lyrics are kind of hard to make out.
Beatown - I have to admit that I tend to get this song confused with "Buzzcity Talking." I mean, I can tell the difference, but the titles are similar, and they're two of the less memorable tracks on the album.
Life Is Good in the Greenhouse - In some ways, I think this track is a good indication of things to come from Andy and the band. Compared to a lot of what's on the first two albums, the tune and vocals are less zany. There's a lot of attitude in the way Andy sings it, and there's more experimentation with the sound.
Jumping in Gomorrah - A goofy little song that takes a mocking attitude toward religion. Andy would later tackle this theme in more serious ways, but this might well be how it started. Next stop, Tower of Babel!
My Weapon - With this second album, keyboardist Barry Andrews decided he wanted to start including his own songs. The only problem was that the songs he wrote were pretty bad. It's telling that the two that made it are the best of the lot. This is a sarcastic song about using sex for revenge, but the way Barry sings it doesn't properly convey the sarcasm, so it ends up coming out as rather creepy.
Super-Tuff - Another Barry track, and even worse than the first. While "My Weapon" was at least catchy, and had some of that so-bad-it's-good quality about it, this ode to thuggery is mostly just boring. Barry would leave the band after this record, so we don't have to hear any more of his songs as proper album tracks, but there are a few on Coat of Many Cupboards.
I Am the Audience - Fortunately, the album doesn't end with Barry, but rather with Colin. Between this one and "Crowded Room," he seems to have been really rocking the paranoia theme at this point. And here I thought Andy was the one with a fear of audiences! Colin's paranoid voice has been favorably compared to David Byrne's.
While I usually list this album as my least favorite, it's actually a pretty good listen. I think it's more that I forget about it than that I have active dislike for it. Well, aside from Barry's songs, but even those have some interesting historical value.
It was changed somewhat for the initial cassette and CD releases (including the CD copy I have), but I believe the most recent CD versions just have the record text in a smaller form. I suppose I should get to the album itself, though, shouldn't I? I think it's a somewhat lackluster followup to White Music, not having as much of that record's contagious energy, yet not quite having the poetic pop style of the later albums. Still, it's XTC, and it's worth listening to. Let's examine the songs now.
Meccanic Dancing - A strong opening track, with jerky guitars and a fun organ part. I remember reading that someone misheard the lyric "I feel like a giant tonight" as "I feel like a giant tuna." One who still believes in that chunky stew, probably.
Battery Brides (Andy Paints Brian) - An interesting but repetitive song with a sort of mechanical sound to it, this is apparently based on Andy's assumption that young girls who work as cashiers are dreaming about marriage and kids. Kind of an offensive assumption, but the sad part is that he's probably right about a lot of them. The Brian mentioned in the title is Brian Eno, who was considered to produce the album, or something like that.
Buzzcity Talking - A fun song to listen to, but kind of forgettable when considering the XTC corpus in general.
Crowded Room - A Colin Moulding number with more than a touch of paranoia about it. I think this is one of the most fully realized songs on the album.
The Rhythm - I know I can't stop that chorus about "the rhythm in his head" out of MY head. A very driving song overall, but I think my favorite part might just be the "inside, outside, west side, east, we kill the beast" section.
Are You Receiving Me? - Yeah, I know I said I'd separate out the bonus tracks, but this is the only one on here, and I think it might have been on some versions of the vinyl record anyway. I don't know. When a record has several slightly different versions, it can get remarkably confusing. Anyway, this is a really catchy single, featuring the line, "I put it in a telegram, just like the Son of Sam." I think the song loses a little of its meaning when you learn that it's about Andy fearing his then-girlfriend was having an affair as retaliation for his own, but I still quite like it.
Red - A chaotic number about the negative aspects of the color red. Hey, Andy, red is my favorite color! Oh, well. I like the song, but have to admit that the lyrics are kind of hard to make out.
Beatown - I have to admit that I tend to get this song confused with "Buzzcity Talking." I mean, I can tell the difference, but the titles are similar, and they're two of the less memorable tracks on the album.
Life Is Good in the Greenhouse - In some ways, I think this track is a good indication of things to come from Andy and the band. Compared to a lot of what's on the first two albums, the tune and vocals are less zany. There's a lot of attitude in the way Andy sings it, and there's more experimentation with the sound.
Jumping in Gomorrah - A goofy little song that takes a mocking attitude toward religion. Andy would later tackle this theme in more serious ways, but this might well be how it started. Next stop, Tower of Babel!
My Weapon - With this second album, keyboardist Barry Andrews decided he wanted to start including his own songs. The only problem was that the songs he wrote were pretty bad. It's telling that the two that made it are the best of the lot. This is a sarcastic song about using sex for revenge, but the way Barry sings it doesn't properly convey the sarcasm, so it ends up coming out as rather creepy.
Super-Tuff - Another Barry track, and even worse than the first. While "My Weapon" was at least catchy, and had some of that so-bad-it's-good quality about it, this ode to thuggery is mostly just boring. Barry would leave the band after this record, so we don't have to hear any more of his songs as proper album tracks, but there are a few on Coat of Many Cupboards.
I Am the Audience - Fortunately, the album doesn't end with Barry, but rather with Colin. Between this one and "Crowded Room," he seems to have been really rocking the paranoia theme at this point. And here I thought Andy was the one with a fear of audiences! Colin's paranoid voice has been favorably compared to David Byrne's.
While I usually list this album as my least favorite, it's actually a pretty good listen. I think it's more that I forget about it than that I have active dislike for it. Well, aside from Barry's songs, but even those have some interesting historical value.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 03:09 pm (UTC)Did I miss anything?
Date: 2009-01-29 04:07 pm (UTC)Re: Did I miss anything?
Date: 2009-01-29 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-29 07:26 pm (UTC)