Work Under Pressure
Feb. 11th, 2009 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatThat was the working title for XTC's fourth album, but I think the manager figured it would send a bad impression, so it was changed. The cover art for that title was retained, though, and the name changed to Black Sea.
I'm not entirely sure how the "black" part of the title fits, although I guess there IS a song that mentions Russia, and that's a country that borders on the Black Sea. Besides, it makes a good counterpart to White Music. I have to say that this is the band's most straight-up rock album.
Respectable Street - I quite like the fake-out beginning, with the scratchy, old-timey sound suddenly breaking into a rock song. There was an edited version that replaced some of the more controversial words (often with replacements that made no sense, like "stretching" instead of "retching"), but it still wasn't played, because the brand name "Sony" was retained.
Generals and Majors - A fun Colin song mocking military officers. Hypocrisy seems to be the main theme of this album so far.
Living Through Another Cuba - I like the noisy and chaotic sound of this song and the way Andy sings it. Andy has been criticized for getting the date of the Cuban Missile Crisis wrong, as it was in 1962, not 1961. The Bay of Pigs incident happened in 1961, though, so the year isn't totally inappropriate. The song is somewhat dated (fortunately, there was no replay in 1998), but still enjoyable, and interesting for its historical value.
Love at First Sight - Another Colin contribution, based on a hopelessly catchy riff.
Rocket from a Bottle - Andy returns yet again to the theme of how it feels to be in love, this time comparing it to a firework. The theme is a bit clichèd by this point, but I still like the song. I very much enjoy the way Andy sings "today," and the sing-songy melody of the "I've been set off by a pretty little girl" part.
No Language in Our Lungs - It's a song about how we can never really say what we actually want to, but Andy has said it's one of the few lyrics that he think expresses EXACTLY what he wants it to. Funny, that. I love the line, "I would have made this instrumental, but the words got in the way." The guitar part is really good, and the band has admitted the similarity of the end to that of the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."
Towers of London - The sound of the drumstick against metal (which we hear Terry Chambers testing at the very beginning) is a really effective part of the song. It's one of those songs that never lets up, remaining a strong rock number from beginning to end. Andy has said he doesn't think the lyrics are some of his best, but I think he's often overly critical of his lyric-writing ability. He's better with the poetic imagery than a lot of actual poets.
Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins) - Another song that just rocks all the way through, and features what might be Terry's best drum part. The theme of the song, about how we're all pretty much slaves to money, is one that would creep up from time to time in Andy's later work.
Burning with Optimism's Flames - Probably my favorite song on the album, and one of my overall favorite XTC songs. I think part of it is because, when I first bought this album, I was in college. While I had many enjoyable experiences during those years, I had trouble shaking my general feeling of depression, and this song has always been good at cheering me up.
Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) - At the time when this song came out, it was often interpreted as being sexist, when Andy actually meant it to be about a kid who thought he could get girls if he were more like his comic book hero. Okay, I guess it IS kind of sexist, but it's done in the character of a naive child, rather than being a reflection of Andy's actual feelings. I have to wonder if part of the problem is that people didn't know Sgt. Rock WAS a comic book character; I hadn't heard of him until reading about the song in Song Stories. Then again, I've never been a big comic buff (although I've gaining more interest as of late). The song itself is all right, but not one of the better tracks on the album.
Travels in Nihilon - This song is interesting, but kind of long. I know![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
revme has mentioned that he wouldn't mind its being even longer, though. It's an expression of disappointment at the youth music scene in general ("there's no youth culture, only masks they let you rent"), with a sound that's unusually...gothic, maybe? I don't know; I'm terrible at defining genres. But maybe that's a good thing when dealing with stuff written by the author of "This Is Pop."
As for the bonus tracks, I think this is probably the album where Geffen's policy of throwing them into the part where you would have turned over the vinyl record is the most problematic. Usually the extra songs at least kind of fit, but here they really don't at all. That's not to say they're bad songs, just that it would have made a lot more sense to stick them on at the end (which I think is what they ARE doing with the most recent CD releases).
Smokeless Zone - A Colin song about the pollution in England. My favorite part of this song is Andy's somewhat industrial-sounding harmonica.
Don't Lose Your Temper - Man, this song is pretty repetitive, isn't it? Still, for all that, it's still a good, catchy listen. The theme is actually sort of the opposite of what you might expect from the title. It's actually about not wanting someone to lose her ability to get angry.
The Somnambulist - During the actual verses of this song, I quite like it. It has an interesting, minimalistic sound to it, and lyrics comparing sleepwalking to deep-sea diving (which fits the cover art, I suppose). Then it just keeps going, and I have to wonder why it does. It would be a better song if it weren't for the overly long fade-out.
Okay, that's that. Next week (or whenever I get around to it), English Settlement will be the name of the game.
I'm not entirely sure how the "black" part of the title fits, although I guess there IS a song that mentions Russia, and that's a country that borders on the Black Sea. Besides, it makes a good counterpart to White Music. I have to say that this is the band's most straight-up rock album.
Respectable Street - I quite like the fake-out beginning, with the scratchy, old-timey sound suddenly breaking into a rock song. There was an edited version that replaced some of the more controversial words (often with replacements that made no sense, like "stretching" instead of "retching"), but it still wasn't played, because the brand name "Sony" was retained.
Generals and Majors - A fun Colin song mocking military officers. Hypocrisy seems to be the main theme of this album so far.
Living Through Another Cuba - I like the noisy and chaotic sound of this song and the way Andy sings it. Andy has been criticized for getting the date of the Cuban Missile Crisis wrong, as it was in 1962, not 1961. The Bay of Pigs incident happened in 1961, though, so the year isn't totally inappropriate. The song is somewhat dated (fortunately, there was no replay in 1998), but still enjoyable, and interesting for its historical value.
Love at First Sight - Another Colin contribution, based on a hopelessly catchy riff.
Rocket from a Bottle - Andy returns yet again to the theme of how it feels to be in love, this time comparing it to a firework. The theme is a bit clichèd by this point, but I still like the song. I very much enjoy the way Andy sings "today," and the sing-songy melody of the "I've been set off by a pretty little girl" part.
No Language in Our Lungs - It's a song about how we can never really say what we actually want to, but Andy has said it's one of the few lyrics that he think expresses EXACTLY what he wants it to. Funny, that. I love the line, "I would have made this instrumental, but the words got in the way." The guitar part is really good, and the band has admitted the similarity of the end to that of the Beatles' "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."
Towers of London - The sound of the drumstick against metal (which we hear Terry Chambers testing at the very beginning) is a really effective part of the song. It's one of those songs that never lets up, remaining a strong rock number from beginning to end. Andy has said he doesn't think the lyrics are some of his best, but I think he's often overly critical of his lyric-writing ability. He's better with the poetic imagery than a lot of actual poets.
Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins) - Another song that just rocks all the way through, and features what might be Terry's best drum part. The theme of the song, about how we're all pretty much slaves to money, is one that would creep up from time to time in Andy's later work.
Burning with Optimism's Flames - Probably my favorite song on the album, and one of my overall favorite XTC songs. I think part of it is because, when I first bought this album, I was in college. While I had many enjoyable experiences during those years, I had trouble shaking my general feeling of depression, and this song has always been good at cheering me up.
Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me) - At the time when this song came out, it was often interpreted as being sexist, when Andy actually meant it to be about a kid who thought he could get girls if he were more like his comic book hero. Okay, I guess it IS kind of sexist, but it's done in the character of a naive child, rather than being a reflection of Andy's actual feelings. I have to wonder if part of the problem is that people didn't know Sgt. Rock WAS a comic book character; I hadn't heard of him until reading about the song in Song Stories. Then again, I've never been a big comic buff (although I've gaining more interest as of late). The song itself is all right, but not one of the better tracks on the album.
Travels in Nihilon - This song is interesting, but kind of long. I know
revme has mentioned that he wouldn't mind its being even longer, though. It's an expression of disappointment at the youth music scene in general ("there's no youth culture, only masks they let you rent"), with a sound that's unusually...gothic, maybe? I don't know; I'm terrible at defining genres. But maybe that's a good thing when dealing with stuff written by the author of "This Is Pop."As for the bonus tracks, I think this is probably the album where Geffen's policy of throwing them into the part where you would have turned over the vinyl record is the most problematic. Usually the extra songs at least kind of fit, but here they really don't at all. That's not to say they're bad songs, just that it would have made a lot more sense to stick them on at the end (which I think is what they ARE doing with the most recent CD releases).
Smokeless Zone - A Colin song about the pollution in England. My favorite part of this song is Andy's somewhat industrial-sounding harmonica.
Don't Lose Your Temper - Man, this song is pretty repetitive, isn't it? Still, for all that, it's still a good, catchy listen. The theme is actually sort of the opposite of what you might expect from the title. It's actually about not wanting someone to lose her ability to get angry.
The Somnambulist - During the actual verses of this song, I quite like it. It has an interesting, minimalistic sound to it, and lyrics comparing sleepwalking to deep-sea diving (which fits the cover art, I suppose). Then it just keeps going, and I have to wonder why it does. It would be a better song if it weren't for the overly long fade-out.
Okay, that's that. Next week (or whenever I get around to it), English Settlement will be the name of the game.
