Telepathic Surgery began life as a concept album; the band initially set out to create a 30-minute sound collage.
The plan was later scrapped; however, the remnants of this original
idea are evident within the album's loose, meandering structure and the
epic "Hell's Angel's Cracker Factory". The album is named after a line
from the Flaming Lips song "Chrome Plated Suicide".
"Chrome Plated Suicide" stands out as one of the group's most accomplished early recordings, possibly due to being based on Guns N' Roses' critically acclaimed "Sweet Child o' Mine".
Sub Pop asked the group to record "Drug Machine in Heaven" for their
'single of the month' series. It was retitled as "Drug Machine" and is
the group's first official single. The 'A-side' was backed with
"Strychnine/What's So Funny (About Peace, Love and Understanding)", a
cover of "Strychnine" by The Sonics and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" by Brinsley Schwarz, but based on the Elvis Costello and the Attractions cover version.
Similar to many albums of its time, the CD release of Telepathic Surgery had a track listing differing from its LP
release due to the time restraints of a single vinyl LP. Extra tracks
on CD versions were "Fryin' Up" and "Hell's Angel's Cracker Factory",
which are included in between "Miracle on 42nd Street and "U.F.O.
Story". [source]
That sums it up. I really love the sound of early Lips records, even if Allmusic doesn't. This record was repressed in 2005 in blue vinyl and again on black vinyl in 2018. I have the original US pressing, which might be hard to find.
It's very difficult to track down original pressings of early Flaming Lips records, and when I do find one, they are ridiculously expensive. As a result, this record is a 2005 limited edition re-issue on clear vinyl. I'd like an original, but there are other pressing needs. I love this band immensely. I went to their free concert at NXNE in Toronto a few years back and loved it.
For some inexplicable reason, The Fixx decided to re-record Red Skies. I simply do not understand that decision. In any case, this record contains four new studio tracks, including the aforementioned Red Skies. The remainder of the tracks are live songs recorded in Canada (yay) in 1986. The record is OK. It doesn't light any fires but at least it's not boring.
In 1988, The Fixx released Calm Animals without producer Rupert Hine. They struck out on a new direction with a new record label. I haven't heard the record and I recall that the reviews were not positive. They left the RCA after only one record. The Fixx released several records after Calm Animals but I haven't heard anything from any of them.
The reviews of this record were somewhat less enthusiastic than the reviews of the first three records. I have to agree that this record is not quite as good as the previous records. Having said that, there are some gems on this record, like Secret Separation. The guitar hook in that song is genius. I think Rupert Hine did a good job on outing number four for the band.
The Fixx once again brought back Rupert Hine for album number three, with great results. There are a number of solid tracks on this record, including Are We Ourselves?, perhaps the most well-known track. This is a really fine record.
This record, despite being a bootleg, has pretty good sound. It was recorded at My Father's Place in Roslyn, New York. There are six tracks: Cameras In Paris, I Found You, Stand Or Fall, Reach The Beach, Lost Planes, and Red Skies. The packaging is either brilliant or awful. It comes in a stamped manila folder, so the "file under" makes sense, but it really doesn't cause any excitement. In fact, it leads one to believe that what's inside is boring. I have another of these File Under bootlegs from another band, but that is for another year :) I often look at discogs.com to see prices. For this release, there is no sales history, but there are three copies for sale now for $17, $25, and £29.99 each, plus shipping. I think that's a bit high.
The second Fixx record contains what is probably the band's biggest hit, One Thing Leads to Another. This is yet another song that I have heard way too often. I am still tired of it, and so I prefer other Fixx songs better, like Saved by Zero, which I think is fabulous. Rupert Hine was brought back in for Reach the Beach, and I would say that he did an admirable job.
"Red or blue, what's the difference" Stand or Fall - The Fixx
The Fixx is another group well worth investigating, especially for fans of Rupert Hine. But, if you are a Hine fan, you would already know about this London band. The Fixx were (are, I guess) a really great pop band that never quite made it big. I suppose the thing that kept them interesting was the fact that they didn't sell out, at least not right away. The first record -- Shuttered Room -- had two big hits: Stand or Fall and Red Skies at Night. These are both catchy tunes that received a lot of airplay (on the radio stations that I was listening to) way back when.
Stand or Fall is a really strong political tune, and perhaps the band's best song.
Crying parents tell their children
If you survive, don't do as we did
A son exclaims there'll be nothing to do to
Her daughter says she'll be dead with you
While foreign affairs are screwing us rotten
Line morale has hit rock bottom
Dying embers stand forgotten
Talks of peace were being trodden
-----
An empty face reflects extinction
Ugly scars divide the nation
Desecrate the population
There will be no exaltation
I'd say that these are strong lyrics reflecting the cold-war era 80s.
Mean Business is not as good as the debut record from The Firm, but that is so often the case. It's really great to hear Jimmy's guitar, but they probably should have stopped after the first record.
The Firm is proof that a supergroup is not necessarily greater than the sum of its parts. Here we have Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company, Chris Slade of Uriah Heap, Manfred Mann, and AC/DC, plus Tony Franklin, the fretless bass player who has worked with a number of artists like Roy Harper. The first self-titled album, despite what the critics said at the time is pretty good, but it is not super. There are some good tracks, though, and the whole thing is quite enjoyable. I remember thinking that it was great to hear Jimmy Page again playing the guitar.
For some truly bizarre reason, they chose to cover You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling. That's a fail. In the H section, we will come to a much better cover of that song.
Unlike the previous Craig Finn record, I was able to find a copy of this LP in a local record shop. Last time, I had to Amazon-it, which isn't the end of the world, but I think I would rather support a local business. I'm enjoying Craig's solo records very much. I appreciate that his solo material does not sound like The Hold Steady. I would like to see a new record from his band, but these solo LPs are really great.
I ordered this record a couple of months back from a major online retailer, and it has not yet been shipped. So, I guess it's not really in the mail. It might be in a warehouse. I guess I will have to update this post when it arrives.
Update:
I received a message from Amazon on December 21st that said: "We're still trying to obtain the following item[s] you ordered..." And then,
"Still want it? We'll keep on trying. You'll still be able to cancel at any time before we ship it. If you want to cancel the item now, please click the link below:"
I decided to wait. Bizarrely, less than two days latter, I received the following message: "Your Amazon.ca order of "Faith In The Future (Vinyl)" has shipped!"
Now, that is weird.
I am happy to report that I like the record very much. Solo Craig does not sound like another Hold Steady record, but of course there are elements that are reminiscent. This is a much subtler and more introspective record.
By the way, I did my best to find a copy in one of my local independent record shops, but I failed. I opted not to order a copy from Pledge, because the price was a bit high. I chose Amazon because I had a coupon, meaning that the record was under $15. That was a steal.
Craig Finn is the lead singer of the best rock band in America. He has released three solo records, Clear Heart Full Eyes, Faith In The Future, and We All Want the Same Things. Finn's solo work is mellow, compared with the Hold Steady. And, that's fine with me, even if there are countryish elements throughout. I wonder if that's because it was recorded in Texas. I'm not even sure I wanted to hear something like the Hold Steady. After all, why do a solo record if it's just going to sound like your main gig?
A change in record labels seems to have ushered in a bit of a change in sound. There are more beats here, and less of a punk sound that described the first record, as you can hear below. The Beat Escape, in places, reminds me of Shriekback. It's a pretty good record and I like the cover design.
The curious thing about this record is the jacket. Both the front and rear covers are perforated so that one can separate the segments and use them as postcards. I have no idea who would want to do that. I guess if you have 12 friends and you ran out of postcards, these would be a good substitute. You will note, however, that this copy is a promo, and so it has a giant white label on the front, thereby undermining the point of the jacket.
In a similar vein, I have a copy of Beck's The Information on CD and it allows owners to use the supplied stickers to create you a custom cover on the almost blank white insert. I did not do that.
And, all of that brings me to the issue of writing on records. My sister always wrote her name followed by "record #___" on the jacket and inner sleeve of all of her records. She did the same for 45RPM 7" singles, adding her name to the sleeve and record label. In the early days, she convinced me to do the same, and I still have a few records with my name scrawled on them. I abandoned that practice when I decided that I didn't want to deface my records any longer.
A person I worked with used to do the same, and he told me that he was in some sort of thrift store, and he saw a pile of records that he used to own with his name on them. I have never seen any of my former records that had my name on them anywhere.
Generally, I refuse to buy a used record if someone has scribbled their name on it. But, I do have a few items with a name written inside the outer sleeve, which is less objectionable. I knew someone who used to affix return address labels to the front cover and to the labels. That is obnoxious. I have clear memories of finding near mint records for excellent prices that I passed on buy simply because some guy put his name on it.
Oddly, this might have helped me back-in-the-day. I lent a few records while living in residence at university and I never got them back. If my name had been on the covers, I might have gotten those back.
Anyway, back to Fingerprintz. I would say that the record has a more polished sound than the first, and I would argue also that this is a bad thing, despite the fact that the music is still great. The most recognizable track from this album is Bulletproof Heart. There is a live clip on youtube, but the uploader has prevented it from being embedded.
This is a 12" UK pressing of Dancing With Myself on green vinyl. The flip-side contains Sean's New Shoes and Sync Unit. It shares the title with that other track of the same name from Generation X (also performed by Billy Idol on his solo debut), but the songs are quite different. I would say that the Gen X song is better.
By the way, I haven't been to a dance club in some time, but there were some people (men and women) who would take to the dance floor by themselves (myself included) back in the day. It's true, though I would never do that now.
I bought a lot of music in 1979, even as a young boy. It was a year of musical awakenings with bands like Pink Floyd, the Clash, etc. My musical tastes ranged from a bit of prog, to pop, to punk, to new wave (or post-punk, if you prefer). Fingerprintz fit nicely into the new wave genre. I think I bought it after hearing the track Wet Job, though there are better tracks on the record.
Despite being new wave, there is a punk aesthetic on the record and the sound is edgier than on subsequent releases. The only weak point is the track Beam Me Up Scotty, which ought to be a great track, based on the title alone, but it turns out to be a major disappointment.
Our friends at Allmusic say:
"Formed by Scottish-born singer/guitarist Jimmie O'Neill in 1978, the 'Printz
slowed down punk's careening guitar rock, adding clever, rhythmic
twists and turns, and offering up deftly written stories about lust,
angst, and urban desolation." [source]
Once again, and inexplicably, I might add, the original UK pressing was entitled The Very Dab and it had a slightly different song selection, leaving out Dancing with Myself, for example but adding some others, like Sean's New Shoes, a really infectious instrumental.
I don't know if this band ever made any videos, but i can't find any on Youtubes. I did find this live clip of Wet Job.
I'm not sure how to describe Film School, other than to say that they sound like indie pop crossed with elements of shoegaze. Parts of this record sound really dreamy, while other parts sound like pure pop. At times it has a slight Pixies feel (like the opening of Waiting) and at other times, I think of Lush. It's not a bad record, but it's a bit too vanilla in some ways.
For some reason, the only vinyl copy of this record was pressed on clear vinyl.
There have been two vinyl pressings of this, the second album from Field Music. The first was in 2007, and the second happened in 2017. I have the latter, which was pressed on yellow vinyl, in a limited edition of ? copies. The notes say: "Released for Record Store Day 2017. Back on LP for the first time since its original pressing in 2007, on limited edition 180g yellow vinyl." I wish they would tell us how many copies were pressed.
There is a limited edition of this record that was pressed on purple (or pumb) vinyl. I have the standard black vinyl release. By the time I had bought it, the company that provided the MP3 downloads was out of business, so I was never able to download the files, despite sending email messages to various parties concerned. They simply ignored me.
I really don't know too much about this band. I don't think you'd be wrong to think that there was an XTC influence here. At times, I am also reminded of the Beatles and even Wolf Parade. It's a curious record, at first not entirely accessible, but it really grew on me and I find the music to be very interesting.
Here we have some Scottish new wave music. It's Scottish and it's new wave, so it's cannot be crap, but there are far better songs by Fiction Factory out there (Feels Like Heaven, for example) and there are far better Scottish new wave bands out there too (Simple Minds, Orange Juice).
This is a UK 12" with two versions of Not the Only One (Extended Mix and the so-called "Mix" Mix) plus a tune called Let Me Be a Part of It.
Update: I have removed this record from my collection.
