I'm cheating a bit by including the image (which, incidentally, Discogs declines to show because it's a bit rude), because my CD version is one I bought for 50p at a boot fair with no inner sleeve to the jewel case. It replaced my vinyl double album version, which I had almost worn out with playing.
So, this is an old favourite, a great album which I haven't listened to for years.
There's a danger of this just being a list of songs followed by "this is great", so I'll try to be a little more balanced. Pristeen starts slowly, quietly and acoustic before building up to a climax, Cope making the most of a simple, ordinary song, while Double Vegetation feels more of a bombastic rock song, and there's more than a hint of funk in the groovy East Easy Rider, then it's slower and more serious in Promised Land, possibly Cope's first overtly political song, his view of the sorry state of Thatcher's Britain, a wonderfully powerful song. After that we need something a bit more fun, and that comes in the fantastic Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line - a frantic romp to the end of Phase One of this album.
Phase two kicks of with the guitar heavy, slow dreamy groove of Safesurfer, a long, lazy track full of over-the-top solos, and that's followed by the more sparse If You Loved Me At All, a decent enough little song but lost after the power of the previous song. This phase concludes with one of Cope's eco-songs, the fantastic rocker Drive She Said.
Phase Three next, opening with Soldier Blue, Cope's reaction to policing at the poll tax riots, with a Lenny Bruce routine over a funky beat, followed by the throwaway, 1960's psych You, and the languid, rambling Not Waving But Drowning, which feels cool, but doesn't really go anywhere. Head is a simple little number, again listenable without ever in danger of being a Cope classic, and this Phase ends on a high with another political song, the fantastic Leperskin.
Finally, Phase Four, opening with the cute pop single Beautiful Love, followed by Western Front 1992 CE, a simple unaccompanied repeated phrase, over war like noises - an interesting interlude, but no more. Hung Up And Hanging Out To Dry is a dark (mostly) instrumental track, but things are a bit lighter with the very likeable The American Life. Final track Las Vegas Basement, is a gentle and simple ending, a lovely conclusion to a fine album.
Taken as a whole, this is a stunning album, a marked change from some of his more fractured earlier releases, and while not every track works perfectly, enough do, and there's enough variety, light and shade to put this among the greats. Probably the best and most consistent album Cope ever did. But I might say that about the next one I review.
5* - an absolutely fantastic set of songs - Julian's unique madness comes together and everything falls into place.
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