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Rating:
I know little and poorly the discography of Clan Of Xymox. I have a few albums (including, naturally, the one you're reading the review of), a live album, a single, a compilation, and they are enough for me - in fact, they are more than enough. So why review the debut of a band that you don't fully appreciate and have even grown indifferent to? Essentially because this album is a surprising (and unexpected) milestone in an otherwise anonymous and not very brilliant musical journey.
Clan Of Xymox was born with this unexpected (and unfortunately unrecognized) debut in 1985, from the womb of Magna Mater 4AD, in those years at the peak of its talented recording energies. Their career continues, always underwhelming, riding the success of the late and tired 80s darkwave, dragging on through plagiarism and citations to the dawn of the new millennium (listen, for example, to the album "Creature," a true tribute to the "Sisters Of Mercy's sound") and experiencing unexpected fame only in this past decade, mainly thanks to a successful "best of." For these reasons, the self-titled album discussed here appears even more a quirky hapax. Let's see why.
The album is composed of eight tracks (note that in the latest reissue there are eleven, two remixes, and a "bonus track"), all characterized by an undeniable experimental electrodark origin, sometimes damn avant-garde, as in the first episode "A Day," other times more derivative and "Depeche Mode-ish," as in "Cry In The Wind."
The lesson of the more synthetic Cure and the less electric New Wave is well assimilated (and here one could make comparisons and find similarities with a hundred English bands from the early eighties). Also novel and very interesting are the contaminations with neoclassical and orchestral effects, especially in the more epic tracks, and the constant presence of an acoustic guitar which is difficult to recognize among the dense keyboard textures (pay attention, it’s genius!).
Also original is the structure of the tracks, never banal and repetitive (despite much contemporary electronic), and their length, generally much longer compared to examples of the same genre (excluding, of course, the ancient and verbose electronics of Kraut Rock...). A special mention goes to the fifth track, "Stranger," the true masterpiece of the album and the origin of much danceable dark music to come (it seems it’s still a popular piece at gothic discos today); a long track structured as a suite, with three distinct and independent parts alternating between moments of frantic rhythm and dark cyber-atmospheres, to vocal experimentalism reminiscent of the best "Sigue Sigue Sputnik." A notable episode.
A strange jewel from the plastic years, this album is highly recommended for those who still today are convinced that it wasn’t enough to have teased hair and foundation to make good music in the eighties (aesthetic nuances which the Xymox themselves flaunted, mind you...).
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 A Day (06:41)
WHERE ARE YOU
WHEN I AM NEEDING YOU
SO FAR AWAY
SO FAR AWAY
I THINK YOU'RE THE MOST IMPORTANT
TO ME TO ME TO ME TO ME
MY SUNKEN FOOTSTEPS PUT THEIRSELVES ON
THROUGH THIS GALLERY OF DECEASED
I THINK THEIR LIVES MUST BE DECEIVED
LIKE THE SHAM NOWADAYS
WHERE ARE YOU
SO FAR AWAY
IT MAKES NO SENSE
IT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL, HA
WHERE ARE YOU ?
WHERE ARE YOU ?
WHERE ARE YOU ?
HA, HO
WHERE ARE YOU
SO FAR AWAY
I THINK YOU'RE THE MOST IMPORTANT
TO ME TO ME
02 No Words (04:27)
OUT IN THE NIGHT
IT COULD BE FUN
IT COULD BE FUN
IT COULD BE FUN
NO WORDS TO EXPLAIN
NO WORDS IN MY MOUTH
NO WORDS IN MY MIND
BUT THE GESTURE SAID IT ALL
AND THE WORDS REFINED IT ALL
I SAW HOW YOU LOOKED AT ME
I SAW HOW YOU DANCED WITH HER
I SAW HOW YOU LOOKED AT ME
I SAW HOW YOU DANCED WITH HER
I SAW IT BEFORE
I SAW IT BEFORE
RIGHT NOW, I GUESS YOU MOVE
I SAW IT BEFORE
I SAW IT BEFORE THAT TIME
BUT THE GESTURE SAID IT ALL
AND THE WORDS REFINED IT ALL
I SAW HOW YOU LOOKED AT ME
I SAW HOW YOU DANCED WITH HER
I SAW HOW YOU LOOKED AT ME
I SAW HOW YOU DANCED WITH HER
I SAW IT BEFORE
I SAW IT BEFORE
RIGHT NOW, I GUESS YOU MOVE
I SAW IT BEFORE
04 Cry in the Wind (05:17)
ARE THESE YOUR WORDS WITH LAUGHTER
IS THIS YOUR VOICE BEGGING TO BE SPARED
OH, YOU SEEMED SO UNASSAILABLE, YOU SEEMED SO FAR AWAY HEY HEY
IS THIS A VOICE BEGGING TO BE SPARED
IS THIS YOUR VOICE ?
PLEASE, DON'T SPEAK TO ME FOR A WHILE
ARE THESE YOUR WORDS WITH LAUGHTER
IS THIS YOUR VOICE BEGGING TO BE SPARED
OH, YOU SEEMED SO UNASSAILABLE, YOU SEEMED SO FAR AWAY HEY HEY
ARE THESE YOUR WORDS WITH LAUGHTER
IS THIS YOUR VOICE ?
CATCH MY THOUGHTS ON THE RUN
YOU KISSED MY HAND
LIKE A FRIEND IN THE HEAT OF A FIGHT
WHILE THOSE ENEMIES SCREAM
IN THE HEAT OF A FIGHT
I WALKED INTO MY DREAM
OH FALL
OH FALL INTO YOUR CALL
I JUMP I JUMP I JUMP
JUMP OUT OF TIME
OUT OF THE FIGHT
JUMP JUMP
JUMP OUT OF TIME
I CRY IN THE WIND
I CRY IN THE WIND . SOMEONE IS TELLING ME
A FRENZIED THING
I CRY IN THE WIND I CRY
A WHISPER IN MY EAR
05 Stranger (07:42)
NOW I AM FEELING ME A STRANGER
WHEN I LOOKED INTO YOUR EYES
WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES
JUST WALK , DON'T TALK
SO LETS JUST WALK
FROM PLACE TO PLACE
AS LONG AS WE DON'T TALK
FACE TO FACE
06 Equal Ways (05:45)
SO THE CIRCLE CANNOT FADE
IT TURNS IN ENDLESS WAYS
IT TURNS ITS ENDLESS DAYS
SO THIS WINDOW OFFERS VIEWS
OF ENDLESS LOVES AND FEARS
OF ENDLESS MOVES AND STANCE
WE TURN IN REST AND DANCE
SCOFF AT OUR ARISES AND FALLS
I WON'T STOP WONDER
I WILL NEVER STOP WONDER
THEY WALK IN FLOWERS
THEY WALK IN SHORTS
THEY WIN THE NOTHINGS
THEY WIN AWARDS
IT MAKES NO SENCE TO ME,
I WALK THE FLOWERS
WIN THE NOTHINGS
SO THIS CIRCLE CANNOT FAIL
IT TURNS ITS ENDLESS WAYS
IT TURNS ITS ENDLESS DAYS
SCARE THE DOWER,
RISES AND FALLS
I WON'T STOP WONDER
I WON'T EVER STOP WANDER
WE TURN IN EQUAL DAYS
SO LETS LIVE IN EQUAL WAYS
WE TURN IN EQUAL WAYS
SO LETS LIVE IN EQUAL DAYS
08 No Human Can Drown (03:23)
Let me be alone
Let me dream in silence
And enjoy this cold wonderful night
Let me believe
Make me glad
Let's dance on the water
Let's dance on the water
Let me believe
No human can drown
If you don't expect too much
If you don't expect too much
Let me take you for a walk
Let me see, let me smile
Tell me
No human can drown
If you don't expect too much
And let me take you for a walk
I don't expect too much
Just wanna hold you
Just wanna touch you
Just wanna hold you
Just wanna touch you
And I feel your flesh
Take me in your universe
Hold me
Just hold me
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