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Rating: Perhaps a little overrated by critics, but certainly too underrated by the public, the Mancunian band Magazine, along with Ultravox!, represent one of the leading groups of the very first British New Wave. Along with the group led by John Foxx, they embodied the link between punk, 70s art-rock, and "what new things were to come after", but unlike their Scottish cousins, they showcased more pronounced pop and melodic traits.
The interest in this debut album lies more in the brilliance and originality of the arrangements than in the songwriting, which is rather conventional; after all, the lineup consisted of members who would leave a mark: Dave Formula's keyboards anticipating synth-pop, Barry Adamson's distinctive bass (also with the Bad Seeds later on), who as a solo artist released albums and soundtracks highly praised by critics, and finally John McGeogh (R.I.P. 2004), one of the guitarists who contributed most to creating the "80s style" for his instrument, remembered especially for the commendable work done on three of Siouxie & The Banshees' best albums. The weak link in the chain was Howard Devoto's voice (ex-Buzzcocks), neither powerful nor flexible, although at least he had humor and an awareness of his own limitations. His greatest contribution was rather as a lyricist: poetic, personal, reflective, and often witty.
Nearly thirty years after its release, "Real Life" features some tracks that suffer from the inexorable passage of time, like the successful single "Shot By Both Sides", guitar-driven and energetic, which sounds a bit banal and predictable today, or "Recoil", overly straightforward pop punk saved only by a "comical" ending, or the excessively pompous "Burst". On the other hand, there are other tracks still enjoyable despite their age, like the opening "Definitive Gaze", with a eccentric quasi-reggae rhythm and the dreamlike melodic keyboard opening unexpectedly following it, "My Tulpa", featuring another reggae-like rhythm with distantly pop guitar inserts, the shadowy "Motorcade", with a bassline that Simon Gallup from The Cure must have definitely listened to, "The Great Beautician In The Sky" which charmingly sounds like a village band occasionally disturbed by the synth, while the concluding "Parade" is a romantic ballad (though the lyrics take the opposite direction) featuring elaborate arrangements of sax, piano, and keyboard. On the positive side, we also have the psychoanalytical "The Lights Pours Out Of Me", later covered by Peter Murphy and Ministry.
Almost completely devoid of the darkness and depression typical of the upcoming English New Wave, imbued with a certain quirky humor that would rarely be adopted by the neo-romantic dandies, the influence of this album wasn't among the greatest, even though figures like Momus and Thom Yorke have declared being inspired by Devoto's way of writing lyrics. While far from being a masterpiece, "Real Life" remains an interesting testament to the significant changes taking place in the music of those years and deserves to be listened to again.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Definitive Gaze (04:28)
I've got this bird's eye view
and it's in my brain
clarity has reared
its ugly head again
so this is real life
you're telling me
and everything
is where it ought to be
I like your nerve
I like watching you
but I don't watch what I'm doing
got better things to do
so this is real life
you're telling me
now I'm lost in shock
your face fits perfectly
02 My Tulpa (04:51)
I suspect you ain't so sweet
as the lust I'm concealing
my skin will crawl back home to Ma
I've lost my way in my feelings
You always collect your fists
when my shadow falls upon your hands
you're just giving body heat away
but they say you're a nice enough young man
I want to see you
don't you wont to see me ?
I'm full of questions
you're full of mystery
You can touch yourself anytime
you can touch yourself anytime
so wretched - you are so fetching
stop smiling at me - treat me unpleasantly
You've got the whole world in your wardrobe
your furniture's made to injure me
my skin will crawl back home to Ma
when our souls mingle uneasily
I want to see you ...
03 Shot by Both Sides (04:04)
This and that, they must be the same
what is legal is just what's real
what I'm given to understand
is exactly what I steal
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
Shot by both sides
on the run to the outside of everything
shot by both sides
they must have come to a secret understanding
New offences always in my nerves
they're taking my time by force
They all sound the same when they scream
they have to rewrite all the books again
as a matter of course
I wormed my way ...
Shot by both sides ...
'Why are you so edgy, Kid ?'
asks the man with the voice
one thing follows another
you live and learn, you have no choice
I wormed my way ...
Shot by both sides
I don't ask who's doing the shooting
shot by both sides
we must have come to a secret understanding
we must have come to a secret understanding
04 Recoil (02:52)
Dashing through Paradise
so polite in what I say
last in the one I'm in
I wont a world to give away
I know what's mine
you'll learn what's yours
I know what you want to see
you scratch my back
and I grow claws
falling in love awkwardly
Dancing in my own good time
my words stick out of your face
if you're not feeling so weak today
somebody will take your place
I know what's mine ...
08 The Light Pours Out of Me (04:36)
Time flies
Time crawls
Like an insect
Up and down the walls
The light pours out of me
The light pours out of me
The conspiracy
Of silence ought
To revolutionize
My thought
The light pours out of me
The light pours out of me
The cold light of day
Pours out of me
Leaving me black
And so healthy
The light pours out of me
The light pours out of me
It jerks out of me
Like blood
In this still life
Heart beats up love
The light pours out of me
The light pours out of me
09 Parade (05:18)
They will show me what I want to see
we will watch without grief
we stay one step ahead of relief
you tell me we've been praying
for a bright and clever hell
I think we've been forced to our knees but I can't tell
Sometimes I forget that we're supposed to be in love
sometimes I forget my position
It's so hot in here
what are they trying to hatch ?
we must not be frail, we must watch
now that I'm out of touch with anger
now I have nothing to live up to
and I don't know when to stop joking
when I stop I hope I am with you
Sometimes ...
What on earth is the size of my life ?
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