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Rating:
Magazine act three. "The correct use of soap" - a test of maturity for a band not so often remembered - is actually the ideal musical guide on how to combine Roxy Music, Sparks, the first (very first) solo Eno, and mix them all with the frenzy and nervousness of the British post-punk new wave. Without necessarily shouting masterpiece, perhaps; but confirming the already perceivable depth of Devoto & co. and the stature of Devoto himself (to whose cause, I admit being very devoted...) both as a performer and as an author possessing not so common narrative qualities.
...strange fate, the one that put this LP back in front of me which I hadn't listened to for so long and rediscovered under entirely fortuitous circumstances alongside "Swing To The Right" by MY (forgive my possessive, and it's not a pleonasm) Utopia. Now forgotten in the attic, where I had relegated it to make room for something else, I exhumed it after reading about it again in a magazine and telling myself, with inevitable naivety, considering that a while ago I had exceedingly loved this vinyl: "Oh, they were there too". Indeed. There wasn't just Howard Devoto with his new initiative begun with the still immature "Real Life"; there was Dave Formula, there was John McGeogh whom I would see again in the Banshees, there was the future "bad seed" Barry Adamson. All important names, names that somehow told me something, yet I didn't remember them so well in terms of group discourse. This record came deliberately, and from the first note, memories flashed; clarifying everything, focusing blurred outlines.
There it was, everything was in its place. The "futuristic" r'n'r of "Because You're Frightened", that guitar and drums that were reminiscent of what Devoto had briefly done in the Buzzcocks; but with a completely different style, a completely different "appeal" - if you will. And that riff. The lunatic rockabilly and absurdity of "Model Worker" (yes, models, ambiguous subjects no wonder so loved by Ferry, Manzanera, and Mackay), and those enveloping synthetic textures of Formula's keyboards. The same ones I find in "I'm A Party" - indeed, a very festive piece but distinctly "Eno-esque" in inspiration, particularly, thinking of Brian from "Here Come The Warm Jets", and I specifically think of a piece from that album called "Cindy Tells Me"; moreover, with that jazzy/retro/half-swinging interlude you might not expect in such a song. "You Never Knew Me" is the first truly great episode, I remember that when the disc reached that point, I began to enjoy it, with the refrain that stayed in the head and that almost epic finale, with the background chorus, the piano which could very well have been played by Roy Bittan and the bass that pulsed and scraped - but it would have done that more and more, groove by groove. For example, supporting the lunatic and anything but simple movements of "Philadelphia" and "I Want To Burn Again" - acoustic introduction, I think of the "space" Bowie songwriter of the "Space Oddity" era, at least for the first few seconds. And I reach the pinnacle with "Thank You". "Thank You" for what, though...? Necessary clarification: "Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again". Yes, we've already met, definitely. Sylvester Stewart. Adamson pumps and slaps, replicates Larry's loop exactly and sticks it between John Doyle's (natural) funky drumming and Howard's absent voice, more on point than ever - as they say, "this cover really succeeded" - this is the case, and with certain monuments, it's not easy to confront oneself. That the new British generation is versed in black music was known, after all, and the next two pieces (don't expect fillers) demonstrate it. And then a "Song From Under The Floorboards" that in just over 4 minutes condenses everything that new wave was in 1980 - McGeogh immense, and I emphasize IMMENSE, not just in this but in all pieces from the first to the last; yes, on the topic of new wave guitar, someone like him could indeed speak, no less than other more renowned colleagues.
At that point, McGeogh, Formula, and Adamson would "fade into gray" with Visage, to dominate dance floors all over the world. The Magazine adventure wasn't entirely over but for sure the best period was concluded. The perfect period to revisit them, for those who already knew them, and perhaps also to discover them - for the younger generation.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Because You're Frightened (03:56)
You love me because you're frightened
and I'm falling in love with you
because I'm getting frightened
of the things you somehow make me do
you love me because you're frightened
I can easily believe my eyes
your fear is my finest hour
my fear is your disguise
Look what fear's done to my body
A frightening world
is an interesting world to be in
in the Forbidden City
or on The Roof of the World
or at the receiving end
of the nine o'clock news
however you put your mind to it
you can find fear where you choose
Look what fear's done to my body
You want to hurt
you want to crave
you want to praise and curse and blame
you want to believe just what you like
then you want to hurt and crave again
They took you to the top of the mountain
they showed you the valley
you bought it
you couldn't wait, could you!
Look what fear's done to my body
You want to hurt ...
02 Model Worker (02:53)
I'm sick of working on the land
I wanna work with machines and look handsome
I have been indulging
in ostentatious display
doing little more than eat
three square meals a day
And I've been shirking my duty
so I've been sending gifts to curry favour
But because I love you
and because you love me
a model worker
I'II willingly be
I need a holiday, I've not been well
take me to the Brocade River Hotel
And I just want to know
while the revolution lasts
will it enable me
to swallow broken glass!
I'm not too worried by hegemony
I know the cadre will look after me
And I just want to know while the revolution lasts
will it enable me to swallow broken glass!
I have been indulging in ostentatious display
doing little more than eat three square meals a day
But because I love you ..
03 I'm a Party (03:05)
I'm such and such
I'm a scream
bad choices take me to task
you'll see
I'll take out the car
but nobody'll want to crash
Take me with you
I'm a party
I don't know where I've been
so all things being equal
I'm a party
I won't know where we're going
You could do me a favour
do whatever you want to
I will let you hurt me
because I know it hurts you
it hurts you
What you say goes
I'm a party
all over the town
I fell into you
I keep up with all that's coming down
So, what's shaking!
I'm a parry
you've got me racing, you've got me racing
the sound of a siren
in all the spaces between
You could do me a favour ...
I know it hurts you
I'm a party
04 You Never Knew Me (05:26)
I don't want to turn around
and find I'd got it wrong
or that I should have been laughing all along
you're what keeps me alive
you're what's destroying me
do you want the truth or do you want your sanity ?
You were hell
and everything else was just a mess
I found I'd stepped into the deepest unhappiness
we get back
I bleed into you
thank God that I don't love you
all of that's behind me now
still seems to be above you
I don't know
I don't know whether I ever knew you
but I know you
I know you never knew me
I don't know
I don't know whether I ever knew you
but I know you
I know you never knew me
Do you want to!
Hope doesn't serve me now
I don't move fast at all these days
you think you've understood
you're ignorant that way
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry
I'm sorry I can't be cancelled out like this
we had to kill too much
before we could even kiss
I don't know ...
06 I Want to Burn Again (05:17)
The newcomer arrives
possession and guilt in his face
apologises to the Customs man
for the gaping hole in his suitcase
says 'I've seen where promises are made
I've seen how people are undone
it's always done
man to man
one to one
I'm ditching an empty suitcase
I've been in Storytown
I've been swimming in poisons
been slowing up and down
I've known the eeriest wounds
the soul's long quarantine
when no rewards remain
no one and nothing comes clean
I've been blown about for years
on my way to you
I've been blown about for years
on my way to you
and I still turn to love
I want to burn again
and I still turn to love
In a room
where arrangements are made for success
you try to say that you possess me
by your caress
I met your lover yesterday
wearing some things I left at your place
singing a song that means a lot to me
I've known a certain grace
I've been blown about for years
on my way to you ..
and I still turn to love
I'm still turning
I want to burn again
08 Sweetheart Contract (03:20)
We drank from cups on standard-issue sofas under scaffolding
informed sources said we were seen by observers - it's a meeting
I received an education
I was dominant for hours
I won myself a wealth of weapons, supermassive wealth
under a sweetheart contract which clearly stated
'Strength is always health'
I had one upper hand
I was dominant for hours
I want to be there, on the far side of sin
I've been putting myself through hell, waiting for hell to begin
I got insurance
I was dominant for hours
My tour-de-force is to forget all that's gone on around and about me
my manners are forever and whatever sells the newspapers suits me
I got an education
I was dominant for hours
I had one upper hand
I was dominant for hours
I got insurance
I was dominant for hours
We'd better give it back, it's not ours
09 Stuck (04:07)
In the rush
the rush of my senses
in the heat
the heat of this moment
in the Palace of Nations
I think I can love you out of weakness
In the heat of this moment I stick myself in laughter
Run for it
I'm running away
know-it-all
I will return again
pushing myself so helpless
hopeless
when I can love you out of weakness
Which of us is to blame!
I'm stupid
I only know enough to get out of the rain
Oh, I really tiptoe, I really tiptoe
Stop
when you cease to amaze me
take a look
my part in the pattern
I know it'll never matter
so I stick myself in laughter
I may love you out of weakness
is that what I was afraid of!
10 A Song From Under the Floorboards (04:11)
I am angry I am ill and I'm as ugly as sin
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it
This is a song from under the floorboards
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
By force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
I know the highest and the best
I accord them all due respect
But the brightest jewel inside of me
Glows with pleasure at my own stupidity
This is a song ....
I used to make phantoms I could later chase
Images of all that could be desired
Then I got tired of counting all of these blessings
And then I just got tired
This is a song ...
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