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Rating: For me, it is unusual to talk about Marc Almond and Soft Cell.
I have never paid attention nor wasted praise towards the proposal of the most well-known and tormented "dandy" of the new wave.
I've never even listened closely to the discography of the enigmatic singer and the group he chairs.
I know the first Soft Cell album, sure, but little else.
Fortune had it that, while rummaging through old vinyl, I stumbled upon a copy of this "This Last Night In Sodom" album which, from the cover itself, intrigued me positively.
What to expect, then, from the authors of "Tainted Love" in the most mature phase of what was their career? It only took putting the vinyl on the turntable, listening to it without expectations and without easy enthusiasm to understand it.
The "easy" rhythms of the early career are far away along with the mischievous and catchy litany. We are not faced with Throbbing Gristle or some other diabolical formation, of course, but the change brought by Almond (the main author of the work) is remarkable. The "ambiguous" and feminine elements of old remain but, in its entirety, the album presents scenes of morbidity-laden desolation. Predictably, synth-pop rhythms are accompanied by decidedly negative lyrics and the inclusion of voices, noises, and hardly harmonic whistles.
Here there's room for sensuality, for the (desperate!) search for "beauty," and for nocturnal suggestions. However, it is not possible to overlook the more restless and tormented side that ours wanted to attribute to the last album of the Soft Cell entity.
Roxy Music and New Order meet in a danceable and semi-industrial sound. But in this case, a fundamental aspect, you will also find a heavy percentage of anxiety, perplexity, and disorientation in the face of a world that no longer presents almost anything fascinating. Everything was beginning in that period and everything is still far from being exhausted!
Coitus reduced to a surrogate of existence and daily communication. The so-called perversion conceived as the only way out of an oppressive, alienating, and barren system. There is even room for a reflection on murder (obviously not in an apologetic tone).
There is an unhealthy air, and it is not difficult to imagine "This Last Night In Sodom" as the album of maturity and disillusionment.
I particularly appreciated tracks like "Mr. Self Destruct," "The Best Way To Kill" and "Surrender To A Stranger".
But the album is lovable for its originality and its dramatic frankness.
In short: MAYBE I'll start appreciating them from their latest creation!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Mr. Self Destruct (03:13)
Always the dreamer
But never the dead
You had a rocky road mapped out somewhere in your head
Anyone in your way
Was a spike in your side
With one hand in the wallet
You took them for the ride
Your could look in their eyes
You perfected a lie
Never gave them the chance to question why
If they hit on you
Then you slammed them right back
To hell with the cool
It was up and attack
You should have seen you when you were 18
You were the toughest little f...
I've ever seen
And with each downfall you turned 10 foot tall
The biggest kick in the balls you've ever been
And Dr Diablo's on his rounds again
Looking for blame
And you know that he'll diagnose pain again
Yeah pain again
Narrow the sorrow
Sick of the slick
Of the doors of discovery you had you pick
If they hit on you
Then you hit right back
Never keeping their cool
It was up and attack
Your could look in their eyes
You perfected a lie
Never gave them the chance to question why
If they hit on you
Then you slammed them right back
To hell with the cool
It was up and attack
Whoa you're feeling so torrid today
Life has gone wild
No one blocks out the way
You even look good - so they say
A new lease of life flowed through your body today
(not that looks are all to go by - but anyway)
Shooting the A, Shooting the A, Shooting the A
The stuff is free
And you can now go to town
Building your life up and smashing it down
Building your life up and smashing it down
You couldn't escape from this fact of life
That existing makes you a mess
But every decision or feeling or reason
Causes some sort of mental distress
Your could look in their eyes
You perfected a lie
Never gave them the chance to question why
If they hit on you
Then you slammed them right back
To hell with the cool
It was up and attack
Leave the cool for the fool
Leave the cool for the fool
Leave the cool for the fool
Leave the cool for the fool
Hey hey
You couldn't escape from this fact of life
That existing makes you a mess
But every decision or feeling or reason
Causes some sort of mental distress
Your could look in their eyes
You perfected a lie
Never gave them the chance to question why
If they hit on you
Then you slammed them right back
To hell with the cool
It was up and attack
Hey
Building your life up (shooting the A, shooting the A)
And smashing it down
Building your life up (shooting the A, shooting the A)
And smashing it down
Building your life up (shooting the A, shooting the A)
And smashing it down
04 Meet Murder My Angel (04:38)
Come and meet
Another kind of love
Meet another kind of love
Different than the real thing
But just as demanding
And just as demeaning
Treacled in apathy
All worries swept away
By one so simple act of annihilation
And I've not cried like this
And I've not felt this calm
Meet Murder My Angel
You've arrived at the moment
To cross over the threshold
I met another kind of love
Met another kind of love
And I've not felt alive in this way
For a long time
Your pleaser
Annoyer
Destroyer
and Voyeur
Waits alone at the corner
At the back door to paradise
the back door to paradise
You're shaking all over
It's time to cross over the threshold
And there's no way back my angel
There's no way back for an angel
Meet Murder My Angel
You've arrived at the moment
To cross over the threshold
It's such a feeling
Oh such a feeling
Oh it's such a feeling
My Angel...
07 Down in the Subway (02:51)
Rain keeps on falling
Sun refuse to shine
Baby quit your stalling
And say that you are mine
'Cos I've got so many troubles
Oh, I feel like I could cry
Going down in the subway
Jump on the train-tracks and die
Down in the subway
I hide these tears of mine
Down in the subway
I'm gonna cry, cry, cry 'til the end of the line
Cold-hearted baby
You're too mean to smile
Every day is stormy
Oh, you're my evil child
I've got so many troubles
Oh, I feel like I could cry
Going down in the subway
Jump on that train-track and die
Red-blooded baby
You're too tough for me
Well I don't mean maybe
Oh why don't you let me be
'Cos I got so many troubles
Whoa I feel like I could cry
Going down in the subway
Jump on that train-track and die
Jump on that train-track and die
Jump on that train-track and die
Going down in the subway
Jump on that train-track and die
Jump on that train-track and die
09 Soul Inside (04:28)
The wind in my hair
And the black in my eyes
I was holding back tears
As I reeled with surprise
There was no one to phone
I just chewed at the time
I was waving goodbye
To control of my mind
And the beat of my heart
Marks the passing of time
And I just wanna scream to the sky
There are times when my mind is an explosion of feelings
I'm trying to hold on to the soul inside
I go looking for lies
In your play-the-game eyes
But I couldn't find the way out
The where's or the why's
Should I laugh
Should I cry
Should I live
Should I die?
It's a wild celebration of feelings inside
And the beat of my heart
Marks the passing of time
And I just wanna scream to the sky
And there are times when my mind is an explosion of feelings
I'm trying to hold on to the soul inside (x3)
(I've got to hold on to the soul inside)
Inside...
It's a wild celebration
(It's a wild)
It a wild celebration of feelings inside
And it's tearing me...
And it's tearing me up
It's a wild...
It's a wild celebration of feelings inside
It's a wild... it's a wild...
Celebration of feelings inside
And I'm trying to hold on
And I'm trying to hold on
And I'm trying
Hold on....
Feelings.... inside....
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