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Rating:
The early '80s are, as is well known, the years of classy pop that evolved from the new wave. Many of the songs that marked this era have become famous classics even today, but conversely, there are many other artists, though talented, that time has left behind and now survive only for a small circle of nostalgics: among them we can count the The Fixx, London-based, formed in '79 and debuting in 1982 with "Shuttered Room."
Which, more than a true album, gives the impression of an anthology of the period, a varied potpourri of facets: there's something for everyone. Basically, it's a sparkling pop rock akin to Duran/Spandau (I Found You, Cameras In Paris), but in the mix, we have punk reminiscences from the Stranglers (Shuttered Room), glossy pop (Stand Or Fall, Red Skies, unsurprisingly the singles extracted), canonical new wave (The Fool) or inspired by XTC (Some People, Sinking Island). More generally, there is no lack of ideas, but they seem like ideas already had by others.
Having said that, I wouldn't want to give too negative an image: the album is very enjoyable, it's a classic well-done piece but still immature and partially out of focus; you can sense, not yet fully blossomed, the talent of its authors (already the next album, "Reach The Beach," would be their biggest commercial success), who, driven by the desire to achieve fame, tried to create something that pleased everyone, and I think that if The Fixx had landed at least one chart-busting single, today they could at least be included in the Valhalla of one-hit wonders. Therefore, it's the personality that languishes, but being a first work, it's a forgivable flaw.
Obviously, like all albums born of their time, it has aged poorly, but for this very reason, I recommend it to fans of Eighties sounds: if you don't know The Fixx, they might truly captivate you.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I Found You (03:37)
The mental image
Grand illusion
Brought together
By total fusion
Lost for words
Your company holds me
Totally yours
Your mind controls me
Place and time
For rendezvous
Your place or mine
I said I won't touch you
Now visions inside that
Last all day
Come back soon
Oh won't you stay
For you
I found you
I found you... you... oh you
Keeping the senses
Open aware
To try to change you
Who would dare
Visions inside that
Last all day
Come back soon
Oh won't you stay
For you
I found you
I found you... you... oh you
I found you... you... oh you
I found you... you... oh you
The mental image
Grand illusion
Brought together
By total fusion
Lost for words
Your company holds me
Totally yours
Your mind controls me
Keeping your sense aware
To try to change you
Who would dare
Visions that last all day
Oh come back soon
No won't you stay
You...
I found you
I found you... you... oh you
I found you... you... oh you
I found you... you... oh you
I found you
04 Stand or Fall (03:59)
Crying parents tell their children
If you survive don't do as we did
A son exclaims there'll be nothing to do to
Her daughter says she'll be dead with you
While foreign affairs are screwing us rotten
Line morale has hit rock bottom
Dying embers stand forgotten
Talks of peace were being trodden
Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Is this the value of our existence
Should we proclaim with such persistence
Our destiny relies on conscience
Red or blue what's the difference
Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
An empty face reflects extinction
Ugly scars divide the nation
Desecrate the population
There will be no exaltation
Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Stand or fall state your peace tonight
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Its the euro theatre
Stand or fall
Stand or fall
Stand or fall
(Repeat to Fade...)
05 Red Skies (04:19)
Red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Should have taken warning
It's just, people mourning, running, hiding, lost
You can't find, find a place to go
So it's red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh oh oh
Should have taken warning
It's just, people mourning, running, hiding, lost
You can't find, find a place to go
So it's red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh
Someone's taking over
And it looks like they're aiming right at you
Someone says, "We'll be dead by morning"
Someone cries, leaving
Red eyes at night, red eyes at night
Oh, wo oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Red skies at night, red skies at night, red skies at night (4x)
Red {echo}
Skies {echo}
At {echo}
Night
Red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Red skies at night, red skies at night
Wo oh, wo oh oh oh oh oh
06 Lost Planes (03:20)
When you're hanging from a parachute
The whistling wind might play your flute
So forget it
Lost traffic
Someone said you couldn't fly the plane
So I guess this journey's all in vain
So forget it
Lost traffic
We're on a lost plane
Should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
So forget it
Flying high but your fuel is low
How far can a missing plane go
So forget it
Lost traffic
Tell you that you're flying radar
But it's that much safer to take that car
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
So forget it
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
So forget it
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
So forget it
So when you're hanging from a parachute
The whistling wind might play your flute
So forget it
Lost traffic
Tell you that you're flying radar
But it's that much safer to take that car
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
So forget it
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
So forget it
We're on a lost plane
I should've taken the train
We're on a lost plane
07 Cameras in Paris (03:57)
A call is taken
The plans are made
The pawns are placed
For the masquerade
Closed hotel rooms
Off the Place Pigalle
All concealed
Behind the femme fatale
Take it from me
There's cameras in Paris
Take it from me
There's cameras in Paris
Political friction is greased by detente
One country can and another one can't
All the movements in a metaphor
Who is the sleeper found dead on the floor
Take it from me
There's cameras in Paris
Some papers are missing
Exposure's automatic
Exposure's automatic
Exposure's automatic
In Paris
Umbrellas rolling in Hyde Park
Announcement made don't be seen after dark
Tension rising in the Eastern Block
Who are the two men with the
Same swiss clock
Take it from me
There's cameras in Paris
Some papers are missing
There's cameras in Paris
So take it from me
There's cameras in Paris
Some papers are missing
Exposure's automatic
Exposure's automatic
Exposure's automatic
In Paris
So take it from me
There's cameras in Paris
Some papers are missing
Exposure's automatic
Exposure's automatic
Cameras in Paris
Cameras in Paris
Exposure's automatic
10 The Fool (05:22)
A sort of place you don't often find
A quiet room to go out of your mind
Will you excuse me whilst I confide
I've found a place where I can hide
Lights out by nine as a rule
One grey blanket and a stool
Angels fear to tread where stands the fool
But the air is warm, and the walls are cool
So I'm kept away, so here I'll stay
Even the judges kneel and pray
I am the winner in any event, SNAP!
Who was the man who said society's bent?
So I'm locked away in my padded cocoon
A square of hell where nightmares bloom
Armageddon couldn't come too soon
But if it only meant that I could leave this room
Here stands the Fool
12 The Strain (03:33)
Back to back
The president cracks
There's no power left
In the old white shack
It's the same
New Washington
Red button
One push
And the whole world is gone
It's the same
I don't think that he should take the...
Strain
Live off your nerves
You've run out of verve
Take those pills
And you'll feel no ills
It's the same
I don't think that he should take the
Strain
He can't have it all his own way
Same chance same place but wrong day
He can't have it all his own way
Same chance same place but wrong day
Oh no...
Scream at nature to steal some papers
On with the camera to get the answers
Tipping the waiter to find who that was
Leaving the night
Go undercover now
The strain
Strain
Back to back
The president cracks
There's no power left
In the old white shack
It's the same
New Washington
A red button
One push
And the whole world is gone
It's the same
I don't think that he should take the
Strain
He can't have it all his own way
Same chance same place but wrong day
He can't have it all his own way
Same chance same place but wrong day
He can't have it all his own way
Same chance same place but wrong day
He can't have it all his own way
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