•
Rating: May 18, 1980.
Written like this, this date could mean everything and nothing.
That day, Ian Curtis, singer and mastermind of Joy Division, was found dead in his apartment, and also thanks to his extreme act, his creation entered the firmament of those few bands that would later become muses inspiring hundreds of more or less valid followers.
April 26, 1999.
Almost in silence in the panorama of major labels and music programs increasingly dominated by the lobbies that decide what to push to success, at 52 years old, Adrian Borland's life ended against a train, the singer, composer, and guitarist of The Sound.
That is to say, of one of the most unjustly underrated bands of the dark and new wave movement that brought success to people like The Cure, Siouxsie, and company.
This “From the Lions Mouth”, in addition to being a finely crafted product, does not pale in comparison with albums like “Pornography”, “Juju”, or the same “October” by U2, released more or less in the same period, represents a stylistic progress compared to the commendable debut “Jeopardy”, which is perhaps a bit more raw and unpolished, a fact due to the presence of more punkish nuances.
The album in question, on the other hand, stands out from its predecessor for its more relaxed atmospheres and, therefore, the lack of Borland’s riffs, accompanied by the rhythmic section, that had distinguished in Jeopardy pieces like “Missiles”, “Heyday”, and “Resistence”, to cite, in my opinion, the most representative songs.
In “From the Lions Mouth”, Borland’s hand becomes gentler and intertwines magical melodies that inevitably captivate you from the first to the last track.
The opener “Winning” is one of those breath-taking openings, where Borland’s arpeggios stand out against the hypnotic backdrop of keyboards that accompany it for the entire duration of the song.
But all the gems of this album deserve great attention, both in the more psychedelic episodes like the beautiful “Judgement”, where Borland’s voice becomes melancholic and anguished, touching you deeply as only the late Curtis could do, and “Silent Air”, with its alluring and graceful sounds, of a particular evocative power, as well as in those typically more wave and with darker hints like “Sense of Purpose” that could easily fit in “Seventeen Seconds” by The Cure, “Skeletons” and “The Fire”, the more upbeat songs where the bass gains speed and Adrian’s solos perfectly contrast his more assertive and full-bodied singing.
But perhaps the best episode is to be found in “Possession” where Borland’s voice seems truly possessed by that of Ian, enveloped in a dark and fascinating ambiance.
April 26, 1999.
A date to remember as much as May 18, 1980.
With the hope that The Sound will reach that firmament where Joy Division have stayed for almost three decades, and that Adrian Borland can represent the same inspiring muse in the future that Ian Curtis was for him, with whom he shares the same tragic end.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Winning (04:18)
What holds your hope together,
Make sure it's strong enough
When you reach the end of your tether
It's because it wasn't strong enough,
I was going to drown,
Then I started swimming
I was going down,
Then I started winning
Winning - winning
When you're on the bottom
Crawl back to the top
Something pulls you up,
and a voice you can't stop,
I was going to drown,
Then I started swimming,
I was going down
Then I started winning
Winning - winning
02 Sense of Purpose (03:52)
Look in my eyes
See the lust and the love
Look in my eyes
When I'm talking to you
I'll take my life
Into my own hands
I'm the one that I will blame
I'm the one that understands
What are we going to do?
While we still got the strength to move
What are we going to do?
I'm asking, I'm asking you
A call to arms, a call to use arms
A call to brains, a call to use some brains
A call to the heart, a call to have a heart
To have a sense of purpose again
Are we where we want to be
All wrapped up in our safety?
Comfort and complacency
It hurts me, it hurts me so
What are we going to do?
While we still got the strength to move
What are we going to do?
I'm asking, I'm asking you
03 Contact the Fact (04:21)
You mean the world
The real world to me
So watching you go
Is like watching a film in slow motion
Everything I touch
Turns to dust
And everyone I turn to
Turns on me
Strange the way
We accept our lot - living together
Strange the way
We self-destruct - dying together
All the beauty gets taken for granted
All the pain gets put in the way
Put in our way
Contact's the fact - I need it
Contact you because I need you
Take me out
You take me out of myself
You can take what you want from me
Because I know you
Hate it when I'm crazy
It's a side of love
You never wanted to see
Contact's the fact - I need it
Contact you because I need you
04 Skeletons (03:27)
Look in my eyes
See the lust and the love
Look in my eyes
When I'm talking to you
I'll take my life
Into my own hands
I'm the one that I will blame
I'm the one that understands
What are we going to do?
While we still got the strength to move
What are we going to do?
I'm asking, I'm asking you
A call to arms, a call to use arms
A call to brains, a call to use some brains
A call to the heart, a call to have a heart
To have a sense of purpose again
Are we where we want to be
All wrapped up in our safety?
Comfort and complacency
It hurts me, it hurts me so
What are we going to do?
While we still got the strength to move
What are we going to do?
I'm asking, I'm asking you
05 Judgement (05:03)
I can't tell it's now or never
If we don't act now it could be now and forever
The moment is near, the moment of truth
But just what scared the life out of you?
You're so still, silent motionless
I can't watch and wait just to pay the price
Of your judgement
I will push at the powers that be
I will pull you close to me
And if I fall I go gracefully
No regret's, don't pour your pity on me
You're so still, are you so lame?
I can't watch and wait just to take the blame
For your judgement
Can there really be someone up above me
Who judges me when my time is up
I can't believe, I can't believe
That I'm not the one that I should trust
He's so still, silent, motionless
I can't watch and wait just to pay the price
He's so still, he's silent, motionless
I can't watch and wait just to pay the price
Of his judgement
06 Fatal Flaw (04:36)
A fatal attraction
Been growing away from the light
And I can't come back now
Until I drag myself out of this vice
Sense of distance when you stand next to me
I've made a strange disappearance
One that no-one can see
You can't reach me anymore
Turn to face the fatal flaw
We all have weakness
Moments that we can't contain
Right now I'm all weakness
I'll make another retreat again
Sense of distance when you stand close to me
I've a strange disappearance
One that no-one can see
You can't reach me anymore
Turn to face the fatal flaw
A fatal attraction - fatal flaw
Been growing away from the light - fatal flaw
09 Silent Air (04:14)
Thunder in the air,
Before a storm that rips,
Anger in my heart,
A finger on my lips,
You showed me that silence,
That haunts this troubled world,
You showed me that silence
Can speak louder than words
Words end in disaster
On the rocks, in pieces,
I know something lives on there,
But I can't say what it is,
You showed me that silence,
That haunts this troubled world,
You showed me that silence
Can speak louder than words.
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By carlo cimmino
I find the Sound played better than Curtis and his companions, no offense to old Sumner.
Albums like 'Jeopardy' and especially 'From the Lions Mouth,' even if perhaps undervalued, are a valid testament to his compositional skills and artistic sensitivity.
By Marco Orsi
The first "Jeopardy" is, without a shadow of a doubt, their best release.
The fault for this miserable disinterest is, in reality, attributable solely and exclusively to the music critics of the time.
