Mega-Stranglers Part 2

So, how did you like the beginning of the the Stranglers epic? Should be a good one, I am thinking, I have some guest material from Brian and Apantabapanta which I'll get up tomorrow, taking a small break in the Stranglers thing, but variety is, of course, the life of spice.

So for tonight let's pick up where we left off.... our first album tonight is the first of the originals (good ones) that were released AFTER the classics (see yesterday)..... 1981's "The Gospel According to the Meninblack" was a VERY ambitious conceptual effort which doesn't exactly always work, despite, taken as less than a sum of its parts, still has some good Stranglers stuff on it .... It's recommended, and is  a smooth transition into the 80's for the band.

"La Folie" was issued in 1981 as well, they were REALLY cranking out the music at this time......pretty fair album, although if not a Stranglers fan you MAY not care for it, proceed with caution (i DO like it)... in 1982 they released "Feline", which, by their own standards is no classic, BUT we are not highlighting ONLY the classic stuff, but ALL of the Stranglers material I have accumulated......

This is a band that, while trying new things never deviated from their original concept, if you get what I mean.......1984's "Aural Sculpture" was a good, listenable album as well, presented here in a fine, 2001 deluxe edition release with a lot of bonus material.

For my money their era of "greatness" was over, but like so many great bands the albums on the way "down" are certainly worth a spin.... such is the case with this evening's final offering "Dreamtime"... the title track and "Big in America" would work anytime, and so it is for bands like this with long, great careers and VERY dedicated followings.

Back tomorrow with some guest material, and also hopefully a wrap up of the Stranglers studio career..... they released a few more albums and we may as well get to them, before we get into the rarities and the like.... Please tell a brother what you think!

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE MENINBLACK-01 Waltzinblack/02 Just Like Nothing On Earth/03 Second Coming/04 Waiting for the Meninblack/05 Turn the Centuries, Turn/06 Two Sunspots/07 Four Horsemen/08 Thrown Away/09 Manna Machine/10 Hallow To Our Men /11 Top Secret/12 Maninwhite/13 Tomorrow Was Hereafter

LA FOLIE-01 Non Stop/02 Everybody Loves You When You're Dead/03 Tramp/04 Let Me Introduce You To the Family/05 Ain't Nothing To It/06 The Man They Love To Hate/07 Pin Up/08 It Only takes Two to tango/09 Golden Brown/10 How to Find Love and happiness in the Present/11 La Folie/12 Cruel Garden/13 Cocktail Nubiles/14 Vietnamerica/15 Love 30/16 You Hold the Key to My Love In Your Hands/17 Strange Little Girls

FELINE-01 Midnight Summer Dream/02 It's a Small World/03 Ships That Pass in the Night/04 European Female (In Celebration Of)/05 Let's Tango In Paris/06 Paradise/07 All Roads Lead to Rome/08 Blue Sister/09 Never Say Goodbye

AURAL SCULPTURE-01 Ice Queen/02 Skin Deep/03 Let Me Down Easy/04 No Mercy/05 North Winds/06 Uptown/07 Punch & Judy/08 Spain/09 Laughing/10 Souls/11 Mad Hatter/12 Here and There/13 In One Door/14 Head on the Line/15 Achilles Heel/16 Hot Club (Riot Mix)/17 Place de Victoires/18 Vladimir and the Beast (part 3)/19 Vladimir Goes to Havana

DREAMTIME-01 Always the Sun/02 Dreamtime/03 Was It You?/04 You'll Always Reap What You Sow/05 Ghost Train/06 Nice In Nice/07 Big In America/08 Shakin Like a Leaf/09 Mayan Skies/10 Too Precious/11 Since You Went Away/12 Norman Normal/13 Dry Day/14 Hitman/15 Was It You? (single version)/16 Burnham Beeches

So the hits just keep on comin.... remember, next post (hopefully tomorrow) will be some guest material (better than my stuff anyway), and then back to the Stranglers, LOTS of live stuff, rarities, EP's, and lots of other stuff you can't live without!