Real Life (Magazine Album)
| Real life | ||||
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| Magazine's studio album | ||||
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Publication |
1978 |
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| Label (s) | Virgin Records | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
41:24 |
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| occupation |
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Studio (s) |
Abbey Road Studios , London |
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Real Life is the UK post-punk band Magazine's debut album . It is considered an album with influence on numerous other musicians and an early work of post-punk and new wave originated in Great Britain .
History of origin
Just a few weeks after being founded in the summer of 1977, the band signed a record deal with Virgin Records. At this point the band had already made demo recordings of the songs Shot by Both Sides , The Light Pours out of Me and Suddenly we are Eating Sandwiches . Devoto composed and wrote the song Shot By Both Sides around a guitar riff by Pete Shelley . Pete Shelley was also involved in the composition of The Light Pours out of Me alongside Devoto and McGeoch. Suddenly we are eating sandwiches was abandoned and some elements were later used for My Mind Ain't so Open (on the B-side of the single Shot by Both Sides ). Motorcade was born as a collaboration between Devoto and keyboardist Bob Dickinson.
The band had their first public appearance on October 2, 1977 on the final evening of the Electric Circus in Manchester with the set Shot By Both Sides , The Light Pours out of Me and I Love you, you big Dummy (originally by Captain Beefheart ) . Music journalist Jon Savage was in the audience and took notice. Motorcade was broadcast on Tony Wilson's So It Goes television program on Granada-TV and received further attention from the UK music press. Paul Morley invited Devoto to an interview for the NME at the end of October .
Keyboardist Bob Dickinson left the band, who now recorded the song Shot By Both Sides as a quartet with producer Mike Glossop , which was released as a single in mid-January 1978, exactly one year after the Buzzcocks ' Spiral Scratch was released. The single just missed the UK UK Top 40 jump .
In February, Dave Formula joined the band as keyboardist and together they recorded the second single Touch and Go , a composition by Devoto and McGeoch. Goldfinger by John Barry was used as the B-side . Magazines completed a national tour in the UK. After the tour, John Leckie was won over as producer for an album. The recordings in March and April 1978, only six months after the band was founded, took place mainly in the Abbey Road Studios in London.
Track list
- Definitive Gaze (Devoto / McGeoch) - 4:28
- My Tulpa (Devoto / McGeoch) - 4:51
- Shot by Both Sides (Devoto / Shelley) - 4:04
- Recoil (Devoto / McGeoch) - 2:52
- Burst (Devoto) - 5:01
- Motorcade (Devoto / Dickinson) - 5:44
- The Great Beautician in the Sky (Devoto / McGeoch) - 5:00
- The Light Pours out of Me (Devoto / McGeoch / Shelley) - 4:36
- Parade (Devoto / Formula / Adamson) - 5:20
An edition remastered in 2007 also contains the two singles with their B-sides:
- Shot by Both Sides - Original Single Version (Devoto / Shelley) - 4:01
- My Mind Ain't so Open (Devoto / McGeoch) - 2:18
- Touch and Go (Devoto / McGeoch) - 2:58
- Goldfinger ( Barry / Bricusse / Newley ) - 3:50
Record cover
A collage by British artist Linder Sterling was used as the record cover. Sterling's collages were also used for the covers of Buzzcocks' singles Orgasmic Addict and Shot by Both Sides .
Publication and chart success
Virgin released the album in April 1978. After promoting the album with a tour in which Martin Jackson left the band and was briefly replaced by Paul Spencer and then permanently by John Doyle, Real Life reached the UK album charts in June, climbing to 29th place and lasted a total of 8 weeks.
reception
The album received mostly good reviews. Andy Kellmann from Allmusic rated it an album pick and four and a half stars out of five. He reviews the importance to other artists:
“Various aspects of Devoto's personality and legacy, truly brought forth throughout this album, have been transferred and blown up throughout the careers of Momus (the restless, unapologetic intellectual), Thom Yorke (the pensive outsider), and maybe even Luke Haines (the nonchalantly acidic crank). "
“Numerous aspects of Devoto's personality and legacy were expressed throughout this album, carried over and blown up throughout the careers of Momus (the restless, uncompromising intellectual), Thom Yorke (the thoughtful outsider) and possibly even Luke Haines (the nonchalant sour semolina grief) "
The album has an entry in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . The local reviewer David Nicholls says: “Magazine didn't want to make it easy for anyone, although“ Recoil ”and“ Shot by Both Sides ”may have satisfied the punks, while“ The Light Pours out of Me ”is just great pop rock”.
The Musikexpress voted the album in the August 1978 edition together with A Tonic for the Troops of the Boomtown Rats for the record of the month. Hermann Haring awarded 5 stars and judged: "Let's make it short: Here are the - so far - best New Wave albums of 1978"
The Light Pours out of Me was covered by Ministry , The Mission and Peter Murphy . Shot by Both Sides was also covered several times, including a. von Mansun (2004), Radiohead (2007) and Jarvis Cocker .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Magazine: Special Guest / Linder. In: wire-sound.com. January 21, 2009, archived from the original on March 5, 2012 ; accessed on November 18, 2016 (English).
- ↑ Magazine in the UK charts. In: officialcharts.com. Retrieved November 18, 2016 .
- ^ Andy Kellmann: Real Life Magazine. In: allmusic.com. ROVI Corporation, accessed January 29, 2012 .
- ↑ David Nichols: 1001 Albums - Music You Should Hear Before Life Is Over . Ed .: Robert Dimery. updated 5th new edition. Edition Olms, Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-283-01112-3 , p. 407 (English: 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die .).
- ^ Hermann Haring, editor-in-chief of ME: Music review to: Magazine - Real Life. In: Musikexpress Augustheft 1978, ISSN 1618-5129
- ↑ Chris Bryans: 1001 Songs You Should Hear Before Life Is Over . Ed .: Robert Dimery. German edition edition. Edition Olms, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-283-01153-6 , pp. 418 (English: 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die .).
Web links
- Real Life at Allmusic (English)
- Lyrics of Real Life on LyricWiki