The Raven (album)
| The Raven | ||||
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| The Stranglers studio album | ||||
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Publication |
1979 |
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admission |
1979 |
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| Label (s) | United Artists | |||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
41:11 |
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| occupation |
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Alan Winstanley |
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Studio (s) |
Studio Pathé Marconi EMI |
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The Raven is the fourth studio album by the British band The Stranglers . It was released on September 21, 1979 by United Artists and reached number 4 on the UK album charts.
Track list
- Longships (1:10)
- The Raven (5:13)
- Dead Loss Angeles (2:24)
- Ice (3:26)
- Baroque Bordello (3:50)
- Nuclear Device (3:32)
- Shah Shah a Go Go (4:50)
- (Don't Bring) Harry (4:09)
- Duchess (2:30)
- Menin Black (4:48)
- Genetix (5:16)
History of origin
The Raven's music and lyrics were written jointly by the band during a stay in Italy, so “The Stranglers” are given as the originator of all titles. In terms of content, The Raven represents a turning point in the series of Stranglers albums. The previous studio albums Rattus Norvegicus , No More Heroes and Black and White (as well as the live album Live (X-Cert), also released in 1979 ) were still clearly punk and only Supplemented by influences from pub rock and psychedelic rock , The Raven represents a clear turn to psychedelic pop . While the Stranglers' previous albums still adhered to a general scheme according to which pop songs should not exceed four minutes in length, half of them waited Pieces on The Raven with extravagant instrumental intros that brought the album close to Prog-Rock . The production also differed from the three previous albums, which had been produced by Martin Rushent in the London TW studios: Since Rushent did not want to take over the production of The Raven , United Artists hired the newcomer Alan Winstanley, who had previously worked as a sound engineer with the Stranglers had worked. The recordings took place in the Parisian studio Pathé Marconi, the final mixing in the Air Studios in London.
In some points, the content and design of the album refer to Nordic mythology . In this, the raven is a symbol of wisdom, and Odin , the father of the gods, is nicknamed Hrafnáss , " raven god ". Lyrically the title track and thus the album title refer to the raven in Norse mythology, the intro refers to Viking ships, and on the back of the album cover the band poses on such a ship. The lyrics of the remaining songs refer to other topics, for example Ice is about Seppuku , (Don't Bring) Harry about the abuse of heroin, Shah Shah a Go Go about the Iranian Revolution or Genetix about genetic engineering . The first edition of the album had a three-dimensional cover. The reference to Nordic mythology goes back to Jean-Jacques Burnel , who also determined the name of the album. The Viking ship on the back of the cover is a replica of a real Viking ship, is on display near Ramsgate and was visited by drummer Jet Black in his childhood and was therefore suggested for the cover.
In 2011 EMI released the album on CD, which was previously only available on vinyl. The tracklist was supplemented by four bonus titles:
- Bear Cage (2:50, 1980 single never released on an album to date)
- Fools Rush Out (2:09)
- N'Emmenes Pas Harry (4:14, French version of (Don't Bring) Harry )
- Yellowcake UF6 (2:55)
reception
The album stayed on the UK music charts for eight weeks , where it reached number 4. Stranglers biographer David Buckley claims that the week The Raven officially reached number four on the charts, the album's sales were inadvertently the same as Reggatta de Blanc has been swapped by The Police , so that The Raven would actually have been awarded 1st place. Two tracks were released as singles: Duchess was released on August 10, 1979 and reached position 14 in the charts, Nuclear Device was released on October 3, 1979 and reached position 36. In November 1979 the EP Don't Bring Harry was released , which was next to the title track Contained three previously unreleased songs and reached position 41 in the charts.
David Cleary awarded 3.5 out of four stars on Allmusic . He highlighted different musical influences of individual pieces, such as power pop , devo and classic Britpunk. Overall, the pieces are "lengthy" and full of long-winded instrumental passages. Cleary criticized the sound quality of the US pressing of the album. The British magazine Smash Hits awarded 6.5 out of 10 points. Reviewer Red Starr certified the front page of the album "good, powerful riffs and songs"; lyrically "they would undertake a journey around the world about anything and everything". He described the back of the album as "strangely bad and full of extravagant self-adulation". Dave McCullough gave the sound five out of five stars and described The Raven as the Stranglers' best album and one of the best music albums of 1979. He noted a "dense, inviting atmosphere" and a noticeable separation of duties between Cornwell and Burnel - while the former was for the Proven, “archetypal” Stranglers songwriting, Burnel brought in more differentiated influences that were reminiscent of his commercially failed solo album Euroman Cometh and in the case of Don't Bring Harry , which according to McCullough the best piece the band has ever written, even that quote French cinema of the 1960s. Phil McNeill drew a mixed conclusion in the NME - on the one hand he emphasizes the development of the Stranglers over the years to remarkable and original musicians, on the other hand he sees the same topics dominate in terms of content, based on which one “does not exactly accuse the band of the previous albums was able to ingratiate oneself with someone: (...) Verbal injurias against foreign and domestic politicians, romantic mysticism with a hint of sadism, tubs of unrepentant rudeness, lascivious promises of a soulless future, ironic horror stories and a pithy hint of antiquated machismo ”.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ AllMusic.com: Artist Biography by Dave Thompson. Retrieved May 24, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c David Buckley: No Mercy. The Authorized and Uncensored Biography . Hodder & Stoughton, London 1997, ISBN 0-340-68062-8 , pp. 146 .
- ^ Strangled.co.uk: Basement Jacks. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 29, 2011 ; Retrieved May 25, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ OfficialCharts.com: Stranglers. Retrieved May 23, 2016 .
- ^ AllMusic.com: AllMusic Review by David Cleary. Retrieved May 24, 2016 .
- ↑ Smash Hits 18.-31. October 1979, p. 29: Albums. Retrieved May 25, 2016 .
- ^ Sounds, unknown edition 1979: The Raven. Retrieved May 25, 2016 .
- ^ NME, unknown edition 1979: The Raven. Retrieved May 26, 2016 .
