Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

JJ Burnel, ...., Baz Warne, Jim Macaulay.

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Greatkudu
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

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toilerinblack wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 15:55
StanInBlack wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 21:30
fuzzguitars wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 17:40 Stan you make me feel so welcome, I will leave your little board to you real fans goodbye.
Bye!
theraven1979 wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 13:45 To me (and others) Monster is quite possibly Hugh's best album since leaving The Stranglers.
I love it (obviously) and "Bilko", "Duce Coochie Man" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in Hollywood" rank - to me - as being up there with his finest tracks. Albums-wise Monster is up against some tough competition: Wolf, Guilty, Hi Fi, Beyond Elysian Fields and Totem and Taboo are all ridiculously good records. The Stranglers without him have never attained that level of quality, although Norfolk Coast and Suite XVI were decent efforts.
Yes i agree with you Stan it is up against tough competition because time after time he keeps producing quality i don't know how he keeps doing it still but he does and why a massive whole was left in '90,but the stranglers have been amazing with DM and i'm so glad that Dave's last input was a bloody good one.
Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
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8088
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

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Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03 Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
Mr Jim says he knows someone who's heard it and it's a "masterpiece"

I know someone who's heard it and they say it's heavily influenced by Barry White....
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theraven1979
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by theraven1979 »

That doesn't sound like the makings of a masterpiece to me :lol:

Jim
8088 wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:14
Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03 Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
Mr Jim says he knows someone who's heard it and it's a "masterpiece"

I know someone who's heard it and they say it's heavily influenced by Barry White....
"I bathed in sun and walked in rain
It taught me how to laugh again"
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by theraven1979 »

I guess if you have a drummer you want him to..... y'know....drum


Jim

Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03
toilerinblack wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 15:55
StanInBlack wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 21:30

Bye!



I love it (obviously) and "Bilko", "Duce Coochie Man" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in Hollywood" rank - to me - as being up there with his finest tracks. Albums-wise Monster is up against some tough competition: Wolf, Guilty, Hi Fi, Beyond Elysian Fields and Totem and Taboo are all ridiculously good records. The Stranglers without him have never attained that level of quality, although Norfolk Coast and Suite XVI were decent efforts.
Yes i agree with you Stan it is up against tough competition because time after time he keeps producing quality i don't know how he keeps doing it still but he does and why a massive whole was left in '90,but the stranglers have been amazing with DM and i'm so glad that Dave's last input was a bloody good one.
Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
"I bathed in sun and walked in rain
It taught me how to laugh again"
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8088
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

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theraven1979 wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:16 That doesn't sound like the makings of a masterpiece to me :lol:

Jim
8088 wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:14
Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03 Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
Mr Jim says he knows someone who's heard it and it's a "masterpiece"

I know someone who's heard it and they say it's heavily influenced by Barry White....
I don't know, Losers In A Lost Land set to swirling strings and lyrics about roses and "brassieres" :lol:
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by Greatkudu »

theraven1979 wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:17 I guess if you have a drummer you want him to..... y'know....drum


Jim

Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03
toilerinblack wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 15:55
Yes i agree with you Stan it is up against tough competition because time after time he keeps producing quality i don't know how he keeps doing it still but he does and why a massive whole was left in '90,but the stranglers have been amazing with DM and i'm so glad that Dave's last input was a bloody good one.
Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
Yes I agree but Hugh has a very good drummer, so he should have used Windsor on Monster as album would have been so much better, some of the drum programming on Monster sounds like Demos to me.Lt Kudu.
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by theraven1979 »

Glad you agree with Hugh's comment on Jet :grin: Personally, I think it's a bit harsh but there you go.

Monster drums? Yeah coulda probably done with live drums but Hugh's done a pretty good job programming them. I'd say it doesn't distract from it being a superb album

Jim
Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:32
theraven1979 wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:17 I guess if you have a drummer you want him to..... y'know....drum


Jim

Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03

Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
Yes I agree but Hugh has a very good drummer, so he should have used Windsor on Monster as album would have been so much better, some of the drum programming on Monster sounds like Demos to me.Lt Kudu.
"I bathed in sun and walked in rain
It taught me how to laugh again"
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by toilerinblack »

Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:32
theraven1979 wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:17 I guess if you have a drummer you want him to..... y'know....drum


Jim

Greatkudu wrote: 24 Sep 2021, 17:03

Well let's hope with Hughs next album? If there is going to be one? That he has live drums as Monster would have been so much better without the programmed drums, and he was critical of Jet for using machines.Lt Kudu.
Yes I agree but Hugh has a very good drummer, so he should have used Windsor on Monster as album would have been so much better, some of the drum programming on Monster sounds like Demos to me.Lt Kudu.
Yes i agree with everything you say here,he does have a good drummer and Windsor should of been used on Monster it would of sounded even better than it is and it's bloody good without him lol but yes it could of been excellent with Windsor you can hear how good the live versions are from Monster.
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by toilerinblack »

Down sounds a JJ coup written style song to me,sorry just don't like it much,not bad two i don't like much,for me it's the Lines & Down are my two least like tracks amoungst a very good album.
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by shah »

The thing about Nosferatu and Euroman Cometh is that even though they're solo albums, they BOTH make sense as transitional albums in between what The Stranglers were doing on Black and White and The Raven. They fit snugly into the continuum of what the band were doing.

By the time of Wolf, Hugh's head was in a different space entirely - more smooth, more poppy - but that should have clear even from the records The Stranglers had out in the mid to late '80s.
------------

1. Totally agree and a good observation. Think of the drums on Nos and the way drums were used on The Raven/MiB - far more inventive, far more tom work. I wonder if RW influenced HAC who then passed on a few 'what about this...' to Jet?

2. It's interesting to try and pinpoint when and why HAC's switch was flipped to MOR, smoother pop. Was it the success of GB? Hugh saw a future - so they pulled out SLG from the vaults, smoothed it and shined it and hey presto, more success and moolah....then off to Brussels we go with the Kincaid's in tow...out comes Feline and that was the end of melodic, quirky prog menace and in comes the drum machine, there goes the bass tone, in comes the crooning and Dave keeps being Dave. I love Feline and I like Aural Sculpture and Dreamtime. But the switch flicked in 1982.
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

Post by MiB81 »

Nice Vinyl Chat review and memories, 30mins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJaBjDlP85I
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Re: Dark Matters - Initial Thoughts/Reviews

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shah wrote: 28 Sep 2021, 21:39 It's interesting to try and pinpoint when and why HAC's switch was flipped to MOR, smoother pop. Was it the success of GB? Hugh saw a future - so they pulled out SLG from the vaults, smoothed it and shined it and hey presto, more success and moolah....then off to Brussels we go with the Kincaid's in tow...out comes Feline and that was the end of melodic, quirky prog menace and in comes the drum machine, there goes the bass tone, in comes the crooning and Dave keeps being Dave. I love Feline and I like Aural Sculpture and Dreamtime. But the switch flicked in 1982.
In hindsight, I think the success of "Golden Brown" may well have been the start of it, as well as - crucially - the failure of "La Folie" as a single, although I don't think it was a sudden thing. I mean, Feline is still quite a moody and not particularly poppy record, even if "European Female" was a logical follow-up to things like "Golden Brown" and "Strange Little Girl", but I think Hugh quitting drugs is where it snowballed. I think once he quit all drugs, he refocused and started devoting more attention to his career and trying to be as successful as possible.
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