Access All Areas - Stranglers (The)

Advantages: beefy
Disadvantages: The out-takes from the first set

...academic and nice people (well apart from Jet Black, that is, oh and Dave Greenfield, who looked a prat, oh yeah and JJ Burnel who was a bruiser, and Hughie Cornwell swore a lot - okay, okay, I take it all back). Rattus Norvegicus was a massive hit album and used up the bulk of their most popular songs leaving the quickly assembled No More Heroes looking distinctly second rate and unattractive - it was probably more accessible and easy to assimilate than the debut, but just came over as pretty damn insubstantial fare. There are good moments, but inevitably they just feel like fleeting moments and stuff like School Mam should never have seen the light of day - that they did is a bit of an indictment of United Artists who wanted to capitalise on their investment and the band themselves, who seemed to have little concern for quality control... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The stranglers come alive again!
Disadvantages: No hugh!!

...The Stranglers have signed again with the record label: EMI and released a single Big Thing Coming To remind you of, The Stranglers, they were one of the biggest bands of the 1970s, lining up against punk legends like The Clash, The Buzzcocks and The Sex Pistols. But after a series of fallouts and bust-ups, The Stranglers all but disappeared from view as they struggled to regain the early glory of bestselling albums Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes. Now, the band return with a new line-up and fresh new sound with their first new track since 1998. Big Thing Coming is the first song to be taken from the band's forthcoming album Norfolk Coast, which is released later this month. The single has some classic Stranglers touches, Dave Greenfield on his keyboard is back to his best. Heavy base line from JJ Burnel and Paul Roberts... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Solid album with some great tracks,bonus tracks
Disadvantages: Controversial nature of some tracks may put some off

..., just as essential a punk classic record as any you can name. The band's deliberately controversial nature may put some off, but the fact that they do back it up with some wonderful music makes up for it in my eyes, and as Cornwell is quick to point out, Bring On The Nubiles isn't actually all that daring in it's subject matter, it just doesn't veil things and delivers them in a totally straightforward manner. If you are a fan of the UK punk scene, or UK rock in general, I would recommend this record to you, providing the nature of some of the songs doesn't put you off. It's probably more accessable than Rattus to new fans, due to the fact it has more straightforward rockers, but blends them in with the band's unique-sounding tracks to help indoctricate people to the Stranglers way. As a copper once said to Hugh Cornwell when he... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful