Scene 1 - Clifford's bedroom
-----------------------------------
Clifford said he'd bought Rattus Norvegicus IV - would I like to go round and listen to it? Of course. In west London, a big victorian house was quite something but with no central heating it was freezing. His bedroom was enormous ... Read review
Sometimes Goodbye Toulouse London Lady Princess of the Streets Hanging Around Peaches (Get ... more
A) Grip (On Yourself) Ugly Down in the Sewer: Falling/Down in the Sewer/Trying to Get Out Again/Ra Choosey Susie Go Buddy Go Peasant in the Big Shitty [Live]
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Great Music - a classic of its time Disadvantages: Lyrics not to everybody's taste
.../> Clifford said he'd bought Rattus Norvegicus IV - would I like to go round and listen to it? Of course. In west London, a big victorian house was quite something but with no central heating it was freezing. His bedroom was enormous with high roofs and had two single beds at right angles.We huddled up under the covers (in seperate beds). From the first note, I was totally seduced, but not by Clifford! As the first side ended, we raced to flip the ... ...one way or the other. Rattus Norvegicus IV is ugly but beautiful too and there's no doubt that The Stranglers were dirty rats but ultimately, they were aristocrats. If you missed this the first time around, buy it now and be amazed at how good it still sounds today. Just get a grip!
Only £4.98 from Amazon!
Summary: An essential 70's classic album.
* First published on Dooyoo - what seemed like a lifetime ago*. more
Scene 1 - Clifford's bedroom -----------------------------------
Clifford said he'd bought Rattus Norvegicus IV - would I like to go round and listen to it? Of course. In west London, a big victorian house was quite something but with no central heating it was freezing. His bedroom was enormous with high roofs and had two single beds at right angles.We huddled up under the covers (in seperate beds). From the first note, I was totally seduced, but not by Clifford! As the first side ended, we raced to flip the disc.
Scene 2 - Brunel University ----------------------------------
Amazingly, not long after, they played at Brunel University just down the road. The venue had a security system based on a state of the art technique of stamping people with invisible ink, read by an ultra-violet lamp but with a bit of spittle and some rubbing this could enter two or three friends. As we queued, the concert drew ever near and the crowd pressed from behind. A gang leader of sorts shouted, 'We can go round the back!' A hundred people or more, circumnavigated the building and broke through some security doors. As the vanguard scurried forward, a possie of security guards bounced through the corridor to block our way. At this point, a known local nutcase with a broken arm set at a bizzare angle pulled a gun and shouted, 'Get back you b******s!' Well, they did and we got in. What followed was no less anarchic and the group played their set whilst running battles between head cases and bouncers ensued.
Scene 3 - Context ------------------------
The late seventies was a highly socially disturbed time and punk and new wave found the likes of the politically correct Tom Robinson Band, the well intentioned but neo-nazi followed Sham 69, the mod Jam, the 'anarkayst' Sex Pistols and the earnest Clash all thrown into the same pot. Quite where The Stranglers fitted into this cauldron was never clear and I think they went out of their way not to be in any club. I had a number of friends who disowned them due to their 'sexist lyrics' but with a name like The Stranglers, the mission was never going to be PC. They were confrontational - more than most, yet prettier than a bowl of floating rose petals and that is their enigma. Perhaps I was naive, but I never let it bother me.
Scene 4 - So who are The Stranglers? ------------------------------------------------
Forget early or late line ups, the ones that count are:
Hugh Cornwell - guitars and vocals Jean-Jacque Burnel - bass Dave Greenfield - keyboards Jet Black - drums
Top Secret information - don't tell! ----------------------------------------------
The originlal formation was based around Jet Black's (Brian John Duffy) Guildford off- license and the band were originally called the Guildford Stranglers. Nice n' sleazy! ( formed Sept 11 - 1974)
Hugh Cornwell played with Richard Thompsom (solo plus Fairport Convention) Hippy? Also has a BA in Bio Chemistry - so not punk!
JJB is English but born to French parents in 1952 - never realised he was so old! Is now a serious kick ass 6th Dan at karate! No heckling then.
Dave Greenfield - born 1949 - my God - prehistoric! More arpeggios than a Manzarek mantra! (Doors)
Scene 5 - So is this a record review, or what? ------------------------------------------------- --------
Cabin crew - seats for take off, here goes!
Released: April 15th 1977 - that's earlier than I thought. No wonder it blew me out!
Track 1 - Sometimes 10/10 -------------------------------------
We get off to a rip-roaring start with pounding bass and perfectly matched keyboards. It feels like a ride in a stolen car through Gotham City and the vocals confirm that we're with the baddies. It's a clear set opener and the first line, 'Some day, I'm gonna slap your face,' tells us that these guys mean business. If you're not hooked immediately, you never will be.
Impressionism never featured high on the punk agenda so this was a bit of a surprise. A homage to Toulouse Lautrec seemed a pretty disconnected subject matter from the political unrest of the times but who cares? It's a great song and illustrates the melodic and harmonic skills that always marked out this group as a class act.
Track 3 - London Lady 3/10 -----------------------------------
Perhaps they thought some reassurance was needed for the mood changes back to a more conventional approach in what sounds to me like The Stranglers attempting to be a punk band. I've nothing against punk but this isn't good punk or good Stranglers - 'Making love to the Mersey Tunnel, with a sausage - have you ever been to Liverpool?' Hm, Belgium nil points. Easily the weakest track on the album.
Track 4 - Princess of the street 9/10 ---------------------------------------------
Rather sexy, sultry guitar work with the pervasive lead amp channelled throbbing bass. It's a song that doesn't hide it's sexuality. Clearly, the line, 'She's the queen of the street, what a piece of meat.' is not their greatest lyric but it's not Chris De Burgh. This slow blues tempo must have been confusing to someone who'd turned up wishing for a pogo. A beautiful and delicate melody that must have been a touch head churning for head-bangers.
Track 5 - Hanging around 10/10 -----------------------------------------
Arguably, my favourite Stranglers track of all time, it scores full marks in every category. As usual, all instruments combine perfectly with chopped chords, rasping bass and the ever manic Lurch on keyboards. However, this is a great pop song too with sweet backing vocals, a catchy tune and a great wilting hook line 'Hanging arouououd, he's just hanging arououound. Then we go all melodramatic - 'Christ he's told his Mother, Christ he's told her not to bother, cos he's alright in the city 'cos he's high above the ground. He's just hanging arououououound. He's just hanging aruouououound!' Need I say more? And we haven't even got onto the verse about the monkey. He's hanging around too!
A song that needs little introduction - it's a peach! The bass is as naked as the women on the beach and the 'grunted 'lead break' is inspirational. It really is a fantastic riff and the group have the confidence not to overcrowd it instrumentally and leave it as exposed as their peeling skin. 'That feels real good!' Unashamedly vulgar and provocative, this track more than any, is the one that prompted people to embrace or reject The Stranglers.
Track 7 - Get a grip 9/10 --------------------------------
A rather grandioise track with pontificating vocals and dare I say a touch of a Roxy Music sax? Once again, some distance from the mood of the time although connected by an anti-establishment recalcitrance. 'Commited for insanity and crimes against the soul, The worst thing that I ever did was to play some rock 'n roll, But the money's no good, Just get a grip on yourself.'
Jet keeps the guys stricktly on track whilst Greenfield makes Rick Wakeman look pedestrian. His little fingers never stop twiddling like some possessed demonic loon in a B-movie.
Track 8 - Ugly 7/10 ------------------------
I am never quite sure what to make of this track. I really like the underlying sixties Doors/ Booker T feel about it but I'm really not sure about the vocals that sound like an old cassette player when the batteries run flat and knock everthing down an octave. Apart from this, the idea of the dialogue building to a crescendo with the immortal line, 'How come it's only the truly ****ing wealthy who get to be good looking?' is a clear winner. Ah, political angst and satire - those were the days.
Track 9 -Down in the sewer 8/10 ------------------------------------------
Oh my God what's this? Don't say it's the return of the concept album just when we thought that all copies of Tubular Bells had been destroyed. The track weighs in at a lardy eight minutes and has three movements (that's classical training for you). OK, so the subject matter's sewers and rats - 'You can even see the whites of their eyes!' Forgiven. (Bass line redeems a point also)
Scene 6 - Am I bovvered? --------------------------------
Yes, you should be. In a list of best albums of the time, this would easily make my top three but I don't think they would want to be rated against their contemporaries. It may or may not be an influential album and I'd like to believe that they don't care one way or the other. Rattus Norvegicus IV is ugly but beautiful too and there's no doubt that The Stranglers were dirty rats but ultimately, they were aristocrats. If you missed this the first time around, buy it now and be amazed at how good it still sounds today. Just get a grip!
Only £4.98 from Amazon!
Summary: An essential 70's classic album.
* First published on Dooyoo - what seemed like a lifetime ago*.
Advantages: The sound, the attitude, the sleaze Disadvantages: A bit grumpy
'DUN DERRUN, DERUNNDERRUNDER, DUN DERRUN!!!'
Grinding, in yer face, grunt and grind bass, with the most despicable leer and sneer you have ever heard....
That was the public face (or noise) of The Stranglers as they rode on the back of the Angry Young Men of punk in 1976-77 to come to public prominence as the dirty old men of new wave, meninblack who were more reminiscent of navvies and flashers than fey pop stars....
I first happened across The ... ...as they famously started to discover new wave and they featured the band in a live clip singing (or was that grimacing?) 'Hanging Around' and was instantly seduced by their sleazy, sinewy, grim rock and roll.
They were instantly neither of the establishment nor of the snotty young things of new wave - this was a bunch of bruisers who looked like they wanted to eat your daughters (after doing all sorts of other unpleasant things to them first). They ...
dave27 17.07.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)
Advantages: Raw and dirty Disadvantages: A bit over the top
...April saw the release of Rattus Norvegicus, which reached Number 4 in the album listings.
If the twilight romanticism of Goodbye Toulouse and the urban broodiness of hanging Around showed one side of the Stranglers, the album also revealed their most controversial quality. This was their deep, apparently ingrained misogyny. Four or five tracks violently abused women, with the lascivious bump and grind of Peaches, the leering Princess Of The Street ... ...meat) and the scathing London Lady being particularly offensive. The Stranglers’ macho posturing, as moronic as that of the worst heavy metal bands, lapsed so readily into bathos, however, that it seemed obviously satirical.
These deliberatley crass songs, most of them boasting fine melodies and all of them beautifully played, smacked of sexual rejection by women of impotent men (hence the ferocious Ugly by way of revenge). This was hardly something ...
dave27 27.12.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)
Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency...
How does it compare to ...
Value for Money
Quick review of Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)
the album that changed my life,from the greatest band<artist> its simply majestic,power,aggression,humour,challenging lyrics its got the whole range.its the standard bearer for all the music in and around that time.if your looking to expand your music education,just buy this album sit back and lose yourself in its brilliance.RP BETHELL ...
rattus35 22.07.2007
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)
Advantages: one of the most eagerly awaited abums of 77 Disadvantages: not as good as black and white.
Rattus Norvegicus was The Stranglers debut album. It was one of the most eagerly awaited albums of 1977 and got to a very respectable number 4 in the UK album charts. The album spawned two singles, Get a Grip (44) and Peaches (8). The album has a very good collection of songs, Goodbye Toulouse (one of my personal favourites) Hanging Around, the album versions crap but the live one is loads better, Grip, an organ soaked fast paced classic,
and London ... ...overall the Stranglers better albums and has also been classed as one of the best new wave albums ever. The stranglers were always noted for their defintive swirlin keyboards and organs and driving bass, and some people just dismissed them as just another punk band, but there was something about these diverse men that made them stand out, their music was actually, good. They were always more melodic than most bands, and are officially the second ...
Bushhead81 24.03.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)
Advantages: Agressive and catchy Disadvantages: None
This the most famous album by this late 70's punk out-fit and is the Strangles debut. The Strangles are a four piece UK punk/new wave band that is very under-rated and is normally forgotten (some what like the Buzzcocks) when "the best punk bands" are talked about. Thier sound was very grimmy but with an almost gothic look.
The mian features othere that the vocials are the bass and the keyboard both with catchy melodies and riffs and some of the ... ...than any I've every heard and are definatly not sang (in a pop sence anyway).
2 singles where relised from the album, the 1st being Get a Grip and the 2nd, Peaches (their 2nd most listened to song after Golden Brown). The rest of the ablum is just as good as ith consists of their stongest songs from their live set with the best of them being Hanging Aroung and London Lady.
I think everyone should give this album a listen because I'd be suprized ...
Cammers 16.10.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)
![Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/normal/473/product-40473.jpg)
![Overall user rating: Rattus Norvegicus (IV) [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/stars/2003/stars50.gif)
![River Is Wide, The [Remastered] - Forum (The)](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/251/prod_small-6006251.jpg)
![Never Forget (The Ultimate Collection) [Remastered] - Take That](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/081/Never_Forget_The_Ultimate_Collection_Take_That__6376081.jpg)
![Raven, The [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)](http://imagesa.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/518/Raven_The_Stranglers_The__5097518.jpg)
![Black And White [Remastered] - Stranglers (The)](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/517/Black_And_White_Stranglers_The__5097517.jpg)
![Fables Of The Reconstruction [Remastered] - R.E.M.](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/435/Fables_Of_The_Reconstruction_Remastered_R_E_M__38435.jpg)
