Lloyd Cole and the Commotions | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: Rattlesnakes Released: 1984 Tracks: 10 Duration: 36:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Perfect Skin (03:13) 2 Speedboat (04:37) 3 Rattlesnakes (03:28) 4 Down on Mission Street (03:49) 5 Forest Fire (04:39) 6 Charlotte Street (03:55) 7 2cv (02:52) 8 Four Flights Up (02:37) 9 Patience (03:40) 10 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? (03:06) |
| Rattlesnakes : Allmusic album Review : One of the finest debuts of the 80s, and possibly the defining album of the whole U.K. indie jangle scene that also included Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, and dozens of other bands, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions Rattlesnakes is a college rock masterpiece of smart, ironic lyrics and sympathetic folk-rock-based melodies. The Glasgow-based band (Lloyd Cole on guitar and vocals, Neil Clark on lead guitar, Blair Cowan on keyboards, Lawrence Donegan on bass, and Stephen Irvine on drums) has a level of interplay remarkable in a group that had been playing for less than two years, and for all the attention given to Coles hyper-literate lyrics, the albums finest moments are things like the slinky interludes between the wry verses on the Renata Adler-inspired "Speedboat" and Clarks glorious extended solo at the end of the albums finest song, "Forest Fire." Originally released in the U.S. by Geffen but reissued on CD as part of Capitols acquisition of the Commotions in 1988 (with the original cover, which had been changed for the Geffen release), Rattlesnakes consists of ten perfect, or close to it, pop songs in just a hair under 36 minutes. Kicking off with the groups first U.K. single, the impossibly wordy, stream-of-consciousness "Perfect Skin," the album is basically a series of verbal snapshots of love gone wrong among the overeducated and underemployed. Coles low-pitched and surprisingly soulful -- for a philosophy student from the University of Glasgow, anyway -- voice flits between earnestness, compassion, and arch derision ("Must you tell me all your secrets when its hard enough to love you knowing nothing?"), while his lyrics sketch incisive character studies filled with smart and funny one-liners, near-obsessive name-dropping, and references to enough novels and movies for a semester-long pop culture class. The title track, for example, is based on a key image from Joan Didions stark Hollywood novel Play It as It Lays, and its chorus compares the songs heroine to Eva Marie Saints character in the film On the Waterfront. In less skilled hands, this would all be unbearably pretentious, but Coles sly sense of humor and self-mocking wit keep things on the right side of ambitious. The German CD of Rattlesnakes (Polydor 823 683) will be of interest to North American Commotions fans. The disc not only contains the original versions of three songs Geffen had Ric Ocasek remix for the U.S. release (which are also on the Capitol reissue); it also features a unique version of "Forest Fire" with the guitar solo coda extended by nearly 40 seconds and four B-sides from British singles of the period: "Sweetness," the wry Warhol superstars portrait "Andys Babies," "The Sea and the Sand," and the phenomenal "You Will Never Be No Good." In any incarnation, Rattlesnakes is a classic. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: Easy Pieces Released: 1985 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:46 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Rich (04:22) 2 Why I Love Country Music (03:00) 3 Pretty Gone (03:32) 4 Grace (04:05) 5 Cut Me Down (04:29) 6 Brand New Friend (04:51) 7 Lost Weekend (03:14) 8 James (03:52) 9 Minor Character (03:44) 10 Perfect Blue (04:33) |
| Easy Pieces : Allmusic album Review : Producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, as is their wont, created a shimmering pop surface for Lloyd Cole and the Commotions second album, Easy Pieces, sweetening the tracks with string and brass countermelodies and emphasizing the chiming highs of the guitar and keyboards for an attractive sound that echoed the earnestness of British bands like the Hollies and Hermans Hermits circa 1966. It was, of course, like sugarcoating cyanide capsules, given Coles pleasantly sung lyrics, which detailed philosophical disillusionment, romantic discord, and, yes, at least attempted suicide. In the U.K., Easy Pieces was a Top Ten hit. But although the album saw something of a proper release in the U.S., and the Commotions toured extensively, no American breakthrough materialized. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: Mainstream Released: 1987-10-26 Tracks: 10 Duration: 40:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 My Bag (03:56) 2 From the Hip (03:57) 3 29 (05:28) 4 Mainstream (03:14) 5 Jennifer She Said (03:02) 6 Mister Malcontent (04:49) 7 Sean Penn Blues (03:28) 8 Big Snake (05:16) 9 Hey Rusty (04:30) 10 These Days (02:27) |
| Mainstream : Allmusic album Review : If Lloyd Cole was less worried about depressing his listeners on his third album, he also seemed determined to stir them up, adopting various personas in his songs, from the lover who tattoos himself with the name Jennifer only to find that the ink lasts longer than the relationship in "Jennifer She Said" (a U.K. Top 40 hit) to Sean Penn. There were a few song narrators who seemed close to the singer himself, and they sounded just as discontented. There was little to alleviate the vitriol in the music, which was unusually muted, and long before the end Cole had begun to sound like a crank. The albums saving grace was "Hey Rusty," a song with a Springsteen-like theme and a U2-like musical track. If there were more songs this coherent, specific, and moving, Mainstream might have ranked with Coles first two albums. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: 1984 - 1989 Released: 1989-06-09 Tracks: 14 Duration: 53:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Perfect Skin (03:13) 2 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? (03:06) 3 Forest Fire (05:09) 4 You Will Never Be No Good (02:39) 5 Rattlesnakes (03:27) 6 Perfect Blue (04:17) 7 Brand New Friend (04:51) 8 Cut Me Down (04:29) 9 Lost Weekend (03:14) 10 Her Last Fling (02:44) 11 Mister Malcontent (04:49) 12 My Bag (03:56) 13 Jennifer She Said (03:02) 14 From the Hip (03:57) |
| 1984 - 1989 : Allmusic album Review : The lush, facile simplicity of Lloyd Coles music is brimmed with cushioned harmonies and soft-spoken choruses, and more often than not deals with the complexity of love. Accompanied by the bright jangle of guitar thats hitched to palatable pop tempos, his work with backup band the Commotions produced a number of melody-ridden songs that are best accessed on 1984-1989, a collection of their finest material. Not unlike Orange Juice or the Blue Nile, Coles music used polished instrumentation behind elements of subdued 80s Europop, best exemplified in songs like "Perfect Skin" and "You Will Never Be No Good." As an enduring and enjoyable compilation, 1984-1989 really does gather the cream of their music, and each song relinquishes a clean, robust sound. Some of the more beautiful tracks include the friendly candor of "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?" or the irregularity between the lines of "Jennifer She Said." "Brand New Friend" glimmers with Coles vocal resilience, as does the pristine bounce of "Lost Weekend." All three of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions albums contribute songs to this best-of, with the stronger pieces coming from 1984s Rattlesnakes. Coles music strays from sounding contrived or overlapped and sports comparisons to the Beautiful South in that they share the same lyrical wit and appeal. Relatively unknown in North America, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions contributed to some of the finest music to ever hover with pop ease, and this compilation lines up his best work all in one place. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: 15th October 2004 Hammersmith Apollo Released: 2004 Tracks: 22 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Rattlesnakes (?) 2 Why I Love Country Music (?) 3 Speedboat (?) 4 Charlotte Street (?) 5 From the Hip (?) 6 Cut Me Down (?) 7 Bnf (?) 8 Sweetness (?) 9 2cv (?) 10 My Bag (?) 11 Sean Penn Blues (?) 12 Black & White World (?) 13 Perfect Blue (?) 14 Patience (?) 1 Jesus Said (?) 2 Lost Weekend (?) 3 Perfect Skin (?) 4 Mr Malcontent (?) 5 Jennifer She Said (?) 6 Four Flights Up (?) 7 Heartbroken (?) 8 Forest Fire (?) |
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: Lloyd Cole. The Commotions. The Singles. Released: 2004-09 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:17:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Perfect Skin (03:13) 2 Forest Fire (04:32) 3 Rattlesnakes (03:28) 4 Brand New Friend (04:34) 5 Lost Weekend (03:16) 6 Cut Me Down (03:35) 7 My Bag (03:56) 8 Jennifer She Said (03:04) 9 From the Hip (03:51) 10 No Blue Skies (03:49) 11 Don’t Look Back (03:43) 12 Downtown (04:35) 13 She’s a Girl and I’m a Man (04:15) 14 Weeping Wine (02:38) 15 Butterfly (03:02) 16 So You’d Like to Save the World (03:30) 17 Morning Is Broken (03:42) 18 Like Lover Do (03:58) 19 Sentimental Fool (03:24) 20 Baby (03:57) 21 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? (03:06) |
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: Live at the BBC Volume Two Released: 2007-07-30 Tracks: 23 Duration: 1:29:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Brand New Friend (04:35) 2 James (03:28) 3 Grace (04:01) 4 Speedboat (04:23) 5 Perfect Blue (03:53) 6 Charlotte Street (03:35) 7 James (03:25) 8 Brand New Friend (04:30) 1 Rich (04:11) 2 Lost Weekend (03:14) 3 Old Hats (03:51) 4 Pretty Gone (03:13) 5 Mr.Malcontent (03:15) 6 Brand New Friend (05:41) 7 Perfect Blue (04:26) 8 Cut Me Down (04:23) 9 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? (02:37) 10 Speedboat (04:14) 11 Forest Fire (05:10) 12 Grace (03:51) 13 Rattlesnakes (03:17) 14 Perfect Skin (04:02) 15 Mystery Train (02:43) |
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: Live at the BBC Volume One Released: 2007-07-30 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:06:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Glory (02:35) 2 Patience (03:23) 3 Perfect Skin (03:20) 4 Rattlesnakes (03:32) 5 Speedboat (03:59) 6 Forest Fire (04:15) 7 Andy’s Babies (03:09) 8 Forest Fire (04:29) 9 Four Flights Up (02:42) 10 Down on Mission Street (03:49) 11 Charlotte Street (03:46) 12 Sweetness (02:48) 13 Perfect Skin (03:11) 14 Down on Mission Street (03:43) 15 2cv (02:49) 16 Four Flights Up (02:36) 17 Rattlesnakes (03:18) 18 Speedboat (04:10) 19 Forest Fire (04:47) |
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: Collected Recordings 1983-1989 Released: 2015-06-29 Tracks: 69 Duration: 4:18:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Perfect Skin (03:13) 2 Speedboat (04:37) 3 Rattlesnakes (03:28) 4 Down on Mission Street (03:49) 5 Forest Fire (extended version) (05:14) 6 Charlotte Street (03:55) 7 2cv (02:52) 8 Four Flights Up (02:37) 9 Patience (03:40) 10 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? (03:06) 1 Rich (04:22) 2 Why I Love Country Music (03:00) 3 Pretty Gone (03:32) 4 Grace (04:05) 5 Cut Me Down (04:29) 6 Brand New Friend (04:51) 7 Lost Weekend (03:14) 8 James (03:52) 9 Minor Character (03:44) 10 Perfect Blue (04:33) 11 Her Last Fling (02:44) 12 Big World (02:20) 13 Nevers End (02:32) 1 My Bag (03:56) 2 From the Hip (03:57) 3 29 (05:28) 4 Mainstream (03:14) 5 Jennifer She Said (03:02) 6 Mister Malcontent (04:49) 7 Sean Penn Blues (03:28) 8 Big Snake (05:16) 9 Hey Rusty (04:30) 10 These Days (02:27) 1 The Sea and the Sand (03:04) 2 You Will Never Be No Good (02:42) 3 Andys Babies (02:53) 4 Glory (b-side from "Forest Fire") (02:42) 5 Sweetness (02:52) 6 Perfect Blue (Hardiman mix) (04:16) 7 Jesus Said (03:12) 8 Brand New Friend (demo) (05:07) 9 From Grace (demo) (03:54) 10 Her Last Fling (02:44) 11 Big World (02:20) 12 Nevers End (02:35) 13 Mystery Train (Live at the World, New York / 1986) (02:47) 14 I Dont Believe You (Live at the World, New York / 1986) (03:00) 15 Love Your Wife (04:01) 16 Lonely Mile (03:55) 17 Please (03:48) 18 My Bag (Dancing remix) (06:20) 1 Down on Mission Street (demo) (04:13) 2 Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? (demo) (02:10) 3 Patience (demo) (03:39) 4 Eat My Words (demo) (04:02) 5 Forest Fire (demo) (04:37) 6 Perfect Skin (demo) (03:21) 7 Poons (demo) (03:41) 8 Old Hats (demo) (04:10) 9 You Win (demo) (04:20) 10 Old Wants Never Gets (demo) (05:10) 11 Another Dry Day (demo) (03:16) 12 29 (demo) (05:14) 13 Jennifer She Said (demo) (03:22) 14 Hey Rusty (demo) (04:53) 15 Everyones Complaining (demo) (03:22) 16 Mister Malcontent (demo) (04:19) 17 Jennifer She Said (polished rough mix) (03:22) 18 Hey Rusty (unreleased version) (05:23) |