The Teardrop Explodes | ||
| Allmusic Biography : One of the pivotal groups to emerge from the Liverpool neo-psychedelia community during the late 70s, the Teardrop Explodes was a showcase for Julian Cope, a notoriously eccentric figure whose unfashionable love of Krautrock and hallucinogenic drugs set him distinctly apart from the prevailing punk mentality of the era. Cope formed the band in 1978 after a tenure in the Crucial Three (also comprised of Echo and the Bunnymens Ian McCulloch and Wah!s Pete Wylie); taking their name from a panel in a Marvel comic book, the premiere lineup of the Teardrop Explodes also featured guitarist Mick Finkler and drummer Gary Dwyer, as well as keyboardist Paul Simpson, with whom Cope previously played in the short-lived A Shallow Madness. Upon signing to Bill Drummond and David Balfes fledgling Zoo label, the quartet issued their 1979 debut single, "Sleeping Gas," a surreal electro-pop effort distinguished by its swirling keyboard washes; Simpson exited the Teardrop Explodes ranks in the wake of the records release, allowing Balfe to assume keyboard and production duties for the bizarre follow-up "Bouncing Babies." After touring with Echo and the Bunnymen, the group concentrated on streamlining the more excessive elements of its sound: the result, the buoyant "Treason (Its Just a Story)," nearly reached the pop charts. After Finkler was replaced by former Dalek I Love You guitarist Alan Gill, the Teardrop Explodes issued 1980s infectious "When I Dream," which hit the U.K. Top 50 and even garnered some airplay in the U.S. Finally, in October the bands debut LP, Kilimanjaro, appeared to rave reviews and respectable sales; early in 1981, the single "Reward" hit the Top Ten, and a subsequent reissue of "Treason (Its Just a Story)" surged into the Top 20. Still, the Teardrop Explodes roster continued to fluctuate wildly, and soon Gill exited to make room for guitarist Troy Tate in time to record 1981s ambitious Wilder, highlighted by the smash "Passionate Friend." A tour of the States followed, with disastrous results; Tate quickly broke ranks to join Fashion, leaving the remaining trio to begin work on a planned third LP to be dubbed Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes. In the midst of recording, however, Cope dissolved the band; only a 1983 EP dubbed You Disappear from View appeared on schedule, although the unfinished sessions were finally released in full in 1990 under their projected title. In the wake of the Teardrop Explodes breakup, Balfe later re-emerged as the founder of the Food Records label, while Cope embarked on a successful and occasionally brilliant solo career. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 8 Title: Kilimanjaro Released: 1980-10 Tracks: 11 Duration: 36:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Ha, Ha, I’m Drowning (02:54) 2 Sleeping Gas (03:46) 3 Treason (02:58) 4 Second Head (03:10) 5 Poppies in the Field (05:04) 6 Went Crazy (02:40) 7 Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (02:30) 8 Bouncing Babies (02:28) 9 Books (02:36) 10 Thief of Baghdad (03:09) 11 When I Dream (05:38) |
| Kilimanjaro : Allmusic album Review : Armed with trumpeters Ray Martinez and Hurricane Smith who add soaring flourishes and energetic blasts throughout, on Kilimanjaro the Teardrops explode in a torrent of creative, kicky and often downright fun songs that hotwire garage/psych inspirations into something more. Steering clear of ham-handed attempts to be commercially "new wave" while at the same time sounding young, bright and alive, the foursome go happily nuts with great results. Cope is already a commanding singer and frontman; his clever lyrics and strong projection result in a series of confident performances, whether his trading lines with himself on the motorik chug of "Sleeping Gas" or his yelps on "Books." For all the bad energy between himself and Balfe, the two sound like theyre grafted at the hip throughout, the latters keyboard washes and staccato melodies adding the fun, nervy vibe. Dwyers spot-on drumming keeps the pace, while both guitarists, Finkler and his replacement Gill, dont drown the band in feedback to the exclusion of everything else. One listen to many of Gills pieces, on songs like "Poppies," and Copes oft-stated claim that early U2 was trying to rip off the Teardrops and other Liverpool/Manchester groups makes sense. Though it was assembled from a variety of different sessions Kilimanjaro still sounds cohesive. Perfectly hummable choruses, great arrangements and production and Copes smiling vibe all add up with fantastic results. The sweet romance of "When I Dream" closes out this entertaining debut. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 8 Title: Wilder Released: 1981 Tracks: 11 Duration: 40:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Bent Out of Shape (03:26) 2 Colours Fly Away (02:54) 3 Seven Views of Jerusalem (03:50) 4 Pure Joy (01:44) 5 Falling Down Around Me (03:10) 6 The Culture Bunker (05:30) 7 Passionate Friend (03:31) 8 Tiny Children (03:50) 9 Like Leila Khaled Said (03:49) 10 …and the Fighting Takes Over (03:55) 11 The Great Dominions (04:31) |
| Wilder : Allmusic album Review : Despite the flux they were going through, the Teardrops somehow got it together to record the heavily-hyped Wilder, which unlike its predecessor did nothing in terms of sales or smash singles, outside of the semi-successful shimmering keyboard/crunch of "Passionate Friend." This isnt for lack of talent on the bands part, and the trademark kicky arrangements and horns appear throughout. However, unlike the joyous outpourings of Kilimanjaro, Wilder sounds distanced. Cope doesnt come across as the lead singer so much as he does someone singing with the music, ironic given that he wrote everything on this album. As a subtler pleasure, though, Wilder offers up some good stuff, with more cryptic compositions and performances throughout, while Clive Langer takes over full production after only doing a few on the first album. Strangely, some performances sound like where Sting eventually took the Police on Synchronicity, musically if not vocally, like the layered attempts at tribal drumming on "Seven Views of Jerusalem." More measured, sometimes stiff songs like "Falling Down Around Me" make the overall mood more fragmented, while some of Balfes keyboards sound like theyre only there just because. When it connects, though, Wilder rocks just fine. The concluding track, "The Great Dominions," is one of Copes all-time best, with a sweeping, epic sense of scope and sound. The angular funk of "The Culture Bunker" has both some fine guitar and a sharp lyric or two on Copes part -- the Crucial Three he refers to was his bedroom-only act with Ian McCulloch and Pete Wylie. Other high points include the moody synth shadings on "Tiny Children," where Balfes work comes through best of all, and Dwyers generally sharp drumming throughout, keeping the beat well. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 8 Title: Piano Released: 1990 Tracks: 10 Duration: 32:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Sleeping Gas (04:39) 2 Camera Camera (02:39) 3 Kirkby Workers Dream Fades (01:55) 4 Bouncing Babies (02:45) 5 All I Am Is Loving You (04:26) 6 Treason (03:05) 7 Books (02:17) 8 Take a Chance (02:03) 9 When I Dream (04:16) 10 Kwalo Klobinskys Lullaby (04:01) |
| Piano : Allmusic album Review : Piano collects The Teardrop Explodes early recordings, featuring three singles and three tracks recorded for compilations. The songs make it clear the band was still trying to figure out their musical direction, but Piano is fascinating listening for dedicated fans of the group. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 8 Title: Everybody Wants to Shag... Released: 1990 Tracks: 12 Duration: 44:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ouch Monkeys (05:30) 2 Serious Danger (03:33) 3 Metranil Vavin (03:09) 4 Count to Ten and Run for Cover (03:23) 5 In-Psychlopaedia (04:02) 6 Soft Enough for You (03:31) 7 You Disappear From View (03:03) 8 The Challenger (02:59) 9 Not My Only Friend (02:57) 10 Sex (Pussyface) (04:11) 11 Terrorist (03:34) 12 Strange House in the Snow (04:43) |
| Everybody Wants to Shag... : Allmusic album Review : The title was originally intended for the bands debut, but attaching it to the long-unreleased third and final Teardrops album, an expansion of the four-track You Disappear From View EP, is as good a use as any. Cope trashed these sessions shortly after they were completed, but admitted years later that it wasnt all that bad. While this is a Balfe album more than anything else (hes credited with all the arrangements) with Cope on vocals, the rapidly collapsing band, augmented by a variety of other players, still manages to get in some good work. Cope certainly sounds like hes not entirely there at points -- particularly on the lengthy opening number "Ouch Monkeys," where his voice is mixed in the background while Balfes lounge-styled lead keyboards play against spectral choir sounds and echoed drums. Much of the percussion is a combination of Dwyers suddenly arena-scaled pounding and rhythm box pulses, which, combined with the lack of guitars on all but two songs oftens transforms the Teardrops into something approaching New Romantic synth rock! "You Disappear From View" sounds like a reject from Spandau Ballets early days. Often cuts sound like demos for fuller arrangements, which turned out to be the case for two of the songs, "Metranil Vavin" and "Sex (Pussyface)," which Cope recut on his solo debut World Shut Your Mouth. When Cope is fully engaged in the material, like on the charging "Count to Ten and Run For Cover," or the gently mysterious flow of "Soft Enough For You," its a gentle revelation. A ringer concludes things -- "Strange House in the Snow," an off-kilter, wiggy 1980-era cut with Gill on guitar. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 8 Title: The Greatest Hit Released: 2001 Tracks: 15 Duration: 55:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Reward (02:42) 2 Passionate Friend (03:30) 3 Treason (Its Just a Story) (02:59) 4 Ha Ha Im Drowning (02:36) 5 The Culture Bunker (05:29) 6 Colours Fly Away (02:55) 7 Sleeping Gas (03:48) 8 Suffocate (03:39) 9 When I Dream (03:45) 10 Tiny Children (03:50) 11 ... And the Fighting Takes Over (03:56) 12 The In-Psychlopedia (04:03) 13 Christ Versus Warhol (03:56) 14 You Disappear From View (03:00) 15 The Great Dominions (04:55) |
| The Greatest Hit : Allmusic album Review : One year after issuing expanded and remastered versions of the Teardrop Explodes two studio albums, the spectacular Kilimanjaro and the not-so-spectacular Wilder, Mercury U.K. released The Greatest Hit, which fuses selections from both releases and adds the requisite completist bait with "Christ Versus Warhol," the B-side to the Passionate Friend single. Though the track selection -- which mixes A-sides like "Sleeping Gas," "Reward," "Ha Ha Im Drowning," and "Colours Fly Away" with album cuts like "The Great Dominions," "The Culture Bunker," and "...and the Fighting Takes Over" -- is rather serviceable, theres a big gaping hole in any Teardrop Explodes collection that doesnt house "Bouncing Babies" and "Books." Kilimanjaro is probably a better one-shot deal than this package, because its superior to Wilder and its such a great record from front to back. It also plugs that gaping hole that this particular package loses marks for. Better yet, track down the Kilimanjaro/Wilder two-fer, which was released by Collectors Choice Music in the U.S. the same year. All of this is code for decrying The Greatest Hits pointlessness. While the recycled material is terrific, it is annoying and rather incomplete recycling nonetheless. Now wheres the live record? Wheres the next archival release? | ||
 | Album: 6 of 8 Title: The Collection Released: 2002 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:04:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Reward (02:42) 2 Colours Fly Away (02:54) 3 Bent Out of Shape (03:26) 4 Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (02:31) 5 Treason (Its Just a Story) (02:55) 6 Bouncing Babies (02:28) 7 Serious Danger (03:28) 8 Rachael Built a Steamboat (04:12) 9 Poppies in the Field (05:04) 10 Like Leila Khaled Said (03:49) 11 Window Shopping for a New Crown of Thorns (03:48) 12 Books (02:36) 13 Seven Views of Jerusalem (03:43) 14 Strange House in the Snow (04:44) 15 Kilimanjaro (04:31) 16 Count to Ten and Run for Cover (03:18) 17 Passionate Friend (03:23) 18 The Great Dominions (04:27) |
| The Collection : Allmusic album Review : Less than a year after the U.K. wing of Mercury issued The Greatest Hit, the Spectrum label followed up with The Collection, yet another overview of the Teardrop Explodes brief lifespan. The greatest (albeit shoddy) advantage this mid-line disc holds over The Greatest Hit is the track count, as it has three more songs. The overlap between the two -- five songs -- is surprisingly unsubstantial when considering that the band only released two studio albums during its existence. As a result, the two compilations provide rather different looks at the band, so if youre deciding between them for a beginning route into the band, its a crapshoot. The Collection misfires with the exclusion of "Ha Ha Im Drowning," "Reward," "Sleeping Gas," and "You Disappear From View." However, it does include the incredibly bizarre and bizarrely incredible "Bouncing Babies," which Mercury failed to include on The Greatest Hit. Still, the best place to go first with the band is either Mercurys great 2001 remaster of Kilimanjaro or the U.S.-distributed Kilimanjaro/Wilder two-fer. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 8 Title: Zoology Released: 2004 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:12:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 From Five Miles Up (02:19) 2 Camera Camera (02:57) 3 Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (02:11) 4 Nobody Knows This Is Everywhere (04:04) 5 When I Dream (04:10) 6 Screaming Secrets (04:06) 7 Books (02:10) 8 The Culture Bunker (07:52) 9 I’m Not the Loving Kind (02:47) 10 Log Cabin (03:07) 11 Tiny Children (03:10) 12 You Disappear From View (03:04) 13 …And the Fighting Takes Over (04:04) 14 Sleeping Gas (04:25) 15 The Tunnel (03:09) 16 Ritchie Blofled (05:02) 17 [unknown] (13:34) |
| Zoology : Allmusic album Review : Julian Cope isnt one to dwell on the past, but he isnt opposed to re-evaluating it, either. When going through some old tapes, he evidently found enough material to convince him to add one more compilation to the Teardrop Explodes post-breakup catalog. This set is evenly split between demos, early versions, and live tracks. As with any anthology of this kind, the sound quality tends to vary. The earliest songs, a few instrumentals from 1978, sound the roughest, but the majority of the tracks sound excellent. Audio clarity is hardly an issue, though, when legendary lost Teardrop gems like "Log Cabin" and the original "You Disappear From View" are finally unearthed. The latters stripped-down sound is indescribably better than the cheesy, faux soul version that appeared on Everybody Wants to Shag the Teardrop Explodes. Just more evidence that their unfinished third album would have been another classic had Cope been able to keep David Balfes synth at bay. While a few of the alternate takes arent terribly different from the common ones, "Tiny Children" is utterly charming and upbeat, a far cry from the haunting take included on Wilder. Musically speaking, the best version of the group was the one that featured Jeff Hammer on keyboards and Alfie Agius on bass. The sometimes comedic differences these hired hands had with core members Cope and Gary Dwyer are highlighted in Copes hilarious book, Head-On. But the diversity seems to have worked: this incarnation of the band is featured on exciting live renditions of "The Culture Bunker" and "Sleeping Gas," which both display the bands unique fusion of the sounds of 1967 and 1977. One would assume that the vaults have pretty much been emptied with this disc, even though several complete live broadcasts and many BBC sessions are still in the archives. However, based upon a disclaimer on the cover which states that Zoology is to rhyme with "eulogy," this may be the final word on the group. If thats the case, its a fine swansong, tidily wrapping up the loose ends for longtime admirers of the highly underrated post-punk band. (There is an unlisted final track which is an interview with several luminaries, including Cope, concerning the fabled Columbia Hotel in London, a favorite hideaway for new wave artists in the early 80s.) | ||
 | Album: 8 of 8 Title: Peel Sessions Plus Released: 2007-10-15 Tracks: 16 Duration: 51:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ha Ha Im Drowning (03:43) 2 Went Crazy (02:52) 3 Brave Boys Keep Their Promises (02:23) 4 Chance (02:03) 5 Reward (03:01) 6 Thief of Baghdad (03:14) 7 When I Dream (04:21) 8 The Poppies in the Field (04:47) 9 Like Leila Khaled Said (03:02) 10 The Culture Bunker (03:24) 11 Pure Joy Wins Out Again (01:52) 12 Better Scream / Make That Move (03:51) 13 Bent Out of Shape (02:59) 14 Log Cabin (03:11) 15 Buchanon (03:51) 16 You Disappear From View (02:56) |
| Peel Sessions Plus : Allmusic album Review : The 16 songs here cannot even begin to take in the full range of music that the Teardrop Explodes recorded for the BBC between October 1979 and July 1982: at least a dozen sessions for DJs across the corporation, and some of the most vibrant performances in the bands entire canon. But incompleteness does not dent the sheer power and beauty of this set, which kicks off with the still unknown groups debut for John Peel and killer versions of "Brave Boys Keep Their Promises," "Went Crazy," "Chance," and, best of all, "Ha-Ha Im Drowning," then marches through the bulk of the gestating Kilimanjaro LP and onward to the bands low-key finale, the utterly apt farewell of "You Disappear from View." It is not an altogether easy listen; the bands own mid-career musical shift can certainly distract unwary ears. But persevere and it is clear to see how this band ascended to modern legend. There has never been another group like it. | ||