Track-by-Track: From Please to Nonetheless

[jasonjohn]

You're all wrong, Bilingual, Nightlife and Release are all *different* and valid. Plenty of missteps for people who could only imagine them staying in the same 80s stairwell forever.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

You're all wrong, Bilingual, Nightlife and Release are all *different* and valid. Plenty of missteps for people who could only imagine them staying in the same 80s stairwell forever.

It was a definite career nadir. Even if you compiled a 10-12 track album with the best tracks from all three albums, it would still be their worst album to date.

Anyway, if I understand the topic, we're in Further Listening territory now.

Track 122 : For All Of Us
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD1:02 (Demo version)
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD2:04

It's a nice enough song although Neil's voice doesn't sound strong enough to carry some of the notes. Perhaps it may have been better transposed into a different key? Either way, on a recent topic about the tracklisting for Nightlife, I managed to smuggle it into the mix at the expense of some of the album's cringier numbers.

Retro.

[Patrick Bateman]

Bilingual was brilliant. Nightlife/Release were their lost in the wilderness years.

Yes, I'm inclined to agree. Nightlife is the sound of them entering the dumper, while Release is them sounding inconsequential. There's essentially a lost decade between Bilingual and Fundamental, which is bonkers - they should talk about a 30-year career, rather than 40.

There is also a strong argument for them quitting at this point. New York city boy is a death knell - you're mocking everything imperial phase PSB represented by this point. You see this right through pop history - Marc Bolan once he's taken too much coke and eaten too many pies, Adam Ant at Live Aid, The Sex Pistols and Ronnie Biggs. In PSB's defence, they've had more than a decade at the top, which is significantly more than any of those acts. The NME got this right in their review of Nightlife, which (paraphrasing) said that everything great gets crap in the end.

[leesmapman]

Yes, I'm inclined to agree. Nightlife is the sound of them entering the dumper, while Release is them sounding inconsequential. There's essentially a lost decade between Bilingual and Fundamental, which is bonkers - they should talk about a 30-year career, rather than 40.

Hard disagree. There's plenty of great stuff released in that era: Disco 3, the Nightlife and Release era had some fantastic b-sides. And don't forget the two PopArt singles. Miracles is one of my favourite PSB tracks and lured me back in the PSB fandom. Plenty of good tracks on Nightlife and Release (although this topic made me realize Nightlife might be my least favourite PSB album). I wouldn't say they were lost. Probably consumed in writing a musical I'd say.

[jasonjohn]

I don't get all the whining, frankly. The Bilingual-Nightlife-Release period was overflowing with ballads and bangers. Personally don't find the side B of Please especially strong, but I still enjoy it. This period holds up OK - beating side A of Please is a huge ask.

[Patrick Bateman]

Hard disagree. There's plenty of great stuff released in that era: Disco 3, the Nightlife and Release era had some fantastic b-sides. And don't forget the two PopArt singles. Miracles is one of my favourite PSB tracks and lured me back in the PSB fandom. Plenty of good tracks on Nightlife and Release (although this topic made me realize Nightlife might be my least favourite PSB album). I wouldn't say they were lost. Probably consumed in writing a musical I'd say.

I agree there was some good stuff on Disco 3 and I too love the PopArt singles. And I do like some tracks on Nightlife and Release; it's more the sense that's all we have for their second decade and how that contrasts with their first one, particularly the first five years. How do you go from Being boring to New York city boy? Because that's what they did in the 90s.

I suppose I'm glad they endured but I still think the post-90s PSB is an inferior group. Anyone who becomes a national treasure loses something vital because you have to please an awful lot of awful people. They could still do something fabulous like Potemkin but all too often they accommodated themselves to survival and then longevity. I suppose it's like being an REM fan and preferring their early stuff.

[telys]

Hard disagree. There's plenty of great stuff released in that era: Disco 3, the Nightlife and Release era had some fantastic b-sides. And don't forget the two PopArt singles. Miracles is one of my favourite PSB tracks and lured me back in the PSB fandom. Plenty of good tracks on Nightlife and Release (although this topic made me realize Nightlife might be my least favourite PSB album). I wouldn't say they were lost. Probably consumed in writing a musical I'd say.

I agree there was some good stuff on Disco 3 and I too love the PopArt singles. And I do like some tracks on Nightlife and Release; it's more the sense that's all we have for their second decade and how that contrasts with their first one, particularly the first five years. How do you go from Being boring to New York city boy? Because that's what they did in the 90s.

I suppose I'm glad they endured but I still think the post-90s PSB is an inferior group. Anyone who becomes a national treasure loses something vital because you have to please an awful lot of awful people. They could still do something fabulous like Potemkin but all too often they accommodated themselves to survival and then longevity. I suppose it's like being an REM fan and preferring their early stuff.

Bands work in different ways.
REM weren't brilliant in their first years. They had their Midas-period 1988-1996, but they had like 7-8 years before that when they were pretty good but not excessively. After 96' they plunged downwards again. . Nothing wrong or uncommon about that.
PSB had their Midas-touch 85-95. I disagree that they plunged in 96' but 99-02 was definately not their best period but I believe it has more to do with the production than the actual songs. New York city boy in a different arrangement would be a nice tune about NYC, many bands have written about NY, even AC/DC and U2. Problem with Release is the production. They didn't go all the way. They should've done it totally acoustic, then it would've worked. Some of the lyrics are lame (London, Here, You Choose). Lame lyrics work if it's a dance/disco/techno stomper (think of Barbie Girl or the masterpiece Bailando) but if you want to pretend your being serious... well no. Samurai in Autumn has a lyric that work but it would've sounded lame with the arrangement of London.
So to conclude. Both Nightlife and Release were lost opportunites. Nightlife as a 10-track stomper 'nightlife' record or even 8-track with longer songs and Release as an acoustic albumt would'e kept their momentum but we got stuck with actually half-arsed productions.

[babi7808]

Here is lame lyrics when it has lines like this: "We all make a mess of our lives from time to time, It's part of the process, that you stumble as you climb"
Or You choose:" It's a decision made over time, Should you take a risk and start to climb, the steepest hill only to find halfway there you've been left behind?"
Absolutely brilliant, other bands can't write lyrics like this in their entire lives. It's almost routine for them.
Each of their albums was written in a different period, at a different stage of their lives. Each is a treasure that needs to be carefully guarded. Release was written by a middle-aged Neil, still yearning for love, who may have been going through some kind of trauma that he understandably doesn't talk about, but it's there in the songs. He bought a country house, a dog, a guitar. There's some kind of sense of escape in it. Something must have really hurt him, it permeated the songs. Release is an absolute masterpiece.

[nonesuch]

Release is an absolute masterpiece.

I'm in complete agreement.

[Morse]

I've always liked Release.

I've also always liked the way that Chris wanted Release to kind of sort the wheat from the chaff with the fans

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

OK then, moving along...

Track 123 : Call Me Old-Fashioned
Chronology: Nightlife, FL-CD1:03 (Demo version)

I find this to be one of the more charming songs associated with the Closer To Heaven musical. Perhaps because it's a bit of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously?

In that sense, and in the context of the 2CD Further Listening set with all that empty space on those discs, and Telys' theme of "lost opportunities", I find it unfortunate their demo of "It's Just My Little Tribute to Caligula, Darling!" didn't make the cut because it's similarly cheeky and fun too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i5wXjaAxh4

Retro.

[Towa]

Musically, I think the chorus is great! Almost single A-side quality. However, the verses are NOT single material imho, they scream “filler track” to me In a musical theatre context they are quite ok though, easy to fit a lot of lyrics in them which might be more important than a good melody in a verse in a musical track

All in all, a nice and funny song and my favourite of the non-album songs written for the musical

[Lleonard Pler]

It's Shameless without the brilliance.

Clearly a track for the musical. They should have kept all those CTH demos off of Nightlife FL, they only make for a boring listening.

[leesmapman]

That's why Nightlife has 2 extra CDs. I for one am happy they included these tracks.

[telys]

Here is lame lyrics when it has lines like this: "We all make a mess of our lives from time to time, It's part of the process, that you stumble as you climb"
Or You choose:" It's a decision made over time, Should you take a risk and start to climb, the steepest hill only to find halfway there you've been left behind?"
Absolutely brilliant, other bands can't write lyrics like this in their entire lives. It's almost routine for them.
Each of their albums was written in a different period, at a different stage of their lives. Each is a treasure that needs to be carefully guarded. Release was written by a middle-aged Neil, still yearning for love, who may have been going through some kind of trauma that he understandably doesn't talk about, but it's there in the songs. He bought a country house, a dog, a guitar. There's some kind of sense of escape in it. Something must have really hurt him, it permeated the songs. Release is an absolute masterpiece.

Yes lame when put in these arrangements. Otherwise they are fine.... for a girl/boy band. The theme is also lame "life goes up and down sometimes".... well, please, tell me more about the bleeding obvious...