The Sound - Classic/Dud/Search/Destroy

1. From the Lions Mouth
2. Jeopardy
3. Thunder Up
4. Heads and Hearts
5. All Fall Down

Haha, when I was hearing them I immediately wondered if Scott has posted about these guys yet.

Indeed. Similarly with the Comsat Angels.

though I was REALLY impressed when I was confusing them with the Music and thought they were a new band.

Heh. I like that.

I think they're alright.

Yeah, Andy's sorta ambivalent, really.

A separate take on the 2002 American tour.

"Contact The Fact" ROXOR!

(help I've turned into Geeta) ! ! ! !

(Ordered mine a while ago, but it hasn't shown up yet.. waaah, I want it now!)

haha i've come to like the production. there's much to like about Hugh Jones' work, definitely.

I got the dual disc BBC Recordingsdisc and, well, holy fucking shit. Multiply all previous "they shoulda been huge" comments by a factor of 100.

That from Utrecht, 1982, No Nukes festival, one of the 5 live albums released by Renascent. Fantastic stuff.

Aw man, that's a great rendition. Just seen what the original poster wrote about it here:

I suspect I'd probably think Winning was a lot nicer if the 'I'm gonna make it after all!' sentiment wasn't offet by the 'Hang on a minute, this guy jumped in front of a train three years ago!' realisation

― Ferg (Ferg), Tuesday, March 18, 2003 8:08 PM (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and I totally agree. Knowing that Borland would commit suicide in the most horrific way turns the way I feel about this song completely on its head. On its surface, it's a song about getting on top of a battle with depression and bad circumstances, but after knowing that Adrian killed himself and HOW he killed himself, the song feels so much more desperate. Like he wants to be "winning", rather than he is "winning". The song doesn't console me and make me feel like I can overcome obstacles in life; on the contrary, it makes me feel incredibly sad. The guy who wanted to win, more than anything in the fucking universe, sadly didn't. It's upsetting.

That's one perspective, agreed. And every April I shed a tear for the poor bastard whose music will live with me forever.

BUT... For a time, he WAS winning his personal battles, and in some places he was winning the hearts and minds of fans.

The fact that his end was so dark doesn't diminish the power of the song, and it still inspires me.

I think of the Sound when I listen to Soror Dolorosa.

Lovely news here -- a new Sound box set covering the first few years. Mostly replicating the various Renascent reissues on first blush but even so, nice to see this happening:

http://www.redsunrecords.com/the-sound-boxset-2014-reissue

DISC ONE - JEOPARDY

I Can’t Escape Myself
Heartland
Hour Of Need
Words Fail Me
Missiles
Heyday
Jeopardy
Night Versus Day
Resistance
Unwritten Law
Desire
Physical World (Physical World EP)
Brute Force (B-Side Of ‘Heyday’ Single)
Heartland (Live Instinct EP)
Brute Force (Live Instinct EP)
Jeopardy (Live Instinct EP)
Coldbeat (Live Instinct EP)
Heartland (BBC Session October 1980)
Unwritten Law (BBC Session October 1980)
Jeopardy (BBC Session October 1980)
I Can’t Escape Myself (BBC Session October 1980)
DISC TWO - FROM THE LION’S MOUTH

Winning
Sense Of Purpose
Contact The Fact
Skeletons
Judgement
Fatal Flaw
Possession
The Fire
Silent Air
New Dark Age
Point Of No Return (Single B-side)
Hot House (Single B-side)
Coldbeat (Single B-side)
New Dark Age (Live)
Fatal Flaw (BBC Session November 1981)
Skeletons (BBC Session November 1981)
Hothouse (BBC Session November 1981)
New Dark Age (BBC Session November 1981)

DISC THREE - ALL FALL DOWN

All Fall Down
Party Of The Mind
Monument
In Suspense
Where The Love Is
Song And Dance
Calling The New Tune
Red Paint
Glass And Smoke
We Could Go Far
The One And A Half Minute Song (All Fall Down Sessions)
Sorry (All Fall Down Sessions)
As Feeling Dies (All Fall Down Sessions)
We Could Go Far (unreleased original version)
Plenty (This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal EP)
‘Neath Dancing Waves (This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal EP)
Amber (This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal EP)
Scapegoat In A Country Churchyard (This Cover Keeps Reality Unreal EP)

DISC FOUR - BBC LIVE IN CONCERT

Originally broadcast 21st November 1981
BBC Intro - Pete Drummond
Unwritten Law
Skeletons
Fatal Flaw
Winning
Sense Of Purpose
Heartland
New Dark Age
Originally broadcast 15th June 1985
BBC Intro - Pete Drummond + Intro music
Golden Soldiers
Under You
Total Recall
Burning Part Of Me
Whirlpool
Missiles
* releasedate 14th April 2014

That's a lot of repeated stuff, but at least a disc's worth of stuff I don't have/never heard.

My copy arrived today, sounds great on first listen, will A/B with Renascent copies.

Good interview with Bi Marshall here:
http://awww.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=7387

http://blog.anymeeting.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/charlie-sheen-winning.png

The Sound - Winning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWaN5aUbSLU
my favorite The Sound song, followed by 2.Unwritten Law 3.I Can't Escape Myself 4.Missiles (the Jeopardy version of all three songs.) http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Jeopardy/4042587

The new box definitely adds something to the mix, more depth, not as flat as the Renascent CDs. And no extra bass or anything like that.

I still think the "All Fall Down" outtakes are at the wrong speed despite claims that's what Adrian intended.

Still waiting for mine. Where are you in the world, Gerald?

Every review that I've seen of the new set goes out of its way to mention how much of an improvement the mastering is over the Renascent editions (which I thought were not bad by any means).

I'm in Boston, ordered from AmazonUK and it took just over a week.

I must say, I hadn't listened to the studio versions in a few years as the live takes are generally much fiercer.

Got mine today!

Couldn't stand it, so I skipped straight to All Fall Down. I noticed right away what you mean with "more depth." 'Glass and Smoke' actually has dynamics now!

Thought the Renascent editions would be hard to top, but somehow they did it.

Okay, next and presumably last Sound box set now up for preorder:

http://www.redsunrecords.com/the-sound-shock-of-daylight-heads-hearts-in-the-hothouse-thunder-up-propaganda-5-cd-set

DISC ONE - Shock Of Daylight

Golden Soldiers
Longest Days
Counting The Days
Winter
New Way Of Life
Dreams Then Plans
BONUS - Restless Songs and Golden Soldiers - The Lost Demo Recordings
Golden Soldiers (demo)
A New Way Of Life (demo)
Counting The Days (demo)
Mining For Heart (demo)
Oiled (demo)
Steel Your Air (demo)
Fall Of Europe (demo)
Love Is Not A Ghost (demo)
Blood And Poison (demo)
Whirlpool (demo)
DISC TWO - Heads And Hearts

Whirpool
Total Recall
Under You
Burning Part Of Me
Love Is Not A Ghost
Wildest Dreams
One Thousand Reasons
Restless Time
Mining For Heart
World As It Is
Temperature Drop
BONUS - B-Sides & Rare
Blood And Poison
Steel Your Air
Oiled
Shimmer
DISC THREE - In The Hot House (Live)

Winning
Under You
Total Recall
Skeletons
Prove Me Wrong
Wildest Dreams
Burning Part Of Me
Heartland
Hothouse
Judgement
Counting The Days
Red Paint
Silent Air
Sense Of Purpose
Missiles
DISC FOUR - Thunder Up

Acceleration Group
Hand Of Love
Barria Alta
Kinetic
Iron Years
Prove Me Wrong
Shot Up And Shut Down
Web Of Wicked Ways
I Give You Pain
Hand Of Love
You've Got A Way
BONUS - B-Sides
Iron Years (Remix)
I Give You Pain (Live)
Fall Of Europe
Such A Difference To Me
DISC FIVE - Propaganda

No Salvation
Deep Breath
Cost Of Living
Quarter Past Two
Night Vs. Day
Physical World
Statik
Music Business
Propaganda
Words Fail Me
One More Escape
Missiles

Most interested in those _Shock of Daylight_ era demos.

I love Shock of Daylight, kind of for sentimental reasons (first record of theirs I bought), but mostly cos that first side is knockout stuff imo. That sublime guitar part in Longest Days just melts me. Have heard it said that Terry Bickers was a big fan of Borland, and really it's not that far from Longest Days to Love In A Car - both borne out of lovely tremulous guitar lines; songs that make me catch my breath, not wanting the spell to be broken.

Apart from that and the live album, I don't actually know any of the other stuff on that box. Any good?

Just in case anyone doesn't know it already...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FhikwpRR58

Heads and Hearts and Thunder Up both have a lot of good songs on them -- I'm particularly fond of the former's "Wildest Dreams" -- and Propaganda is a nice early demos collection just before he started up the Sound as such.

The second box set arrived today. Digging into the extra stuff - the demos are interesting but I'm often amazed at how a decent sounding demo can go on to become an incredible finished song.

Just became aware of, and ordered, the second box set. Fantastic.

And early talk of a possible third set: http://www.brittleheaven.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=29

A quick A/B comparison of the new box vs the Renascent releases: not a big difference in sound quality, the box sounds like it's just a touch brighter and Adrian's vocals are clearer, especially on "In The Hothouse". A nice improvement overall but not as noticeable as with the first box.

I especially like having a proper version of "Oiled", for which I previously had a vinyl rip. What a fantastic song!

Oh, but they edited out some of the intro/outro stage chatter from "Hothouse". I don't know how I feel about that as I'm so used to it being there.

And while I'm being pedantic, the live version of "I Give You Pain" sounds like it's from a different show than the one on the 12".

Gonna get the new sets as soon as my tax refund comes in, should fill in the gaps in my Renascent discs / general knowledge of The Sound nicely. Til then, I second Ned's honorable mention, 12 years ago, of Borland's solo stuff, I particularly like "Long Dark Train" from the same 1996 album. And I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that no one's mentioned the song "AD RE: IAN," the 2013 tribute to Borland and another guy whose name I'm sure you can guess, from Slumberland gloomies Wax Idols. I felt a nice jolt when I heard of that song, as The Sound seem to be still so unrecognized 30 years after "Heads and Hearts" produced no hits. I'm not well-versed in this band's history, but I wonder if they purposefully avoided choosing "Total Recall" and "Love is Not a Ghost" as singles to escape the certain mega-fame that would have entailed.

Got the box in the mail yesterday and have made my way through a good chunk of it.

Thunder Up is the most dramatically improved, as it never received a remaster job.

Really nice to have all these b-sides as well.

Another winner of a set.

Aw man, that's a great rendition. Just seen what the original poster wrote about it here:

I suspect I'd probably think Winning was a lot nicer if the 'I'm gonna make it after all!' sentiment wasn't offet by the 'Hang on a minute, this guy jumped in front of a train three years ago!' realisation

― Ferg (Ferg), Tuesday, March 18, 2003 8:08 PM (9 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and I totally agree. Knowing that Borland would commit suicide in the most horrific way turns the way I feel about this song completely on its head. On its surface, it's a song about getting on top of a battle with depression and bad circumstances, but after knowing that Adrian killed himself and HOW he killed himself, the song feels so much more desperate. Like he wants to be "winning", rather than he is "winning". The song doesn't console me and make me feel like I can overcome obstacles in life; on the contrary, it makes me feel incredibly sad. The guy who wanted to win, more than anything in the fucking universe, sadly didn't. It's upsetting.

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Sunday, 20 January 2013 02:14 (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's one perspective, agreed. And every April I shed a tear for the poor bastard whose music will live with me forever.

BUT... For a time, he WAS winning his personal battles, and in some places he was winning the hearts and minds of fans.

The fact that his end was so dark doesn't diminish the power of the song, and it still inspires me.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Sunday, 20 January 2013 02:30 (three years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Keep on thinking about "Winning" and "New Dark Age" right now. Want to believe in the first song more.

Oh, it's a "New Dark Age" alright, and we'll "All Fall Down" and the "Heartland" will suffer during these "Iron Years". We'll see some "Brute Force" in the "Hothouse" while we're "Counting The Days". But there will be "Resistance" searching for that "Fatal Flaw" followed by "Dreams Then Plans". Once we find our "Sense Of Purpose", we'll reach out with the "Hand Of Love" and start "Winning".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH97tb4-6Uw

Been thinking a lot about this version of 'Silent Air' since the news of Anthony Bourdain hit yesterday.

wow that's an amazing song + performance!

Thanks for the revive - that 5CD set is so great.

Finally getting around to the Outsiders with Cherry Red's predictably excellent CD reissue of Calling On Youth.

First impression, for one of the supposedly "important early independent punk" albums, it's not actually very punk, is it? I mean, the guitar playing is way too good to actually be punk, and side two of the album is just kind of slow and quiet for the most part. Adrian's obviously really young and overly ambitious here, but he's obviously pretty charismatic, even at this very early point. Overall though, pleasantly surprised.

Taking in Close Up this evening and, I have to say, it's pretty much an all around improvement over Calling On Youth. Production, songs, technicality. . . just better on all fronts. Definitely segues nicely into the Propaganda era (which subsequently segues perfectly into Jeopardy).

https://austintayeshus.blogspot.com/2018/12/what-are-spectral-projections.html

https://www.discogs.com/master/2523988-The-Sound-Will-And-Testament-Starlight

Uhm?

oh wow! a live album of their later material i guess

look like it's all up on yt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mbq2cGjX8M

Yep, on Spotify too.

this incoming second layer comp popped up on bandcamp today:

https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/second-layer-courts-or-wars-review

hadn't actually heard 'courts of wars' before... fuuck, amazing song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_01T9uFgew

'or' not 'of' obv

yeah I first heard second layer through that song on a Messthetics comp. So cool!!

“that song” - courts or wars

(wide eyes emoji)

i'll be back in later with thoughts.

Second Layer is arguably more Joy Division THAN Joy Division. Fantastic, singular work - wonderfully dark and deep.

Hey Austin, in case didn't hear about this book:

Destiny Stopped Screaming: The Life and Times of Adrian Borland https://www.amazon.com/dp/9090379355/

I am a notoriously slow reader and likely won't get to this for yonks.

ahhh thanks for thinking of me ― definitely of interest! reviews look pretty positive. in my wishlist.

unrelated but the trash theory youtube channel recently did 7 Influential Post-Punk Bands You Should've Heard and the feature on the sound begins around 41mins. it's a good overview and i was thrilled to see them featured.

Yeah, I saw that. Adrian's gone 25 years and I'm always chuffed to see he's not forgotten.

I only discovered this band recently with From the Lion's Mouth, which is great! I think I'd heard about them numerous times here and other places over the years but maybe their generic name had me confusing them with other bands. Anyway, that's remedied now, look forward to listening to the rest!

I just realised I only know this band because of Jeopardy, which is obviously fucking great, and their first single, and I don't actually know any of their other stuff. I had no idea they had so many albums

I have the reissues of both Outsiders albums and love both of those, love Second Layer and the Witch Trials, funny/sad I know so little of Borland's music after that

First I heard of them was seeing a clip on one of those Whistle Test compilation shows that used to be on BBC Four, well over 20 years ago now. It was them playing “Sense of Purpose” and I was mesmerised; Borland was like a British Bob Mould to me! I got the Revenant CD of From the Lions Mouth soon after and I’ve loved it ever since (just got the vinyl reissue too).

It was only later, after learning more of their back story, that my realised late uncle might have known them; he toured with Echo and the Bunnymen back in the day doing their lights.

*realised my

it's officially unavailable digitally, but it needs to be heard: the band's john peel session from november 81. setlist is: fatal flaw, hothouse, new dark age, skeletons. the 'hothouse' they play here is the definitive: one round of the chorus will suffice, otherwise enjoy the tension.

Yeah the way that version of Hothouse transforms the song is incredible, that Peel session always worth a listen

I listened to a live version of Sense of Purpose on Spotify after that and that thumping final stretch gets me hyped every time, would love to have seen them do that live

Borland was like a British Bob Mould to me!

hadn't ever occurred to me before, but yeah i totally get that - that raw urgency to communicate truths that feel like they're burning a hole right through them, that other place they both seem to go to when they're channeling that through a guitar. lots of my own teenage angst bound up in both back catalogues, both sometimes kind of painful for me to listen to now for that reason tbh