Lexicon of Love Critical Revisionism: C/D?

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Just re-read this thread. Brought me back to when I realized "All of My Heart" was the one moment on the record where you see behind the curtain. And it was gorgeous and vulnerable.

Makes me think that all the "Would you really put this on your Top 100 now" revisionism (the view of Ian Mac, I believe, in Uncut a few years ago) is beside the point. Maybe I'm wrong.

Discuss.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Where does the revisionism come in? people liked it when it came out and people still like it. or myabe that's just me.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:29 (twenty-two years ago)

That's not just you Scott, I don't recall ever seeing this album being critically trashed.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Really? Either Ian MacDonald or David Stubbs gave it two-stars in Uncut a few years back, and I remember some other things as well...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh well, they're a pair of old farts, who cares what they think - David Stubbs would say the moon was square if he thought it was "amusing" or contrary enough.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha, yeah, I suppose. I think it was partly based around the fact that the record was so much of its time and had maybe become dated. It was and has, but for some reason, I don't see that as being a problem. The only criticism I'd level at it is possibly that "Valentine's Day" sounds a little too similar to other tracks — it's maybe one cut short of utter perfection.

But in no way does that bother me.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

I can see some revisionism of Zillionare or Up. i don't really even remember what Up sounds like to be honest. Zillionare is brilliant of course, but everyone might not see it that way. And i do remember Beauty Stab being held up against Lexicon in that dreaded second album way and most people thinking it came up way short.(myself included probably at the time)

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:44 (twenty-two years ago)

In the much fabled MM book "Unknown Pleasures" an essay on "Lexicon Of Love" claims it all falls apart in the last quarter, which spoils the album. Frankly, I don't quite see it - "All of my heart" gives me goosebumps.

― Rob M (Rob M), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, no way. If anything, the last 3 songs (excepting "Look of Love Pt. 4) comprise the best sequence on the record. "Date Stamp" is fan-fucking-tastic.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

All Of My Heart has made me cry before. In a good way.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

'Up' was trying to be a bit Ten City, Phase II, that kind of garagey housey thing. And they went for Acieed Ted floppy hair and world-embracing smiles.

It was ok.

― Buffalo Stan (Buffalo Stan), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:52 (twenty-two years ago)

That Uncut review was certainly I Mac.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It's one of those records that maybe one in every ten plays I'll have completely misjudged my wanting to hear and then it'll sound awful, and the next time I put it on it's business as usual (i.e. I love it). Scott Walker is like this too. I sometimes wonder if the times I hate it are me being lucid and the rest of the time I'm just being a ponce, though.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

ABC were probably a bit too knowing and ironic for him.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:00 (twenty-two years ago)

On that top ten list thread it's the one album that brings strongo and dr.c together in an embrace of eternal new romanticism. that's saying something right there.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:07 (twenty-two years ago)

It's been my best.album.ever. since the day I first heard it and nothing much has changed.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I hope you will soon discover,
me i go from one extreme to another.

― true love, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Slightly off-topic, but I do love that MM 'Unknown Pleasures' book - Taylor Parkes on Abba is one of the finest things he ever wrote, particularly about the classic English angst-ridden adolescence - "Especially if it was all your fault because you were a fucking twat."

― Mog, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

i love that book too, but annoying lost my copy when moving from home to uni and having to get rid of all my melody makers :-( Anyone know where i can find copies of the articles online or elsewhere? Ones that I'd really want to read again are the Parkes / Abba one, Reynolds on Tusk (do i remember that right?) and someone on Searching for the Young soul Rebels (Price? Paphides?)

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

The only criticism I'd level at it is possibly that "Valentine's Day" sounds a little too

Actually, that's one of my fave none-singles - I love the first chord progression in the verse.

I think it's a bloody great album, but the drums ruin the mix: far too loud and synthetic...that's my only criticism.

― Jez (Jez), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

One of the best first sides ever, which makes side two seem maybe just a hair weaker, but the album's still been one of my top 20 favorite discs for years. I'm not even sick of the singles, or turned off by the way so many still treat it like '80s kitsch.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 17:59 (twenty-two years ago)

it was dont stand me down by chris roberts robin.

and it's here

http://www.hungoverdrawn.co.uk/dexys/01.html

the date inside the original 'unknown pleasures' book was
4th march 1995, my 21st birthday. somehow that always
seemed significant. the book certainly was.

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Unaccountably, I missed the issue of MM with that book. Good work for tracking down that Roberts, Pisky.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

It's one of those records that maybe one in every ten plays I'll have completely misjudged my wanting to hear and then it'll sound awful, and the next time I put it on it's business as usual (i.e. I love it). Scott Walker is like this too. I sometimes wonder if the times I hate it are me being lucid and the rest of the time I'm just being a ponce, though.

Same thing happens with Walker to me too. I always think ABC sounds awful, though.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Heard that "All of My Heart"? Or "Date Stamp"?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I always though Pulp could do good ABC covers - especially "All of My Heart."

― mike a, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

It's that Sheffield thing, see.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:51 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks for that piscesboy

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 08:56 (twenty-two years ago)

"Unknown Pleasures" seems to have been read by absolutely everyone of a certain age, and been important to them. Us.

That Chris Roberts article is a wonder, though I had forgotten the line "You can't edit the unedited." Is that true?

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 10:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I have remembered that line a great deal. I am not sure of the truth of it though.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 11:03 (twenty-two years ago)

the review was important to dexy's mainman kevin rowland himself too.
he read the unknown pleasures review while getting over his cocaine addiction sometime in the mid 90's. chris roberts then did the 'uncut' interview with him when 'don't stand me down' was first
reissued. his *original* review of the album in mm (from 85 or whenever) now *that* would be a thing to read.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 24 March 2004 12:40 (twenty-two years ago)

My copy of the book is in pristine condition! Sorry to rub it in!! I always thought a follow up was planned. I was living in London at the time and a week before the book came out with MM I purchased Tusk in Notting Hill's Tape And Record Exchange for 50p (all inner and outer sleeves included). In fact there were over 10 Tusks in the same shelf all for under £3. I used to have an old cassete version of it but that was lost since 1988. So I was delighted to see the album critically rehabilited by Simon Reynolds. Cathal Coughlan is the only guy in that book who had two albums in there, both essays written predictably enough by Andrew Mueller. Coughlan dosen't get much praise here on ILM!!

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:30 (twenty-two years ago)

the album critically rehabilited by Simon Reynolds
Actually, Reynolds only rehabilitates 4 of the Stevie Nicks songs. It would be interesting, now that a decent CD reissue is out, to read what he thinks of the rest of Tusk today.

Hmmm, I bet you can't get the vinyl edition for £3 these days, not in the MVE anyway.

I've talked about "Unknown Pleasures" at least twice before on ILX, so I'll stop there.

― Jeff W (zebedee), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah he's not too keen on Christine McVie and Buckingham's songs were described as weird little sonic artefacts or something like that. Still think he liked most of Tusk however.

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Everyone keeps talking of it as 'a book'. I remember it more as a booklet. If I go through my old music papers in my parents' loft, am I likely to find it slipped in between the covers or was it really too bulky for that?

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:52 (twenty-two years ago)

It's about 4 millimetres thick.

― Ricardo (RickyT), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:55 (twenty-two years ago)

An "Unknown Pleasures" thread, wow! I had no idea that this book had such a following.
Agreed on the greatness of Taylor Parkes' Abba piece, I ended up buying the album because of it.
Agreed that "All of My Heart" and the last quarter of "Lexicon" rules it. However, I have no idea how that album ended up in the book, it is by far the least "unknown" or "lost" album of the bunch.

xpost N ... yeah, it's a thin book, you could easily sleep with it under your mattress and not know it's there.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I have good hopes of finding it up there. I think the record I'm most pleased it made me buy is 'More Specials'.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:57 (twenty-two years ago)

It's timing was critical. I don't think it would have worked it it had come out much later than 1993.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

it was an actual book, just small print
and small in actual size.
it had about 15 seperate essays. there was probably twice
as much text in there as in, say, that '31 songs' crap by
nick h*rnby.

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 24 March 2004 13:59 (twenty-two years ago)

What defines a book? A spine?

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:01 (twenty-two years ago)

For anyone interested, the main other thread where 'Unknown Pleasures' is discussed is No Other - Gene Clark

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha - I realise that I have subconsciously copied Tom's point about it being the last point at which it could have come out and mattered.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I think ILM should publish its own version. Maybe as a nicely typeset pdf.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

In fact I would offer to project manage it myself if enough people promised ON THEIR MUM'S LIFE to meet deadlines.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow! Would you finance it too?

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

adobe acrobat IS pretty expensive

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I assumed 'pdf' stood for 'prettily designed folio'.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

I am imagining something along the lines of The Manual - http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/stories/read_the_fucking_manual.php

Nicely designed and easy to print off and staple yourself. The actual typesetting and manufacture of the pdf would be a piece of the proverbial.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:37 (twenty-two years ago)

But your time is so valuable.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, an ILM version of "Unknown Pleasures" would be great. I volunteer to write about Inspiral Carpets' "The Beast Inside", Drugstore's s/t, or perhaps Cabaret Voltaire's "Plasticity".

Didn't UP come out in '95 or '96?

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:55 (twenty-two years ago)

So, wait — are we talking about a booklet that came with an issue of Melody Maker that had all sorts of goodies by the likes of Simon Reynolds and Chris Roberts?

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 14:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, but the consensus it that it was a book.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 15:02 (twenty-two years ago)

"If I go through my old music papers in my parents' loft"

All my old music papers are in the same place and my mother continually threatens to chuck them all out saying they're a fire hazzard. Does anyone else have this problem?

― David Gunnip (David Gunnip), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes. But the mice are eating them faster than fire is catching up with them. All Xmas issues have already already lost their covers.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 16:45 (twenty-two years ago)

> Either Ian MacDonald or David Stubbs gave it two-stars in Uncut a few years back...

I remember it well, and I'm still steamed about it. Not loving Lexicon is the same as not loving pop music, and anybody who doesn't worship at its altar should gather up their copies of Revolver, Pet Sounds, Forever Changes and all those other touchstones, and burn them - because they're not in love with music, they're in love with an intellectual construct (and, in the case of the Uncut scribe, his overinflated ego).

― Palomino (Palomino), Thursday, 25 March 2004 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, Ian Mac's dead now, so you can probably allow yourself to cool off. You've been vindicated.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 25 March 2004 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Eh, I'm not sure how the man's suicide proves my thesis, actually.

― Palomino (Palomino), Thursday, 25 March 2004 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

It has to be Ian M., since Stubbs has written elsewhere about loving said album.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 25 March 2004 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

The only criticism I'd level at it is possibly that "Valentine's Day" sounds a little too

I agree that it's probably one of the weaker songs, but the last few lines of lyrics are pure genius ("where are the diamonds" to the end). I'd be a Fred Astaire. ;)

Classic

― Luke Broster, Saturday, 27 March 2004 06:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Listening to many of the remixes off of slsk, I must say, this only gets more classic...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 3 April 2004 05:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Having just scanned the shelves I fear "Unknown Pleasures" was one of dozens of old paperbacks abandoned at Finds in Greenwich (the junk shop we lived above three years ago).

No one seems to have mentioned Magazine's Secondhand Daylight here or on the other thread, but that was in there. David Stubbs possibly. I was being smug about already loving that t'other day to Tim H but, now I think of it, I'm sure the review was responsible for my picking up that mid-90s Virgin Universal Magazine best-of (my brother's LPs being so very far away).

I think the main effect of that book(let) has been to leave me with a readymade mental tick-list of records worth investigating if I ever find myself a bit stumped in a HMV sale. I've nearly bought Clear Spot three times.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Saturday, 3 April 2004 07:47 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

someone says zillionaire is brilliant upthread. IS it?

it's got great artwork!

― piscesboy, Friday, 3 June 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

Zillionaire is brilliant: I listen to it much more than I do Lexicon. There is an argument to be made (or that has been made) that ABC was, for a while, ahead of their time: they junked the orchestrated sounds of Lexicon to make Beauty Stab, an underappreciated rock album that came out before britpop really took off, and Zillionaire is likewise a kind of mainstream hip-hop album.

― brittle-lemon, Friday, 3 June 2005 12:31 (twenty years ago)

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