Third time's the curse for the Lords of the New Church (see here), who would never really recover from this 1984 album's commercial failure. And it's not for lack of trying. The Lords worked with metal producer guy of the era (Chris Tsangerides) to gain a crisp, metallic sound, which Trouser Press described as "a cross between Raw Power and Rebel Yell". The songs are solid, the production writ large and the lyrical themes as mad as ever. But it all came to naught.
Tsangerides' metal pedigree does bring out the Rock but the Lords with their sneering-yet-catchy songs ("Method to our Madness"), their faux satanism (Aleister Crowley's law is used as the title of "Do What Thou Wilt") and those funky bass-lines n' female backing vocals ("Murder-Style") still often end up sounding like a better version of the later Rolling Stones.
The Lords story soon peters out but not before we cover the gruesome song that sparked this series of posts...
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so bad yet so good...seriously, this album did have some gems that rose above the banality (is that even a word) of the mid '80s...regardless, great series on the lords (probably the first punk super group though i would argue that the professionals did first...not necessarily better, but first). thanks again.
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ReplyDeleteYeah the banality of the eighties was a special kind of evil. The Lords played with the conventions of the time in interesting ways, both to their benefit and their detriment.
P.S. wow i can't even remember who the non-Pistols in the Professionals were.
embarrassingly, i can't either and i'm far too lazy to look.
ReplyDeleteanyway, great posts, great blog and thanks. i'll definitely be back. this was fun.
Sadly, I did check and there's one no-name and one guy from Subway Sect. Though it did get me thinking that P.I.L. was kind of a super-group. only with the tossed off members(Lu -the Dammned,Keith Levene -the Clash).
ReplyDeleteThanks, it was a fun set of posts even if it made me want to post some Christian rock as a balance.
Ah, the memories flood back to me of my youth!
ReplyDeleteFor me, this was a superb album - the only problem with all the CD versions I have bought is the track "My Kingdom Come" suffers from sticky tape syndrome & you can clearly hear the tape slipping.
Does the IRS version have this problem?
FWIW, Crowley was not a satanist - "Do What Thou Wilt" meant to find your true path in life & do that - do your true will, not do what you want. The Chorus on that one is directly lifted from "The Mass Of The Phoenix".
This Bread I Eat, this oath I swear
As I inflame myself with prayer
There is no fear there is no guilt
This is the Law - DO WHAT THOU WILT.
Thanks for your Lords comments the Crowley clarification.
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