Track Listing 1. Ice Queen 2. Skin Deep 3. Let Me Down Easy 4. No Mercy 5. North Winds 6. Uptown 7. Punch And Judy 8. Spain 9. Laughing 10. Souls 11. Mad Hatter
| Details | | Number of CDs: | 1 | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Distributor: | Sony Music/Arvato Services | | Recording Mode: | Stereo |
Album Notes This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, and this ain't no "Peaches En Regalia." Like Wire, the Stranglers were part of a punk movement from which they quickly jettisoned, four musicians who could actually play their instruments with considerable prowess, and who quickly grasped that, sharklike, they needed to move forward or die. AURAL SCULPTURE resembles the power punk noise of the Stranglers' early records only in name. What you have instead is a collection of elegiac, and sometimes atmospheric, art rock tunes that enclosed the Stranglers patented sneer and edgy attitude in sophisticated arrangements and glossy compositions. "Ice Queen" features some fine organ work by keyboardist Dave Greenfield, set over a galloping beat and sassy horns. "Skin Deep" could almost be Ultravox in leather drag, Greenfield's synths trilling over singer Hugh Cornwells' characteristic throaty baritone and Jet Black's crisp drumming. AURAL SCULPTURE didn't break the Stranglers into worldwide stardom, but it's a stalwart document by a group that got more and more interesting with each passing record.
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