XTC C/D S/D

I think Nonsuch is one of their best albums, even though a lot of it's really slow and subdued and Colin's writing went down a level here (and IMO never really came back). But most of the Andy songs are fabulous.

All this talk about their albums made me try and rank them. Pretty happy with this order.

1. Skylarking
2. Drums & Wires
3. Black Sea
4. The Big Express
5. Nonsuch
6. Apple Venus
7. Go 2
8. English Settlement
9. White Music
10. Oranges & Lemons
11. Wasp Star
12. Mummer

every single xtc album (apart from big express, I think) took seriously 20–30 listens before it bedded down in my brain. nonsuch was definitely the result of high rotation in the back of a car for a week. the compact xtc was the next album I bought, and that took a few months to bed in. skylarking literally took ~years~.

funny, cuz my experience has beeb very different. the first XTC albums i bought/heard were mummer and the big express. i found them quite difficult at first, as i was in my teens and just starting to experiment with "weird-sounding" music, but sufficiently interesting to stick with. i eventually warmed to both, especially TBE, and they prodded me to explore the rest of the band's catalog.

the following year, i picked up go 2, white music and skylarking in fairly quick succession. i immediately adored all three, and for years would have called them my favorite XTC albums by a substantial margin. at this point, though, it's hard to for me to pick favorites (or least favorites) among their first 8 albums. i love them all in different ways and at different times. this week i'm all about the big express, but that could change tomorrow.

nonesuch and oranges and lemons, however, i've never entirely warmed too, despite repeated attempts with the latter. O&L gets better every time i drag it back out, but still contains only a few songs i care deeply about. the combination of vertical complexity, lightness of tone and whimsical fussiness keeps me at a distance. i guess i tend to like my XTC a little simpler and tuffer.

beeb lol

= been

at this point, though, it's hard to for me to pick favorites (or least favorites) among their first 8 albums.

this is otm. i tried off the back off kitchen person's ranking and just couldn't do it – the bottom half is easy but the top half depends on so many factors.

Aw, I have to resist the urge to get my giant 'Mummer' foam hand out and start up with my ra ra ra.

dudgeon's production lets it down

I disagree - the album is supposed to have a very slick, professional sound. But I'm curious to know what your issue is.

Personally I feel that Nonsuch would be better if "Wrapped in Grey" were the last song. I like "The Ugly Underneath" fine but the album is long and the last two songs do nothing for me. Moulding lets the album down quite a bit (in fact, outside of "One of the Millions" and "My Bird Performs" his post-Dukes material has kinda sucked)

wasn't "King for a Day" a Moulding? i think that one's great. and i'll rep for "In Another Life" too, though you're generally right otherwise

It is and I like it too, but I feel he only deserves half a writing credit for that

his two songs on Apple Venus are great. but agree it was generally downhill post-Dukes for some reason

Skylarking=overrated. White Music=Underrated.

half of that is otm

yeah I think White Music is great
and Moulding's songs on Apple Venus are really the only reason why that album as a whole isn't their absolute best

Skylarking has misled many XTC neophytes. It's a good album, but completely misrepresentative. I think English Settlement, Black Sea, or Drums and Wires would be much better ways to get into XTC.

It's certainly the one with the biggest influence by the producer. Rundgren was really important to that album and yes it don't really have the "XTC sound". It's still one of the best albums of the entire decade. IMO English Settlement is the one you want for an XTC first purchase

Depends what you want from XTC. English Settlement represents the decadent end of their herky-jerky sound.

I think it covers both sides of their spectrum well

I concur with poliopolice above, those 3 albums are the band's high watermarks and the most representative of their true sound, also the best place for folks to dip their toes into.

^^^

like I said upthread, everyone wants something different from this band. Skylarking is the midway point (and the peak, imo) between their (for lack of a better term) angular post-punk jangle period and their pastoral grownup "pop" period

I mean come on "true sound" gtfo

this band's catalog is all over the place, they don't have a true sound

to clarify - this is not one of those bands who had a formula like, say, the Ramones, from which they only occasionally deviated, resulting in one or two truly unrepresentative albums. This was a band with a pretty broad range of interests, that changed very, very radically over a long period of time.

You're right. I shouldn't have said "true sound." Those are the three records that I find superior and tend to define the band's sound by them but, you're right. They started out wheezy and frenetic, then went into the true pop period, which I love to this day.

Black Sea and Skylarking are my favorites, with The Big Express not far behind. When I want more I play the singles comp.

i guess i get to eat my words, cuz i hauled out nonsuch today and gave it a spin. hadn't heard it in a decade or so. though it's not their best work, i like it quite a bit. to my ears, it's better than oranges and lemons, overall. i even like the colin songs, though the lyrics to "the smartest monkeys" are still a problem.

Is Oranges and Lemons generally considered to be crapulent? That's when I got off the bus, but I didn't know if most XTC fans felt similarly.

there's plenty of good stuff on it - Chalkhills and Children, both singles, Merely a Man, the Loving

This says a lot more about me than the song, but when I first heard Pink Thing, I thought it was really shocking!

wish I could find the Hanle y post where he exclaims it is NOT ABOUT A BABY

Oranges & Lemons is such a mixed bag, I think it's their most dated sounding album. Chalkhills & Children is obviously classic, Cynical Days and Hold Me Daddy are quite moving, Mayor of Simpleton and The Loving are good singles but really I can't remember much else about it. I've really only kept that album in my collection for the amazing artwork. Nonsuch is so much better all round.

Can't say I'm a fan of the record. At that point, there was no record I anticipated more eagerly -- Skylarking was all-time for me -- but Oranges and Lemons sounded (and still sounds) to me like a jingle-writer's demo.

Really the only one I *hate* on O&L and skip every time is the embarrassing and stupid "Here Comes President Kill Again," which I would probably be more tolerant of if it had less grating lyrics. "Hold Me My Daddy" is pretty lousy, too.

There are a lot of really good tracks on it, though! I had "Across This Antheap" on in my car and my friend asked, "WHAT IS THIS AMAZING MUSIC?" I was like "damn straight."

"Miniature SUn" is not so great either, I think I can't handle the synth horns.

See, now I think "Oranges & Lemons" is damn solid all around. To my ears the production isn't as much of a problem as it is on "Nonsuch". I'll echo the comment above - "One Of The Millions" is Colin's last gasp at greatness. I like everything on it though I find "Pink Thing" a bit of a tired joke after 20+ years. You can find demos for 12 of the 15 tunes and that solves the production problems.

O & L was the first XTC album I ever bought, and my mom's car cassette player ate it so I bought it again shortly afterwards. Such was my <3 for O & L.

Why did I buy it (at age 12)?
I heard "Scarecrow People" and "Poor Skeleton Steps Out" on tv (still don't know what I was watching at the time) and I was like I LOVE THIS MUST FIND and then I figured out what it was (no internet, this is the 80s) and felt so proud of myself. The album really appealed to my young political inclinations too, so there was that too.

I love the whole thing, but "Cynical Days" and "Chalkhills and Children" are still v v good aside from the stuff I liked when I was a kid. My dad found "Pink Thing" really embarrassing, which I used to my advantage by singing it around the house constantly. He didn't think I understood it. I did.

I bought the 2lp EngSett, its a broad thing and wonderful.

Even the b-sides are stunning! Punch&Judy, Heaven/broken glass, etc

1. Black Sea
2. Nonsuch
3. Skylarking
4. Apple Venus
5. Drums And Wires
6. English Settlement
7. Mummer
8. The Big Express
9. Go 2
10. White Music
11. Oranges & Lemons
12. Wasp Star

I'm not a fan of the O&L production either - dunno where I heard this but someone had written that it sounds like the band is full of wind-up musicians clattering away at their instruments, and I think that sounds pretty accurate. Also it's smashed with treble. Still, some of the material is top-notch and I find myself listening to a lot of the individual tracks quite often.

btw the best English Settlement B-side is "Tissue Tigers" - one of my favorite XTC tunes, actually

I remember reading that both Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory were very critical over the way the production was handled on Oranges & Lemons. Andy Partridge much, much less so, but I imagine that's because he enjoyed the experience of making it and had a lot more of a say in the making of it compared to his experience of making Skylarking.

I can understand why the production on Oranges & Lemons may not be everyone's cup of tea, and certainly a lot has been written about it in the past. For me, the album was a bit of a grower compared to the albums released on either side of it; Skylarking and Nonsuch, both of which I liked pretty much immediately. I found it a bit of an overwhelming listen at first. Take the opening track, 'Garden Of Earthly Delights', for example: as a song its the usual XTC mix of the catchy and the unorthodox, but its coupled with production overload - there's so much going on and parts of it, like the guitar solo, can be very disorienting at first.

Listening to it now, I'm not convinced the production treatment suits all of the songs; but when it works, like on 'The Mayor Of Simpleton', it really works.

I'd also like to confirm that I'm another member of the 'Across This Antheap' fan club. Absolutely love that song. Great set of lyrics. That track was a contender for Skylarking originally, wasn't it? Along with Little Lighthouse and Shiny Cage and a few others that ended up being put out on other things?

yeah the production on oranges&lemons is really unfortunate, the instruments all feel like sharp points sticking into your head

funny, cuz that describes my sense of the big express, but there an abrasive sharpness works in the music's favor. my reservations abt oranges and lemons have to do with the combination of distracting density and a sound palette that often evokes fusion and prog, all tight, smooth and fussy. oddly though, i do like "the garden of earthly delights", the song that best fits that description.

yeah I dig Garden of Earthly Delights a lot too and actually think that one *should* be overproduced

"kid, stay and snip your cord off" was one of my favorite introductions of all time
the whole first verse really

Wow, don't know what I thought the first line was, but it wasn't that!

"Can't all think like Chekov, but you'll be okay" is kind of the quintessential Andy Partridge lyric

Also love "Don't hurt nobody, unless of course they ask you"

it was like my real parents were finally talking to me

"Hold Me My Daddy" is fairly middling until it gets to the coda, which is fantastic - the best afropop homage Andy ever pulled off

yeah that singlehandedly redeems the song (though I love the guitar tone the whole way)

Meh. The coda is my least favourite part of the song, which isn't really one of my favourite XTC tracks to begin with.