Lloyd Cole And The Commotions: Classic Or Dud

In other Lllllloyd news: Dave Eggars 'I was a teenage Lloyd Cole fan': http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1353957,00.html

Perhaps because the song is actually based on Renata Adler's novel, ahem, 'Speedboat', Dave?

Must read Cook's reporting back!

And thanks, Doc.

I will exchange it for something more suitable, I think.

OTM. I used to be very fond of this record but lost my copy years ago. I recently replaced it and wished I hadn't bothered. I couldn't believe how badly the production had dated.

-- PJ Miller (pjmiller6...), May 25th, 2005.

"Easy Pieces", maybe..

If you dig into the http://www.lloydcole.com forum, there are rough MP3s of new songs, which seem close to _Music in a Foreign Language_ in style.

Well, classic. An under appreciated one, for sure. His first solo album LC has the potential to launch him into significant recognition in the USA, but the circumstances did not gel per chance.

I have briefly met Lloyd twice, both times at Mercury Lounge in NYC. First at a Del Amitri (they are friends w/ LC) concert - where after listening to my drivel re my fav LC songs, he predicted (correctly) that I may like his next disc Love Story. The next time was in the late afternoon when he was having a beer while doing his set list for a benefit concert (for Elephants). I was asking the bartender for tickets when he modestly told me that it was not going to be a real LC concert for he would only be playing 5 or 6 songs even though headlining. The concert was quite good, and luckily introduced me to the female Lloyd Cole in the form of one Karen Iris (http://www.karenires.com/).

Ranking the discs:

1 Lloyd Cole X *****
2 Rattlesnakes *****
3 Love Story *****
4 Negatives ****1/2
5 Don't get weird ****
6 Easy Pieces ****
7 Bad Vibes ***1/2
8 Mainstream ***
9 MIFL ***

we will bypass Etc and Plastic Wood for side projects... looking forward to anti-depressant.

For those wondering what LC would perhaps sound like if he was born in Pennsylvania, sang even more about betrayal, had a fragment of Dylan in his voice, and played quitar more often like Robert Quine -- consider Kevin Salem's Ecstatic and/or Soma City.

Of course LC also gets classic bonus points for being a big influence on Matthew Sweet's GIRLFRIEND disc, even recommending to him to rename, rock-up and imclude the title song.

I saw Lloyd live on Sunday, with Neil Clark and a malfunctioning computer. They seemed a tad under-rehearsed. I think they should have ditched the computer and concentrated on playing guitars together. And why does Lloyd so often insist on ending songs early, and stopping Clark from taking cool exciting solos where they belong?

I was struck by how good a song 'Past Imperfect' is, for a songwriter so far into his career.

Half the PA wasn't working for half the set, and Neil's monitors were malfunctioning too.

I did not get to see The Who, apart from via the red button on my handset.

Has he ever disowned an album? The Negatives' "Tried to Rock" seemed more self-effacing and a comment on the albums' receptions than a direct statement against their quality.

Looking forward to a Seattle tour stop in 2007.

Lloyd's entire BBC output - sessions & live, with the Commotions & solo - are now out on 3 sets (5 discs total). The sessions are fantastic and benefit, as almost all artists do, from the minimal production / short recording time required. The live shows are pretty good on first listen with some unique covers thrown in for good measure.

I liked his last solo album much more than _Musc In A Foreign Language_ but neither get as much airtime as _The Negatives_.

Thanks for the tip! Just ordered all three. A few of the non-album tracks have shown up on singles over the years, right? "Mystery Train", for one. Looking forward to a proper release of that.

Wonder if that means he'll release a b-sides collection. "Blame Mary Jane", "Eat Your Greens", "Radio City Music Hall", etc. - there are gems to be mined.

http://open.spotify.com/track/7iVBfvL8cvb2GmljUDJE6Y

i had a dream about lloyd a few nights ago.

i like to hear Mainstream every once in a while. to think 29 once seemed so old to me! still a pretty song to hear at 40.

i can't actually remember 29 - maybe i'll dig the record out today. i still fondly remember From the Hip Sean Penn Blues and Big Snake. i always thought My Bag was a bit of a crap song though.

a lad who has just started working at my local shop looks like a young Lloyd. that's probably why i had that dream about him the other night. i can't remember the details of the dream though.

I listened to Don't Get Weird On Me, Babe last week. "She's a Girl and I'm a Man" may be his greatest song.

Currently finding myself obsessed with Easy Pieces. It's the only one of the Commotions-era albums I never owned (though I heard several of its songs on the best of).

"Minor Character" is often my fave Lloyd Cole song.

While "Easy Pieces" is the weakest of the Commotions album, it's still really solid. Better live, I think, without some of the odd production choices.

Meanwhile, Lloyd's got a new album with a real-live band coming out in September. Fan-financed (including me) this time. I'm very glad to see he's got other folks with him as his last two solo albums were very weak, in part I think because he's all alone with himself.

Johnny Fever OTM; serious disagreement with Gerald McBoing-Boing. LOVE Easy Pieces all the way through, no discernable weaknesses to be found

Does it have to be a SERIOUS disagreement? I mean, I rank the Commotions albums thusly:

Rattlesnakes - 10/10, fucking perfect, timeless album.

Mainstream - 9/10, love this to death as well, great tunes, clever lyrics ("Mr. Madonna" indeed), slightly less timeless. Admittedly this was the first Lloyd album I heard so there might be some nostalgia fogging my vision.

Easy Pieces - 8.5/10, when I say this is the 'weakest', I mean it's simply their 3rd best of 3. And "Brand New Friend", "Grace", "Perfect Blue" and "James" are better on the BBC comp while "Cut Me Down", "While I Love Country Music" and "Lost Weekend" kill on the recent Folksinger solo albums.

For me it goes Mainstream>>Rattlesnakes>>>Easy Pieces. I think the third album just edges out the first by virtue of its darker edge and the sense of melancholy that haunts much of it. Rattlesnakes is great but it just sounds a little bit too clever in places, although the 20th anniversary reunion show I saw in 2004 was a blissful affair. As for Easy Pieces it's a classic example of the difficult second album to me, a few of the conceits are rather strained and the production sounds kind of cluttered. I remember reading an interview with Cole somewhere in which he said that "Minor Character" was one of the few songs he was ashamed of, just too easy and tossed off.

The self-titled solo album pretty much takes up where Mainstream left off and is also excellent, it was downhill from then on.

I'll disagree (but not seriously) with that sentiment - Lloyd's solo work in the 90s is damn solid, though I'll admit that "Bad Vibes" is just a strange album, an example of an artist working outside his comfort zone and failing - but in a fascinating way, I think. "The Negatives" was as good as anything else he's done.

Some artists have voices I'll follow anywhere they go, Lloyd is one of them.

CA is where
Everybody falls
Down, off the wagon
And under the wheels

Great, great song.