Beggars Banquet レコード& CD

Review: ***B-STOCK: Slight surface marks ***


The Charlatans self-titled fourth album gets a lovely yellow make over for this reissue on Beggars Arkive. It's the first time for over 20 years new copies of this landmark album have been pressed, and Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road has taken care of the excellent mastering. The original release date was in 1995, and the album was the most ambitious of the band's career with plenty of number ones included along the way. The most successful of these of course was 'Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over'. It's a real piece of classic 90s indie that will always sound good.

Review: After they'd moved on from their earliest moves as Death Cult, Ian Astbury's goth-tinged new wave rockers The Cult laid down their opening manifesto proper on Dreamtime and forged a classic in the process. It's a totem of the darker side of new wave for good reason, draped in shimmering guitar lines and angular grooves that defined the era, loaded with driving anthems like the title track and brooding atmospheres aplenty - just catch the sinewy mood of '83rd Dream' as a prime example. An all-time great, now available once again thanks to this reissue on Beggars.

Review: Originally released in 1984, following the band's evolution from the Southern Death Cult, to Death Cult, and then simply The Cult, Dreamtime finds the outfit featuring Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, pivoting from their goth and punk roots into something eclectic, aspirational, and adventurous. Rife with lyrical references to the indigenous cultures of the Americas and Australia, and set against a more bombastic and muscular musical backdrop, Dreamtime hints at what would envelop the band over the next four decades, a dedication to their wholly unique songwriting, both musically and thematically and the frenzy that was soon to come with the release of Love only a year later.

Review: Fields Of The Nephilim, a UK goth band formed in 1984, made waves with their second studio album The Nephilim. Originally released in 1988, this goth masterpiece and reissued here in form set was released, featuring four bonus tracks for fans to enjoy. Known for their blend of hard rock, goth and psychedelic elements, led by vocalist Carl McCoy's growling, harsh voice adding a heavy edge to the music alongside Tony Pettit on bass, Peter Yates and Paul Wright on guitars and "Nod" Alexander Wright on drums, they create a powerhouse of sound on tracks like 'Chord of Souls' and epic seven minute opener 'Endemoniada'. The album debuted at an impressive number 12 on the UK album charts, solidifying Fields Of The Nephilim's status as pioneers in the goth rock genre along side contemporaries like Sisters of Mercy and The Mission.