ACR - Good Together LP, 1989
This album is not for everyone. This is the commercial, sanitized (major label) version of ACR. I believe the band kindof wishes this didn't exist now (I know Martin Moscrop said as much). At first, I didn't like it, but with some plays it really, really grew on me. There's not much funkiness here at all, and the lyrics are sortof sappy & overly optimistic at times, but then you have to realize this was back in the days when the drug Ecstasy was all the rage. I think even if you can't take the sugary-ness of this, there is one main reason listen to it and that is Anthony Quigley's sax, which fucking slays me. In fact, for clear evidence of why this record is worthwhile, please skip ahead to the tracks "Every Pleasure", "River's Edge", & "Coldest Days".
This record also marked the last time ACR would use regular instruments to my knowledge. They released an EP soon after this (also entitled "Good Together" if memory serves) but it was all electronic, even the drums, and as someone I was chatting with last night said "Why would you use freaking programmed drums if you have Donald Johnson in your band?" Indeed. They released some stuff after this album, but I never liked any of it and gave up on them. I'm delighted that on their new album they've gone back to using regular instruments. Can't wait to hear it.
Apparently this album was indeed released on CD but I've never been able to find a copy. I was somewhat unhappy with my vinyl copy for quite some time, but after my friend Adam let me use his record cleaning machine, I got a nice rip of this.
4 comments:
CD has 3 more songs on it...first of them "good together"
Yeah, I'm aware of that. I was thinking they had just added the Four For The Floor EP to the end of it, but it does look as though that's not correct. I used to have the FFTF EP on CD and really didn't like it. It was all techno as I recall, nothing like the album, and it included the song "Good Together". But the last two tracks on the album CD that you're speaking of were apparently not on the FFTF EP at all. I've never heard those. I guess I'll try to track them down somehow, but I'm not optimistic.
Until I read your blog I didn't know Good Together was no part of the original LP. One of the two remaining songs is somehow a "brazilian carnival"-type of song with a techno influences.... The other one is one to forget: http://www.sendspace.com/file/5q66kr . Of the "new" records I liked "Force" the most.
Yeah, I've heard both tracks now and they're not very exciting at all. Oh well. I agree with you that "Force" is um...a force to be reckoned with! Haha. That's probably my favourite album of theirs, if we don't count the "Old & The New" compilation...
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