| The Stranglers were early labelled as "punk", but, while they were never short of vitriol and aggression, they were more properly a quintessentially New Wave band. Years of gigging together meant they were exceptionally tight and technically competent from the start, with Dave Greenfield's almost progressive-sounding keyboards somehow sitting easily alongside Hugh Cornwall's needle-sharp guitar and Frenchman Jean-Jacques Burnel's growling bass. Always lovers of the freaky and absurd, they constantly experimented with different approaches in their albums, yet each could usually be relied upon to produce at least one offbeat yet irresistibly catchy and charismatic single. This collection covers their career up to when Hugh Cornwell left the band, but sacrifices breadth of coverage for depth, missing out on some of the more fascinatingly bizarre avenues they took over the years. Nevertheless, the tracks still stretch from the lyrically double-edged hypnotic waltz of "Golden Brown" to the tongue-in-cheek fury of "Something Better Change". The definitive guide to the earlier years remains The Collection, 1977-1982, but albums such as the startlingly stylish and catchy debut Rattus Norvegicus, the punky and attitude-driven No More Heroes and the immensely delicate and tuneful Aural Sculpture (complete with three-piece horn section!) are every bit as good in their own right. --James Swift |
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