Ranking the Albums: The Stranglers (w/Simon Bray & Martin Popoff)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Join Pete Pardo , Simon Bray & Martin Popoff as they rank the albums of the legendary British post-punk/pop/rock act The Stranglers. #thestranglers
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I love their last two albums “Dark Matters” and “Giants”. Two of my favorite albums by them.
Raven is just one of the true Brit classics of any musical field.
I must admit to being a student at Uni and...having taken a few student-y substances at my mates flat, we listened to Aural Sculpture about 20 times. "Mate...put Let Me Down Easy on again...."
Will always be a very nostalgia tinted one!
A lot of their music suits the stoner vibe really. Love let me down easy written by Hugh for JJ, when JJ's father was dying.
The Raven. An unacknowledged masterpiece of post-punk. Saw them on that tour with the giant Raven's head 1980.Every track is like a little novel or a film. A unique way of dealing with the political and ethical issues of the time; the Iranian Revolution, reactionary Australian politicians, Genetic Engineering, Alien conspiracies, heavy drugs(two of those), Anti-Americanism, ...plus Vikings and the gorgeous Duchess. Wow! I'm out of breath... Anyone else notice how right from the off they pioneered a style of layered vocal harmonies that still sounded punk?
I bought that with high hopes- for $15 in 10/79 for the first edition with the 3d cover- and was certainly not disappointed! But the aggressive edge was fading, and so long as they were experimenting sonically and including some quirky tunes such as menimblack they were still a great band (which I saw in 1981). I was increasingly disappointed in them from Aural Sculpture onwards, only discovering their better post Cornwell material with Giants.
@@dee_seejay It was October 1979, and my friends & I lined up to buy our $15 copies of the first editions with that groovy 3-D cover! I bought new speakers at the time, and we enjoyed the palpable thud of J-J's intro to the title track! On first listening, it sounded significantly softer in tone, but it was quite a heavy new wave power throughout- with the remarkable ballad about heroin abuse a nice respite (as is Outside Tokyo). I saw them live in '81, and was a bit dismayed that they played some tracks slower, but the highlight was meninblack with J-J's treated live vocals! B&W has always been my favourite as I bought the white vinyl with the Walk on By single on sale a year earlier- the first new wave album I bought!
The Raven is my second favourite, after La Folie
Raven & Gospel of MIB followed by Black and White then 1st Album. Raven is underrated and MIB is on another level
Love the Stranglers. Sometimes, your musical taste changes through the years and you stop listening to things you were listening to 30 or 40 years ago. No such thing with the Stranglers. Once a fan, forever a fan. Because of the music. I keep listening to them. after all these years. Then it helps to see them release as good an album as is Dark Matters.
Another thing I love about the Stranglers is that they play the songs live exactly as they were recorded. Sparks do that too. It's a consistent component of their long term success. On a side note, Baz really does a great job.
The Gospel is an excellent weird pop album. Hooks + sonic weirdness = love it. Never understood why it got that much savaged. Not unlistenable at all ! And then, what a stunning classic is Waltzinblack...
Favorite albums in no order :
Rattus
No more Heroes
Black and white
Raven
La Folie
Gospel
Aural Scupture
Norfolk coast
Dark Matters
Now we need the same about the Damned.
That was probably the greatest constellation I can imagine to present this unfortunately still relatively underestimated band, which is often reduced to their few hits, to a wider audience. A wonderful mix of expertise and entertainment value. Really awesome episode, thanks alot.
Thanks Mike!
Couldn't agree with you more, excellent informed discussion about a great band. Thanks Martin and Simon and of course Pete for making this happen
Even though I was a heavy metal freak when their first album came out , I loved it and still do. Down in the Sewer is a prog classic.
I really enjoyed this video.
Pete was kind of out of his comfort zone when it came to the band but Martin & Simon were very knowledgeable, & bounced off each other.
This could be a new thing for SoT. You probably could call it, ‘Out of the Comfort Zone’. Where Pete has little to know knowledge of a band or artist but Martin & Simon will discuss, rank, & tell us random facts about the topic.
Yep Pete can just be a host , am fine with that too.
I applaud. Never thought I`d see a Stranglers ranking on SoT. One of my favorites, as Pete said, "hard to categorize". Tough to rank, Rattus for me is a perfect album and would be #1, then, "Black And White", "The Raven", "No More Heroes", "The Gospel According To The Meninblack", "La Folie, "Feline". Also they include great bonus tracks on their CD`s - none of the redundancy you get from most other bands bonus tracks.
Simon/ MARTIN/ PETE. Thank you. It is a group added to my homework . 👍💯
Fabulous and thought-provoking ranking video. Thanks fellas! ❤
My father introduced me to this band back in 2008, love their music. Here are my rankings only the Hugh Cornwell era:
1. Rattus Norvegicus
2. La Foile
3. No More Heroes
4. Aural Sculpture
5. Dreamtime
6. Black and White
7. 10
8. The Raven
9. Feline
10. The Gospel According to the Meninblack
Funny, my favorite s are THE GOSPEL ACORDING TO THE MEN IN BLACK and LA FOLIE, these are the first two i heard. I know RATTUS is better, even NO MORE HEROES and BLACK AND WHITE, but it is like it is
I like 10 too, always seems to get a bad press, but I was quite happy with it at the time. My first impressions stuck with me. How I first engaged with an album was always how I felt about it. Instant reaction. Blown away by Black and White, Raven and Lafolie at the time in particular. I was unfortunately one of those that was very disappointed with the The Gospel According to the Meninblack, though I do like Hallow to our Men which is awesome - I just wanted more of that, Four Horseman is OK too.
Ranking that is off the usual SoT track, loved this just as XTC some time again. Thanks Pete for allowing Simon and Martin to give us their views on Stranglers albums. Personally, first four I love the most, but have all of them, loved also later, softier albums and also like the most recent ones. Bumped also on Laid Black, their acoustic release, like that one too.
Excellent and very timely for me. I had pretty much forgotten the Stranglers over the least 20 years. Just a couple of weeks ago I found a greatest hits set for a dollar, and rediscovered how good they were. I'll be looking to pick up these recommendations.
COOL! love the channel and the fact your venturing into different musical territory, I'm a big Prog guy but i do enjoy the late anti Prog new wave bands of the late 1970s. The Pistols, The Clash, The Buzzcocks, The Stranglers ,The Damned. Such a great period for new music especially from The UK.
I like The Replacements & of course The Clash
Paul Westerberg is a genius!
Never thought I would see a ranking of The Stranglers on SoT, one of my favorite bands. Thanks Martin and Simon.
It's what the people asked for!
what a fantastic show , first time hearing this channel Martin nailed it the first post punk band pre punk.....way to go guys.
Nice work Pete Pardo !
Much respect for this "out of your wheelhouse" episode.
Martin and Simon are two of my favorite co-hosts on your channel, along with so many others.
Great timing for me personally also, because I'll soon be starting rehearsals (I'm a drummer) with a former member of The Stranglers new project, where we'll be performing a few Stranglers songs !! 👍 👍
Next: An episode on The Jam (where Pete sits it out) & The Clash (where Pete sits it out)...Then on to Green Day, MxPx, The Replacements, The Ramones...where will it end? 🤷♂
@@wolf1977 Not sure if you're saying that's a good thing or a bad thing @Wolf ??
Myself, I think it would be fantastic.
And actually, Pete was more informed about The Stranglers than I would have thought. Kinda cool that he was !!
@@JoeyBrunoMusicArchives I'm not sure either! Depends on who he's got actually doing the episodes I guess, I don't think he'd tackle any of those bands on his own given that I don't think he particularly likes any of 'em (and they don't fit the general SoT format of metal, hard rock, classic rock, prog, fusion, the occasional blues/rock...). Maybe this is a sign of things to come where Pete kinda introduces a couple of panelists who then run with the show...
@@wolf1977My thoughts exactly !
I would love to see that happen, as it would be great to see some of those bands given the SOT editorial style, which in my opinion is the best there is, always informative, entertaining and well communicated.
If it was to happen, I could then unsubscribe from all my other editorial style music related channels, as I would pretty much have everything I need with just my SOT subscription !!
@@JoeyBrunoMusicArchives I think SoT is probably the best too. I'd still keep an eye on sites like Prog Radar, TPA, The Prog Report & The New Fuze-Zone as they specialize in a single genre, and those prog sites do a really good job discussing/reviewing new releases
Great rankings by both of you.
I was lucky enough to see them at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto in the early 80's , and they were terrific .
To me , their keyboard player , Dave Greenfield , is their secret weapon .
His keyboard playing elevates their songs across the board . ( I feel the same way about Greg Hawkes' keyboard playing with The Cars )
Here are my top 5 albums in order of preference :
No More Heroes
Dreamtime
Rattus Norvegicus
The Raven
Norfolk Coast
Thanks !!!
That was an absolute treat, gents. I've posted it to the one Stranglers-loving friend I have. The Raven & Black & White vie for my top spot, but the 1st four are all top tier, as are the last 2 (or 3). Their tour before the global hissy fit, forget which year that was now, they were opening with 'Curfew' - evil. Yes! And Purple & a couple of beers to look forward to later. This is turning out to be a stellar sunny Saturday. 👌
First band I ever seen live at the tender age of 6 years old in 1990. Last tour with Hugh Cornwall when they were touring the album 10. This was my favourite band as a child and I still love the first 4 albums.
Fabulous episode with my two favourite SoT guests, the right honorable Mssrs Bray and Popoff! Great expertise and stories and reminiscences here. Always loved 😍 JJ'S bass sound. Such an influential player. He is not given enough credit. Love the early work too. Maybe I will check out the recent work now!
Thanks Mr. House!
Great discussion. I do love Stranglers in the Night. Good to see it make Simon's top 10.
Awesome! So glad. you did the Stranglers. For anyone who wants an introduction- start with the first four and La Folie. Classics
I lean more toward the Simon Bray viewpoint (at the top of the list) because I grew up on those early albums. I have all those earlier albums on vinyl and this has just made me want to spin those records once more. I think Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes are equally brilliant. They get a bit stranger as time goes on - Black and White already taking us on a weirder journey. I stopped listening to them, probably after La Folie, though still saw them live occasionally. But, at the time, I stood outside Virgin Records in Croydon waiting for them to open in order to get my copy of The Raven with 3D cover. An excellent 'Ranking the Albums'.
i love the strangers up through the cornwell era. i got to see their first ever show in the USA in philly. it was scary and amazing. i saw them a few years later in Washington DC and they were amazing again. not as scary just tight and hypnotic and the first time i can remember hearing programed drums. great band.
It's hard to argue against the Raven being the masterpiece, but Martin, I'm going to be a contrarian here and stick up for The Gospel According to the Men in Black. It's my number 2 and go-to Stranglers album. I love the sparesness , the quirky electronic doodads, and the singularity of vision. It's super easy on the ears, and at times sounds like an evil B movie soundtrack. Like the song says, it's "just like nothing on Earth".
I was hoping to hear feedback from you, Pete, but appreciate your hosting this discussion. 🤠
I saw 1 show on the MIB tour, unbelievable..
It's the album I liked least for years but now it's the most intriguing to me, I heard Rolling Stone called it a flawed classic which is probably the production..the songs played live are incredible, 4 horsemen with the mad bit in the middle was just mind boggling really
@@libre-tad6283 Right on. It's very much a mood piece... and way funnier than the Men In Black blockbuster movie, I might add. 🤠
@@jukeboxcowboy yeah it got under my skin so much I'm trying some creative writing inspired by it..
Those films could have been better yeah.. is what it is, cheers
🤠 Hey, that's cool! It's a VERY 1981 album. Great year for oddball, art-punk records. Riding on the floor tom was such a thing that year!
@@libre-tad6283 Did you ever listen to Nosferatu, the Hugh Cornwell Robert Williams record? Some great stuff on there that's very weird, but I love it as I love Gospel. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosferatu_(Hugh_Cornwell_and_Robert_Williams_album)
Thanks for the lists, chaps. My number 1 would be The Raven - such an inventive album instrumentally and lyrically, showing how the band had developed as quality musicians.
Thanks SoT, great show! Finally! Dig them ("Men in Black") for over 40 years. So underrated band and musicians...
Seems that Pete did this show against his will... He didn't look good...
Their first 4 albums (70's) are simply magnificent.
The following albums (80's forward) have a lot of great songs, but some very bad ones too.
But the last album (Dark Matters) is a great surprise. Pretty amazing!
RIP Dave Greenfield and Jet Black.
Greetings from Brazil!
By the way, Simon Bray reminded me a lot of Rick Wakeman. Not only because of their resemblance, but because of their acid sense of humor. Incredibly similar...
I like the early stuff and later stuff equally as there is always clever lyrical and musical content, from Down in The Sewer which alludes to moving to London(the sewer) as a struggling band, right up to Dreamtime, with precious which alludes to a troubled South Africa and the diamond trade. A very inventive and clever band.
Fantastic show! Cardiacs... and now, The Stranglers! Great job, Pete. Are The Pink Fairies looming on the horizon? The first 6 albums are excellent with "The Gospel..." being a bit of an outlier, though a fun listen nevertheless. And probably their most proggy. Check out The Stranglers And Friends live album from 1979 which features a sublime Peter Hammill on "Tank" and "The Raven", plus Nik Turner and Larry Wallis appear as well! Great stuff. A big thank you to Simon and Martin too.
A big "YES" from me, for Pete to do a Ranking the Albums: The Pink Fairies
excellent! good to see you guys covering more new wave punkie banks....The Stranglers were always a extremely popular band in the UK and Europe not so much in the USA but as a rule America is always a little slow to jump on any new musical trends of the time. They were too busy listening to Journey and the like at the time...lol
yes America was slow to catch onto British new wave and post punk like you said too busy listening to old school bands like KISS and JOURNEY...lol while the punk revolution was happening in England..
@@juddclaytons7183 You also forgot Boston. Let's be honest, the whole punk scene completely bypassed America. Sure, the moniker was coined by an American fanzine, but musically the U.S. only had the Ramones who looked more like hippies in leather and sounded like your average garage band. The UK honed and developed it into what became the New Wave scene, despite the Talking Heads manager coining the new moniker.
Saw them tonight and they were terrific..."the raven" has now taken the no.1 spot for me over "black and white". ..the raven is dark, ice cold, malevolent, menacing and totally timeless. Bassy, great guitars from Hugh, drum beats and spidery keyboards.
The first 4 of course but I love Black and White which was so unique at the time. When I finally seen them live they opened with Tank.
One of the absolute seminal bands of our time without question. Top 10:
1. Rattus Norvegicus
2. No More Heroes
3. Black And White
4. La Folie
5. The Raven
6. Feline
7. The Meninblack
8. Aural Sculpture
9. Dreamtime
10. 10
@@dannyvenulutz6211 Cool Danny!
So glad to hear Shut Up getting some love from Simon. Probably my favourite Stranglers song. If ever you did a show about perfect 7” singles (hint, hint!) Nice and Sleazy/Shut Up would definitely be a contender.
Brilliant show. Love The Stranglers.
This is my favorite band No. 2 of all time. I love to see them on the channel. Last two albums are total killers! It is not easy to find another band with such a great variety and complexity which keeps producing top-notch albums even when they are in their 70ies!
10. Norfolk Coast
9. Rattus Norvegicus
8. Dreamtime
7. Aural Sculptures
6. The Raven
5. Black and White
4. Giants
3. Dark Matter
2. Feline
1. Stranglers in the Night
Didn't expect to see this one at all. Admittedly, I own everything from the Cornwell era (i.e. the first 10 albums), but nothing past that. Of all those, Black and White and No More Heroes are easily my Top 2...the rest are tricky (Simon is right about A Flock of Seagulls and the "Toiler on the Sea" lyric.) Even though I love the debut, I'm with Martin on having a stronger preference for the few albums coming after it. Love all the other ones for various reasons: The Raven and La Folie are excellent. The Gospel According to the Meninblack can sound pretty strange (even for The Stranglers), but I wouldn't outright call it 'unlistenable', lol. And others like Aural Sculpture and Dreamtime I love for the more polished, straightforward pop side of the band (Yes, "Always the Sun" is gorgeous!)
Eventually, I'll get around to checking out the other half of the band's catalogue.
Fantastic episode!
If I'm not mistaken the first two albums were recorded at the same time.
You really ought to make the effort to see The Stranglers live, Simon.
I'm an old school fan so Black & White, Rattus Norvegicus, No More Heroes and Gospel in that order then haven't heard enough of the rest. Unlike Simon (I assume. He really ought to tell us) I have seen them live - at Loch Lomond Rock Festival 1979 though may have enjoyed The Dickies more (ever seen a band bottle themselves? I have! Great fun)
If I ever do see them I'll be sure to mention it 😉
GOSPEL is my favorite, strange but beautiful, WALTZ IN BLACK is a great opener
Seriously? Simon only mentions on every episode of the UK Connection, and on this episode numerous times, that he's been seeing them live for decades. They are one of his favorite bands of all time.
@@simonbrayfromsot1375 Simon is the dry humor king ...very English in a good way...lol
@@wordyword.298 Definitely one of the reasons I have never really liked the Jam!
One record that is often overlooked is the old compilation called "the collection 77-82". It was one of the best compilations ever IMO and had 4 new songs on it. That was the one that got me into them and even after getting all the albums I still listen to it
Great show! I love absolutely every album in the first 10 years, but tuned out when Hugh left. Wasn't the same!
Loved the Stranglers from the first album right up until 10. Living in the UK I caught most of the major, and not so major punk bands during '76/'77. The Stranglers (who I first saw live in early May '77) were by far the best, because, gulp, shock-horror, they could actually play their instruments with dexterity, unlike most of their compatriots (please step forward and take a bow Saint Strummer & Co. aka The Clash). What else I loved was that after the first album the UK weeklies at the time, Sounds, NME and Melody Maker started to diss them big time finding out that Hugh Cornwell had earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. Golly gosh, how un-punk like! Also, even more shock-horror, Jean Jacques Burnel rode a Triumph Bonneville and partied with the French Hells Angels. Jeeezzz how un-punk like can you get!!!??? To the rest of us who were more savvy and mature, we ignored these two non-punk rocker traits (well I personally was never, ever a punk nor was my best mate at the time, we just listened with open ears and minds to classic rock stuff and the newer sounds that John Peel was playing on the radio. Plus both of us being suckers for a live gig we caught most of the bands in that period who played Cardiff, Wales ) got on with actually enjoying the band live and listening and purchasing their albums. As a final thought, the best band I ever saw do "Peaches"? Thin Lizzy!! Yep!! The band jammed to this when they were doing their soundcheck early on the Saturday morning, for their headlining slot at 1977s Reading Festival. I was there. I had blagged my way backstage
Don't get you. The Stranglers (who i love BTW) were 'by far the best, because.... they could actually play their instruments with dexterity' With rock music in general (and especially Punk i'd say) that's missing the point and is only one (and not the main one either) of many factors contributing to a bands overall quality. Using that rationale The Ramones wouldn't make the top 100 punk bands which is clearly ridiculous. Personally i rate the Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks and Ramones as equal to The Stranglers, regardless of their supposed inferior dexterity.
1) No More Heroes
2) The Stranglers IV (aka Rattus Norvegicus)
3) The Raven
4) La Folie
5) Black and White
6) Aural Sculpture
7) Feline
8) Dreamtime
9) Stranglers in the Night
10) Norfolk Coast
11) Suite XVI
12) Dark Matters
13) Giants
14) The Gospel According to the Meninblack
15) Coup de Grace
16) About Time
17) Written in Red
18) 10
Brilliant! i love the Stranglers!
You mean martin at the end pete😉.
Really enjoyed this even though I don’t own an album👍🏻….that will change though
Yeah...it was early, and I'm so used to saying Simon Bray & Steven Reid! LOL
Lol 😂 if you aren’t Steven Reid then Martin is
Haven't watched this yet, but I'd like to say that I was more impressed by Simple Minds's cover of Get a Grip than the original song by The Stranglers. If you haven't heard it, it's worth a listen. In fact, the entire Searching for the Lost Boys covers album is worth a listen. Great stuff!
I'll watch this tonight.
Simple minds version of that is killer
@@RockDaydreamNation - I am happy to know that you enjoyed it.
La Folie wasn't released in the US until EMI re-released it in the mid 80s.
Well this is unexpected, nice one Pete. This is a band I did a little deep-dive on during lockdown, previously only knew their hits.
I think there’s a marked dip in their music from 90s onwards after Hugh Cornwall goes but absolutely love their stuff before. And can we just take a minute to celebrate the great thrill that is Jean Jacques Burnel’s bass sound?
The best:
(1) The Raven- goth meets arty new wave.
(2) Black&White- ferocious art rock meets angular post punk.
(3) Rattus Norvegicus- The Doors/Seeds/60s nuggets meets 70s uk punk.
(4) No More Heroes- greatest punk album not called Nevermind the Bollocks.
The Rest:
(5) Aural Sculpture- dreamy pop, totally different to their punk stuff.
(6) Feline- icy European dream pop.
(7) La Folie- a much gentler experimentation.
(8) Live at The Hope & Anchor ‘77- brutal live punk set, you can practically hear people gobbing at each other.
(9) Dreamtime- what the f%% is this? Simple Minds or something?
(10) Gospel According to Men in Black- complete failure of an experimental album but fair play to them, always searching for something different.
Bonus: All Live and All of the Night- big 80s live set.
Highly recommend checking out all this stuff.
Also, their singles (including one of the great covers of all time, “Walk On By”) & JJ Burnel’s krautrocky solo album “The Euroman Cometh”.
I saw The Stranglers at the Show Place, Dover, N J in 1981. Remember Hugh Cornwall stating Alexander Haig was Reagan's favorite vegetable. That's all I got.
new musical territory for Pete...this is good.
Except he sat this one out so not really...
Saw them on their Raven tour. Loved all their early stuff up to Raven after that..... I waned...
Black and White is my first, Heroes and Rattus joint second, Raven and LaFolie joint 3rd.
Followed by 10, Norfolk Coast, Giants, Suite 16, In the Night/Written in Red. Disappointed by Dreamtime/The Gospel according to the MIB/Coupe de Grace. Aural Sculpture/Feline/About Time/Stranglers in the Night are OK. Strangely I am one of the few who does not find Dark Matters to be a fav, though I do like Water a lot and Breathe, having said that White Stallion is great live.
The lounge version of Nubiles is somehow even more spicy.
Very interesting. My top album is Men In Black, then The Raven, No more Heroes, Rattus, Black & White, Norfolk Coast, Dark Matters, Aural Sculpture, Feline and In the Night.
Very cool show. As a Noo Yawka who’s only familiar with the songs “Always The Sun” and “Nuclear Device,” Martin & Simon have made me curious to check out the rest of their oeuvre. Somewhere, in my voluminous collection, l do have the US 7” single for “Always The Sun.” Thank you men, cheers!
Enjoy Davey!
5. Feline
4. Gospel According to the Meninblack
3. La Folie
2. Rattus Norvegicus
1. No More Heroes
1. Rattus Norvegicus (1977)
2. Black and White (1978)
3. No More Heroes (1977)
4. Raven (1979)
5. La Folie (1981)
6. The Gospel According to the Men in Black (1981)
7. Feline (1983)
I have not heard the rest. Their first three are the only ones I have ever gone back to in recent times and are a cut above the rest although there are great songs on some of the later albums on my list.
good list.
Great rundown on a severely underrated band!
Black And White and The Raven are moody masterpieces. I think the band peaked there, but of what I have there’s not a bad one in the bunch. I’d probably rank No More Heroes lower than anyone else as I feel it’s a bit of a sophomore slump for them, but by no means do I think it’s any less than strong.
Here’s my list:
1. The Raven
2. Black And White
3. IV: Rattus Norvegicus
4. The Gospel According To The Meninblack
5. Feline
6. La Folie
7. Aural Sculpture
8. No More Heroes
9. Dreamtime
Honorable mention goes to Live Xcert, or: How to insult an audience for noobs!
Live (X Cert) is an amazing live album! Cool list!
I agree. Do a ranking the albums of Anathema with Mr. Nikølås Fräncø please.
LOVE THE RAVEN AND BLACK AND WHITE BUT OVERALL A BRILLIANT CATALOGUE ,THE LAST ONE DARK MATTERS IS FANTASTIC
If Discogs is anything to go by, La Folie didn’t get a US release until 1986, which is why Golden Brown probably ended up on the US version of Feline instead.
Well I'm surprised Simon likes the Stranglers so much, he's never really mentioned them before!! Great video!
He mentions them on almost every episode of the UK Connection!
I don't know much about the Stranglers after about 1988 so this was quite interesting to me. I would say that the Stranglers were originally an odd mixture of punk but Jet Black and Dave Greenfield were big doors fans and that shows on early albums like Rattus Norvegicus. The other thing of note about the Stranglers is that many of their best songs did not feature on original album releases. I have the original CD reissues of their first few albums from the late 80s, each one had bonus tracks on that included some of their best b-sides and singles. I suppose this has made them a really collectable band.
Dave Greenfield wasn't a Doors fan, as far as I'm aware.
Thank you gentlemen, that was tops.
Adore everything from the first 10 years, especially Rattus and Black and White. Felt sad when Hugh left as i knew it could never be the same, he was so integral to them.
Yes!.Popoff has finally brought "punk" to SoT. Remember when I brought up the Damned and Pete said " let's not be crazy"?
There's no excuse now for not considering a best albums show about the Damned !
1- Black and White
2- Live in Xcert
3- No More Heroes
4- Rattus Norvegicus
5- La Folie (with 'Golden Brown' on it)
6- Aural Sculpture
7- The Raven
I am only familiar with the 1970s and 1980s albums.
1). “Aural Sculpture”,
2). “Dream Time”,
3). “Black And White”,
4). “The Gospel According to the Meninblack”,
5). “Feline”,
6). “La Folie”,
7). “The Raven”,
8). “Rattus Norvegicus”,
9). “No More Heroes”,
10). “All Live and All of the Night”.
I guess that is my top ten The Stranglers
Very interesting ranking and band - accolades to Simon and Martin. Like Pete, only know there first two. Have a few suggestions - for future rankings - The Cure, Ultravox, New Order, Dream Syndicate, and some newer bands Mogwai, God is Astronaut, If Trees Could Talk,
I'm 69 years old and live in Oregon. My favorite Stranglers album is All Live And All Of The Night.And my absolute favorite track is Toiler On The Sea.
Fabulous choice Don!
Where to start? How about here. The comment about "Dreamtime" being the most popular in the US is a little misleading. It may have sold the most, I don't know, but those in the US who actually followed the band without the help of MTV would never pick Dreamtime as their favorite, although I like Dreamtime quite a bit.
The Raven and Black and White are my top two albums and they have to compete with Rattus and No More Heroes. Any of those four albums are legitimate top picks. The albums after these four are debatable. (My favorite song never to make an album is "Strange Little Girl" which was written before Dave Greenfield joined the band, but first released as a single.)
One of the great things about this band is they always seemed to come out with the unexpected. I'll never forget that they opened one of the concerts I attended (the Meninblack tour) with "Threatened" from Black and White. That song quickly went up my scale of favorites after being the surprising opener. The first I heard Waltzinblack was the first time I saw them live, which was The Raven tour. Needless to say it left a permanent mark.
Another US side note: The geniuses in marketing at Epic/CBS decided to add fangs to the black panther drawing on the cover of Feline and add Golden Brown to the album as well since they thought the band didn't sell enough without these additions. So the American version of Feline suffers from this. Golden Brown doesn't really go well on Feline.
And speaking of the US vs. the British experience, it was quite different. The Stranglers were very much my favorite band from my introduction to the group (Black and White--I had to catch up with what I had missed and I very much caught up!) all the way up to "10". I was a bit obsessive about the band and it was my absolute pleasure that very few people in the US shared my joy.
Seeing the Stranglers in the US was much like keeping a great secret. A concert here was nothing like the concerts in the UK where the band was followed and loved by all the most loyal boys. In the UK the band was more like the rock stars (with a branded Stranglers twist) they could never be in the US. Here in the US there were a few strong followers such as myself, but most of the alternative crowd would say they liked the group if brought up in conversation, but more as an aside to their Bauhaus or Siouxsie and the Banshees, or in a different circle the LA and/or local speed punk bands. As for me there was the Stranglers AND THEN all the rest. The US never really became endeared with the Stranglers. For me? I have the 3-D Raven album framed up on a wall and not because it looks cool, though it does.
Nice to hear that there are some people on the other side of the pond that caught the Stranglers bug, and once caught it's hard to shake off. Nice post.
Hey guys!
Check out a Cornwell solo LP with Robert from Captain Beefheart called Nosferatu.”
Got it!
@@simonbrayfromsot1375 and not to miss from the same time, Euroman Cometh by JJ Burnel, also understanding that these two off-the-path albums were from the same short time span as the first four albums being released in 1979. Wow!
My top four are the same as Simon's. After the first three albums the band became a little bit too experimental and poppy for my liking, except for the singles which were great. New stuff is good too.
I think it's cool that Martin mentioned Midnight Oil. I consider them more like the Australian U2 instead of comparing them to The Stranglers. I wonder if you'll ever consider doing a Contrarians episode on Midnight Oil?
Great episode.
What, the Stranglers on SOT ? Pete's doin Punk Rock wow!
Wonderful episode
Great show guys. I lost my way with the Stranglers after Aural Sculpture, didn't like Dreamtime much and 10 even less. Saying that ranking my favourites from Rattus to Sculpture is really hard. Top 5 would include both those albums No More Heroes, Black & White, and La Folie. Which order is almost impossible, just depends on the day. I also love The Gospel According to The Meninblack though it took a long time to get into. They also had some cracking stand alone singles Bearcage, Who Wants The World, their cover of Walk On By, and personal favourite 5 Minutes. Must check out some of these newer ones.
Bear Cage and Who Wants the World are works of genius. As I said, a such a great singles band.
@@simonbrayfromsot1375 Even bought the 12" of Bear Cage. Collectors curse indeed with that band.
@@simonbrayfromsot1375 Absolutely. After the show i watched the video for This Song, great tune (and video) so will def be checking out more.
Very interesting show, have to admit I only really know the singles, but do recall the Raven album at the time.
Next band to do possibly for martin The Manic Street Preachers?
My favourites will always be Rattus and No More Heroes and then I sort of lost interest from Feline up to Coup De Grace, and all the albums form then to now have been pretty damn good .
I'd agree with Artin that alpng with The Jam they were never really 'punk' which was probably why I liked both bands.
My favourite memory of seeing the Stranglers live was on 18th August 1980 at Bath Pavilion, not long after Hugh had come out of Pentonville prison. During the gig he held up a mars bar (a well known British chocolate bar) and asked the audience what he should do with it. My brother - who was always a bigger fan than I was, and could be loud and obnoxious at the drop of a hat, shouted 'stick it up a screw's arse'. Not only did Hugh hear him he then said something alomg the lines of 'its yours mate' and proceeded to throw the mars bar to where we were stood and amazingly my brother caught it - which wasnt bad seeing as we were around tewnty feet or so from the stage in a crowd of sweaty people. Hot, sticky and melted as it was he ate it and true to form didnt share any of it. Also at that gig during Down in the Sewer some clever chaps decided to taunt JJ who in turn offered them up to fight and as one of them jumped up to the stage JJ poleaxed him with one blow. The defeated idioramus then retreated with his friends and the gig carried on - however it meant that they only played around a third of Down in the Sewer, so that was a bit annoying.
As mentioned in the live comments The Stranglers were indeed formed in Guildford, and were initially at one point known as The Guildford Stranglers. They then in late '78 were booked to do a BBC Rock Goes to College performance at the University of Surrey, Guildford, however because the students union, or the people arranging it, didnt allow ordinary fans and non uni folk to buy tickets, after a couple of songs they packed up and left. There is footage on TH-cam.
Apparently when they were putting together Golden Brown an early version lasted around twenty minutes and was a bit of a keyboard driven prog epic.
I would say that the Stranglers were there own brand of Punk, if anything some of the ideas they initially had, becoming more aggressive, looking down and out was stolen somewhat from the other bands around at the time, and then Malcom McClaren and the Pistols gave it an image and suddenly they did not fit anymore, yet were instrumental in creating Punk inadvertently in the first place. So after various disagreement, fights (Dingwalls etc) they went there own way and created post Punk.
All I know of the Stranglers was a video that appeared on a tv video hour. The video was Rocket To The Moon. It was an hour of video show. The show had a cartoon frog in the title sequence. I watched the show because that was all we had. Mull of Kintyre got a lot of video play on this show. The other thing I remember was they cancelled their Toronto show circa 1983. edit add on ... couldn't find Rocket To The Moon in their track listings but that is what I remember.
Check out the video to 5 minutes, it was shot in the same video session and is a brilliant track.
I think Rok it to the moon was the b side to the 5 minutes single.
@@m.b-ee8815 That video left in impression. I never forgot them and then a few years later a new friend revealed himself a big fan. I will check out the video.
@@m.b-ee8815 I like it. Tips me to recommend to you "I Wanna Go To New York City"by The Demics. Same edge.
@@bluejayfan5584 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Minutes_(The_Stranglers_song)
As a prog and heavy/classic rock guy at school, Stranglers were always my favourite of the supposed punk bands- even though they were clearly not punk, and being well above par in musical terms, it was a no brainer for guys like me at school to take to them. first four, norfolk, dark at the obvious top half dozen for me
I don't know the post Cornwell records that well. So I'm only ranking the Hugh era.
Dark Matters is on my wantlist because of the songs I have heard and seen on TH-cam.
I'm pulling five Simon Brays for my ranking.
1 & 2
It's between Rattus Norvegicus (1977) and The Raven (1979) for me.
On Rattus they established their unique prog-punk sound with JJ's strangling bass lines. This band could write songs and knew how to play them.
The Raven is lyrically their most interesting and musically their most challenging album. I like the sound of the Dave's keyboards.
3 & 4
It's between Black & White (1978) and The Gospel According To The Meninblack (1980).
The Stranglers invited post punk during punk: well said, Martin. I love the dark sound on Black & White: side 1 is one of their strongest efforts.
I always had a soft spot for The Meninblack because as a young adult I was very interested in this topic: it became the soundtrack to my readings.
5 & 6
It's between Feline (1983) and Aural Sculpture (1984) this time.
I love the sinistre sound of Feline: an album that could be the soundtrack to a summer's evening in the South of France: acoustic guitars by Hugh with click drums by Jet.
Aural Sculpture was the album that got me into The Stranglers when I was a 15 year old kid. It contains their finest pop songs of the 80's: Skin Deep, No Mercy and Spain for example.
7 & 8
Its between two albums that never impressed me the way they normally do with other people: No More Heroes (1977) and La Folie (1981).
Half of No More Heroes are leftovers from the Rattus sessions. I think their best ideas were on the debut. This is more of the same but a bit harsher. But still quite a 4 out of 5 stars album.
La Folie (1981) is produced like a pop album and that doesn't always fit the musical content. Golden Brown is awesome but most of the other tracks are rather average in my opinion.
9 & 10
It's between the two last albums of the Hugh Cornwell era: Dreamtime (1986) and 10 (1990). Although the loser is quite obvious.
I love half of the Dreamtime album: Always The Sun, Was It You, Ghost Train, Nice In Nice and Mayan Skies. The other half doesn't work for me.
I don't like 10. It's a complete disaster apart from the 96 Tears cover and the other single Sweet Smell Of Succes.
If Pete is open to rank the albums of Mike Oldfield and The J. Geils Band sooner or later I will rest in peace.
Thank you for this Stranglers episode, Simon and Martin.
The cover for Dreamtime reminds me of the cover for Material's Secret Life album. In fact, the foreground is darn near identical.
I've been a follower of the Stranglers since I first heard "Golden Brown" in '82. LOVE the chameleon like nature of this band who can shift from airy pop confections to menacing dark brooding in a second. Martin nailed it with his take on "The Raven" and "Meninblack", these two albums are complete outliers, sounding like nothing they did before or since. Thin in itself is part of the Stranglers' allure.
I've been waiting for SoT to discuss Stranglers for a long time. Gentlemen, thank you!
not the biggest Stranglers fan but i do love the Bass playing on the early angry hits.
Don't know anything about the stranglers but since I love Martin and Simon I watched the video. They made me want to check out the band. Don't know if you noticed that you got Martin mixed up with Stephen 😁
speaking of Midnight Oil , you guys have any plans to do a album, ranking for the best Aussie band ever SOT ?
Love this band.
How about doing one on anathema
Pete should dig the Stranglers they have real prog elements
Great Show!
Can we have a Killing Joke album ranking please Pete
Wow ! A legendary punk band in SOT? I think this is a first, hope is not the last time too. Martin's ranking is so different from the Trousser Press Guide. My favorite is The Raven, I like Meninblack and Le Folie. Remember it was difficult getting the vinyl, last one I got was Le Folie from 82 cause they mellowed out after that album. I still don't have the first album.
10. Suite XVI
9. Stranglers in the Night
8. Dreamtime
7. 10
6. Feline
5. The Raven
4. Black & White
3. The Gospel According to the
Meninblack
2. Rattus Norvegicus
1. No More Heroes
Top 2 band for me also and most of my musical taste lean towards hard rock progressive and metal. I have been into them since 1978 and enjoy all of the Cornwell era except the 10 album. I don't mind the Baz Warne line-up and have seen them with Baz 6 times but since Hugh left I find the albums patchy, with some good moments here and there. The thing with this band is that it is much more rewarding when you research the song meanings as it adds more enjoyment to listening. I would recommend listening to feline and gospel with headphones as they take on more atmosphere that way and again check out where the lyrics are coming from. The track La Folie, although a gentle sounding ditty is actually alluding to Issei Sagawa, a necrophiliac murdering cannibal? La Folie meaning madness in English. Does anyone else think that Hugh Cornwells guitar embellishments are nearly always perfect for the song? La Folie and Don't bring Harry being 2 examples. Great show Pete and thanks Martin and Simon.
Brilliant band well worth a look never really punk had more in common with bands like television and magazine
How about a review for bands like simple minds and ultravox and the dammed
Stranglers certainly had a Doors influence
Great to hear midnight oil mentioned brilliant band
i think the Stranglers have aged the best from the late 1970s post punk new wave bands, there early stuff was very raw but they became very lush and musical as the years went by just listen to " GOLDEN BROWN" that's hardly a punk song, Fantastic band.
La Folie was not released in the U.S. at all, which is why they stuck Golden Brown on Feline. Surprised Martin did not know that.