Re: XTC album.

[jpalfke@PARCVAX.XEROX.COM (J. Peter Alfke)]

Dan Stewart <STEWART_SYS%uta.edu@RELAY.CS.NET> wants to know what XTC albums to
get after "Skylarking".  Okay, here we go.  You will probably get other
replies, with different suggestions, but here are mine:  XTC's albums (exclu-
ding "Skylarking" itself) ranked from best to worst.

Black Sea ('80)		Close tie with English Settlement, but this to me is
			*the* classic XTC album.  Incredible pop, more rockin'
			than Skylarking, with hundreds of hooks-per-minute.
English Settlement (82) Big double album (if you see the emaciated single-album
			version, pass it by.)  Somewhat more laid-back.  Some
			really really beautiful stuff ("Yacht Dance").
25 O'Clock (85)		Under the name of "The Dukes of Stratosphear", this is
			XTC parodying the psychedelic psounds of the psixties.
			Groovy and fab and far-out.  Blinding cover.  Import
			only.
White Music (77)	First album.  Fast new-wave.  Has some very silly
			lyrics ("Statue of Liberty") and a weird guitar-less
			cover of "All Along the Watchtower".
Go 2 (78)		Yes, the second album.  Similar to White Music, but a
			bit calmer.  It should be mentioned that on the first
			two albums XTC had the amazing Barry Andrews on
			piano and organ (he's now in Shriekback) making some
			great cacophonous punk keyboard sounds.
Drums and Wires (79)	This is a transitional album and the Black Sea sound
			hadn't quite jelled yet.  There are some great songs
			here, "Making Plans For Nigel" especially, but a LOT
			of filler.
Mummer (83)		This album is just too mellow for me.  Again, some
			good songs ("Ladybird", "Great Fire") but overall the
			album never really came together for me.
The Big Express (84)	Their worst album, in my point of view.  This and
			Mummer are sort of moving toward the Skylarking style,
			but don't work nearly so well.  I suppose "Wake Up"
			is a good song, but I don't remember much else.
			Strangely, two b-sides included on the CD ("Washaway"
			and "Red Brick Dream") are really good, better than
			any of the other songs here.

There is also a pair of compilations, "Waxworks" and "Beeswax", the former
collecting all the A-sides of singles up to 1982 (several aren't on albums),
the latter collecting B-sides (none of which are on albums).  "The Compact
XTC", on CD only, is sort of an extension of "Waxworks" up to '85.  These may
be import-only, I'm not sure.

All their regular albums (not "Waxworks/Beeswax" or "25 O'Clock") are out on
CD, most with several extra tracks (b-sides and the like).  These are all
import-only.

Have fun!

					--Peter Alfke
					  alfke.pa@xerox.com
"What do you call that noise
 that you put on?
 `THIS IS POP!'"