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Trollheart · 06-03-2011, 01:35 PM

Mind bomb --- The The --- 1989 (Epic)

If there's one man who knows his politics, and isn't afraid to show it in his music, it's Matt Johnson. The driving force behind uncatagorisable band The The, Johnson scored a massive (and largely unexpected, one would assume) hit with his previous album, the million-selling “Infected”, which spawned four chart singles and made being into The The “cool”. This fad was soon dropped of course, as fads always are, and the glitterati moved on, to pursue the Next Big Thing. But Johnson's work stands as a testament not only to the man's vision and prowess as a songwriter and musician, but to his dogged refusal to shy away from the more controversial subjects in his music. In short, if Johnson felt strongly about something, he wrote and sang about it, and to hell with airplay,

“Mind bomb” was The The's third official album (Johnson had released a debut in 1981 called “Blue burning soul”, but it is generally not regarded as an offical The The album), and after the garish and even nightmarish artwork on previous opus “Infected”, the sleeve of this album was blank, a white canvas with the title in red underneath a simple black and white photograph of Matt's head, he looking every inch the nasty skinhead, a contemptuous smirk on his lips, proving once and for all that you cannot judge a book by its cover.

In many ways, “Mind bomb” carries on the themes explored on “Infected” --- alienation, despair, desperation and contempt, along with a healthy dose of savage sarcasm and satirical wit --- but in a different vein to the rather dancy previous album. The opener, “Good morning beautiful”, starts with what sounds to be an Islamic chant --- you know the sort, the ones they call from the minarets for prayers (apologies to any practicing muslims if it isn't, but I don't know too much about Islam. Enlighten me through these pages if you wish), before a solitary piano takes up the rather mournful tune, joined shortly afterwards by a saxophone, and Johnson's voice, dripping with anger and barely-restrained violence, snarls “I know that God lives in everybody's soul/ And the only devil in your world/ Lives in the human heart.” Okay, “Love me do” it's not gonna be!

The song is slow-paced, like a fuse slowly burning down, and you know that when it reaches the end there's going to be one hell of an explosion! As the track progresses, drumbeat keeping steady rhythm like the drum on a slave ship, Matt's voice gets more and more angry, as if he's losing patience with someone who just will not see, can't understand what he's talking about, what he's trying to tell them. “Who is it?” he asks, “that can turn your blood into spirit/ And your spirit into blood?/ Who is it who can reach down from above/ And set your souls ablaze with love?/ Or fill you with the insanity of violence/ And its brother, lust?” The basic melody remains the same through the entire song, which is no mean feat, considering it's over seven minutes long! Eventually he gives up, snarling in contempt “Oh children, you still got a lot to ****ing learn/ The only path to Heaven is via Hell!” The song ends on a very ominous bass piano note, and my own personal belief is that Matt is playing God, literally, in this song: he is looking down on the world from Heaven (or, according to Homer Simpson, his palace on the moon!) and wondering when mankind will grow up and realise its potential: or will it just destroy itself? Powerful stuff, and a great opener to the album.

Matt shows his playful side next, with the frankly hilariously dark intro to “Armageddon days are here (again)”, recalling the Sweet from the intro to “Ballroom Blitz”, as he asks “Are you ready Jesus? Buddha? Mohammed? Well alright fellas, let's go!” Even the drumbeat recalls the Sweet's classic, as Johnson launches into a tale of the state the world is in, an ominous hum behind him like the Welsh Male Voice Choir is coming up from the rear. “Armageddon” carries some fantastic lines, including incredible foresight in lyrics like “Islam is rising, the Christians mobilising/ The world is on its elbows and knees” --- and remember, this is 1989, 12 years before nine-eleven! Johnson digs at Thatcher too, recalling the Falklands War with “You watch the ships sail out of the harbour/ And the bodies come floating back.”

But the best line in the song is about halfway through, when he snaps “If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today/ He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA .../ But God didn't build himself that throne/ God doesn't live in Israel or Rome/ God doesn't belong to the Yankee Dollar/ God doesn't plant the bombs for Hezz'bollah/ God doesn't even go to church!” The tempo of the track is about mid-paced, a toe-tapper apart from the lyrical material, with strings section adding to the eastern flavour of the song, and taking it to its frenetic conclusion.

And with a backdrop of rolling thunder, and an evangelical voice shouting “As long as God gives us everything we want, we love Him!” we're into one of the sharpest of the tracks on the album, “The violence of truth”, with organ and harmonica (organ and mouth-organ?) introducing a tough, again mid-paced track focussing on the evils in the world. The unmistakable guitar of ex-Smiths Johnny Marr take the track into its second minute before Johnson opens his mouth, and asks “While the ******s of this world are starving/ With their mouths wide open/ What is it that turns the coins we throw at them/ Into worthless little tokens?” The album is a good rocker, and if you ignore the lyrics, you can dance to it, if you want to, but it's as a political statement that “Mind bomb” really comes into its own. Hey, if this guy ran for election, I'd vote for him! Course, I'm Irish, but it's the thought that counts!

I'm no big Sinead O'Connor fan, but she puts in a star turn in this duet with Matt on “Kingdom of rain”, the ultimate anti-love song. Carried on a wave of guitar and piano, with a throbbing bass keeping time with an almost mocking organ, this is the song which possibly prompted Jon Bon Jovi to write “This ain't a love song”. If you've ever had a bad break-up (and who hasn't?) this is the song for you. More a revenge/told-you-so song than a ballad, lines like “You were the girl I wanted to cry with/ You were the girl I wanted to die with/ You were the boy who turned into a man/ Broke my heart and let go of my hand” show the sentiments behind this song. This is love in all its nasty glory, when the hearts and flowers have faded, when the kisses are no longer warm, when the sparkle in the eyes has dimmed, when, in effect, the honeymoon is over. Sinead sings “I just wanted someone to caress/ This damsel in distress,” while Matt moans “But as silent as the car lights/ Move across the room/ As cold as our bodies/ Silhouetted by the moon/ And I would lie awake and wonder/ Is it just me?/ Or is this the way that love is supposed to be?” But the end result is unavoidable: “Our bed is empty, the fire is out/ And all the love we've got to give/ Has all squirted out.” Do NOT listen to with your new girl or boyfriend, you have been warned!

The next track up could be sung by the Beautiful South, it's just that boppy and poppy, and was in fact a hit single from the album, but don't be fooled. Look deeper, listen to the lyric, and you'll see it's just “Heartland” from “Infected” dressed up. It's another song about poverty, destitution and an uncaring government. “The Beat(en) Generation” is absolutely the most danceable and catchy tune on the album, but even here Johnson does not take a break from his urgent preaching about the state of the world. I had a workmate once who, when this was in the charts, would go around humming the tagline, but knew nothing further of the lyric, much less what the song was about. A danger always in catching the attention of the record-buying public, who can tend to ignore the deeper message in a song in favour of its beat, but then, Matt has to eat, so we'll have to let him have that one!

Sadly, the remaining three tracks do not live up to the incredible standard set by the five that went before, and I find them somewhat unremarkable, especially the closer, “Beyond love”, which really is something of an attempt I think to reduce the dark, desperate, almost suicidal tone of the album, and which for me does not work. Ah well, it's a rare album that has no flaws, eh?

There's no doubting that the musicians on this album are accomplished (who would deny it of Johnny Marr?), but there are no mad guitar solos, no long keyboard intros, and in fact in many ways the music is only there of necessity, to form a backdrop to the lyrics, the ideas and the thoughts of the album's creator. It would not be a stretch to say this could in fact be spoken as poetry, which is not to take away from the music or the players, but the heart of “Mind bomb” IS the lyrics, and if you were to somehow strip out the vocals and listen to it karaoke-style, you would probably think it's an okay album, but it's not the juggernaut that I write of here without the deep and meaningful, and intensely personal lyrics that Johnson uses, like Doctor Frankenstein using electricty, to bring his project to life. It really is an album that has to be listened to, and not just in an offhand way, You'll get so much more from it it you immerse yourself in it totally, and yes, as the title suggests, if you sit back and allow it to, this album will blow your mind!

TRACKLISTING

1. Good morning beautiful
2. Armageddon days are here (again)
3. The violence of truth
4. Kingdom of rain
5. The beat(en) generation
6. August and September
7. Gravitate to me
8. Beyond love

Suggested further listening: "Soul mining", "Infected", "Dusk"

06-03-2011, 01:35 PM	#24 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Mind bomb --- The The --- 1989 (Epic) If there's one man who knows his politics, and isn't afraid to show it in his music, it's Matt Johnson. The driving force behind uncatagorisable band The The, Johnson scored a massive (and largely unexpected, one would assume) hit with his previous album, the million-selling “Infected”, which spawned four chart singles and made being into The The “cool”. This fad was soon dropped of course, as fads always are, and the glitterati moved on, to pursue the Next Big Thing. But Johnson's work stands as a testament not only to the man's vision and prowess as a songwriter and musician, but to his dogged refusal to shy away from the more controversial subjects in his music. In short, if Johnson felt strongly about something, he wrote and sang about it, and to hell with airplay, “Mind bomb” was The The's third official album (Johnson had released a debut in 1981 called “Blue burning soul”, but it is generally not regarded as an offical The The album), and after the garish and even nightmarish artwork on previous opus “Infected”, the sleeve of this album was blank, a white canvas with the title in red underneath a simple black and white photograph of Matt's head, he looking every inch the nasty skinhead, a contemptuous smirk on his lips, proving once and for all that you cannot judge a book by its cover. In many ways, “Mind bomb” carries on the themes explored on “Infected” --- alienation, despair, desperation and contempt, along with a healthy dose of savage sarcasm and satirical wit --- but in a different vein to the rather dancy previous album. The opener, “Good morning beautiful”, starts with what sounds to be an Islamic chant --- you know the sort, the ones they call from the minarets for prayers (apologies to any practicing muslims if it isn't, but I don't know too much about Islam. Enlighten me through these pages if you wish), before a solitary piano takes up the rather mournful tune, joined shortly afterwards by a saxophone, and Johnson's voice, dripping with anger and barely-restrained violence, snarls “I know that God lives in everybody's soul/ And the only devil in your world/ Lives in the human heart.” Okay, “Love me do” it's not gonna be! The song is slow-paced, like a fuse slowly burning down, and you know that when it reaches the end there's going to be one hell of an explosion! As the track progresses, drumbeat keeping steady rhythm like the drum on a slave ship, Matt's voice gets more and more angry, as if he's losing patience with someone who just will not see, can't understand what he's talking about, what he's trying to tell them. “Who is it?” he asks, “that can turn your blood into spirit/ And your spirit into blood?/ Who is it who can reach down from above/ And set your souls ablaze with love?/ Or fill you with the insanity of violence/ And its brother, lust?” The basic melody remains the same through the entire song, which is no mean feat, considering it's over seven minutes long! Eventually he gives up, snarling in contempt “Oh children, you still got a lot to ***ing learn/ The only path to Heaven is via Hell!” The song ends on a very ominous bass piano note, and my own personal belief is that Matt is playing God, literally, in this song: he is looking down on the world from Heaven (or, according to Homer Simpson, his palace on the moon!) and wondering when mankind will grow up and realise its potential: or will it just destroy itself? Powerful stuff, and a great opener to the album. Matt shows his playful side next, with the frankly hilariously dark intro to “Armageddon days are here (again)”, recalling the Sweet from the intro to “Ballroom Blitz”, as he asks “Are you ready Jesus? Buddha? Mohammed? Well alright fellas, let's go!” Even the drumbeat recalls the Sweet's classic, as Johnson launches into a tale of the state the world is in, an ominous hum behind him like the Welsh Male Voice Choir is coming up from the rear. “Armageddon” carries some fantastic lines, including incredible foresight in lyrics like “Islam is rising, the Christians mobilising/ The world is on its elbows and knees” --- and remember, this is 1989, 12 years before nine-eleven! Johnson digs at Thatcher too, recalling the Falklands War with “You watch the ships sail out of the harbour/ And the bodies come floating back.” But the best line in the song is about halfway through, when he snaps “If the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today/ He'd be gunned down cold by the CIA .../ But God didn't build himself that throne/ God doesn't live in Israel or Rome/ God doesn't belong to the Yankee Dollar/ God doesn't plant the bombs for Hezz'bollah/ God doesn't even go to church!” The tempo of the track is about mid-paced, a toe-tapper apart from the lyrical material, with strings section adding to the eastern flavour of the song, and taking it to its frenetic conclusion. And with a backdrop of rolling thunder, and an evangelical voice shouting “As long as God gives us everything we want, we love Him!” we're into one of the sharpest of the tracks on the album, “The violence of truth”, with organ and harmonica (organ and mouth-organ?) introducing a tough, again mid-paced track focussing on the evils in the world. The unmistakable guitar of ex-Smiths Johnny Marr take the track into its second minute before Johnson opens his mouth, and asks “While the *****s of this world are starving/ With their mouths wide open/ What is it that turns the coins we throw at them/ Into worthless little tokens?” The album is a good rocker, and if you ignore the lyrics, you can dance to it, if you want to, but it's as a political statement that “Mind bomb” really comes into its own. Hey, if this guy ran for election, I'd vote for him! Course, I'm Irish, but it's the thought that counts! I'm no big Sinead O'Connor fan, but she puts in a star turn in this duet with Matt on “Kingdom of rain”, the ultimate anti-love song. Carried on a wave of guitar and piano, with a throbbing bass keeping time with an almost mocking organ, this is the song which possibly prompted Jon Bon Jovi to write “This ain't a love song”. If you've ever had a bad break-up (and who hasn't?) this is the song for you. More a revenge/told-you-so song than a ballad, lines like “You were the girl I wanted to cry with/ You were the girl I wanted to die with/ You were the boy who turned into a man/ Broke my heart and let go of my hand” show the sentiments behind this song. This is love in all its nasty glory, when the hearts and flowers have faded, when the kisses are no longer warm, when the sparkle in the eyes has dimmed, when, in effect, the honeymoon is over. Sinead sings “I just wanted someone to caress/ This damsel in distress,” while Matt moans “But as silent as the car lights/ Move across the room/ As cold as our bodies/ Silhouetted by the moon/ And I would lie awake and wonder/ Is it just me?/ Or is this the way that love is supposed to be?” But the end result is unavoidable: “Our bed is empty, the fire is out/ And all the love we've got to give/ Has all squirted out.” Do NOT listen to with your new girl or boyfriend, you have been warned! The next track up could be sung by the Beautiful South, it's just that boppy and poppy, and was in fact a hit single from the album, but don't be fooled. Look deeper, listen to the lyric, and you'll see it's just “Heartland” from “Infected” dressed up. It's another song about poverty, destitution and an uncaring government. “The Beat(en) Generation” is absolutely the most danceable and catchy tune on the album, but even here Johnson does not take a break from his urgent preaching about the state of the world. I had a workmate once who, when this was in the charts, would go around humming the tagline, but knew nothing further of the lyric, much less what the song was about. A danger always in catching the attention of the record-buying public, who can tend to ignore the deeper message in a song in favour of its beat, but then, Matt has to eat, so we'll have to let him have that one! Sadly, the remaining three tracks do not live up to the incredible standard set by the five that went before, and I find them somewhat unremarkable, especially the closer, “Beyond love”, which really is something of an attempt I think to reduce the dark, desperate, almost suicidal tone of the album, and which for me does not work. Ah well, it's a rare album that has no flaws, eh? There's no doubting that the musicians on this album are accomplished (who would deny it of Johnny Marr?), but there are no mad guitar solos, no long keyboard intros, and in fact in many ways the music is only there of necessity, to form a backdrop to the lyrics, the ideas and the thoughts of the album's creator. It would not be a stretch to say this could in fact be spoken as poetry, which is not to take away from the music or the players, but the heart of “Mind bomb” IS the lyrics, and if you were to somehow strip out the vocals and listen to it karaoke-style, you would probably think it's an okay album, but it's not the juggernaut that I write of here without the deep and meaningful, and intensely personal lyrics that Johnson uses, like Doctor Frankenstein using electricty, to bring his project to life. It really is an album that has to be listened to, and not just in an offhand way, You'll get so much more from it it you immerse yourself in it totally, and yes, as the title suggests, if you sit back and allow it to, this album will blow your mind! TRACKLISTING 1. Good morning beautiful 2. Armageddon days are here (again) 3. The violence of truth 4. Kingdom of rain 5. The beat(en) generation 6. August and September 7. Gravitate to me 8. Beyond love Suggested further listening: "Soul mining", "Infected", "Dusk" __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 11-04-2011 at 10:30 AM.