Search results
There is no such thing
- Let’s get one thing straight before we begin: there is no such thing as a bad XTC album. Even on their less consistent records, there are frequent moments of sparkling genius. Every album warrants constant rotation, revealing more and more with every subsequent listen.
www.loudersound.com/features/xtc-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best-the-ultimate-guide
People also ask
Is there a bad XTC album?
How many albums did XTC have?
Is XTC a good band?
What is the best XTC song?
Jan 19, 2018 · Let’s get one thing straight before we begin: there is no such thing as a bad XTC album. Even on their less consistent records, there are frequent moments of sparkling genius. Every album warrants constant rotation, revealing more and more with every subsequent listen.
- Go 2
- Mummer
- Wasp Star
- White Music
- Drums and Wires
- Oranges & Lemons
- English Settlement
- The Big Express
- Black Sea
- Nonsuch
1978 XTC’s first two albums sound like the work of an entirely different band. With keyboardist Barry Andrews in the band, they play quirky and frantic zolo music. Go2 was the group’s second album of 1978, and Partridge and Moulding’s material isn’t up to their usual standards. It is better than the two songs written by Barry Andrews – ‘My Weapon’ ...
1983 XTC’s first album as a three-piece is often tentative and low on energy. But even on a weaker XTC album, there are gems. Partridge’s ‘Love on a Farmboy’s Wages’ is a gorgeous pastoral song, and ‘In Loving Memory of a Name’ is a terrific Moulding song with its bouncy, McCartneyesque piano.
2000 XTC’s final album collects more of the songs written during their recording hiatus in the 1990s. It’s much weaker than the first volume. Without Dave Gregory the arrangements sound thin – promising songs like ‘Stupidly Happy’ and ‘I’m The Man Who Murdered Love’ don’t reach their potential. There is, however, a great stretch at the end of the r...
1978 XTC’s debut was recorded in two weeks – Andy Partridge describes it as “Captain Beefheart meets The Archies”. Partridge and Moulding would both hone their writing skills with subsequent releases, but their debut has its own charm. Partridge is the stronger writer at this point with songs like ‘Radios in Motion’ and ‘Statue of Liberty’, while t...
1979 XTC’s third album is their first to feature guitarist Dave Gregory and moves into more conventional new wave territory – the album title refers to the 2 guitars, bass, and drums lineup. The record boasts XTC’s first hit – Moulding’s ‘Making Plans for Nigel’, with its distinctive beat from Chambers. Drums and Wiressounds thin in places, and Mou...
1989 Oranges & Lemons covers some interesting territory, bringing the psychedelic 1960s sounds of side-project Dukes of Stratosphear to XTC. But after the succinct perfection of Skylarking, the hour-long Oranges & Lemonsfeels a little self-indulgent. There’s great stuff – Moulding’s ‘King for a Day’ is arguably a bit close to Tears For Fears’ ‘Ever...
1982 This double-LP was XTC’s most successful record and XTC’s last as a four-piece band. It reached the top 5 on the UK charts. With more emphasis on acoustic instruments, it’s often brilliant – songs like ‘Runaways’, ‘Senses Working Overtime’, and the 5/4 ‘English Roundabout’ are terrific. But it probably should have been trimmed to a single albu...
1984 The Big Expressis one of XTC’s odder records, with an industrial edge to tracks like ‘Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her’. It’s a concept album, about the band’s hometown of Swindon and its railway heritage. A couple of tracks on the back half don’t work, but most of it is terrific – ‘Wake Up’, with its stereo guitars, is a terrific opener, ...
1980 XTC’s fourth album is the strongest from their early era. The band opted for simple arrangements that they could play live, and it’s closer to The Beatles and power-pop than ever before. Moulding’s ‘Generals and Majors’ and Partridge’s ‘Towers of London’ sound like they should have been hits in a just world. Deep cuts like ‘Burning with Optimi...
1992 Andy Partridge wrote most of his compositions on piano for Nonsuch, resulting in an album of sombre and sophisticated songs. Nonsuch is seventeen tracks long and probably could have used a trim, but most of it’s great – the silly ‘Omnibus’, the elegant ‘Wrapped in Grey’, and ‘Books are Burning’ with its fading guitar duel between Partridge and...
- Stereogum
- Skylarking (1986) The story goes that Virgin was desperate for the band to deliver something commercially viable on their ninth studio album. So, to ensure success, they handed XTC a list of approved producers and told them to pick one.
- 25 O'Clock (1985) The initial plan with this mini-album was to have Virgin claim that it was a lost '60s-era recording that they'd recently dug out of their vaults and decided to release.
- Apple Venus Volume One (1999) By the time Apple Venus was released, it had been seven years since the last XTC album, a long enough period that many fans were left wondering whether there would be anything new from the group.
- Psonic Psunspot (1987) It seemed, at the time, a strange move by the band to follow up one of its most well reviewed and best-selling albums (Skylarking) with another foray into writing homages to their psychedelic pop heroes.
Wasp Star (7/10) - There are nice songs on here, but after a while the album does start to wear a little bit in some areas (case and point Wounded Horse being one of their weakest songs)... however this album is still pretty decent.
Skylarking is definitely most people’s favorite XTC album and it’s easy to understand that. Getting lost in Season’s Cycle was a life changer for me. I just prefer those Chambers era records a bit more. But the top four are basically perfect albums so it’s just my personal and emotional attachments I have with them. (Big Rundgren fan ...
Dec 21, 2020 · One of the few highlights I’ve experienced in the miserable year of 2020 has been discovering and listening through the discography of XTC, an English rock/pop group active from the late 70s to...
Aug 2, 2021 · Between 1979 and 1992, XTC had a total of 10 albums and 6 singles that reached the UK top 40, including “Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)” (1980) and “Senses Working Overtime” (1982). In the US, “Mayor of Simpleton” (1989) was their highest-charting single, while “Dear God” (1986) was controversial for its anti-religious message.
