10CC

I agree wholeheartedly with maani's comments on this album. It's nice to see them on PA at last. I was a big fan in the early '70s, and had their first five albums, although the live one that followed actually put me off a little. This is a group best heard in a studio setting. They used state of the art production on all their albums, and, as has been mentioned before, they are often best heard through headphones - there is much going on at times. Funnily enough, a friend of mine bought me the remaster last Xmas, and, whilst it has the same bonus tracks as those listed above, the track listing on my copy is back in the original and correct running order. All the songs are wonderful: 'Johnny Don't Do It' has those brilliant harmonies and high pitched lead vocal from Lol Creme, who tended to be the main singer overall on the first couple of albums. 'Sand In My Face' is indeed a skit on those Charles Atlas adverts we used to find in magazines. 'Donna', for me, has stood the test of time, and still sounds great today. Similar to 'Johnny' in style and vocal, I bought the single and played it to death. 'The Dean And I' has, again, wonderful vocals, backing vocals, and tremendously funny lyrics. As already mentioned, all the lyrics on the album are superbly witty and funny. 'Headline Hustler' is an Eric Stewart led song, and is actually my least favourite. It is good, but not quite as good as the others, for me. A bit repetitive in the chorus, maybe. 'Speed Kills' is fast and flighty and predominantly instrumental. Very good, with the gizmo impersonating violins convincingly. 'Rubber Bullets' is a song my mother always liked. Very funny, with typical lead guitar from Eric Stewart. They had a happy knack, in those days, to have Lol Creme sing the verse, then to let Keving Godley supply some deep vocals in the quiet parts. Works wonderfully here. 'The Hospital Song', is also very clever, led again by Creme, with the others supplying nice choir like backing at the end. 'Ships Don't Disappear (Do They?)' is very clever, with lots of vocal parts and and a great melody. Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price all get honourable mentions here! 'Fresh Air For My Mama' is the sort of song they frequently suprised people with. A more sombre, more serious song than the rest, with fantastic vocals from Godley, a beautiful, quiet melody and lyrics to make you think. It also has a 'grand finale' at the end. The bonus tracks are all good, and I already owned all of them. 'Waterfall' is indeed the best here, and could have been an A side. Nice acoustic guitar intro, strong melody, and great chorus. 'Hot Sun Rock' is a nice instrumental, with an almost North American Indian meets rock feel to it. 'Rubber Bullets' is merely the single version, and not the same as my original single version either! '4% Of Something' is a standard rocker, and quite average for this band, as indeed is the last track, 'Bee In My Bonnet' sung by Gouldman. Nevertheless, there are no weak songs here. Very art rock, and very worth having, though some of the intricately sarcastic lyrics may be lost on people outside England. Four stars, easily.