Bad Vibes

Lloyd Cole | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 31, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B0000009PB
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,874 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best thing he's done., October 29, 2000

By 

"ntrop" (Foster City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Vibes (Audio CD)

This seems to be a polarizing album for fans of Lloyd Cole. This is clearly his most cohesive set of songs since "Rattlesnakes". It's simply a question of whether or not you like the left turn he's taking here.

"Bad Vibes" is indeed all about mood. Things aren't going so well in Lloyd Cole's world. In a heart-breaking song near the end of the album, he sings softly "I'm a lonseome alcoholic", while trying to screw up the courage to ask someone "for the pleasure of your company". You get the feeling his potential new lover would be better off staying away from him, and that Lloyd knows it, too.

Nevertheless, Cole is a top songwriter and in fine form here. This is Lloyd Cole's soundtrack to falling out of love with his significant other, his own life, and his fellow man. His wry observations and insightful, cutting lyrics are still here, along with that pop sheen all his albums seem to have. This still sounds like a Lloyd Cole CD, just a little darker and more self-lacerating.

"So you'd like to save the world?" he asks. "I suggest you take one person at a time and start with me". Get the picture?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An album that grows on you, January 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bad Vibes (Audio CD)

I'm a huge Lloyd Cole fan and have been since the mid-'80's. On the first couple of listens I was very disappointed with this album and didn't listen to it much until about two years ago. Then I listened to it again very closely and found it challenging and interesting. The lyrics are clever as they always are, but the music goes in many directions that differ from Cole's standard fare, from the faux-beatlesque "Fall Together" to the funny "Seen the Future". This may be the sardonic Cole's wriest album, and it certainly is worth a patient listen.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars His best solo effort, March 22, 2002

By 

Maek (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bad Vibes (Audio CD)

After DON'T GET WEIRD ON ME, BABE, I honestly felt that Cole was saying goodbye in some strange way...especially with the last song on that album that ended with such bittersweet melodic strings.

But, no, he came back! I remember going to college when this came out; I lived in England at the time, but was going to school in Colorado--hence, my mother in England was able to get me the UK release before a US release available. She told me the album title and described the cover as "Lloyd Cole slouched in a corner in a really bad mood."

It sent chills down me and the chills were intensified when the guitar rumbled through me with the opening strains of "Morning is Broken." Following that song is Cole's satirical look towards global problems being treated as "fads" in "So You'd Like To Save The World?" There's the darkly sexual tone of "Wild Mushrooms" amongst other wonderful songs on this album.

This album was such a refreshing 180 from DON'T GET WEIRD ON ME, BABE, which was a strange, confused album compared to this straightforward word play observations on self-reflection, relationships, and unabashedly unreserved obsession for a girl with her "natural grace."

In my mind, there are no bad Lloyd Cole albums (Commotions, solo, or Negatives) -- but this is definitely his best solo album.