Customer Reviews

Floored Genius: The Best of 1979-1991

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I pity the poor kids these days, the music lovers of that generation! Tens of albums (yeah, yeah, cd's...) going out every day... every 18 years old got a music label in his parents' garage, making sounds that no one will ever hear. 10 years ago, when I bought my music (yeah, yeah, vinyl albums) there was limited access, so we got the good and the bad, but most important, we got the good! I checked out Julian Cope' Floored Genius, because I forgot the name of one of the songs... and I was amazed and ashamed to discover that it only has 1-2 reviews! So I'm doing it for the sake of my generation, telling you, asking you to check this one out. I know how hard is to go 10-20 years back in time and trace those marbles, but you can't afford to miss this one: I'll try to make a long story short: Julian Cope was born in England, where he still lives today, and in 1979, he formed a group name teardrop Explodes, the band did well in the post punk era in England at that time, and put out some of the best songs and records of that genre. If you want, the teardrop explodes were the important link between the Sex Pistols and the Smiths. Later on, Cope moved on and continued in a career of his own, producing unbelievable albums, one at the time. When I think of it, I can't really think of one album by the teardrop explodes, or as solo artist that doesn't contain at least 50% of great songs. The album "Floored Genius" is a very good collection of those years, as a group and as a solo artist. There are not enough words that I can use to tell you how good this collection is nor can I point its highlights, because it's all-good! For those of you who are interested in something more than Blink 182, who want to know where is it all comes from: Do yourself a favor, buy this one and change your life!

The first thing that strikes me about this compilation is that the breakdown of what sound was doing at the time, for me, is dead on: Phase 1: 1978 - 1982; Phase 2: 1983 - 1985; Phase 3: 1986 - 1988; Phase 4: 1989- 1991. That would bring you, musically speaking, through the break of New Wave and the second British Invasion, on through a change from more pop sounding stuff through things with a harder edge. If you listen to the growling of say, Godsmack, and attempt to go to this, it won't work for you. Play this amid some Echo & the Bunnymen, (which it's closest to,) the Clash, (which this is somewhat related to,) and perhaps, Nick Cave. This was an astounding band for it's time, and falls directly in what was really a "New Wave": a distinct second British sweep of music that happened in the late seventies. Compare also to Bauhaus, Tears for Fears or early Cure, and you will hear it - a very distict, edgy sound, very, very different from what was popular in the States at the time, (depending on one's tastes, that would have been Elton John, Queen, Billy Joel or perhaps Styx, Lynyrd Skynyrd or Aerosmith.) This new sound took some by storm, for others, it took a little getting used to, but once you "got" it, it was magical (and far more rebellious and anti-social than Lynyrd Skynyrd ever dreamed of.)
On this CD, what stands out besides the obvious hits, are the drum riff on "Bouncing Babies" and "The Great Dominion" which has an early, mournful sound compared to the track right after it, a Phase 2 song, "The Greatness & Perfection of Love". At first listen, the latter seems like an extension of the former, but then you can hear the change when Julian Cope starts singing. It's lighter. "Sunspots" is a quirky and pop-py track and the end of "Reynard the Fox" is what I would most compare to some creepy Nick Cave stuff. (Recall that the Birthday Party disbanded and reformed as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds during this Phase 2.) This is very different from the track immediately following it, "World Shut Your Mouth", and in fact, "World" is the first track of Phase 3, the period of MTV play. (If not for MTV, most of us would never have heard The Teardrop Explodes.)
I think that put into its proper musical framework, this is an important compilation, You won't find these songs elsewhere really, barring owning all of the discs. When one 'closes one's eyes and thinks of England', besides the Beatles, one should think of Tears for Fears, Echo and the Bunnymen, the Cure, Bauhaus, and the Teardrop Explodes. "Safesurfer," the nearly-psychedelic last track on this compilation, should make the connection for you.
In reference to one preceding reviewer: regarding the "gay-ness" of the songs, well, music has changed. Bands didn't used to growl the way they do now. Perhaps we have Metallica, early death metal and hard core to thank for that, I'm not sure, but remember, most of that morphed out of the earlier punk of this period, (or even earlier, if you want to get technical.) Also, I'm female: Julian Cope, all slung up tight in black and wrapped around his mic stand was a pretty hot sight!

I bought this on a whim several years after hearing & loving the fabulous "Charlotte Anne." At first I was a bit disappointed, since little of the record bears much resemblence to that song. After a few listens however I was hooked. Five years later, I'm still hooked.

The music is very diverse, but consistently outstanding, and the chronological arrangement shows his evolution as an artist from the late 70s with The Teardrop Explodes to to the very early 90s. Highly recommended.

Floored Genius is a great compilation of solo Cope and Teardrop Explodes. While I highly recommend it there are some songs that are pretty poor (old British new wave crap). The opening track "Reward" is worth the price of the cd alone though rest assured there are a lot of great tunes on this one.

I first heard Julian Cope via his stoner-rock combo Brain Donor, and when I went to check out his solo stuff, I was expecting something along those lines. Boy, was I in for a surprise! The stuff on this album could probably be best described as glossy new-wave studio pop. You could even say that it is, to use the parlance of our times, kind of gay. Ironically enough, its the gayest song on the album, the ethereal "China Doll" that is probably my favorite. Ordinarily, such a description would be a deterrent to me, as I tend to go for harder stuff with a little bit of grungy edge to it.

Cope's music has a distinctly quirky, whimsical quality to it, slightly reminiscent of the Flaming Lips or perhaps Peter Gabriel. There is not much brooding anger on the surface, and you could even say that his better songs are propelled by a sort of naive innocence. He has quite a flair for singing in harmony, as well as for dense, layered arrangements that seem nonetheless to leave space between the many parts.

To be fair, I've only owned this album for a few weeks, so I still expect to have some of the material here grow on me in the future. Having said that, tracks 9-15 are some of the most sublime, gorgeous pop songs I've heard in recent years. "China Doll" is an especially great ballad. "Charlotte Anne" is a funky synth pop number with very subtle layering of sonic textures. The chorus of "World Shut Your Mouth" goes "put your head back in the clouds and shut your mouth...", and upon hearing it for the very first time I was struck by what a great line that is. "Trampolene" is head-bobbingly catchy, as is the boisterous "Spacehopper".

The rest of album hasn't really clicked with me yet, but my budding fascination with this guy seems to give me confidence that I will learn to love it one day yet.

This CD is just so filled with excellent music, if you like Julian/The Teardrop Explodes, you just have to have it. I love it. It's great.

I bought this CD after hearing three of the songs that appear on it ("World Shut Your Mouth," "Trampolene," and "Charlotte Anne"), thinking that Julian Cope must be a true musical genius to have penned and recorded such inspired pieces--and thus concluding that his greatest hits CD must overflow with more of the same. Unfortunately, the three aforementioned tunes are the clear highlight of the collection, and, to my ear, only two or three of the remaining cuts even come close to them. The early material from The Teardrop Explodes is pretty forgettable for anyone who doesn't associate it with the time and place whence it arose, and my pop sensibilities, so satisfied by the three aforementioned tunes, make the later material somewhat unpalatable.

If you're a Julian Cope fan, check out The Culture Bunker by emailing the above address! END