Customer Reviews

The Negatives

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lloyd Cole, in a recent interview in a local (Nashville, TN) music publication, described The Negatives as his "bar band." If that's so, I'd like to visit the bar from which they emerged. This is great stuff, folks; Cole has always had a way with an ironic twist of phrase, and in "What's Wrong With This Picture?" he lampoons himself wonderfully. An oddly uplifting song for such an artist. "Impossible Girl" and "Man On The Verge" are also nicely upbeat, and "Past Imperfect" is an instant single which name checks Cole's earlier work, with a Jill Sobule guitar solo which is sparkling and sweetly melancholy. For a change of pace, there's "No More Love Songs", with a steel guitar sound (provided by former Commotion Neil Clark) that could almost work as a country song.

Lloyd Cole remains one of my favorite songwriters, not only because his works are so consistently intelligent and passionate, but because I can actually sing what he writes! His baritone is still very good and well suited to his tunes. And The Negatives anchor him well; along with Sobule we find David Derby, whose bass is understated yet insistent; Michael Kotch's guitar work (especially on "What's Wrong With This Picture") is top notch; and Rafa Maciejak's drumming cannot be faulted. Too, there are the guests: Neil Clark we've mentioned; frequent Cole-laborator and former Voidoid Robert Quine is back; Anne Dudley (Art Of Noise, etc.) arranges the strings; "Easy Pieces" producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley work the levers on one track; while Smiths/Blur engineer and producer Stephen Street reprises his role from Cole's 1995 "Love Story", sharing most of the remaining production work with Lloyd.

It's awfully hard to fault anything in this work, which is as good as anything Cole has issued since the unfortunate dissolution of the Commotions back in 1989. If I have anything to complain about it's simply that it took so long for it to arrive...six years is a long time between albums. But it appears to have been worthwhile. Cole and The Negatives are currently touring, playing small venues to support the new album's release. If you are anything of a Lloyd Cole fan you are highly advised to take this rare opportunity to see the man perform live. As added incentive, Jill Sobule plays a superbly witty and poignant opening set that is itself worth the price of admission.

Here are the only three negative things I will ever say about Lloyd Cole: 1) aside from the entire player roster of the National Hockey League, he's the man most perennially in need of a shave since Richard Nixon, 2) how can you take a guy seriously when he's pushing forty and still calling himself a boy?, 3) he's never risen again to the peak of his best with the Commotions (e.g. Brand New Friend, Perfect Skin, Rattlesnakes). Well, annoyances 1 and 2 may still apply but these Negatives bring Lloyd back close to his Eighties glory, and it's a fine return indeed. We start off with Past Imperfect, where he apparently looks back on those years with something like incredulity, sung to a sound straight out of that past. Impossible Girl is Chapter Infinite of Lloyd's women problems with a nice universality -- she calls collect, you change all your plans, and, naturally, she doesn't show. In What's Wrong With This Picture we have the near impossible, an almost happy Lloyd discovering that there really is nothing wrong with that picture. "Smile, she said,...I'll look the other way until you regain your melancholy disposition..." Negative Attitude is another high point, a mid-tempo rocker, underpinned by a steady drum line and some nifty lead guitar, and once again a feint into near happiness. But this is Lloyd Cole after all. One doesn't buy him for happy and Vin Ordinaire brings us back to brood, I love her, she loves him. On Tried to Rock he has "four girl friends, no visible means of support,(and)lived on credit card rye bread." I don't believe it for a minute but it's a great pose. I'm Gone closes the CD in perfect form and image, bathrobe on the floor, open door, too short -- the romance and the song --, and departing "with a suitcase of memorabilia," he's done all too soon with this CD. Bottom line: when you're feeling sorry for yourself in love, no one's better company than Lloyd Cole and it's grand to have that persona back.

Since leaving The Commotions in the late 80s, Lloyd Cole has wandered a meandering course through musical styles from his muscular, self-titled debut to the oh-so-delicate "Love Songs". You could never be sure what to expect next. On "The Negatives", Cole has marshalled his strengths to produce his finest album to date. This is luscious, delictable pop music, led by Cole's extraordinary crooner's voice and backed by a band with a quiet intensity that produces a powerful tapestry without taking center stage away from Cole and his literary, personal lyrics. Bass and drums drive the sound, with jangly guitars layered on top and a few perfectly place synth lines. It is upbeat, introspective, and simply wonderful. I can say nothing but positives about The Negatives.

For years a friend of mine has tried to turn me on to the charms of Lloyd Cole. And out of sheer perversity, I just didn't listen until attending a couple of shows (one with Cole by himself on acoustic; one with the Negatives). I then finally bought this album and LISTENED to it. And oh my God, what a chump I've been.

Lloyd Cole's grasp of the essentially bittersweet nature of life is so beautifully communicated as to turn me into a blubbering fool. Right now, I am particularly taken with "Vin Ordinaire" and "Negative Attitude," two songs that encourage me to keep looking for that person I really belong with.

A bonus: I am a lousy rhythm guitarist who loves to play along with things I listen to. Cole's music is very much guitar music. This album is easy and fun to accompany.

I'm a convert. Now to decide which Lloyd Cole album to explore next.

As with every album Lloyd Cole has ever put out - this is an OUTSTANDING addition to his collection. If you have never listened to his music then you owe it to yourself to purchase this album and work your way backwards. LYRICS: Raw. Feverish. Sometimes silly....always entertaining.

My other half...finally...broke down and listened to "Love Story". He loves it. That's saying quite a bit ... being that he leans more towards Reverend Horton Heat & Supersuckers.

Simply put...Lloyd "rocks" and he doesn't even mean to ("Tried to Rock" from The Negatives).

There are just so many things to love about Lloyd Cole, but why? He is far from the best singer anyone has ever heard. His voice cracks, he sings out of tune, he sings notes that aren't in the chord. So why is it so infectious? I have been a huge fan since a freind turned me on to Cole in the early 90's. Fo me it has been his song writing, his meoldies and the way his band rocks for the lack of a better term. He has this knack for making the emotion of the music really come alive. That's what is missing is so much music today. So for me, finding out that Cole had a new band a a new release was like striking gold. This album is as good as anything he has done. So much of it is classic Lloyd Cole songwriting. This band is incredible. The groves are infectious. And every once in a while Lloyd sings really, really well. Vin Ordinaire is one of the truely greatest Lloyd Cole songs ever. And wow!!! Does the band rock on it or what?

I just want to know when Lloyd will make a stop in Omaha.

This is a fantastic album. Worth the wait. Lloyd at his best. Melodic and Somber. Kickin' with a snear while you trip through the bar... again. Sometimes, even glowing, for a moment. Hey it's all here. Broken heart! You can't hurt me...is it really over? I'm gonna miss her. I never loved ya, you beautiful thing. The negatives do Lloyd justice. Hard juice when the edges need more punch. Soft when Lloyd is aching. But that's the problem. I listen to Lloyd when my life is all busted up. He's good medicine. But lordy sometimes I swear this cure can kill. Buy it and hope you never need this antidote.

Too many people do not know Lloyd Cole's music. His 1984 "Rattlesnakes" was voted among the top 100 albums in Britain, but he's never cracked the American market. At varying times in his career he's worn his influences on his sleeve (Lou Reed, Marc Bolan, Dylan), yet he's always managed to imprint his songs with a unique stamp. For the Negatives, he's assembled a New York band (including the under-appreciated Jill Sobule) to give a more stripped-down and direct feel to the newest additions to his enviable catalogue. The single, "Impossible Girl" is unforgivably catchy, his best work in years. Nearly all of the others deliver more with each listen. He's forsaken the word-drunk approach of his early days for sparser, more loaded lyrics. If you've never heard him, give it a try...

There aren't too many CD's that I love immediately, upon the first play. However, with this new CD from Lloyd Cole, I loved it right from the first track. Nearly every song is well-written, well-produced, and yet there is a variety of styles shown here. I used to think of this guy as more of a singer-songwriter sort of musician, and although there is some good songwriting here, this is a rock & roll album. "Impossible Girl", "Negative attitude" are real standouts. It just shows you how totally lame commercial FM is in this country that a CD like this doesn't get more airplay. One of the most under-rated albums to come along in quite some time.

Why is it so easy to relate to LC's great tunes? The answer I guess is personal to each of his fans. The Negatives are a great band -- a completely different sound than the sublime Love Story. Let us hope Lloyd finds a way to release an album a year till he reaches his half-life at 50. The best so far are 1,4,7,8 -- excluding The Collection from the count of course.