Peggy Suicide [2 CD Deluxe Edition]

Julian Cope | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 2010)
• Original Release Date: February 23, 2010
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Island Mercury
• ASIN: B0023P1D5G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,024 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Deluxe digitally remastered and expanded two CD edition of the eccentric British rocker's 1991 album including a bonus disc that contains 11 bonus non album tracks. Peggy Suicide was the fifth official solo album from the former leader of The Teardrop Explodes. It was accompanied with extensive notes in which Cope explained the meaning of each song and stated that the entire album was a meditation on humanity's relationship to mother Earth. The album was written in the aftermath of the British anti-poll tax in 1990, to which several songs refer. Many songs are given very idiosyncratic interpretations, such as Cope's account of "You" which asserts that the Conscious Mind "acts like a cross between Tony Wilson and Bill Drummond but looks a lot like Lew Grade. The Unconscious mind...looks like Iggy Pop playing Syd Barrett." 30 tracks. Universal. 2009.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Endlessly Inventive and Enjoyable Ride., May 6, 2002

By 

WILLIE A YOUNG II "willow" (Houston, TX.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peggy Suicide (Audio CD)

He's never enjoyed the commercial success of lesser talents and his problems with addiction are well known, but hardly anyone has the same lyrical panache' and way with a melody as Julian Cope. I first became aquainted with his work around '84-'85 with the "World Shut Your Mouth" LP, but this double LP length opus is by far his most fully realized effort. Arriving as it did a decade ago, "Peggy Suicide"(his nickname for the ravaged and scarred Mother Earth) is not just some intellectual's exploitation orgy, but a sprawling masterwork that touches on politics ("Soldier Blue") love and trust ("Pristine") and even a brilliant, punkish little ditty about addiction and family ties ("Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line") which features the best lyrics on the album ('well the blues had a baby and the ba***rd couldn't sing', 'someone shouted, "let's keep the afterbirth and throw the kid away!", 'and I fried my brainsac for the pain I felt today')and a driving delivery with great chiming guitars and a backbeat that doesn't let up for a second, you're gonna love it! All of "Peggy...." is stunning and finds Cope stretching out to staggering effect on a host of topics. This is real music from a brilliant (if somewhat troubled) mind and will entertain and dazzle as well inform, and you can dance to it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, even for the uptight among us..., January 26, 2004

By 

opinion-o-matic "ben_amazon_omatic" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peggy Suicide (Audio CD)

This is not one of those albums you can neatly categorize. It's kind of like Julian, Hamell on Trial, and Built to Spill got together one night and took a heroic dose of acid :) Except this was all in 1991... It goes through a whole range of moods.. is a little hard to get into in Phase One with some pretty raw tracks like Pristine and Hanging Out... But after a few listens of the whole album it makes more sense. Phase Two and Phase Three are much more flowing and sometimes repetitive in a good way.. probably influences of underground electronic music I imagine he had been hearing a lot at the time. Just a guess there.. It's just one great musical moment after another! The track Safesurfer alone is worth buying the whole album. Phase Four lightens it up a bit musically, with the "hit" track Beautiful Love which is downright pop-ey yet not at all in a bad way, another great track, Western Front is really cool as is Hung Up and Hanging Out to Dry. The album plays more like a movie or a show than an album, with ideas appearings in one song and then coming back modified in another. Really great moments all the way through, and very few bad ones... BTW, to the other reviewer who doesn't know what "Not Raving but Drowning" is about, read the liner notes! It's based on the true story of a guy who was tripping on acid, and accidentally fell off the railing on a ferry... The song is a guess at what he might have been thinking as he went down... Anyway, a great album, one of my favorites for 12 years and by far my favorite of all the work Julian Cope has done. Highly recommended if you like Built to Spill or Radiohead... Great instrumental work through the whole thing too, excellent guitars... It is a real masterpiece...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Julian, where have you gone?, July 22, 2005

By 

Paul "Pauli" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Peggy Suicide (Audio CD)

This CD was all I listened to for 5 or 6 months back in the early 1990's and I still pull it out frequently, especially while driving. This collection of songs is environmentally aware, but not preachy, and I believe that this, coupled with superb song-writing and the sincerest of devotions to the future of what Cope calls "mother earth" is what makes "Peggy Suicide" a theme album that works.

Stylistically the spectrum is broad. "Pristeen", "Promised Land" and "Las Vegas Basement" are all slow ballads, the first two cresdendoing into a signature climaxes, the last remaining heart-felt and mournful. "Drive, She Said", "American Lite" and "Leperskin" are great classic rock anthems. "Head", "Soldier Blue" and "If You Loved Me At All" are groovy and psychedelic, but more accessible than a lot of Teardrop Explodes material of Julian's yesteryear. The gem of the collection is "Beautiful Love", a radio-friendly ode to divine charity inspired by swimming with dolphins.

Some songs will be a bit more challenging to traditional rock fans. "Hung up and hanging out to dry" is an orchestral monolith with only the seven words of the title seemingly caught once again in Cope's repetitive yet ever-building crescendo to an explosive climax. "Soldier Blue" was written about a protest in which the police became involved which includes a related Lenny Bruce routine to accentuate the theme. These are all catchy tunes, however, and even "You" and "Western Front", which might remind one of cartoon soundtrack material, will stick enjoyably in the mind of appreciative listeners.

It's well to mention that Peggy Suicide is drenched in Julian's sense of humor which co-exists quite naturally with his political message. He had stated in an interview shortly after the album was released that he wanted the album to be "righteous, not self-righteous" and so he wrote anti-driving songs, like "east Easy Rider", which contain the thematic message, but which he commented are "great to listen to while driving". Not being on the same page politically with Cope, I still appreciate his devotion and these songs remain some of my favorites ever.