Script of the Bridge [Import, Original recording reissued]

Chameleons | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 1995)
• Original Release Date: 1983
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording reissued
• Label: Import / Dead Dead Good
• ASIN: B000006XJ2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,868 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Don't Fall

2. Here Today

3. Monkeyland

4. Second Skin

5. Up the Down Escalator

6. Less Than Human

7. Pleasure and Pain

8. Thursday's Child

9. As High as You Can Go

10. A Person Isn't Safe Anywhere These Days

11. Paper Tigers

12. View from a Hill

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guitar ambience of the gods, March 20, 2000

By 

Michael Paulsen (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Script of the Bridge (Audio CD)

The Chameleons were in a league all their own ... true mavericks with their dense, layered, reverberating guitars. Even on into the 90's, only a few bands, like The Church and Catherine Wheel, have approached this plane of "dual guitar" nirvana. "Script of the Bridge" was The Chameleons' official debut album ("Fan and the Bellows" collected their earlier recordings) and still manages to overwhelm their still-brilliant later albums, not to mention the listener!

So where can I even start? The first song I ever heard from The Chameleons back in '84 was "Up the Down Escalator" -- undoubtedly one of the most ecstatic and intense guitar-pop tunes ever recorded. The songs on this album manage to be ethereal, majestic, brooding, haunting and cathartic all at once. "Second Skin" encapsulates all of these qualities like no other song I've ever heard -- it never fails to get me choked up. In short, this album belongs in any serious rock music collection ... it is one of the greatest musical achievements from the 80's without question.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is this the stuff dreams are made of..., January 20, 2002

By 

Pessimystica (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Script of the Bridge (Audio CD)

So the lyrics go in "Second Skin". I got into this band sort of by accident within the past couple of years. I was listening to Spinner.com's 80's alt rock or goth rock channels, & one of their songs popped on. I liked what I heard, but I had never heard of them, so I downloaded a some random songs. After a couple of months of getting more & more, I sat wondering how on earth this great band passed me by!! I went on to get "Strange Times" (which is ONLY 8 bucks on here!!) & later on this one.

Comparing them with all the other stuff out of the 80's, they are BY FAR the most underrated & underappreciated band ever. Any random person I ask who has similar interests has NEVER heard of them!! I'll have to agree with another reviewer, they were just ahead of their time & over people's heads. Sure, they sound reminiscent of 80's sounds used at the time (mainly with guitar sounds), but when you take into account the lyrical content, how the songs are structured, & the singing guitar lines, all these elements just make them a lot more musically interesting than most other groups just trying to cash in. They are just a great band too!! Great, unobtrustive & mellow vocals along with lyrical guitar lines, pounding & moving bass lines (played by the singer Mark Burgess), & interesting drum fills to keep the songs moving.

The first track "Don't Fall" starts the album nicely, & lets you know you're not just in for just another 80's pop album...this
has some substance!! "Here Today" has an addicting guitar intro, along with some other lyrical parts. "Monkeyland" seems like a continuation of track 2, & I especially like the phaser guitar effects at the end. "Second Skin" is my favorite track with the haunting, catchy, if not somewhat familiar sounding synth line, & was also one of the first songs I heard by them.
"Up the Down Escalator" is one of the more upbeat songs, & the title seems fitting in describing the mood of the album.
"Less Than Human" became my 2nd favorite after wanting to hear it over & over & over after a random download, & fit the mood when I was feeling down. I especially like the wailing "whoa"'s at the end, which ends the song incredibly. The rest of the songs flow in & out of each other really well. I think just looking at the titles of all these songs gives you a clue as to what mood & sounds they're exploring. "View from a Hill" ends the album well with it's more mellow, laid-back feeling, but also giving the album some hopeful closure.

I believe they are one of the most influential rock acts out there. It's so obvious they had influenced brit-rock bands like the Stone Roses (another great album not to be missed). It is SO WELL worth the buy if you're just even remotely interested. If you have only heard of a couple of songs &/or like mellow & moving brit-rock bands (like The Cure & the like), you will definitely take a liking here. Thanks to the Chameleons for just being a musically interesting band with some substance...we need so many more bands like them.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guitars and Darkness, May 15, 2004

By 

H. L. Thomas (Athens, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Script of the Bridge (Audio CD)

Don't Fall, Second Skin, Pleasure And Pain are ikons of the way that existentialism is grafted onto the notes of a song in ways that remain long after the originating years have passed.
Yes, Script Of The Bridge is a masterpiece of intellecutal voice and guitar that also has the capacity to rock, and do so very, very loud. There is a darkness to The Chameleons (UK) and that's ok, even as some music may harken to the brighter elements of life, there is also that part of the post punk music scene that touches the inner Wagner in all of us and makes us want to dance, but to dance with caution.
This album is part of a series of sounds that included Echo And The Bunnymen (Crocodiles, Heaven Up Here, and first 2 EPs), Joy Division (all Factory Records in general), 4AD label bands, Public Image Limited:Flowers Of Romance,
Husker Du middle period, and later, even the Ride: Smile ep.
Chameleons' sound is heavy, and in a good way. Script of the Bridge and Strange Times are companions to a way of looking at the world first explored by the British Romantic poets. Maybe a bit too angst ridden at times, but never lacking in sincerity or craft. Script of the Bridge is a necessary ingredient to any exploration of music in a post punk world.