Stranger Things

Marc Almond | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 21, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Psychobaby Records
• ASIN: B0000DIZT0
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #937,548 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Deluxe special two CD edition of this 2001 album from the former Soft Cell vocalist including a bonus CD. Stranger Things was a collaboration with Icelandic producer/arranger Johann Johannson (Lhooq, Dip, Hafler Trio), giving the album a consciously cinematic musical coherence with melodramatic and soaring string arrangements to the fore. Features an 18-track bonus disc, curated by Marc Almond himself of original song demos, remixes, rarities and alternative versions of tracks recorded around the time of the Stranger Things sessions. Cherry Red. 2010. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars: Not Great, but Lush and Interesting in Spots, July 28, 2001

By 

Eric Wahl (Bozeman, MT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stranger Things (Audio CD)

This disc sports an awesome-looking cover and title that bear nothing at all to the music on it. Almond's white-caked head is covered with silver sequins and diamonds in a sort of techno-looking picture, but the music inside, while snappy and poppy plenty of the time, is something else--ballads attached to a sort of thumped-up John Barry set of sample-sounds, orchestra snippets and a full orchestra sometimes. Think of the Propellerheads' track using Shirley Bassey but with more orchestration and sweep, and you've got a good idea of what's on this release. While this disc is much better, I think, than Almond's mysteriously well-received previous album (Open All Night)--because it doesn't have such lyrically embarrassing songs as did that disc--Stranger Things does open up with back-to-back musical cringers, including "Glorious," the first single--bloated neo-showtunes for elevators and elderly-catering restaurants (think of duller versions of "My Hand Over My Heart" from Almond's Tenement Symphony disc). Unremarkable. BUT. "Come Out" gets things going with a great meldimg of orchestral sweep and techy thump. And a few of the tracks have just enough harpsichord and mandolin appearances to remind you of his good old days with The Willing Sinners. "Dancer" is another ace track, with the closest thing to snarl you'll find here. "When it's Your Time," "End in Tears," and "Love in a Time of Science" are back-to-back-to-back winners, uniting orchestra and tech into some pretty eerie songs that show Almond still has some edge left to him after all. And some versions of this CD (I have a German one) include an extra track, "Amo Vitam," a duet with Rosenstolz, that is also quite good. If you just love Marc Almond no matter what, you'll love this disc. If you love Mother Fist and The Stars We Are but aren't so wild about Enchanted and Open All Night, this might not suit you, although I think it's better than those last two. But unlike Open All Night, Stranger Things makes me glad Almond is still at work. I just wish he'd get farther back into the gutter! That's when he's really rolling . . .

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars: Not Great, but Lush and Interesting in Spots, July 7, 2001

By 

Eric Wahl (Bozeman, MT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stranger Things (Audio CD)

This disc sports an awesome-looking cover and title that bear nothing at all to the music on it. Almond's white-caked head is covered with silver sequins and diamonds in a sort of techno-looking picture, but the music inside, while snappy and poppy plenty of the time, is something else--ballads attached to a sort of thumped-up John Barry set of sample-sounds, orchestra snippets and a full orchestra sometimes. Think of the Propellerheads' track using Shirley Basey but with more orchestration and sweep, and you've got a good idea of what's on this release. While this disc is much better, I think, than Almond's mysteriously well-received previous album (Open All Night)--because it doesn't have such lyrically embarrassing songs as did that disc--Stranger Things does open up with back-to-back musical cringers, including "Glorious," the first single--bloated neo-showtunes for elevators and elderly-catering restaurants (think of duller versions of "My Hand Over My Heart" from Almond's Tenement Symphony disc). Unremarkable. BUT. "Come Out" gets things going with a great meldimg of orchestral sweep and techy thump. And a few of the tracks have just enough harpsichord and mandolin appearances to remind you of his good old days with The Willing Sinners. "Dancer" is another ace track, with the closest thing to snarl you'll find here. "When it's Your Time," "End in Tears," and "Love in a Time of Science" are back-to-back-to-back winners, uniting orchestra and tech into some pretty eerie songs that show Almond still has some edge left to him after all. And some versions of this CD (I have a German one) include an extra track, "Amo Vitam," a duet with Rosenstolz, that is also quite good. If you just love Marc Almond no matter what, you'll love this disc. If you love Mother Fist and The Stars We Are but aren't so wild about Enchanted and Open All Night, this might not suit you, although I think it's better than those last two. But unlike Open All Night, Stranger Things makes me glad Almond is still at work. I just wish he'd get farther back into the gutter! That's when he's really rolling . . .

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch!, October 18, 2007

By 

Heather Walton (Chico, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stranger Things (Audio CD)

I have always loved Marc Almond's albums Enchanted and The Stars We Are, which are very lively and mesmerizing. This album is more mature, quieter and deeper. It took me a few weeks to get used to it and now I cherish it as one of the finest albums ever. The song Glorious changed my life. I was an atheist and that song made me a believer! So many good songs on this album. I also love When It's Your Time about death. There is not one bad song on this album. It's almost a meditative album, so serene, relaxing and moving. I love it!