Customer Reviews

Two Wheels Good

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2 star:		(1)
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Ah, Prefab's second full-length, and the one many consider to be their best. Me, I find it incredibly difficult to single out "the best" Prefab album; I think this one, "Swoon", "Protest Songs", and "Jordan" are all equally brilliant. This album was actually the first Prefab I ever bought, but it didn't really do it for me the first time, and being the poor college student I was, it didn't take much convincing for me to sell it a month later. I was much more into the jagged edges and white-knuckled jazz-pop of their first effort "Swoon". BUT, one song kept haunting me, wouldn't get out of my head, and I recorded it onto a mix tape before selling back the album. The song, "Bonny", seemed to perfectly embody what makes Paddy McCloon's writing so brilliant.

Like Brian Wilson, he can take two relatively simple chords, and shape a song around them in such a way as to achieve something so rich and sublime you'd think he'd have a small orchestra banging away behind him. But no, all he needs is a piano or guitar, a simple and snappy rhythm section, and his voice, to create some of the most melodic, catchy, and harmonically complex music in pop since Brian Wilson's legendary "Smile" sessions. It's like how Wilson's masterpiece tune "Surf's Up" did with one piano what others would need a ten piece ensemble to achieve. The piano part is so harmonically rich that the song doesn't need anything else - it's all covered on the piano. Paddy proves equally adept at this.

After a year spent ceaselessly in love with "Bonny" on my mix tape, I decided to take another stab at this one, and it finally clicked. The songs were so deceptively simple, and they had smoothed out all the rough edges and the convoluted song structures from "Swoon", yet still retaind the energy, wit, moodiness, and gossamer beauty. This album is more commercial in sound compared to "Swoon", which is due partly to Thomas Dolby's production, which uses quite a lot of 80s sounding synth sounds, that do sort of date the record. But, the songwriting is so classic, so timeless, that the production is but a minor flaw. And it still conjures a mesmerizing atmosphere, with gossamer sheets of synths hovering through the songs like summer breeze, while jazzy guitar chords skirt around throbbing bass-lines and tight as a duck's butt drumming.

From the country shuffle of the opening track "Faron Young", to the driving "Appetite" and "Moving the River", to the late-night, cocktail-jazz of "Horsin' Around" and "Halleluja", and the moody, dramatic build-ups of "When Love Breaks Down" and "Goodbye Lucille #1", one finds a frightening level of melodic consistency. And the lyrics, though occcasionally bordering on sentimental, usually contain insightful and sometimes biting poetic visions that prove Paddy pays a lot of attention to his surroundings. Sophisticated, accomplished, yet so simple, the elements are so basic, the songs sound like they were put together so effortlessly, that only a true genius could pull something like this off. Like James Joyce, Paddy McCloon used to boast of his brilliance, and was even once quoted as saying, "on my day, who are my rivals?". And, yup, like with James Joyce, that kind of open arrogance can be cringe-inducing, but the scary thing is, he's absolutely right.

Back in the mid to late 80's, Houston was blessed to have a local version of MTV, "Hit Video U.S.A." on a low frequency station (Channel 5) that aired videos by world renowned and up and coming artists and it was on this station that I first saw the clip for "Appetite", a soft-focus, gauzy, serene dreamscape that featured bandleader Paddy McAloon staring sincerely into the camera while intoning his heartbreaking lyrics of desire and loss. I've been enchanted with this bands work ever since. "Two Wheels Good" (known everywhere else as "Steve McQueen") is a brilliant slice of pop art that incorporates elements of jazz, barouque, chamber pop and rock with lyrics that are consistently heart-tugging without pandering or lapsing into self-loathing. These are precious songs about desire, loss and emptiness and not neccessarily how to get over them, but how to learn to live with them. "Beatlesque" in its since of melody and beautifully produced by Thomas Dolby ,"Two Wheels..." is an overlooked Brit Pop Masterpiece. Worth searching out.

I'm having a debate with myself... is this the best, most intelligent pop album ever? At the moment its a toss up between 'Steve McQueen / Two Wheels Good' or June by SwanDive. As I've only been listening to the latter for a matter of months, whereas Steve McQueen has been getting regular plays for over 15 years I'm opting for the former.

So why is it so good? Music, melody, words, feelings - well all of the above to be honest. Its been said before, but the first side of the album (remember LP's guys) is perhaps the most complete and perfect set of songs. Music such as this never dates and I defy you not to be touched.

For me the stand out track is #2 Bonny. My favourite song of all time... nothing comes close to its beauty. It's the only song ever to make me cry.

Buy this album now, don't think about it, just do it. Like a first love, it'll eat you up inside and leave you secretly wanting it forever.

geez. 18 years and the magic is still there. I am a late 30's full grown-up man, i've been around the block but tonight, listening to this CD, and especially " when loves breaks down " i feel again the pain of the 18 year old I was when that song came out. Paddy Mc Aloon wrote the Ultimate break-up song. It's pure poison flowing through yours veins.Wendy Smith has an amazing voice and Paddy's lyrics are describing so well what we all have been going through at 1 point of our life.
"When love breaks down
The lies we tell,
They only serve to fool ourselves,
When love breaks down
The things you do
To stop the truth from hurting you "
DAMN !
definitively the best song in one of the best albums of the eighties.
P.S. : Sylvie, If by, I don't know what miracle, you happened to read this. " Je t'aime encore et t'aimerais toujours "

Prefab Sprout was branded "quirky" after it's debut album "Swoon" was released, and with good reason...obscure lyrics and a style that sounded like Steely Dan on acid. That's not to say it wasn't a good album because it was...but Paddy McAloon and company really came into their own with "Two Wheels Good." Mature songwriting, pristine playing, memorable hooks, intelligent lyrics, beautiful harmonies, and flawless production by Thomas Dolby made this album one of the best of the 80's. ANY fan of great pop music should be thankful for this CD.

Around the release of this album back in 1985, Paddy McAloon claimed that he was 'probably the best songwriter in the universe'. He wasn't far off the mark. This album is a collection of beautiful, atmospheric, catchy, moving, thoughtful songs, treated with one of the best production efforts Thomas Dolby has ever done - and that's quite something. I love the entire album, but Bonny, Appetite, When Love Breaks Down, Goodbye Lucille #1 and Desire As are worth mentioning since they are some of the best songs ever written. Wendy Smith's simple, soaring backing vocals and Dolby's very personal keyboard sounds suit Neil Conti's crisp drums, Martin McAloon's deep bass and Paddy's complex compositions perfectly. Dolby and the band struck something very special and undefinable on this album that they haven't quite been able to recreate on their following collaborations (which, by the way, are still great). Also, try to get your hands on Protest Songs, which was released in 1989 but actually recorded just after Two Wheels Good. It rivals this one in sheer beauty and, together with this album and From Langley Park To Memphis, is the best the Sprouts have released.

this is so worth getting your butt kicked for. punks by the millions could pummel me and i could not renounce this record or this band. if you have any love for romantic and wise, intelligent pop you cannot do better, i swear. kill me if i'm wrong. this is tops.

I own this recording on vinyl. However, I had to purchase it on CD just to lose myself yet again in its lushness. As a historical artifact, "Two Wheels Good" reflects the frustration that many of us felt in the 1980s towards Reaganomics and Thatcherism. But unlike many of its contemporaries (deemed alternative or progressive in America), Prefab Sprout expressed these critiques in a tone that was both hopeful and maudlin, discordant and dulcet. From the repetitive, nasal opening riffs of "Faron" (a source of inspiration for the band It's Immaterial) to the ethereal synthesized chords of "When Love Breaks Down," Prefab sets the tone without being heavy-handed or obvious. The lyrics are salient; and when they border upon being treacle, they do so intentionally. Prefab Sprout in "Two Wheels Good" managed to do what few bands could--bridge the gap between meditative, "smart" music and foot-tapping rock that roots into one's mind for years to come. Perhaps the reflective quality of the music is the reason for its [bad] showing on the US charts. Whatever the cause, "Two Wheels Good" continues to provide a few people with a great deal of pleasure.

If you had to pick one Prefab Sprout album, this is the definitive one. For me, it's 1 of 2 the best albums I would save from the 80s (the other one if you like Prefab is Dream Academy's "Life In a Northern Town" album). I've played this CD countless times ... sometimes a few months lapse, but when you play it, the music and lyrics are always fresh. Original sounds and lyrics that sink in deeper.

Is there a prettier moment in popular music than the bridge in "Bonnie"? I haven't heard it. This is just one of the many moments of genius you will hear -- and delight in -- on this album, now 14 years old and still running strong, as masterpieces do. Nothing being recorded today comes close. And so, friends, the question -- where do we go from here? Today, popular music is as dead and hollow as yesterday's commercial jingle, lacking creativity and any lasting emotional truth. The only answer it seems lies in the past, when ideas could still be new and we weren't so jaded. Two Wheels Good triumphs in this regard. It recalls and reveals our better selves.