Y [Import, Original recording remastered]

The Pop Group | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 16, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Rhino/Wea UK
• ASIN: B000N3TYII
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,443 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2007 digitally remastered reissue of the Post-Punk radicals influential 1979 debut album featuring one bonus track. The band's name is certainly ironic (they are the furthest thing from Pop), but there is something enchanting about their angry Post-Punk-Funk vibe. Their tribal-like rhythms and avant-garde approach to songwriting influenced a new generation of Post-Punk bands, an influence that can still be heard and felt nearly 30 years later. Vocalist Mark Stewart eventually joined Adrian Sherwood’s On U Sound stable of artists while guitarist Gareth Sager went on to form Rip, Rig & Panic in the '80s and Head in the '90s. Bassist Simon Underwood helped form the funky instrumental outfit Pigbag. 11 tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hold the record like a gun., April 12, 2007

By 

squarehawk2 (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Y (Audio CD)

"It was a very young attempt to mix up poetic, existensialist stuff with political yearnings. The idea of love as a revolutionary force-the way it kind of switches on a light, makes you hope for a better world" - Mark Stewart.

I remember back early in my teens about how older hipsters would tell us that the Sex Pistols record sparked it all for punk as we know it, so I sought out a copy post haste. I listened to it with interest, but somehow it wasn't that wild to me (had I been there at the start, I'm sure I'd eat my words). But once I got a copy of "Y", I was floored. I had found what would have been my "Never-mind The Bollocks...".

Should there be any chance you don't have an idea about the sound, it is a Frankensteins monster of stitched musical styles (free jazz, funk, dub, punk, etc.) which explode, boil and simmer all in one. It was rumored that John Cale was to produce their first effort, but that he dropped out and Dennis Bovell stepped in instead (who did an amazing job). Their contemporaries were The Glaxo Babies, This Heat, Slits, 23 Skidoo and Alternative TV's "Vibing Up A Senile Man". Imagine if Coleman's Prime Time ensemble made a punk record with a teenage Rimbaud on vocals, thats close as I could pin it. The message was political, all though it didn't speak it as much as you felt it. But no matter what you compare it to, nothing comes close to actually hearing it.

This edition is an improvement overall compared to the Japanese import. It features a bonus instrumental "3.38" (previously could only be found on the "Jazz Satellites" comp.) that was the flip for "She is Beyond..". Rhino's re-master is pretty good, giving the sound more punch, however it would have been crazy to hear album in a 5.1 Surround Sound mix (oh well). But the best of all is the mere fact that the record is available.

Given that I believe we will never witness a force this uniquely challenging in music, I cannot recommend this record enough. If you've looked this far into it, go further and experience something once in a lifetime.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They reformed!, August 30, 2010

By 

Johnny - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Y (Audio CD)

This album is a must for any fan of The Birthday Party or the whole post-punk scene. You can hear where Nick Cave gets his "signature" voice from. The Pop Group recently reformed and they are releasing an album this September! Going to get it as soon as it comes out.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy or die!, November 23, 2007

By 

cannibalhippy "happy hap hap" (happy hap hap) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Y (Audio CD)

This record is one of the best records ever made
its punk its funk
And long before the chilli peppers
try to get the cd with the extra track
She is beyond good and evil
Live they where one of the most brutal and exciting band ever!
when The birthday party(with nick cave)
Lived in londen..they said they saw only 2 good bands
Joy division
And
The pop group
The birthday party was pretty influenced by THE POP GROUP
I saw 3000 bands and the pop group is in my top 5
Its also the best cd -lp..mark stewart ever made
Get it!!!
Get also
For how much longer shall we tolorate mass murder
Simply...the best!