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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This album IS England in 1986., July 9, 2001
This one-man band is sadly underrated and virtually unknown, possibly because Matt Johnson is too literate for the layman to stomach, or possibly just because he tends to take 5-year-long vacations once in a while. No matter. Infected was his first platinum disc, and rightly so. It's a commentary on the state of the world today - mainly Britain, since he lived there, but really it could apply to any "civilized" modern country. Not every song is explicitly about politics, but every one has the same mood and theme - that things have reached the point where they can't go on the same way any longer and something must be done. Every song burns with desperation as Johnson tries to find a way out but can't.One thing I like about Johnson is that he's almost never arty - you know how a lot of the time bands are so self-conscious that they basically beat you over the head and scream "We're arty!" at you? Well, he never does that, but he still always remains very poetic. Even from the song titles you can see this - "Slow Train to Dawn", for instance. Johnson pegs the problems of the world so accurately it makes me wish I had thought of it, and sometimes even predicts further developments - "Sweet Bird of Truth", a song about a soldier on a doomed flight to fight in Africa, features the line "Am I to cry like a baby/Die like a man/When all the planet's little wars start joinin' hands?" Guess what events happened just a bit down the road in the Middle East? When he's not singing about politics, he's singing about man's quest to find himself. The line "I'm just a regular guy" is used a lot throughout the album - in fact, the album tells a consistent story about "just a regular guy" whose life slowly is falling apart and who doesn't know what to do, asking "Tell me what I want in this world" on the first track. It's a very moving story, but the character in it doesn't find his answers (although The Mercy Beat provides a ray of hope for him) - Johnson leaves that to you. The very dark, despairing lyrics are masked by airy (and really catchy) dance-pop, which may be seen as a drawback by some, but for others may serve to make the songs all the more memorable. If you liked Infected, I recommend Mind Bomb, The The's next album - if you liked that, I definitely recommend Infected. They're completely different works but at the same time they're remarkably similar, and many songs in Mind Bomb are almost sequels to songs from Infected (if you want to see how the relationship in "Slow Train to Dawn" ended, just listen to "Kingdom of Rain", another duet with another pop singer). Lastly, if you really dig this album, know that a full-length movie was made called "Infected: The Video". Track it down on EBay (they usually sell about two or three copies every time you look) and get a copy - the videos are every bit as great as the music.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lonsome, miserable and restless nights - 6 stars, February 27, 2003
I just bought the re-issue and was browsing the other The The reviews. Although Soul Mining is my favorite The The album, this one is a close second, and was my first exposure to Matt Johnson.
Damn, I don't know of anyone who can send chills down my spine like Johnson, a master lyricist, can with only a whisper. And on this album, he had the songs and musicians to back him up.
It's easy to classify Infected as synth pop, however, that brings to mind a shallow perfection. Each song here is slightly imperfect, in a way that hints at perfection, and is more profound because of it. Infected and Slow Train to Dawn are as 'poppy' as this album gets, employing hooks , dancy beats, and the least complex lyrical content on the album - Slow Train is still amazingly written - "I followed that bead of sweat - to the small of your back - from the nape of your neck - lighting me up with every drag upon my cigarette"
Out of the Blue and The Mercy Beat (AMAZING lyrics) are actual narratives of solitude and restlessness from the first person perspective set to beautiful, yet uncomfortable music.(recurring themes in Johnson's work, but never better than here)
Hearltland, Angels of Deception, Sweet Bird of Truth, and Twilight of a Champion are where Johson begins delving into political commentary (mainly an idictment of America and it's influence in the world/England). He continues down this road on Mind Bomb.
Yeah, I know that most people shopping for new music are not going to be reading this, and that this page is probably relegated to die hard The The fans like me. I hated this album when I first heard it (like in 93 or something), but I couldn't stop listening to it! Highly recommended for anyone who remembers spending a lonely, bitter, lovelorn night sweating restlessly beneath the sheets. Amazing, and unequalled in it's message.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent album - if you like fierce, morbid angst..., July 21, 1998
By A Customer
This album is going back a bit - to the mid eighties - but really its morbidity and pessimism is, well, timeless I suppose. The album centers around urban decay, decline in society and disintegration of sexual mores. The first song, Infected is perfect for its anger, Out of the Blue for its low self-esteem and sexual vengeance, but my favourite, Heartland for its classic portrayal of urban decay and capitalist injustice. Hey, it's not like that's my scene, but this music really grabs you, the lyrics are word-perfect and the sentiment is as dark as you'll get. Not for the faint-hearted
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