Kilimanjaro

Reward is one of my favourite songs and I enjoyed the rest of the album. 4*

-I like the guitar and keyboard grooves in "Sleeping Gas" -"Went Crazy" has a cool bassline and catchy chorus -I like the drum/guitar riff in "Bouncing Babies" -Strong 3, Weak 4?

7/10. First album in a bit that I'd say I enjoyed, but still not all that inspired.

Wow. I really like this record. It's like a more interesting "The Police." Like, I own Police records and put them on occasionally, and often think "that's not as good as I expected." This record suffers from none of that. I really hope I remember this band the next time I think I want to listen to the Police. Reading about this band I see that they are connected to Food Records (a great Britpop label, I believe) and The Smiths. I can hear all that. Great stuff. I'm inclined to rate this as a 3/5, but since they are better than The Police, 4/5.

I don't know how I missed this band when I was in college.

pós punk de arena com uma personalidade muito forte. pega um pouco dessa veia do echo & the bunnymen mas a melancolia bucólica é substituída por uma energia maníaca, dos melhores discos punk. admito que esse tipo de pós punk não me apetece muito, mas é dificil não amar algo de tanta qualidade. o primeiro álbum dessa lista que eu realmente nunca tinha ouvido falar, fico feliz pela grata surpresa.

Enjoyable 80’s jaunt

This is cosmic scouse indie at its best… can hear their influence everywhere.

Dosta dobar album, zanimljiv, quirky, instrumentalno je zapravo dost dobar. Sviđa mi se sve u svemu. Sleeping Gas, Second Head, Treason, Poppies, Brave Boys Keeps Their Promises...to name a few - odlične. tldr; nije dugačak album, ima 11 pjesama, nijedna loša pjesma, sve su stvari dobre, a i na ovaj album ću se vraćati. Tvrda četvorka!

Poppy post-punk with a splash of psychedelia? Don't mind if I do! Reminds me a little of XTC, although I think I prefer XTC on balance. More listens might improve my appreciation though... "You can watch Rafferty turn into a serial" - I have no idea what that means, but it's catchy as hell! 😆 Fave track - "Sleeping Gas" and "Treason" are both stand outs. Liked "When I Dream" a lot too...

gillade detta rätt så mycket.

Far from the best post punk album but it was clear that Inspiral Carpets got a lot of inspiration from these guys! Some great use of the hammond and horns.

Strange and semiunknown formation. Very good sound, post-punk and new-wave styles

Really liked this one! Never heard of this band but so similar to a lot of the music I was listening to in 1980.

A classic of its time!

Deze komt al meteen goed binnen!

i like it very much thank you

This one surprised me. I was expecting not to like it based on the band name, album cover, year released, and opening sounds on the first track. But it quickly grew on me and I really liked it by the end. It's sharp, the sounds are pleasing, some of the lyrics are funny.

Nowdays this pop sounds like pop-rock. And sounds pretty, damn, good!

Catchier than I thought it was going to be

Saved Prior: None Off Rip: Ha Ha I'm Drowning, Sleeping Gas, Treason, Went Crazy, Brave Boys Keep Their Promises, Books (much better version of the Echo & the Bunnymen song on Crocodiles), Thief of Baghdad, When I Dream, Reward Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: A surprisingly great pop album from a band called "The Teardrop Explodes". If it weren't for some obtuse lyrics I would've assumed this was some kind of early, experimental Duran Duran. Didn't push all the way to 5 star territory, but still good/great music.

Best: Second head When i dream Use me

Cool music Really like(d) it, fun music and like all the instruments 4/5

Forgotten cult classic

Good new-wave, psychedelic sound. Must have influenced The Smiths at least somewhat. I will need to give this more listens.

lot of adventurous stuff going on and manage to make it sound good. respect.

decent Brit pop sound, grew on me a little bit.

Some really good tracks.

I liked it sort of had a ska feel. Some big band sound. Nothing wrong with this one.

Chamber Psych before it was cool by Scouse mad 'ead Julian Cope and co.

This reminds me a lot of The Smiths, another band I never would have listened to if I hadn't been doing this 1001 albums. I like it! Moody melodies and 80s malaise.

Empezo bien a secas y me fue ganando. De esas bandas de los inicios de los ochentas que terminaron siendo muy influyentes en la música de leyendas latinoamericanas como Soda Stereo y LFC.

muy bueno jej

Julian Cope has a deeply informed love of lots of great music, but I am still not convinced he has made any

A decent album from a time where a lot of popular music sounded similar. Quite enjoyed it.

Fun but SO of its time

Somewhat interesting, but also of its time and feels like that there are better at this particular sound.

Very 80s, it's okay

Pretty forgettable. It’s not terrible, but I’ll never think about this record again. 6/10

This has a bit of the "Ruma" sound. I may be a bit tipsy but this has some solid jams.

Mid-tier Britpop? Groundbreaking

“Reward” definitely the standout song. Overall quite enjoyable 3/5

Sigue domando el post punk y new wave. Muy buen álbum. Representativo total del género. 6/10

Slightly above average 80s music

The Good: We attempt to climb a mountain! The Bad: We didn't train for this climb... The Ugly: Me falling down the mountain and taking all the sherpas with me!!! Never heard of The Teardrops before, and was dreading the experience as, lately, this entire experience is becoming more a chore than an adventure... Thankfully, climbing the Kilimanjaro has proven to be an adventure that hasn't been a total waste of my time... Except for the annoying fact that the original album was not available, so I had to sit through the remastered deluxe version, which included a couple of fun tracks not included in the original album, but also included filler that I really did not need to hear before dying... I don't know... this mountain climbing has proven to be exhausting... Really want to give this album a 4*... if only for Strange House In The Snow... however, if I have to listen to Traison or Sleeping Gas one more time, I fear I might kill something... 3*

Enjoyable pop rock but I’ve already forgotten it.

Had a little trip to the 80s. Been there, done that.

Could have got into this when I was 12. But this isn't an album I need in my life as I approach 40.

Started this one a few times. Can’t seem to get through it. Typical early 80s Brit / Liverpool rock or alternative rock. Not bad. Nothing special.

Initially skeptical because I never heard of this band, but I actually liked this. A little bit too long and repetitive, maybe.

Like Adam and the Ants but with fewer references to 17th century crime

Love 80s pop synth vibe with the horns is excellent

Have always been interested in listening to The Teardrop Explodes, partly due to their influence, but also my love for an eccentric frontman. I really like this particular era of British alternative music - and their sound is reminiscent of bands I love from this period, there are shades of The Damned, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, maybe even a lil bit of Television Personalities or The Soft Boys thrown in there - but I struggled connecting with this one fully

Its aight

As an 80s tragic, I obviously enjoyed this album! I wish that I had been able to listen to the original album (37 minutes) rather than the bloated 68 minute version!

I didn't mind it, but it does just melt into the oozzy 80s pop new wave proliferating this list.

This might be the newest wave I've ever heard. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. 2.8

These boys look like some pricks. And their music is just okay. At least it’s short. It’s actually pretty alright, save for the fact that it’s really samey and has no apparent highs. I don’t know. “When I Dream” is nice, but like there’s nothing huge here. It’s completely inoffensive jangly post punk. That’s all. It has no right to be here, but other than that I have no qualms. 7.0/10

I honestly don't know how to rate this. For some reason, when I listen to this, I do enjoy it, but once it's over, I can't remember a single thing about it. I think this list has broken my brain with all the 80's British post punk nu wave bands that they're all blending together. It could be a 4, but I literally cannot remember a single song after listening three times.

6 puntos, no mucho más para decir

great

Good. Kept one song

Not bad, but overall unremarkable for me.

Some of these albums are starting to fade into one. I’m fairly confident this isn’t as good as the last one that sounded like this.

This was good but the endless mouth-noises on the final track killed all of the goodwill the band and earned up to that point. 2.5/5.0: Mixed

the happier counterpart to echo and the bunnymen

Un embole al principio, después va mejorando. Me gustaron algunas canciones pero me parece un álbum más del montón. Ya me cansa escuchar estas bandas de rock de los 80 que repiten tanto sus sonidos.

Nipples of tears

Second Head - Punk? like the Stranglers.

I’m usually a bog fan of this kind of new wave/80s rock-pop, but this was pretty boring and unmemorable. No standout songs and the overall sound was just ok. 2.5 stars.

This is actually pretty good. I'd say it's pretty far on the punk end of the new wave spectrum which makes it more bearable and even enjoyable at some parts. They probably would have been a good punk band.

I liked Julian Cope’s solo stuff. This has some merit in places: Treason, Poppies and the excellent Reward. The remainder is sporadically interesting. Inoffensive at worst.

This was ok, thought I'd enjoy more than I did, some references to punk in the vocals, which I liked.

They're a "neo-psychedelic" band, which I didn't know was a genre. I can see a connection to The Doors in some songs (Use Me sounds a bit like Jimmy Morrison). But then other songs sound like early 80's pop rock (Police, etc). The final live track was a little annoying, but otherwise the album is OK.

This album doesn’t really do much for me. It’s not bad by any means, and I wouldn’t mind if someone else put it on, but I’d never reach for it myself. There’s just nothing here that feels particularly unique or memorable enough to stand out.

This album loses a star because the majority of tracks are limited to a single octave, however, it gains a star because the bridges between ol many of the verses are musically interesting. Overall: Meh

People who don't know how to sing trying to sing over generic rock.

3.5

Never heard of, nut really enjoyed it...

Mashed potatoes

Another great find. This album is why I love tracking this list.

This was quite OK. Nothing earth shattering. I added “When I Dream” to my playlist.

It was fine? I didn't really enjoy it, but it was interesting. No takeaways and nothing I'd listen to again, but it was an intriguing ride.

Muchas emociones. Voy a tratar de escribirlas en orden: Ya escuché 400 álbumes iguales Se parecen a the smiths Está bueno Que carajo estoy escuchando (Pausa de dos días) Que carajo estoy escuchando Estuvo bueno.

Upbeat and nice for a run

This is right in line with the 60s psychedelic revival of the early 80s in England. This reminded me a lot of the Prisoners who were also 80s English artists who tried to capture 60s garage psychedelic sound. As such I enjoyed.

так себе альбомчик, это говно я бы не стал слушать еще раз

Don't love it but don't hate it

Not the most interesting album, but perfectly fine. I would listen again for sure.

A bit non descript tbh. Julian Cope is much more interesting than this would suggest. 2.5

Ehhh. Not bad! Very 80’s. Might revisit some of the songs!

I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I dug the music. But the lyrics were meh. 3.25/5

I didn't feel any type of way about this.

Mid album if you ask me. Not bad, not amazing. just... mid, its ok i guess, its a 2.5 out of 5, maybe a 3.

ok. interesting

Rivales de Echo and Bunnymen en la carrera por liderar el Post-punk de Liverpool. Este debut fue una obra mayúscula (luego publicaron Wilder y Cope se largó a hacer lo que le dio la gana), recordemos que estamos aún en 1980... su influencia en por ejemplo Blur es evidente. Ha Ha I'm Drowning, menuda apertura. Sleeping gas , con ese bajo saltarín (motivo por el que Simpson tuvo que largarse y unirse a Ian Brodie -The lightning seeds) Treason fue el tercer sencillo de la banda. Reward fue su single más conocido. Second Head es más post-punk. Poppies in the Field, más pop que el resto, no es su mejor tema. Went Crazy recuerda claramente a la inicial Ha Ha I'm Drowning pero sin su magia. Books es de lo mejor de la cara B, con protagonismo de sus rivales (Ian McCulloch a la voz y composición). When I Dream también.

🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 Huge Julian Cope fan, slightly less huge Echo and the Bunnymen fan, blossoming Smiths fan, and I already liked "Sleeping Gas," but even with all that stacked in its favor I felt wary going into "Kilimanjaro." No matter how many great bands coalesced after the balkanization of The Teardrop Explodes, I just had a feeling it'd be too early for any of their individual strengths to have shown through. Okay, that said, I did enjoy this a little more than I expected, though I think it plateaus pretty hard after the first few songs and eventually disintegrates. Tacking on the EP starting with "Reward" at the end of the official release definitely doesn't help. 1: Bad | 2: Okay, No Desire to Revisit | 3: Good, Conditionally (OR Inconsistent Mix of Qualities | 4: Great (OR Technically amazing but missing the sauce emotionally) | 5: Amazing

Pretty fun!! Kinda dancey sometimes too! Those Brits, god luv um.

It’s fairly inoffensive. Better than I expected, but that is an extremely low bar to clear.

Ok I guess

It’s not bad. Solid rhythm section but gets a bit repetitive overall.

Not the best choice, I would have included The Chameleons or The Sound, Au Pairs, or another Wire or The Fall before including this one you know.

Pretty enjoyable new wave type record. Post punk? Who knows. I sure dont but anyway there are a bunch of good songs. British as hell. The biggest thing I heard was there are some sick bass groves here. Went crazy was probably my favorite song. But there were a bunch of others. Good stuff just not the best stuff.

I like and even own this record but to me it's more of a curiosity. Julian Cope was supposed to be the Syd Barrett of the New Wave. But he never reached Syd's heights, musically or mentally (...so far...he's still going...). I feel like he got/gets a lot of play from British music journalists, but at least in America, he was never that "important." Great band name, great sound, but only average songs. They sound like they put on a fun live show and maybe you can hear strains of them in The Coral and in Inspiral Carpets' Farfisa organ. 😅 That reminds me: What's better than roses on your piano? Tulips on your organ! 🤣

Aside from their big hit "Reward" (ironically not part of the original album), I'm pretty sure I've never really heard anything by The Teardrop Explodes, including from this album (and I'm not even sure I'd ever heard "Reward" before, for that matter). Overall it's a decent album, especially given that it's their debut and released at the beginning of a decade not known for great pop-oriented music. They *do*, however, sound a bit like a lot of other early 80s bands (and a lot like some band that I can't put my finger on), so I suspect I won't be revisiting it. But I appreciated getting a chance to hear them.

I would have liked this so much more had I not accidentally listened to some super long "deluxe" reissue of this album.

This just sounds like generic 80s indie rock to me. It's fine, nothing more.

I have never heard of this band before, probably because they were so short lived. With the kind of music they play it makes sense that bands like Public Image Ltd would overshadow them. Really the only thing that gives them a unique identity is the combination of neo-psychadelia and post punk. Songs are alright but that's about it.

Classic new wave stuff - a bit of funky post punk bass and slashing jangly guitar, some ska style horns played on cheesy keyboards, a couple synth parts, angular ironic disaffected vocals with a bit of pop melody. Building tension, dance grooves. A lot like talking heads and the police but also duran duran - upbeat energetic and full of nervous kinetic energy. Good fun

okay, esa porquería del final la embarro pero es disfrutable de escuchar y me gustó 1 canción y le di like. Más parecido a lo q me gusta

ja geht, ganz ok, nichts besonderes.

Same

When I think of The Teardrop Explodes it reminds me of a song called ‘I can’t get Bouncing Babies by the Teardrop Explodes’ which tells of someone’s frustration about obtaining a deleted 7” single. I found this amusing and somehow can’t get it out of my head. Anyhow Bouncing Babies is on this album and listening to that track today I cannot really understand what that singer was so bothered about. There was a time when I was quite attracted to Teardrop Explodes and I think it was the single Treason (and not Bouncing Babies) which began my brief flirtation with them. But I soon tired of them and listening today can understand that decision. It is all very much standard 80’s fayre with that familiar 80’s vibe throughout. A sound nowadays I try to avoid. Good thing today is that after reading the accompanying Wiki link I discovered that Julian Cope is now an accomplished author and an aficionado on stone circles. So well done to him having made something of his life away from music! 3/5 12/4/26

The Teardrop Explodes debut studio album. It posses post-punk jagged guitar riffs and driving brass sections with some catchy pop sensibilities. A good and enjoyable listen. Three stars. 1 "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" (4/5) 2 "Sleeping Gas" (3/5) 3 "Treason" (3/5) 4 "Second Head" (4/5) 5 "Poppies in the Field" (3/5) 6 "Went Crazy" (3/5) 7 "Brave Boys Keep Their Promises" (4/5) 8 "Bouncing Babies" (4/5) 9 "Books" (3/5) 10 "Thief of Baghdad" (3/5) 11 "When I Dream" (4/5) Total - 38 Average - 3.45 299/1001 161/299 albums reviewed were new to me

Had I experienced this in high school I think I would have really liked it. I liked a lot of adjacent bands (Echo and the Bunnymen, the Bahooahs, &tc) but never remember hearing this. Reward is pretty catchy, overall feels like a solid three. I will plan to give this one a focused listen in the car, I just planted 31 trees so it a little hard to maintain focus at the moment.

There’s some good stuff here. Very clearly influential. Probably sounded pretty radical when it was released. As with most of Julian Cope’s music, I like parts of songs, but not a whole song. Traison, is better in French, though. That was cute.

The brass was fun... the rest was rather expected. Not bad, but just a tad boring.

It's ok. Reminds me a lot of The Police. Very emblematic of the 80s Brit New Wave sound. It's inoffensive, but not terribly memorable due to a sound that doesn't do enough to differentiate from other bands of the time. Really, I'd put it as a middle of the road fare. It just doesn't do enough to stick with me, but it's also not the worst. I'd never heard of this band, and I don't think I've particularly missed out.

An interesting album.

Loud and ambitious!

Liked some of this, but quite of it's time

It was alright I guess

I have a soft spot for new wave. This doesn’t necessarily move me as much as others, but it’s cool.

Крч, альбома - в тот же уголочек где сидят Orange Juice ну и the Cure с Smiths. Эдакий джангл-поп, пост-панк из 80-х. Альбом идёт час где каждая песня после того как проходит - моментально вылетает из головы. Впрочем, главная хитара альбома - Reward звучит интересно и довольно необычно за счёт партии духовых, чего нельзя сказать об остальном материале. Такое.

One of the exciting breakout acts of the 'new Merseybeat' of the early 80s and you have 'Reward', 'Treason' and 'Thief of Bagdad' which really stand up today. The album seems to get better as it progresses after a couple of dodgy early tracks. Front man Julian Cope was a bit of a character who emerged as an unpredictable solo act and it is often felt that this band did not ultimately achieve their potential. The use of horns on some tracks gave them a unique sound for a post punk/new wave act.

Very 80s

More just-okay British niche faff from this list.

Not a good as expected

Wierd, didn’t hate it it was different but bright and hopped along with a good vibe all the way through. Just got a bit one dimensional by the end. Pretty experimental for 1980

This was bland and largely inoffensive, so why was it on the list in the first place? So much random post-punk adjacent stuff on this list that could have been replaced by something 1. Better and 2. Different. I am bumping this up a star, though, because “Reward” is an objectively great song.

Brit rock

A little too long but it wasn’t a bad listen Kind of forgettable Some cool songs on here

Some interesting tracks on here experimental and artistic hadn't clocked how much Liam Gray sounds like him at times

6 / 10 - Britischer art rock - sehr interessante Orchestrations Favs: - Went Crazy - Reward

5.5/10

repetitive after a bit

Correcto

I was surprised how much this reminded me of the Inspiral Carpets, similar psychedelic, new wave, poppy, organ-heavy, stuff. Even the lead singers sound a little similar. I imagine anyone living in Manchester or Liverpool would be in up in arms against this comparison though. It feels a bit strange that they put out an album called "Kilimanjaro" but didn't add the track with the same name until 20 years after the original album was released. Anyway, the album is okay I guess, a bit formulaic. I'm going to consider "Reward" as part of the original album, as it pulls this from 2 stars to 3.

Muy chill

I didnt want to like this album that felt like The Police doing bad post punk but there were a couple songs that stuck out and weren’t terrible.

Another British band that I'm completely unfamiliar with. The Teardrop Explodes comes out of nowhere with a pretty solid post-punk album. It mixes it up a bit including horns at times that surprisingly worked when they were featured. Each of the songs are relatively tight and enjoyable. Hard to believe any album has 7 singles off of it but it obviously resonated with the audience. Pretty good album that I doubt I would have been exposed to without the list. 2.68 stars

This album kinda bored me. The bass work is great though… the bass bumped this to a 3 for me.

The tracks sound dated and very similar to each other, but they also have a really comforting and familiar vibe that I like. Favorite tracks : Treason, Reward, Kilimanjaro 3.5/5

Never heard of this band before today but I dug what I heard. 60s psych rock viewed through an 80s lens. Could easily file this in the "I don't know what this is doing on this list" folder, but I am not mad that its here. Which is more than I can say for other albums in that folder. 3/5

Ikke spesielt spennende, men ikke spesielt dårlig heller.

This one mostly just became background music for me and didn't pull me in enough to pay attention most of the time, but sounded good enough that I wanted to keep listening. Aenery now and again something would catch my ear and be cool. Then 'When I Dream' came on and it had my full attention. Without a doubt the standout track of the album for me. I really like all the shifting melodies in the background which never seem to stay still or the same, but keep building up this preasure without drowning the admidditly simple but catchy almost vocal stim on top Standouts When I Dream 3/5

Boring at times Fun at times Gave it 3 instead of two stars because i can see myself dancing drunkely to some of the songs

For an album released in 1980, this sounded very 80’s. I never heard of them before but I thought it was fine. Nothing bad to say, nothing great to say so I’ll give it a 3.

Released in 1980 but has the sound of mid 80's Brit Pop / New Wave, feels a little bit ahead of it's time. Good songs, great bass lines, overall very enjoyable. Middle of the road band, but extra credit for being on the forefront.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to.

I don't remember listening to this, but I know I did. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5

I liked their sound, not amazing either, didn't feel there was a great hit on the record, just a solid enough listen

absolute bollocks innit

Good, but too intense. Good songs, but tone it down a bit lads.

favorites: sleeping gas; treason

Most songs would work better if it there were 2:30, they reallyyyyy dragged it out

Sounded better in French tbf but overall not bad

A nice little surprise from a band I never heard from mostly because this doesn't sound like it was from 1980. The tracks inside could've easily been the lastest from the Arctic Monkeys. Even with short track times, the album as a whole did start to wear on me a little.

I enjoyed certain aspects of this album. I remember Treason and Reward from back in the day but only being 9 at the time I definitely was not into Teardrop. Listening to it now, it’s definitely more interesting than some of the other early 80’s entries, looking at you Duran Duran. Overall enjoyed it and will listen again I am sure.

6/10

Straddling the fine line of post-punk and new wave (a bit poppy for post, but a bit weird and dark for new wave), with some mixed in psychedelic influence. It doesn’t get too out there, but it’s in the mix. It’s catchier, more melodic, and more danceable than I expected. Reverb drenched vox, repetitive grooving bass, guitars that can be jagged and wiry or a bit more smooth, eerie key/synth sounds or boisterous horn recreations…I found myself enjoying most of it, but also felt like it didn’t really go anywhere. A lot of the songs have similar structure and get quite repetitive without surprise or notable change - good for a droning dance type effect, but less interesting for repeated listening. It feels like a madchester precursor that I want to like a bit more than I do, but also don’t have any real problem with.

Artig sound, men låter litt masete til tider.

The Police, bare litt kulere.

Passe sært og trivelig. Litt slitsomt i lengden med et såpass masende lydbilde.

If an alien landed today and wanted to hear what music was like in the 80s I’d play them this album

This is cool, I wasn't blown away but I'm interested in looking into the rest of their discography

125/1001 First listen. Ain’t never hear of these guys before. I had no issues with this pick today other than no stand out tracks. Good sound. Interesting arrangements. Not bad vocals. Reminds me of early Midnight oil in places. I might revisit this one day. Okay that last live track was kinda shit though. 5/10

Kilimanjaro I really enjoyed Peggy Suicide, but I’m only a little familiar Teardrop Explodes, so I was keen to give this a listen. I do know Reward of course, although it was only added to this after it was a successful single, but you can immediately tell they are contemporaries of Echo and the Bunnymen and that 80s Liverpool cosmic speckled post-punk scene - it's full of rhythmic urgency and throbbing, driving, melodic bass. However, unlike E&TB they don’t have a guitarist to match Will Sargeant, and although the organ and horns are great, it does feel like it's missing an ingredient like him to really elevate or differentiate the songs. But it is a fine album in that style, and none of the songs are bad at all, but there are a couple of songs that I really liked; Ha Ha I’m Drowning, Treason, Poppies in the Field and When I’m Dreaming. On balance I think this ends up a high 3, would happily stick it on again, even if I would probably head to E&TB first. 💧💧💧 Playlist submission: Poppies in the Field

it's strange - not sure if I would listen to it again but it's not really that bad either

Anos 80 clássico. Não conhecia, acho que não toca muito nas rádios do Brasil

I was not previously familiar with the artist or album. This is a kind of rock that is a bit hard to distinguish. There are some moments here but it is mostly forgettable for me. I would not mind hearing it again but I would not seek it out either.

Some of it was okay.

Nope, never heard of you guys. But as established, I like when a name is a sentence, and that includes band names. The album title makes it seem like the teardrop exploded Kilimanjaro. Anyway, this sounds like some generic Britpop to me! Which I like. I also like the song title 'Ha Ha I'm Drowning' because it is good to laugh. Still I had some questions about these tracks. Like: -What is rafferty? -What is AAP? No time to research, though. British intrigue, will resolve another day!

Fun 80s music. Nothing to dislike or get too excited about.

Generic 80's music.

Yet another group I've known about but never really listened to. I wish I had, enjoyed their sound, even the slightly cheesy 80s horns (keyboards?). Really evocative of the period for me, unique, and improved over a few listens. I added When i Dream to my playlist

Another blast from the past. OK New Wave rock, "When I dream" was the only song I knew that I forgot,

2.6 stars

This album was surprisingly good. I really enjoyed most of it. Would probably have given it a 4 but a few songs went on a tad too long (the last track clocking in at nearly 10 minutes).

1980 was an interesting time, feels like the influences of the previous decades still blending into what was becoming the 80s sound. This isn't quite rock, nor is it just pop, but Treason is very catchy. There's a trance-like repetitiveness to some of the songs and it can be addictive. Love the bassline on Second Head. And the backing keyboards. Vocals are perfect for this but the instrumental breaks shine too. Frenetic bass on most of the tracks, and Bouncing Babies is a highlight, the keys now playing a lead role. Big drums. Reward was the other single but I don't like it as much as Treason. Overall - cool ideas, inconsistent quality, but worth a spin.

Stand-out tracks: Sleeping Gas - the spooky organ is quite prominent in this one, giving it a good dose of dissonance Treason - leaning a lot closer to usual expected sounds Second Head - that constant unnerving melody in the background keeps the momentum of the track I was quite surprised when I heard some of the strange and a bit unnerving instrumentals on this album. The vocals are quite generic so I guess I was expecting the instrumentals to be as well, but some of the tracks end up leaning towards the more dissonant side (especially that spooky organ). I would say the album has a healthy dose of both, not overdoing it, but still giving off an interesting feeling. Despite that, I wouldn't say all of the tracks are my thing as some do just feel like the same idea from before rehashed musically which makes only a few tracks stand-out and mostly the ones at the beginning.

Highlights: Treason, Went Crazy, Books, The Thief Of Baghdad, When I Dream It was fine but really unimpressive. Kinda standard new wave sound with a twist of psychedelia which made it a bit less interesting and it didn't stand out all that much. That might be the point and I'm missing it but IDGAF. I don't have it in me rn to go into further detail. Didn't hate it but it was really not much.

Ikkje mitt nye favorittband, men kult fjell

Too much of a good thing

frustrating listen. great music; some of this i actually like. julian cope drags the entire thing down. first two songs are among the worst i've heard easily.

i wish i liked this more!! neo psych - post punk is some of my favorite music in the world but i kind of end up finding most of this just rehashed / irritating, especially on side B. there are some good songs present though!

Mostly pretty solid, it's kind of crazy this came out in 1980, but the second side feels like every song could have used a few more passes, they all have some issues . But it's a fine album.

Solid album! This was my first The Teardrop Explodes experience, but I found them to be quite similar to A Flock of Seagulls and the early 80's pop sound.

Some really good sounds on here, great synth and bass lines. A little bit typical for the era, and maybe I have my timeline mixed up, maybe actually a year or two before peak synthpop saturation? Cope's voice is great on this. When I Dream is an epic closer. Sells me on the whole project. Favorite Tracks: Sleeping Gas, Treason, When I Dream

not too big a fan of all the brass, its sounds very tacky and dated. but other than that this album is pretty enjoyable, some pretty creative and innovative instrumentation and fun lyrism. good album but you're not missing out on much by skipping

So generic

Wow! A lot of 2s for this set. Let's see how it goes. Yeah - it's fun, interesting new wave. I had never heard of this band at all, or heard any of their music. I enjoyed most of these songs but nothing really stood out to me. It's pretty good. THREE STARS

Is this the best album ever? No not really, but I still enjoyed it! Treason is that song!? Obviously I think you can track the soundscape in British music from this new wave / post punk sound into the Britpop era of the 90s... but I have to ask why they moved so far away from this. This feels interesting.

What a weird album. It feels like they're trying to be a little like Duran Duran or The Cars, but just can't quite get there. It's like the album your dad picks up for you at the airport while he's on business in London, because he knows you like British music. There's hooks that almost get into you, but not quite. Weird enough to keep it from getting radio play, except maybe on the college radio set. I liked "Use Me", "Traison", "Kilimanjaro", "Poppies in the Field". The live version of "Sleeping Gas" at the end of the remaster currently streaming on Spotify is blindingly hilarious. My rating: 3/5 mountaintops.

Classic 80s pop rock sound. Lots of synths and other stereotypical 80s elements. Not my forte, but I don't dislike it, I just likely wouldn't intentionally revisit it. Vocals are nice, music can get a bit irritating at times, but the mood is fun and the rhythms keep my attention.

I mean didn't stand out

all of the songs kinda sounded the same for me, this was a pretty mid album, dragged on for a bit

Had no idea that this was Julian Cope's band! Sounds very 1979 in every last way. Fun listen!

Kinda fun but mostly just more brit pop, 3/5

The best song on this, by which I mean the one I knew, is technically a bonus track and therefore doesn't count. The rest of the album doesn't really match up to Reward, but it's still a very nice slice of Scouse new wave. Like a lot of the genre, it's a little irksome tonally - too many synths and a style that's a bit pleased with itself.

The Teardrop Explodes – Kilimanjaro Kilimanjaro is a solid, high-energy entry into the post-punk canon, though it lacks the experimental depth of a masterpiece like David Bowie’s Low. While the album at times leans into a "generic Britpop" aesthetic that feels less than revolutionary by modern standards, it is redeemed by several standout moments of musicianship. Julian Cope’s performance is charismatic, particularly on "hypnotic" highlights like "Sleeping Gas" and the sharp energy of "Books" and "Treason." While tracks like "When I Dream" fail to leave a lasting impression, the record’s blend of driving rhythms and brassy production makes for an enjoyable listen that rewards the "all ears" approach. A decent 3/5 that serves as a vibrant, if somewhat familiar, time capsule of the Liverpool scene.

Nice album

I appreciate the horns on an otherwise simplistic britpop, new wave bore. Nothing is bad here, it’s just no wonder that this stuff didn’t make it across to the USA with how mundane it is. The bass riffs are nice. Vocals are ok.

Light 3,5

7,2/10

The Police vibes. Good but not outstanding.

Pretty good, maybe went on a bit too long.

Not my kind of music but still fun and enthusiastic.

Not bad, know a couple of songs. Doesn't blow me mind but the sound is cool enough. Can hear its influence on later 80s pop and it lacks the lame sound of that stuff. 3 Heard before? Some Owned: Yes: 41/163 (25%) Will I get? Probably not

6/10 Favorite: Treason

I have a soft spot for Reward as I listened to it a lot during my teens and early 20s and for a solid 6-7 years I had the lyrics in the first line completely wrong.

Hey look, it's another British New Wave band that had one or two halfway decent albums in the early 80s then disappeared. Yay. This is ok background music if you like New Wave. It's also somewhat boring, but not really annoying.

Not bad! When I dream was an excellent closer. The album started out sounding a bit generic, but it got unique pretty quickly and I enjoyed it. Again, I wish this was a 1-10 scale because this isn’t a 4 for me but it’s better than a 3.

Somehow ok

Sub 100K listeners on Spotify, and for music pretty typical of 80s British new wave. Nothing too special except their lyrics I guess?

Good

Decent album. Wasn’t particularly fond of the vocals and some songs were a little repetitive but overall some interesting sounds and not a bad listen at all.

An interesting album, a little spooky sounding Fav songs: Treason, When I Dream

It’s ok!

Kind of gives Echo & The Bunnymen vibes. I don't hate it.

Los 80 fueron una cosa que madre mía. Los brass synths en este disco no paran de principio a fin. Está divertido, hay buenos temas, pero a veces es demasiado 80s para mi body. A veces los riffs suenan a Talking Heads y eso me mola. En la portada se les ve majetes.

Some interesting music - I did enjoy the post punk elements here. I really don’t care for Julian Cope’s singing voice, however.

***An ok album

Meh idk, songs blended together and got weird at the end. Random British music, would prefer the clash.

Cool, Echo and the Bunnyman vibes

Don’t know what genre this is, but it’s really good

I'm going to keep things brief on this one. Quite frankly, I don't have much to remark for this album considering just how unremarkable this is. Kilimanjaro is yet another 80s British new-wave album on a list that is not lacking in 80s British new-wave albums by any metrics. This album's kinda mid. It's not bad or anything, but I just don't care about it. The sound is fine at times. I thought "Treason" was a pretty alright song. Other parts of the album were somewhat annoying. The horns were a bit much. I'm not huge on Julian Cope's singing. It sure is a good thing then that I get a chance to reevaluate his vocals when I get to the solo album that he also has on the list because of fucking course he does! This album list has a real redundancy problem. This album also has that, but to a much lesser extent. The album's a bit repetitive, but considering that the album's under 40 minutes I can't fault it too much in that regard. Overall, The Teardrop Explodes is a band that I have no strong feelings towards in either direction. Low 3/5.

Not a bad album, but just kinda meh. All the songs sounded the same and really there was nothing ground breaking about it; sounded like all the other post-punk 80s bands, except The Teardrop Explodes did not explode like they did. Shit talk aside, it doesn't sound bad. Just not remarkable.

Its New Wave.... with horns!! Seems pretty high quality for New Wave, not sure why I have not heard of them before. Sounds like a lot of the music made during 1980, a certain sounds I can't get past.

Basic brit rock

Solid post punk- anything that separates it out from others? Not really

As far as 80s pop music goes, this isn't bad at all. Shame it's still 80s pop music though.

261125 12:50 3.5 / highlights: treason, went crazy, books

It wasn’t horrible, I respect the passion. :P

What pop music should sound like. I have always been mildly attracted to Cope's music but never a big fan. I do prefer some of his solo work more though. Still worth a dabble.

Strangely, the drums and bass lines are quite good on most of the album. That being said, the album definitely gets repetitive and eventually became hard to keep concentration. It's not a bad album, just not very good either. 3/5 Might listen again

fine. 2.75-3.00/5

British 80s sounding vocals. Interesting mix of sounds and styles. I get a little disco, plenty of rock, some hints of new wave to come. Gets a little trippy and experimental here and there. It's definitely not boring!

I'd never heard of the Teardrop Explodes, and I'm only vaguely aware of Julian Cope. Having listened to this album, I suspect it's a bigger deal in their native England than here. It's fine. Cope's occasionally strained vocals don't do much for me, but the music has a sharper edge than I expected. I won't revisit, but nice to meet you, Teardrop Explodes. 2.5 stars.

Another cool new-to-me UK alternative band. Great vocals, cool sound.

This British album from 1980 sure does sound like a British album from 1980.

Liked it. Wouldn't mind hearing it again.

This one had its fun moments. I am not sure I will even remember this band, two weeks down the road.

Interesting, pleasant album. I didn't pick up as much as I should in the first try. Will maybe listen again in 4 years after I've listened to the other 950 albums.

Interesting

Pretty average new wave. Not bad, not great.

Ambiance pop-rock 80-90 mais sans grande originalité mais bon sympa à écouter quand même

Sympa, quelques pistes chouettes genre Brave Boys Keep their Promises 3/5

Pretty decent, very 80’s

Fun! Different from what I normally listen to

I thought this was going to be a schlocky 80s new wave bullshit but I was pleasantly surprised by this interesting album. Weird, quirky lyrics, interesting soundscapes. I didn't care for the singer's voice but the music was good.

Decent!

This was alright. Not horrible. Not amazing. But kinda fun...

This is just fine nothing special

Musique des années 80 banal

J'ai hésité avec un 4 en vrai mais c'était un poil trop monotone

Definitely not boring. Decent stuff, nothing special but definitely nothing bad. If they carved out the meat of this album and made it 35 to 45 minutes, it has high potential to be a 5. 3 outta 5

Mejor de lo que esperaba, tiene su lado salvaje. Nota: 3.5

First half is really good 80s music with mix of synth, horns, and good vocals. Second half falls off a bit though

Aight

muziek op zich, maar stem begint rap tegen te steken... had dit een EP geweest, zou dit zeker enkele sterren meer krijgen

After hearing this album, as a fan of synths and new wave, it's okay. It doesn't strike me as one of the truly great 80s new wave albums, but if I had discovered this in the same year that I discovered Men at Work, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and The Specials, I probably would have enjoyed it.

kinda interesting i guess Fav song: Sleeping Gas

Interesting and enjoyable, but nothing amazing Standout songs: Sleeping gas Bouncing babies

This album was a lot more interesting than I was expecting it to be. Admittedly, I love 80s music. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I kinda like this. To be honest, these guys gave me a lot of early U2 vibes, especially the heavy bass line. They’re not nearly as good of course, there’s a decent amount of similarities. Not an amazing album, but not bad either.

Never heard of this band. Out of the gate, sounds like a mix of Squeeze, Echo and the Bunnymen, and maybe even some David Bowie. It’s a pretty solid mix of those different sounds and that era. I dig it…some songs were goofy and it was way too long, but makes sense that it’s a compilation.

Not too bad. Parts reminded me of The Smiths and The Jam. Got a little bored by the end though.

Nothing really stood out for me in this album. It all sounded similar, and would have preferred more of a swing towards the psychedelic and less towards pop rock.

80's punk, rock, super solid band I never heard of. Better than most and really good for a genre I just don't love or miss.

Decent.

So so

3 out of 5. Not the worst album, but nothing remarkable.

This sounds like every British rock band of its time. I'd never heard of this band and didn't recognize any of the songs. The advantage of it sounding like everything else like it is that it's not bad! The disadvantage is that it's nothing special. There are some fun tracks but it's otherwise forgettable.

Sure, this is what I expected.

Couldn’t put my finger on the reason this pretty standard post-punk sounded off. Then I realised it was all the brass sections. This album is really channeling that 80s production before it became ubiquitous.

Good solid rock. A bit of a pop vibe that I enjoyed.

Interesting post punk adjacent type stuff. A little brighter in tone than some other things in this genre.

3.5

Pretty good! They sometimes sound like The Damned. 3.4

3.5

I was dreading this album based on the date--1980 isn't actually my vibe for most intents and purposes, especially if we are talking mainstream rock. Plus, yet another new wave brit pop album, ya. Anyway, having expected to hate it, it wasn't that bad. Keep your expectations low, right? Second Head is a really solid tracks, and the first three are pretty good. I kind of like the driving baseline. The guy's singing sounds like every other new wave brit pop album of this era. I dunno, I might listen to it again. 3/5

6/10… new wave / post punk

Never heard of these guys but super interested after reading what they sound like. They were pretty cool. I enjoyed the handful of songs I checked out.

nice safe 1st album from a good band

I tend to gravitate towards new age when it comes to 80’s music and I thought this was a very solid entry in the genre, I just wish there were a couple true standout tracks I could hang onto. Best Track: Treason

Not bad. Felt quite modern despite being 70s era pschedelic, but alot of the songs blended into one

This one was okay. Couple of tracks got me into it, but I also feel like ti generally went on too long. Nothing really switched up the tone for me, so it all ended up blending together.

boring 80s

I quite like the sound of this, quite poppy, New-Wavy, but it's nothing too special. Not sure they belong in this list. I only knew Treason and that's a nice song. Some others have better bass-lines though. Vocals a bit too up-front for me maybe. Rounded up to 3 because they are Scousers :-).

M'évoque Duran Duran, mais les précède, donc je devine une influence. Le son des années 1980 déjà encapsulé dans la première année de la décennie. Un bon moment, difficile pour moi d'imaginer la réception à l'époque où ce son n'était pas omniprésent.

Enjoyed it. Reminded me of this band I liked called the Dead 60s. This guy kinda sounds like David Byrne?

Quite and nice album, gives you energy and feels like a time capsule for that music era Fav songs - Poppies In The Field, Brave Boys Keep Their Promises 3/5

I had never heard of this band before. I don't find the vocal particularly unique or anything but the instrumentation here is interesting enough that I dig this overall.

Poor man's U2-Cure crossover with so-so singing. 2.8

Never heard of them before or heard this album but it was decent.

Vrlo prosječan post punk. Vidi se da je julian cope nekad bio i glazbeni kritičar 😀

Fine, but not essential. Reminded me of much better bands.

Okay but not an album I would add to my library.

First listen

Decent new wave album. I wasn’t familiar with it and it’s not bad. It doesn’t really have many bangers or standouts but it’s listenable.