Real Life

588/1089 - Really cool Can-like drumming at times. Great synth work, guitar riffs, and songwriting. The singer is a bit on the talk-singing side sometimes but overall this was a really great listen.

Honestly, I’ve already listened to this one two or three times and I feel like I’m still unlocking it, which is a great feeling. There’s some depth and variety here, and the songwriting is addictive but elusive somehow. I love these early post-punk albums, they’re often steeped in pure creativity and this one is no different. Very happy to have found this one. Must-listen #397.

Yeah sure why not. Fave Tracks: Definitive Gaze, Shot on Both Sides 3.6/5

Just added it to my rotation -- great album

3 1/2 Stars: The post-punk new wave sound is not my favorite. Something about the droning tenor sounds of most lead singer's voices. But damn, the musicianship on this record is top notch. Great songwriting too. Nice little discovery and the main reason I enjoy going through this project.

"Real Life" is a huge sounding album that manages to both evoke in me both a wonderful nostalgic feeling of the sounds of that time, whilst at the same time still managing to sound fresh today - it has not dated at all. In fact, and this would have been sacrilege at the time, "Real Life" sounds almost as if it could fit into the Progressive Rock World! The cutting edge of the guitars, vocals and rhythm section stop this but the keyboards and the huge sounding song arrangements are very much 'progressive' in nature - 'Definitive Gaze' is an example of this. In track-by-track reviews, we tend to judge songs in isolation as individual compositions. But music isn't consumed in a vacuum. When a record, such as this one, is cohesive from start to finish, has extraordinary production, and evokes the right atmosphere, a "4-star track" inside a "5-star album context" still feels magnificent. This is the case here - the overall visceral impact on me of this album is of a five star experience. I'm going to play it again! Side A 1 "Definitive Gaze" (5/5) 2 "My Tulpa" (4/5) 3 "Shot by Both Sides" (5/5) 4 "Recoil" (5/5) 5 "Burst" (4/5) Side B 6 "Motorcade" (5/5) 7 "The Great Beautician in the Sky" (4/5) 8 "The Light Pours Out of Me" (5/5) 9 "Parade" (4/5) Total - 41 Average - 4.6 412/1001 213/412 albums reviewed were new to me

It's punky

it's alright

meh

Pretty solid.

Not bad!

This had some good tracks. Shot By Both Sides was a good one.

One of those bands that's a bridge between punk and new wave. The album starts off pretty promisingly with some fairly hooky and instrumentally interesting multi-part songs, but eventually devolves into fairly rote punk. The vocals have good energy but ultimately stop the band from truly excelling.

Not bad

Una muestra de post punk muy buena, mezclan estilos, tienen búsquedas ruidosas, también lo hacen desde la calma, proponen sonidos nuevos y le dan cara a un género nuevo digamos. Como si fuera poco y te preguntás ¿pueden también hacer punk punk? y si, no nos dejan con la duda. Lo logran también y muy bien. Parece cerrado, formado y suena bien dentro de todo el barullo que el género propone y característica en si. Fácil de escuchar e interesante. 4/5

Really digging this

Not bad for a post punk album. Shot by Both Sides and Motorcade elevated the album a bit. Some of the other songs are more standard diddling. 2.7/5 -> 3/5

I don't get it, it's just more 50-year-old experimental B-roll. Some kind of joke?

This was kind of meh and tedious. 3 stars

This album is good, but I don't quite get the greatness of it. They occassionally stick closer to the sound of Howard Devoto's previous band, the Buzzcocks (two of the songs were co-written by Pete Shelley), and I like that sound. However, they also drift into this New Wave sound I'm less crazy about. "Shot on Both Sides", "Burst", and "The Light That Pours Out of Me" are probably my favorites. 3.5 stars.

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? I guess my fantasy is all the crummy post-punk albums in the book getting replaced by the likes of Bob James, Toto and Spyro Gyra. This one ain’t the worst but it’s not great either. The singing is pretty vampiric, the band look like a bunch of turnips on the album cover and the element of saxophone throughout makes it sound like Roxy Music if they couldn’t play their instruments. Howard Levoto had a good thing going with The Buzzcocks. It’s a bit like if Bobby Gillespie quit Primal Scream before Screamadelica in 1991 to form a follow-up band Big Issue.

achei que ia ser terrível. Não goi.

Awesome post-punk landmark

NEVER AGAIN

A solid ok

4.0

Mmmm I liked the instrumentals better than the vocals tbh Songs I liked the most: 2nd one (because it said something along the lines of u can touch yourself anytime 😭😭😭), shot by both sides, the great beautician in the sky andddd I think that's it

Grammar school boy sneering which has aged so poorly. No concept whatsoever of how good they had it. I’m too exhausted for historic naivety.

Blah! Not even the Goldfinger cover worked for me.

what a coincindence, after the Buzzcocks, there's the inofficial successor. similarly uninteresting to me.

Velar mellan en trea och en fyra, men det blir 3/5 p.g.a. Det finns mycket annan post-punk jag hellre lyssnar på.

Funky stuff.

This was an odd album. Couldn’t put my finger on what mainstream artist it sounded line

Honestly just sounds like punk music from before they really cracked the code on how to make it sound exciting. Or at least, make it sound exciting to me.

This is a really great post-punk record. The music is just awesome, the arrangement and playing really work great for me. Awesome listening experience. "My Tulpa" and "Shot By Both Sides" are really awesome. Don't love Barry Adamson's solo stuff, but he can play the hell out of that bass. The second half slips just a little bit, but I enjoyed the whole album overall. The highs are really high.

Well done, but not for me.

Okay I LOVE this! What is this lovely gem? I had no idea but I know now!

this felt like two albums - one that I really liked made up of punk rock and another that I did not care for that seemed to have been inspired by Kurt Weill.

3.5. If I'd heard this in the early '80s I would have been all over it.

We just watched 24 Hour Party People and two seasons of Life on Mars, so part of my brain lives in Manchester now. Good stuff.

08/01 Generic British punk. Bleh

Really liked this.

I had never heard of Magazine and wasn’t expecting much from this album. WOW it surprised me. Very catchy, very danceable. The vocals aren’t my favourite but when the music is this good I can let lyrics and vocals slide. It would be quicker for me to write about the songs I didn’t like rather than the ones I did. I liked most of this album

ME parece muy divertido, con un sonido único pero se pasan un poco.

Cool af

Enjoyable new wave, high 3

I am a big fan of post-punk from this era, and loved Shot By Both Sides when I first heard it as a teen. Despite this, Magazine has never been up there with the greats as Real Life is a bit of an uneven debut. Parts of the second half where they lean towards that early Fall make them sound more complete. I also like the more silly and melodic songs. Elsewhere I find the vocal performance a bit… performative(?) and the instrumentals lack the urgency of that single.

I’m so split on Magazine but i’m tentatively going low 4, its the most post-punk record i’ve ever heard and i love the post bits and don’t love the punk bits 🤷‍♂️

Really liked this one,4.5

British pop rock

Jao volim Shot By Both Sides, mislila sam da sam nešto otkrila underground kad evo ih ovdje. Najbolja pjesma definitivno ali ništa posebno ne fali ni ostalima, vjerovatno najmanje mrzak post-punk albuma za mene kao hejtera post-punka.

I'd listen again

Non male ma non mi ha esaltato

Never heard it before but really enjoyed it.

I like it that I've never heard of Magazine (although I *have* heard of Howard Devoto's earlier band The Buzzcocks), and definitely haven't heard anything on this album before. My first thought with "Definitive gaze" was that I'd stumbled onto a Roxy Music/Brian Eno side project, but thankfully other tracks have their own sound, off-kilter as it is. They definitely sound more polished than many debut albums seem to be in this collection; and although I'm not sure their keyboard-heavy tracks really work as well as they'd hoped, I appreciated that they mixed it up a bit with more analog-heavy songs (like "Shot by both sides") and a few tracks blend the two nicely (like the Bowie-inspired "Burst" or the more mainstream and non-Devoto-penned "Parade"). Overall, I wasn't all that sure what to make of this somewhat experimental post-punk album, which could have really worked in their favor if they'd managed to sound less punk and more genuinely experimental rather than just dada-esque punks (more like PIL I suppose), although I was impressed at the relatively high-fidelity recording quality for the late 70s.

Odd album was campy in places and Brechtian in other places, interesting but not sure I'll listen again.

Never heard one of their songs before - or even heard of the band - but found myself listening again after it finished the first time. Enjoyed and intrigued.

Good New Wave album from the Mags

Jagged post-punk from The Buzzcock’s successors. Shot By Both Sides is a banger and whilst I didn’t know anything else, the rest is of a similar standing.

Oh wow, I love this. It's haunting and beautiful, and exactly what I wanted to discover through this project.

forgettable

fine; liked the circusy bit tbh

And on the 8th he said let there be post punk and he heard that it was good.

i've been magazine-curious. liked it enough to revisit again.

i like it a lot surpsingly

J’aime pas le post-punk. Donc je m’ennuie. C’est tout simplement pas un album pour moi.

I got a Barry Adamson solo album on here a couple of weeks ago, who I didn’t think I knew, except that I like The Bad Seeds and I’d heard Magazine before. My familiarity with Magazine was a song I’d heard on some post-punk compilation years ago and I’d never pursued them further. I believe that song was “Shot by Both Sides” and as it turns out this entire album is excellent and I should have been digging deeper all those years ago. I guess this is what Howard Devoto did immediately after leaving The Buzzcocks so it’s post-punk in the most immediate and literal sense; it’s also coming from a time when post-punk wasn’t so codified as a sound. So you get the very rhythmic aspect (thanks to some great bass playing by the aforementioned Adamson) but also a weird kind of funhouse vibe. Neat use of keyboards on this too. Not as spooky as Siouxsie and the Banshees but not so far from them either. This is great, I’ll have to put this one into rotation.

Really fun post punk record with just enough goofy artsy influence.

Immediately, the cover art's stark contrasts and abstract caricatures intrigued me. For the album itself, I've apparently discovered that I have a soft spot for this kind of quirky post-punk. I enjoyed the plucky guitar work way more than I thought I would, and if nothing else, it's interesting to listen to! As the album progressed, it really unveiled itself like a slowly spreading ink blot.

musiken var helt ok men sången kändes lite för långt in på parodiområdet

I was not familiar with this and at first glance it appears to be another example of the albums BRITISH people need to hear before they die. So according to Wikipedia, this band spun out of Buzzcocks. Cool. OK, a couple of songs in and I like this. Definitely more than the Kinks album yesterday. This is pretty good.

The vocals were initially off-putting but they grew on me. I enjoyed the album but it didn’t stand out to me and I thought it was too synth heavy at times. Fav song: Shot By Both Sides Least fav: Definitive Gaze

Nice general sound but nothing really of substance in here. Ahead of its time I guess? Specific rating - 3.8 Fav song - shot by both sides Least fav- definitive gaze

Not a fan of his voice. But what a crazy list of people who cite Magazine and this album as an influence and a crazy list of other projects the band members have been a part of! One of the first post punk albums and I'd never heard of it, so even though I didn't love it I'm glad I've heard it. Favourite song: Burst Least: Parade

3.5

3.5 the last 2 tracks are so good

Shots by both sides er en veldig kul låt. Ellers er resten ålreit.

not really for me, but i didn't skip much

How had I never heard Magazine? This album rips.

Solid punk rock that sounds like the original vintage.

If I righteously deleted half of the bland boring new wave punk pop albums from this list…. I’d probably keep this one. It get detracted from the experience because of all the other blandness from the genre on the list, but in a vacuum, it’s got nice synths and a cool experimentation album.

It's definitely one of the best "experimental" and "influential" punk albums on the list (as there are SO MANY). There is enough fun variation that keeps the album fresh while maintaining some semblance of sense. The vocalist does really sound strangely familiar to Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil (idk why they aren't on the list).

Not my style of sound. Worst album I heard so far.

I'm a sucker for prog post punk new wave.

That was solid and I’ll likely revisit it at some point.

Weird but I feel like they didn’t think so. More Brit slop

Zombie surf party but in a good and cool way

I thought I might like this, 1978 was my prime year, however it didn’t hit that level I was expecting…

2/10… art punk / goth wave / *1978

Fun find

Great

Ok 3/5

This was a pretty cool album to listen to. Some of the songs on here I would skip, but overall a really good listen.

Had a few interesting twist and turns which saved me from rating it with the lowest score, but ultimately forgettable. Feels like this album was put in just because one of the people making up the list enjoyed this record as a teenager, not because it's actually one of top thousand albums you need to listen to before you die.

Post Punk done with Progressive Rock. 2.5

This _almost_ hits for me. Every song starts out promising, but then nothing happens. Probably not my genre since there is something here, but it still leaves me cold.

I like a lot of English post-punk but this is Nehemiah decent. The Stranglers are next on my list and they are much better.

pleasing

There is so much punk music on this list. I didn’t hate it. It was kind of boring though. I quit listening halfway thru.

Psychedelic rock, I'm digging it.

This was not enjoyable to me. While I didn’t hate the music overall, I really hated the vocals. It really ruined it for me. 2/5

A fine listen but just kinda meh.

Howard Devotos start in the buzzcocks shouldn’t deceive you. These aren’t the teenage symphonies of his original band. These are angular, confused songs full of distrust and misanthropy. Musically it’s a mix of styles from art rock to weird German cabaret but its weirdly cohesive

Aesthetically close to the mark yet always held a little further back, Magazine is a band that's been waiting for me all along. Definite Gaze, Shot by Both Sides, The Light Pours Out of Me are all songs I recognize and yet I don't remember seeing the distinctive record cover before. These are all songs that have slipped into the stream at one time or another without the band getting the recognition they might be due. Perhaps it's the everyday nature of their moniker, perhaps it's that their blend of post-punk was both too new wave and too art rock to find a distinct lane to get pulled forward through time in. In music and cultural history it seems like time leaves behind things that are difficult to classify or promote through a singular attribute, and yet these can be some of the most rewarding of cultural production. Take the other artist John McGeoch is associated with (Siouxsie and the Banshees) for instance, the image and sound of that band is self-propelling. I get the sense that more time with songs one through nine would be rewarding, and yet it's Thursday at 5:28 in the morning, I'll listen to something like 10 more hours of music today in various states of attention. Just as much as Magazine's debut is worthy of being picked up I know that I'll probably set it down and walk away soon enough.

56/100 it was alright, just didn’t really land with me

It's so hot in here What are they trying to hatch? Very apt for this bastard heat wave we're having.

I might not be a fan of post-punk, but this was okay.

Good

Awesome discovery! Up there with Wire and Gang of Four in terms of post punk coolness, with a slice of something a bit more classic in the guitar parts. Lost me a little in the back half, but I reckon that's just a sign of a grower.

Band and production isn't bad, singer ruins it a little for me. Overall fine but forgettable. 3/5

Was hoping this would be a fun punk album but it was kinda just the fall

Seldom good, often bizzare, sometimes dreary.

평범하고 나쁘지 않았다. It was ordinary and not bad.

Nice one

Probably the first punk-rock album (and bend) that I loved. Cool

1.6/5 This was a hard listen for me. I could barely tell where one song finished and the next one started as the sound all sort of blended into one. It had some good moments but ultimately it wasn't fun to listen to.

I liked this, but at the end of the day it was just an average album that I didn’t like anything enough to save and I’ll probably never listen to again.

At first listen I was not really into this. Another UK post-punk album. But as it rolled on I found it just fine. Maybe that’s the problem. Sure the Buzzcocky vocal delivery and some interesting musical moments help it along here and there, but I’m probably just tired of the over abundance of post-punk/new wave records being delivered throughout this which unfortunately is causing potential good ones to lose their luster.

This was a wild ride. The synth piece in the first couple songs grew on me and then it disappeared! Thought the guitar was solid mostly…good tone and some really interesting phrasing. Vocals grinded on me a bit. I liked it but not enough to go higher.

I’m probably overrating this but there were sounds I enjoyed so giving the benefit of the doubt. 3.5/5

Está bueno. Bastante de fondo, pero me gusta la producción

I enjoyed the variety, bass lines and guitar playing.

Post punk is kinda my thing. How have I never listened to Magazine??? 105 albums in, and this one is my most amazing discovery so far! I'm so excited to listen to it again. And again and again and again... So, there's a lot of buzz around counterculture punk in 1978, but noone really highlights this "post punk" breakaway phenomenon. It's more user friendly, and significantly more inspiring towards the "alternative" and "college rock" movement in the 80's, while traditional punk is still simply punk today, having not evolved as much as post punk. I love both, but as I participate in this project, I'm starting to really appreciate post punk a tad more for its versatility; it still hits on all those transgressive themes and tones I love in punk rock, but has more variety in instruments and melodies. Magazine truly is inspirational now that I'm scrolling through my music catalog. This is where it all started.

#384/1001. Thank you, post punk is here.

Very similar for me to public image Ltd. Because its a lead from a punk band breaking off to do post crap that I didnt even know existed. I like the buzzzcocks and sex pistols. And their followups are cool yet not really what im into. Like there is a huge reason that shot from both sides is my favorite track here. Its a punk song. It has some post type stuff in it too but it doesnt get bogged down with too much of that. I just dont see the need to move past punk and make stuff thats less interesting. Less punchy. Just in my opinion lesser as a whole. I do like these immediately post punk stuff much more than the stuff that people make closer to present. That stuff has gotten way too far off base for me. This is evolving but a generation at a time and not 100 gens. But I generally liked this. There were plenty of songs I want to return to. And its very worthwhilr for me without being my favorite thing ever. Still quite good for something of this genre. Helps to have a large presence on vocals

First time hearing this album. The music is really good but the vocals are that kind of punk style that I'm not a huge fan of. It's not terrible and definitely unique but probably not something that I would listen to again any time soon.

de repente se siente sin ganas

Standouts Shot by Both Sides

While I’ve certainly heard of The Buzzcocks, and I’m pretty sure I’d heard the name Howard Devoto, I don’t think I’d ever heard of Magazine before today. I wanted this to be more interesting than it was.

Early example of post-punk music. It lacks something compared to other artists like Siouxsie & the Banshees. Musicianship? Quality vocals? Songwriting? I don’t know for sure, but I don’t care for it as much as later more polished post-punk. Does that even make sense? Polished post-punk? Eh, whatever, it’s a 3 stars from me. 3 stars

8 / 10

Surprise, never heard this one before. They sound ahead of their time. I like it.

pretty cool

Took a couple of listens but really grew on me. A little punk, a little rock. Good stuff

Gear: ZMF Auteur Classic LTD Shedua Artwork: 👹👽👺 Production (Remastered 2007): 🎧🙂‍↕️👌 Music: 🤔🔁❤️ Rating: 📰📰📰📰/5

Good Reminds me a little of Sparks Good. I think with a bit more time id like it even more, but for now we'll call it a 3

1978 this came out! And Punk was already dead; its corpse just hadn't stopped twitching. This album managed to anticipate almost every nuance of post-punk new wave. It was a phenomenal achievement certainly never bettered by those involved and hardly since.

Interesting. I knew Shot By Both Sides, but the synths and dub styles of the first two tracks was a nice surprise. A shame there wasn't more, and the later half of the album isn't quite as arresting, but definitely worth a listen. Strong 3 / weak 4.

Pretty good, was not familiar with this, which is surprising . Will definitely listen again

This just washed over me. I wasn't completely paying attention but nothing grabbed me and when I listened it mostly bored me.

Has a few nice songs on it but is sort of drudge work otherwise. Point for creativity at least.

I'm a big post-punker and I wasn't familiar with Magazine at all. But it got slightly boring the more I listened to the album. It starts great, you can notice the Buzzcocks influence at the beggining, there's even a couple of Pete Shelly credits in the album, but in the end it wasn't as memorable for repeat listens, just an ok album.

Not my favorite. They had the misfortune of following Elastica in my listening order, post-punk that I preferred. Shot by Both Sides was decent, Motorcade was interesting. Nothing else kept my attention.

Meh

Rate: 10/10. Burst favorita por mil. Buenísima la portada del album.

Leuk, netjes, prima, 3 sterren

Dit was oprecht vet. Nooit ven gehoord, maar best van genoten

Beetje The Fall-vibes. Best dope eigenlijk. Sterke 3, net geen 4.

It was okay. Some nice moments but not for me. 5.1/10

Nope

fun

The product of a Beatles and little green men from Mars cultural exchange program

Decent late '70s punk. The musicianship is decent but the vocalist is all vibes.

Yeah, this is a good listen. Another band I know nothing about! a solid 3

I enjoyed this one, but I don't know if it was my mood, or the album but each track felt like it ran into the next one and nothing really jumped out. On the whole pretty solid 3.5 (but I'm feeling generous)

Started out great. Killer post punk with Roxy Music sprinkles. Side A was an easy 4 stars. But the back half lost me, just meandering and annoying.

A wild and wonderful ride.

Enjoyable listen, was waiting to be blown away, but still solid album

I liked it, but it wasn't really my cup of tea. It was ok though.

Had some cool tunes

Great discovery for when I first went through the book. Artsy Post-Punk, but not too experimental. Dark but fun. Very sticky melodies throughout, but I would characterize it as ultra-accessible. I have listened to more of their albums but I have to conclude they're a one-album-wonder, unfortunately. Still, better one than none! Key tracks: Definitive Gaze My Tulpa Shot by Both Sides The Light Pours Out of Me

Good songs, not a memorable record whatsoever.

Favorite Track: Shot By Both Sides

A little frustrating - there are genuinely good moments in this album, and it feels almost goth-rock in places. It should be right up my alley. However, there were also a good number of moments that just kind of annoyed me, so it’s hard to say how much I enjoyed it. Seeing them live in the right setting, I think I’d be much more willing to overlook those annoyances. Favorites: Shot By Both Sides, Motorcade 3

A bit hit and miss, but some fun stuff here.

Weird album. I don’t love really any of it, I like most of it, it’s good! But the best moments of this album are little guitar runs, or effects, or a vocal melody. Lots of ideas from this one, but I don’t think it’ll be a top album for me.

Number: 141 Date: 05/24/2026 Artist: Magazine Album: Real Life Year: 1978 Style: New Wave Post Punk Familiarity: Well-versed (4) Rating: 4 Before: ======= They're OK, but not one of my favorites from that time period. I much prefer Buzzcocks. During: ======= 4 Definitive Gaze 3 My Tulpa 3 Shot By Both Sides 4 Recoil 4 Burst 4 Motorcade 3 The Great Beautician In The Sky 3 The Light Pours Out Of Me 3 Parade ----------------------------------------------------- 3.43 WEIGHTED AVERAGE (accounts for song lengths) After : ======= The album is OK, but not something I would actively choose to listen to. Apparently it has been pretty influential to other artists that followed so for that reason, I suppose it deserves a spot on a list of 1001 albums. Favorite track is Motorcade. 3 my personal rating 5 suitability for this list 4 impact ----------------------------------------------- 4 composite rating

Listenable and occasionally fun.

punk kai goth. nice

Magazine’s “Real Life” was a frustrating listen for me because there are moments where I can hear something really interesting forming, but the album constantly gets in its own way. Right from “Definitive Gaze,” the spacey keyboards and grating vocals made for a rough introduction, and that became a recurring issue throughout the album. A lot of the synth work sounded more cheesy than atmospheric, and instead of adding to the songs it often distracted from the stronger guitar and rhythm sections underneath. There were tracks where things clicked more. “Shot by Both Sides” worked because it leaned more into straightforward punk energy and pushed the keyboards into the background. You can really hear the Buzzcocks connection there, and it ended up being one of the few songs I’d actually revisit. “Motorcade” was the clear standout for me. The keyboards finally created a mood that fit the song, the bass groove was excellent, and the track built into a genuinely cool journey with a strong guitar solo and more personality in the vocals. Unfortunately, that felt more like an exception than a turning point. Too often the vocals drained momentum from songs that had strong instrumentals behind them. “The Light Pours Out of Me” opens with a fantastic groove and crunchy guitar work, but the singing kills the energy for me. Tracks like “The Great Beautician in the Sky,” “Parade,” and “Goldfinger” leaned too heavily into the theatrical keyboard sound that never connected with me, while songs like “My Mind Ain’t So Open” and “Touch and Go” were decent enough punk tracks but not memorable. Overall, Real Life feels less like a fully realized post-punk classic and more like a punk album experimenting with keyboards. I can appreciate hearing ideas that would influence later bands, but outside of “Shot by Both Sides” and especially “Motorcade,” this wasn’t an album experience I enjoyed very much.

8/10

Interesting “punk” album with a rather eclectic sound, great production value, some fairly good musicianship at times, typical talking vocal stylings for the genre, and some of the worst saxophone playing ever to be recorded. A fun listen overall, but I would not consider this to be one of my personal 1001 albums to hear before you die.

An ok post-punk / New Wave album, but nothing really stands out.

Yuck. Except the last track. 2

I barely even know what to write about the albums that I enjoyed. Some more 70's bullshit.

This is definitely a familiar record for me. Magazine is Howard Devoto's band after leaving the Buzzcocks. It's a post punk in as far as the album is an effort to break out of the constraints of punk, but its also a reminder that those sorts of efforts often look quite different from each other. This record, while still bearing the influence of punk, has a lot of earlier influences. I can hear a bit of Roxy Music and other earlier art rock records. I really like the inclusion of the keyboards and occasional saxophone. However, there are moments such as Shot By Both Sides, which have a more traditional post punk sound to it. Overall, a very good record.

Most "whatever" album in a long time

It’s possible I’m undervaluing this just because I heard a PiL album a few back, and this is a much less impactful version of a similar thing. I liked it fine, and I bet I would like it more if I heard it a few times and it settled in. A 3, but a revisit-one-day 3.

5/10 Best songs: Motorcade Honestly, this album is the peak of this list's meta: 80s English new-wave rock band otherwise unknown outside of the island. Decent music, but never really moving to "good" or even "interesting." I don't mind the album - for what it is it's listenable, and I never felt a burning desire to turn it off. But it's just more of the same, endless numbers of bands the list's writer enjoyed when he was (presumably) a teenager and never got over.

constantly swinging between "oh this is kind of interesting" and "urgh this is getting on my nerves" while listening to this. overall not a great experience

mmmmmmmmh bon on s'ennuie un peu

No.

7.5/10 It has the edge and rawness (and questionable singing skills) of punk, but with a lot more expanded sound and rich instrumentation. Its a bit spooky and a bit weird. The lyrics are witty. Very much my cup of tea. Highlights: Shot by Both Sides Definitive Gaze Motorcade The Light Pours Out of Me Burst

I have a fair amount of Buzzcocks music as well as Howard DeVoto’s solo album, but had never heard anything by Magazine, so was not totally sure what to expect. The songs are generally pretty good, decent melody and rhythm. Songs are surprisingly long, with most clocking in in the upper 4 or low-to-mid 5 minute range, but generally do not overstay their welcome. I will likely explore the remainder of their catalog.

If I could score the music 4 and the vocals 0 I would.

I like the energy. This was OK.

I read the description briefly and confidently misidentified Shot by Both Sides as Walking on Both Sides, which is by Pink Turns Blue. I was a bit disappointed when I figured out my mistake, a few seconds into the first song. But anyway, as it turns out I knew this record too. It's alright.

Its however good you want it to be

Not bad!

Post punk while everyone else was still mid punk. Very good. I had never heard this before and that honestly surprises me, because it is exactly my kind of thing. I can hear influences from Bowie and the Velvet Underground, Hawkwind, Kraftwerk, a huge variety. And it manages to sound original. Some of these guitars would sound modern thirty or forty years later. 4.5, a nice discovery

I enjoyed this a bit. Needs more time / listens to really sink in.

surprisingly tolerable punk music, way more listenable than the stuff I've heard before. An easy one and done listen, also a little more psychadelic too. It does drag pretty heavy at points (Burst specifically).

Not my cup of tea but I didn’t actively dislike it. Totally fine punk music. I’ll never listen to it again!

Pretty ok

Leuk album, beetje post punk. Duidelijk voorloper van veel Engelse bands

I wasn’t expecting much and I was pleasantly surprised!

Very solid British post punk. Parts of it sound like Bowie and that’s always fun

If the vocals were stronger this would be a 4 for me. Love the chilly production and guitar work but vocals for me are weak and too buried in the mix.

This was great, hard to believe it’s from 1978. I feel like this could have come out in any of the decades since and it would still make sense. Really feels like tons of the bands I love must’ve been influenced by this.

Circus punk

For 1978 this is a very early representation of post-punk. But this is not the band that would make me fall in love with the genre. Television, Joy Division, Wire and Gang Of Four for example are to me 100 times more compelling. This album is kind of forgettable and uninteresting.

Pretty cool off the wall alternative rock

Another band completely new to me. I enjoyed this. Oddly, it reminded me of Hawkwind in places. I found it entertaining throughout and it didn’t really outstay its welcome.

The Good: I’ve always preferred magazines to newspapers! The Bad: That is’t real… life… The Ugly: Uncertain what kind of magazine this is… If someone would’ve bet me money, I’d have said that the opening song is more than familiar, at least to me! I got all excited thinking that, perhaps, I’d been enjoying Real Life for longer than I thought. So I greedily clicked the wikipedia button, thinking that I would be told that Definitive Gaze has been used in mayor tv series, or movie productions… or something… to find that the name doesn’t even link to a separate Wiki page… Then it dawns on me… I’ve been playing catch up on about 15 odd albums which, for one reason or another, I’ve not had the chance to really sit down and listen to… and this is one of them. I have, however, started listening to this album on a couple of occasions… which means that this is where I’d heard the first song over and over again… Now I need to consider whether or not trying to finish this list is good for my sanity… Back to the band… I kind of like it, sometimes I love it… but at no point is there a “wow, I really needed to hear this before I die!” kind of feeling going on. The consensus seems to be that, Mr D in all his wisdom, is pissing off one too many persons with his list. This here not being a bad album, just uncertain why we’d have to hear it… So yeah, sorry… 3*

Kul med lite musikhistoria, visste inte vad sångaren i Buzzcocks sysslade med efteråt!

Känns kul och som något lite eget ändå!

Skön stil!

The album cover is great

Great album. Made me appreciate post punk a whole lot more. Interesting instrumentation and lyrics. Absolutely worth a relisten.

New wave punk never heard before

No thoughts

Truly nothing special to my ears. Would be a one star but I liked The Light Pours Out Of Me and I could finish the whole album without too much pain

Is the album bad or was I just completely uninterested and tired of albums that leave me completely uninterested on this list? Probably the latter, but I’m still giving it one star.

The opener was a bit of an identity crisis: punk, psych, space, prog. But I guess a scatterbrained approach is a feature not a bug for punk. Uneven, but with some fun stuff. Definitively Gaze and The Light Pours out on Me are my highlights.

Some good music but forgettable lyrics, no standouts

kinda cool

Muito bom, me lembrou Eiffel só que menos homossexual, o que pra alguns pode ser visto como uma desvantagem (eu acho que é uma desvantagem). Mas é interessante ver como o cabra realmente era a mente criativa do Buzzcocks e que ele gostava de sintetizadores de verdade!

o álbum mais meh que eu já escutei

well def not going to touch myself to this album but ok Слушала перед завтраком, очень бодренькое утро получилось. Текста прикольные, звучание сложно описать, оно как будто такое андрогинное, вызывающее, самодовольное. И как будто во второй раз слушать приятнее, чем в первый. Добавить в плейлист и крутить на постоянке у меня вряд ли получится, но если бы я снимала фильм про британский андеграунд, обязательно в сцене, где главный герой бежит по дождливому городу, саундтреком было бы что-нибудь из этого альбома

приятно, но чёт вообще ничем не зацепило

Плохой альбом, особенно вокально. Очень хочется поставить 1, но хороший инструментал в Моторкаде, Свете вытекает из меня и особенно Параде вытягивают. 2/10

Shot By Both Sides - драйвово звучит. Трекич звучит очень знакомо. Басуха так заполняет пространство шикарно, хоть ее и не так ярко слышно. На альбоме ремастере 2007 года есть вариант этого трека single version - он какой-то никакой, очень бледный. My Mind Aint So Open - мясо. Вокал меня здесь меньше всего бесит. Goldfinger - йоуууууу. Агент 67. Звучание разнообразное, музыка очень неплоха. Мне вокал не нравится. Слишком панковский для меня. Но ваще альбом ООООЧЕНЬ приколдэсный, не зря послушал. Накинул бы 4 звезды, но хейтер вокала, поэтому 3. Вот когда в такой манере мужики поют, мне не нравится.

Fine enough, album cover kinda freaks me out

Yes this slays Buzzcocks for life

Pretty awesome album, so glad this is on the list so I could hear them

Hm, not sure what to expect here. Lets see what GPT has to say about this one. Really digging this album!

This is a lot more hard rocking than other British post punk stuff I've had in this project. It serves it well. The apathy the vocalist has for sounding good works a lot better when the instruments have attitude, as they do here. I liked this and would listen again.

Feels like a slightly below average punk record.

Every time I felt like I understood what they were trying to do, they switched it up again. From psychedelic to punk to a brief interlude of artsy baroque pop then back to psychedelic—it’s exhausting to keep up with.

Brit Punk meets Doors.

some interesting sounds, but the overall texture stays pretty constant, and the vocals don't exactly help.

Ihan positiivinen ylläri taas nollaodotuksilla. Mukavasti meni sunnuntain aamupäivä tätä fiilistellessä. Ei nyt kuitenkaan ihan nelkkuun asti

Jotain mukavia elementtejä tässä oli mutta laulu oli kyllä ylipaskaa

Vähän erikoista ja jännää, muttei ärsyttänytkään.

Ekana posina voi sanoo, että tää on luonut mahiksen Kollaa Kestäälle tehä Syksy -nimisen veisun, on meinaan kova! Ja on toi orkkiskin. Mut kai tää on jotain post-punkin alkutahteja. Sillai se on kyl taas genrenä hyvin hähmänen hahmottaa. Levyn alku on tiukkaa vääntöö ja nelonen on melkein kirjotettu koepaperiin, mutta loppua kohen menee turhan päämäärättömäks ja semmoseks, ettei biisit kuulosta niin loppuun mietityiltä vaan enemmän ”lyyvääs tää naruile ja lähetään imeen binii” -henkisiltä. Vahva kolkki.

Tää oli ihan positiivinen yllätys. Kivaa uuden aallon räimettä. Ehkä oli kyllä parikymmentä minuuttia liian pitkä, mutta ei keskenään malttanut jättää kun katsoin että viimeisenä on Goldfinger ja mietin että noinkohan se on ihan Bond-coveri, ja olihan se. Ja oli muuten levyn paskin biisi. Tuskin tulee tähän enää palattua, mutta ei kyllä myöskään harmittanut tätä kuunnella. Selkee kolmonen.

Bounced off me

Trying to be Bowie.

Television for people who don’t like jazz

This album has carnival vibes. I don't know on this one. I gave it two listens and thought it sounded fine but nothing at all stuck. Maybe it was me and the day on it but it made no impression.

Could do without this opening track, but it has it's moments. Shot by Both Sides, some alright melodies. I like the guitar on Burst from 2:13 to 2:38. The Great Beautician in the Sky makes me feel dizzy, like im on a spinning fair ride. The Light Pours Out of Me would be a great live song. Especially if the lead singer needed to leave the band playing while they sneak out the back because they saw someone they in the crowd that they owed money. Ends off with another nausea inducing track. Sure put it on the list. Why not eh!?

Me gusto! Empezo muy mono diferente y luego me empezó a perder pero overall bien

Somehow I overlooked this band til now. Good stuff, reminds me a little of a punkier Roxy Music. Motorcade is nice and spooky. Parade is good too: "It's so hot in here: What are they trying to hatch?"

If you want to talk about real life, you should talk to Len Houmous 2.8 3/9 Shot By Both Sides

Never heard of this band before. A few good songs on there but some real stinkers too.

3.5/5 slightly funky and punky

Very enjoyable almost progressive punk sound. 3.5 stars

I love weirdo noise like that. Nothing stood out as standouts, but would be a fun getting ready album ⭐️⭐️/5 Highlights: "The Great Beautician in the Sky" "Motorcade"

"Burst" randomly being the most David Bowie-coded song off this album??

I thought this group sounded familiar but I didn't have any previously liked songs on my playlist. I'll check out more of their stuff.

While I liked the music on this one quite a bit, I didn't really care for the vocals. They moved it away from something I would call pretty good and closer to just OK. Still, it was a cool album. I'd be interested to see how it fares on a relisten. Overall: 3.1/5

Review - the highs are highs but the lows are low. I've tried listening to this album a few times and never really figured it out. Very influential based on when it was released. Clearly ahead of it's time. Doing post punk about a year after punk broke. Shit By Both Sides is a great single but not really indicative of the rest of the album. There are some great post punk songs here (post punk is when the atmosphere is gloomy and the bassline is good). But then there's also songs like Parade, which may genuinely be one of the worst songs I've ever heard. I feel I must dock a whole point from this album just for it's presence. A fine album but with a bit more effort into some of the filler songs (or a bit more ruthlessness in deciding what songs to leave behind on the cutting room floor) it could've instead been great. Rating - 6.5/10 Need to hear? YES

Pleasantly surprised. They have a real 70’s alternative vibe to them.

Decent Punk

Real fine.

Heard a song from it before. Second boring post punk album in a row, come on 2/5

I don't think I was in the right mood for this one today, I could see myself getting VERY into it if the planets ever align.

Not what I expected from 1978, in a more cool way. Liked the alt/punk vibe and sound. Much more like what I was listening to a decade later.

Don't You Wanna See Me? 1001 Albums Generator 266 (4/9/2026) It's amazing to me that Real Life is a debut album. It represents a very unique blend of punk and prog rock that is really unlike anything that I've heard, especially from the 70's. I mean, Magazine are a punk band with a keyboardist and a saxophonist on payroll. That's pretty wild. I think that they are used best on Definitive Gaze, which is as much synth-based as it is guitar-based, and My Tulpa, which also has a prominent and synth and a great sax solo at the end. There are also some really glammy moments that sound like Bowie, such as Shot on Both Sides and Burst. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of everything here, as I find Motorcade boring for the most part, but the atonal guitar solo is just annoying. Overall, it's pretty good art punk. 4/5. Favs: Definitive Gaze My Tulpa Shot By Both Sides Least Fav: Motorcade

I gave it a few playthroughs throughout the day, and while it did get better with each listen, I think it ultimately leans a little more towards noise rock than art rock for my tastes. Both the percussion and lead guitar are a bit overbearing at times, the sax (though thankfully infrequent) is pretty dreadful, and the vocals... yeesh... I appreciate its relevance, though, and I'm glad this project brought it to my attention.

This was interesting enough. Probably something I’d like more with another replay. I do find it a little too messy to give that time and attention.

Magazinen esikoislevy Real Life on yksi kiinnostavimpia uusia tuttavuuksia, joita tämä haaste on tarjonnut tähän mennessä. Vaikka kyseessä ei olekaan täydellinen albumi, on sen soundi todella mielenkiintoinen ja omaperäinen. Levyllä kuuluu vaikutteita niin progesta, goottirockista sekä punkista, olihan Magazinen perustaja Howard Devoto kuulunut aiemmin Buzzcocksin alkuperäiseen kokoonpanoon.

meh.

Wasn’t too bad. Thought it’d be awful based on the album cover and reviews. But there’s some groove and melodies here that made my ears perk up a lot. 2.75/5

Powerful yet simple lyrics. I loved the instruments and the post-punk sound. I'm excited that I discovered this album through this project. I suspect that Howard Devoto's voice will be an acquired taste for me. I guess time will tell.

Love love love

Full of energy and feeling an album that probably felt dangerous at the time has lost some of its edge over time. I would have loved to be heard this when it was released.

It's a band I haven't heard before. I liked the album, how compact it is. It was released just month after Sex Pistols' album and it was already considered post punk. English punk and rock in general developed so fast in those years. The album is produced by John Leckie who continued to produce many great records in the 80s. The only thing I didn't like too much was the singing. 3.5 for personal enjoyment, rounded up for 4 for its influence.

Yeah was OK but like others in this list, despite a couple of replays, there wasn't a song I really latched onto. Not one I'd buy.

Sure-

Disco fascinante. A primeira faixa te engana jogando uns elementos New-Wave inesperados, uns sintetizadores ornamentais bem bonitos e grudentos, mas assim que os vocais se iniciam você percebe o truque. E aí Magazine fez algo legal. Real Life é um álbum de Post-Punk, e um álbum brilhante. Teclados cintilantes casados com guitarras que surram, combinação explosiva e emblemática. Ritmos assombrosos, bem à frente dos Cures e Banshees dessa vida. Vocais oníricos e estilosos. Um grande deleite ouvir este álbum. Obrigado ao projeto, uma das minhas descobertas favoritas até então. O DNA dos Buzzcocks está presente. Me lembra bastante XTC também. Tudo ornamentado com os retoques Punks, elevados a um patamar mais alto que qualquer Sex Pistol. Os pianos e os saxofones não mentem. Álbum viciante. Baixo dança nessas faixas, a bateria marcha imperialmente, muitos riffs memoráveis e solos opressores. Que banda boa, meu Deus! 5/5

I had never heard of this band. I did enjoy the album and I wasn’t sure I would. Not sure how I feel about “post punk,” but I enjoyed it and felt the New Wave vibe. I’m glad to have been exposed.

This is actually pretty chill rock. Not bad.

Bleurrrgh this album is a chore to listen to. There are strong elements. Musically it's obviously strong, the guitar work in particular is great at points, and I'm sure old school punk fans absolutely love it. But it's just not for me at all. It's too raw and the vocals are just too moany & dreary. It's not a terrible listen by any means but I won't be coming back for more.

Didn't enjoy

You know what, not so bad not so good. Was fun but forgettable but I do like myself a good britrock album

Better than I expected tbh, I was pleasantly surprised!

Disappointing album, really. Eh, now that we have brought the essence to light, we have separated those who read my reviews for my aimless babbling from those who, like my professors, who at the end of the check write under a three or at best a shaky four: "What did the writer want to say? ". Nothing much, but plenty of it. Anyway, Real Life is an album that attracts my attention because it is one of the first post-punk albums, the cover looks spectacular, and Shot By Both Sides is an incredibly electrifying song. I somehow hoped that the album would lean more towards punk, considering the previously mentioned song and the previous engagement of the vocalist in the Buzzcocks, but I only got a post, from the post-punk. And it's not even that blood-curdling, scary, punky post-punk like Pop Group, PiL, or Nick Cave, but some futuristic, more conventionally rock-oriented post-punk whose main attraction is Devoto's lyrics, vocal performance, as well as whether you are attracted to improvisation with progressive and even krautrock. Unfortunately, only Devoto's vocal performance could be a passing point for me, the rest is li-la.

I did not enjoy the vocals

A perfectly cromulent album. Neither pulled me in nor pushed me away

Sounds like the Buzzcocks....because apparently it's the original guy that isn't Pete Shelley. Also included a future Banshee. It's ok for the early wave of British punk, but echoes that signature Buzzcocks sound. One cool tune, but that's about it. Otherwise, probably a staple of the genre/era, but dang near 50 years later, it's somewhat unremarkable.

Great stuff front to back

I feel like we've heard 10 albums that sound like this

Sounded like crazy circus music. Not for me.

An interesting collection of tunes. The way the songs are presented the vocals and lyrics seem secondary to the instruments being played and oddly enough that doesn’t present a problem. These musicians are talented and produce a lively, upbeat sound. A couple of the songs (e.g- The Great Beautician In The Sky) give off circus vibes but in a creative way. No complaints from me.

This is a terribly written review, but I ran it through a Korg synthesizer so that makes it better, right?

Sounds like the soundtrack to a bad video game. Not for me.

Awesome

I haven't heard this album before. It was pretty good.

Ehhhh

This is a very English album, and very late-70s album. For post-punk this definitely felt like a bridge to New Wave, but I have to say that the Casio Synth was appreciated but a good reminder how far sound quality has come. Some of this sounds like the influence for modern Wizard rock (yep, it’s a thing), with The Great Beautician in the Sky being the best example. Definite Gaze and My Tulips were my favorite tracks here because they felt the most progressive for 1978. I would like to wax poetic more but that’s all I can say about this. Good listen…once.

Random thoughts: * This felt like a bit of a hidden discovery and what I was hoping to find more of out of 1001. * This was like the Stranglers but less pornographic. * There should be a 3.5 for albums like this. I like it more than average but it's not in the very good or classic category. * Shot By Both Sides was a key track but overall I like the constant vibe that was coming off this album. * I could have been swayed to like this as I was listening with the house all to myself. Which means it could have been any album and I would have liked it. * I'll revisit this one again. At least I hope to.

Not the greatest.

fun album

Definitive Gaze - 4.5/5 My Tulpa - 4/5 Shot by Both Sides - 5/5 Recoil - 3.5/5 Burst - 3.5/5 Motorcade - 4/5 The Great Beautician in the Sky - 4/5 The Light Pours Out of Me - 4.5/5 Parade - 4/5 This came out less than a year after the Sex Pistols? It sounds like it doesn't belong in this era, which tracks since it ushered in the era of post-punk. Which is mildly weird since I never realized how short the punk era was in the 70's. It still has the backbone of a punk record but with ahead-of-its-time instrumentation to pull it up from its peers. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: Definitive Gaze, Shot by Both Sides, The Lights Pours Out of Me

Favorite track(s): My Tulpa, Shot by Both Sides, The Light Pours Out of Me

This is #day588 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… that's what I like about the early post-punk era: the arty, proggy side of things. Magazine has to be one of the most interesting representatives of this kind of music. New musick, right? "Definitive Gaze," "Shot By Both Sides," and, of course, "The Light Pours Out Of Me" are golden. Happy to own an original vinyl copy of Secondhand Daylight, their other album, which is, at times, even more fun than the debut. I wouldn't mind scoring a copy of this one as well. Anyway, this is a 5 out of 5. Looking forward to #day589.

This is the type of album I need to spend more time with. As it is, I am not a fan

Reminds me of the stooges and lou reed and I like pop punk, which this is an early example of. but I need more time to dig into it to go above a 3

Det skal have en tur mere. 3,eller 4 --- Det fik altså 2 ture mere. Det er let smadret, let følsom punktet stemning. klaver, og sax. Standout track er "Parade"