Peggy Suicide

I wish I loved anything as much as the listmaker loves British guys who jerk off on tape and call it "music."

Flying blind again going into this one with an artist I have never heard of. “Pristeen” is certainly unique. Halfway through the songs I started wondering if I had taken something a half hour ago that was starting to kick in. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this album at this point, but the opening drums and guitars in “Double Vegetation” grabbed my attention. The verses show off Julian Cope’s vocals which were starting to grow on me. Good song! As the album progressed, I was liking this more and more. There were a number of standout songs. "East Easy Rider" with its cool, groovy sound, the organ in "Promised Land", "Safesurfer" and its mantra-like ending, "If You Loved Me At All" with its really catchy chorus, the also catchy "Drive, She Said" with that old-school guitar vibe (perhaps my favorite song on the album - "Yeah we could crawl but I'd rather drive, she said"). PEGGY SUICIDE has a lot of subtle things happening in the music alongside some very pointed lyrics in songs like "Soldier Blue" and "Leperskin". The former seemed disturbingly relevant today - so much for progress. The youth choir singing "Western Front 1992 C.E." over the strange drips and ominous music was very cool although it may have a decidedly niche appeal. "Hung Up and Hanging Out to Dry" spends more time out in the more experimental sounds. These songs were well-placed later in the album as by now I am fully on-board and ready to appreciate them, although I could see how they might inspire the use of the skip-forward button for some. I pretty much fell in love with this entire album. I had thought there was no way I'd make it through the extra 11 tracks of the DELUXE EDITION, but by the end of the original album's quietly appropriate last song "Las Vegas Basement," I was more than happy to hear more. The additional tracks of the Deluxe Edition (an entire album’s worth) consisted largely of music that seemed suited for the lobby of a boutique Millennial hotel or maybe the Cosmopolitan in Vegas. Nearer the end were some alternate versions and very experimental pieces. The Deluxe Edition I didn’t mind but probably wouldn’t visit that often and wouldn’t recommend to new listeners. Judging from PEGGY SUICIDE, Julian Cope is a very interesting person in a profession that is filled with interesting people. One review referred to him as a madman, and that seems apt. This madman's music is fantastic and inventive, the lyrics at some times pointed and other times cryptic, and this album has a lot to say. Madmen can often end up creating unlistenable music. Fortunately I did not find this to be the case here. This album is a wonderful, trippy, exciting journey. Fantastic!

“By 1984, Cope's love of hallucinogens -- as well as a toy car collection that occupied nearly an entire year of his life -- was at an all-time high.” I rest my case, your honor.

Julian Nope

First time hearing this or anything from Julian Cope. It feels aggressively artful. That is, the existence of the songs and their collection into this album represents a single object. As songs in and of themselves, they show a stunning array of style and execution.

Immediately angry because this album is 2.5 hours long! The first song "Pristeen" asks me "how much can [I] take," and honestly, after listening to this song, I don't know if I can take much more of the whining. The album redeems itself slightly with the song "East Easy Rider." Its groovy. The song "American Lite" with its "haha hehe" line got me giggling. I am SO bored of listening to this album. I can't wait for it to be over.

This feels like the kind of album that would be playing super loud at a record store and you'd be shopping and grooving and you'd pick up a copy and then listen on your walkman and it would feel like a wonderful secret. I loved this an awful lot. Even songs that started out kind of annoying (is he rhyming "mistake" with "mistake"?) built to something magnificent. Different tracks brought to mind wildly different things: Pristeen reminded me of Jesus Christ Superstar, Double Vegetation of The Who's Tommy, Promised Land of Leonard Cohen, Safesurfer of Pink Floyd. Several of the tracks are a total groove and a half: East Easy Rider, If You Loved Me At All, Soldier Blue, Not Raving But Drowning, Head. I was dancing along for a lot of it. And then we end with the easy, mellow Las Vegas Basement. I didn't pay much attention to lyrics. They seem repetitive but I didn't mind that at all. Love it love it love it. Thank you for this!

Not gonna listen to an album with that cover. Sorry. 1/5

I'm not sure where to start with this one. I guess to get the obvious out of the way, it's long. It seems a bit Madchester-adjacent, so it seems to lose itself in the groove more often than not, and at about the third track I realized it's extremely repetitive. I flitted between giving this a two and a one, but I think the length eventually chewed me down to a one. There were some decent grooves on here, but they are too few and far between, and I'd really rather listen to anything else. Maybe even Lenny Kravitz again. At least he knows brevity.

One of my favorite things about doing this is discovering new stuff, especially when it's pretty good like this. It's solid post-punk and he's a great singer and songwriter, but it's definitely a little too long. Unless this is a compilation of non-album tracks, no post-punk album needs to be over 40 minutes. But I also don't know if I'd cut anything out? Will likely come back. B

Weird.

This album is too irregular for me. There are some great songs, but there are also some experimental and dislocated songs (more appropriated in some kind of really experimental album)

Schrodinger’s cat. The movement of the Holy Spirit. The ending to most of the Coen brothers’ movies. I commented in my review preceding this one that sometimes you don’t completely or immediately comprehend an artist, where they’re coming from, what they’re trying to express, and it adversely affects your enjoyment. Other times, you don’t get it, and its ok. But in this particular instance, I neither immediately nor completely understood Julian Cope’s 'Peggy Suicide'; but, I loved it! He claims the whole thing is a meditation on humanity’s relationship with Mother Earth, and there are certainly songs that may be interpreted in that way. But I also heard him reflecting on a myriad of other things like birth control, police brutality, politics, religion- just to scratch the surface. And I’ve got a hundred questions that need answering: What/where is Cope’s promised land? Who’s the apostolic hag? What’s the significance of 1904? What is the meaning of the lyric, ‘Concentric circles running to the American lite’? Or, ‘It’ll all wash down when it rains’? And when he sings on the opening track, 'Pristeen' (spell check is now screaming at me), ‘How much can you take? ‘Cause your lying to me was your first mistake. Your trusting in me was your major mistake,’ is he singing about or as (and I’m guessing here) Mother Earth? This is a recording to spend some time with, to re-visit, on many occasions. And not just for the lyrics, which are rhymed and rhythmed masterfully. The music is wonderful, too. Passionately sung (and I loved the use of echo on his voice), unique melodies, a wide variety of styles and arrangements while at the same time keeping it simple in the best way, great supporting musicians, even better production (the sound engineer excelled.) There wasn’t a bad or even mediocre track in the bunch. And man, 'Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line' is rockin’ the way rock oughta rock! I’d love to see this performed live. I was 32 years old and living in the very small town of Como, TX when this LP was released. Nirvana’s 'Nevermind' pretty much dominated my cassette deck back then, along with Metallica’s 'Metallica' (Black Album) and the Rollins’ Band, 'The End of Silence.' The sheer volume of those three no doubt rendered 'Peggy Suicide' inaudible to my ears. But that was then, and this is now. Yeah, this… is… now. (Your turn, Julian. What do you think I mean by that!?) At the conclusion of his musical meditation, he leaves us with this forlorn lyric: ‘I was born to entertain, so here I go. I was shown the door before I got to sing. Only to be now forgotten.’ Well, you know what they say: When one door closes, another opens. Uh, Julian, that would be my open door. And you’re welcome to visit anytime you want.

I liked it quite a bit. Julian Cope at times sounded like he was bringing in influences from the Smiths, Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground, and various new wave/post-punk artists. The album runs a bit long and would benefit from a pruning of sorts.

I have to assume that when the list maker wrote the book, he didn't think anyone would actually listen to all the albums. Probably figured he could put whatever pretentious BS he wanted and no one would slog through the whole thing to call him out on it. This album isn't good and it's 2.5 hours long. I'll admit I did like "If You Loved Me At All" but otherwise this was completely skippable.

nope

Entering Julian Cole with only "World, shut your mouth" as lubrication, I knew that this pegging probably wasn't going to be suicidal, but the album title and cover art did mean that I started gingerly, anticipating the need to work for the reward. At 2h34m, I knew I was in for a long, long session and that takes stamina for anyone. Cope opens up, so to speak, with Pristeen. Which is repetitive, clunky and has undertones of sexual violence against a virginal ("pristine") and dubiously aged (it's spelt Pristeen, ffs) lover. When I say clunky, I really mean it. There's nothing artful or adept about the lyric "coz your lying to me was your first mistake and your trusting in me was your major mistake". It immediately sets up the subject as a naive that the older, more cynical party can use. And use they do - "how much can you take" seems pretty explicit about that, and the imagery presented asking how difficult it is to go down on someone you hate cements that, tied closely into the subterfuge and cynical exploitation of someone looked down upon, disrespected and by absolutely no means equal. I have seen suggestion that the song is allegorical, and actually about human exploitation of the natural world, but I find that rather a stretch, personally. Only Cope could tell us, I guess. It's a tough opener for two and half hours to come. But. As the album opens out, it funks up considerably, and Cope"s proficiency as a lyricist is cemented firmly by the time "If you loved me at all" comes around. I'm not going to spend too much time digging into the rest of the album in this review - nobody has time for that, and I certainly don't have the talent - but Cope dances around styles that please me greatly, folding freeform jazz, noise, synth and electronica into the broader themed rock in a way that's complimentary and sympathetic. I mean, apart from the appalling electrosynth trumpet in "Beautiful love", that is. I don't even need to get to volume 2 before I realise that Cope is a straight up and out musical genius. Remembering that he's also a best-selling author and renowned expert in antiquity and neolithic archaeology, it might be that's he's a straight up and out genius full stop. Great stuff, and I actually regret leaving this in my "mop up" list of albums I didn't get round to at the time, because I could have had another year and a half of this album in my life.

I liked this. Kinda trippy, really long album but enjoyable all the way through.

Emännän näköinen... taustakuvassa... muuten hyvä.. heh... tarvitsee vähän.. heh.. cope.. kopin.. kopinkeinoja.. heh.. silmänraastot ja muut tarttuneet varttuneet....tavat... heh.. jatkuvalla syötöllä ja käytöllä.. tässä perheessä.. heh... Kuunnellessa.. ei kuitenkaan.. tarvitse murehtia... tai-.. maallista.. heh.. musiikkia..

Surprisingly good

Peggy Suicide I love World Shut Your Mouth, but despite liking it, it has never made me want to delve into Julian Cope’s discography. I always get crusty Glasto canal boat vibes, and I don’t want another Levellers on my hands. However I enjoyed this, particularly on repeat listens. I’d definitely question whether it needs to be 18 songs and an hour and fifteen minutes but I found myself liking the slightly idiosyncratic and trippy folky, baggy, new wave-ness of it. I can hear a bit of Velvet Underground, Inspiral Carpets, Can, Echo & the Bunnymen, early Verve, The Clash, Happy Mondays in it, all good stuff. Pristine’s folky intro is very nice and I like the build into a slightly psychedelic guitar and organ track. Double Vegetation is a good too, I like the triplets on the acoustic in the back half. East Easy Rider is great, a nice groove going on with a great vocal. Promised Land has a slightly haunting feel, which I also like. Hanging Out and Hung Up On the Line is a fine punky thrash, but the riff definitely elevates it. Safesurfer’s guitar pyrotechnics may not be fully successful, but it's a great song with a pretty progressive message for 1991. Lovely groove on If You Loved Me At All, and a great song. Drive She Said is ok, really reminds me of something, but not one of the stronger tracks. Soldier Blue has a great hypnotic feel, but I prefer the instrumental parts to the verses with the guitar underneath. You…is also just ok, these three songs being a bit of a dip before picking back up with Not Raving But Drowning with it’s great spacey groove. Head is another great little track, the organ and bass working nicely together. Leperskin is another nice groove, despite the first few bars sounding like the What’s Mr Chips Doing music from Catchphrase. Apostolic Hag is a great insult too. Not entirely convinced by the calypso of Beautiful Love but I did find myself starting to enjoy it, as there is a bit of joyful carefreeness to it. Not sure there’s a great deal going for Western Front 1992 CE. Can feel quite a lot of Can influence on Hung Up & Hanging Out to Dry, love the drum pattern and the snare sound. I like a lot of The American Lite, but not the spoken word parts so much, they’re bit poetry slam. Quite catchy though. Las Vegas Basement doesn’t start promisingly but it settles down into a sweetly bit darkly melancholic tune with a pleasing, gentle vocal. Great track. A bit of a surprise overall how much I liked this. Despite there being a couple of possibly redundant songs I really enjoyed its vibes. It's a real grower, and definitely something I will come back to. 4. 🌍🌍🌍🌍 Playlist submission: Las Vegas Basement

Some of the most self-indulgent non-sense I've ever heard. Some of it shows promise, but it's longer than a movie.

Awful

Safesurfer encapsulates of the beautiful and difficult parts of this album with interesting instrumentals and repetitive vocals played like another instrument. A really slow and meandering sound throughout much of the album keeps me from really enjoying too many tracks, but i found myself appreciating the more political/philosophical tracks. Drive, She Said. Soldier Blue. You. Not Raving, but Drowning. Leperskin. Beautiful Love.

really enjoyed listening to this album, Julian had slipped past me at the time. some good tracks and a few very special on disc one, disc two made me feel like I wanted to be in a rave and enjoy some party chemicals. this album made it in to my personal library and i am awarding it five!

Wow la belle découverte! Je ne connaissais rien ce homme, et ça tombe complètement dans mes cordes. À 1h15 de long il me faudra d’autres écoutes. Mais j’aime sa voix profonde, la variétés d’ambiances (parfois ça rock, parfois c’est presque un crooner), le son general. J’aime le post-punk, sorry!

This album was huge for me at 20 when it came out. One of those ones I dont need to listen to any more because I know it inside out. I'm loving how many of the reviews are hooked first time listeners. I'm also amused by the number of people who think they have to listen to the 2.5 hour Deluxe Edition cos the website has linked to that version.

Excellent

Had never heard of this guy. Incredible early 90s alt-rock.

I was prepared not to like this. I thought, ok, another British artist from the 90s. But man, this is great. Each song is brings something new to the table. The lyrics are powerful and vulnerable. I actually want to relisten to this. I've never heard of this artist or album, but I'm really glad to have done so now.

довольно хорошее переосмысление психоделического рока 60-хх, да и в целом неплохой для своего жанра альбом, мне нравки, 5/5

experimental with that early 90s rock sound. was very suprised by this and liked it a lot more than i thought i would.

This album was number 242 for me. I've never heard of Julian and this is the first album I've decided to add to my personal collection after listening here - loved it.

Too long, obviously, but excellent. Annoyingly so, because I was ready to bail on it when I saw the play length, but ended up listening to and enjoying the whole damn thing.

Cool album.

Unusually, especially for a double album, my rating increased the deeper I got. All different kinds of cool.

Have on vinyl. Fantastic album, great lyrics and fresh sound across 4 sides. Can hear the influence in lots of successive artists

Wow I really enjoyed this album. It’s hilarious that the “about the artist” bio on Spotify talks about his post-punk background and heavy hallucinogenic usage, and then this album is tight bluesy/singer-songwriter, a little experimental. Great variety, which I so much appreciate after listening to albums where every track has the same energy. The guitar/piano interplay on Safesurfer is beautiful. Other favorite tracks are Drive, She Said and If You Loved Me at All. But there are lots of good ones. Great discovery!

Ok.

Ty for bringing this psychodelic artist! pleased to meet him =D Maybe the overall experience was a 4, but i give a 5 because i listened others albums and read his bio and it was delightful.

I liked this album a lot. Never heard him before...that I remember. Psychedelic, punk, brooding, odd. I need to listen again.

Aesthetically / conventionally puzzling. Maybe it belongs to the same genre-defying genre as Beck, Bill Fay, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa...

Yes!

What a great find. Super album

Safesurfer is absolutely epic. I was initially a bit dismissive of this and ready to be disappointed, I didn't particularly like East Easy Rider, too similar to the generic rock groove of the time. What I want from Cope is difference. Standing out from the field, paying little attention to the music scene around him and doing his own thing. And that is very much what the rest of this album brings you.

I'd never heard of Julian Cope before. His description on Spotify piqued my interest but didn't leave me optimistic that I would enjoy the album: "musician, writer, historian, and cosmic shaman... ... enigmatic storyteller, contrarian, mystic, and hallucinogen enthusiast". The unusual cover art, 75 minute length, and terrible pun for a title also didn't increase my expectations. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. This is a work of genius. A meandering and eclectic tapestry of sounds and genres that frequently change between, and within, tracks. Styles range from beautiful ballads of longing where understated strings pop up at just the right time, to sample-based political sound collages, post-punk, garage rock, calypso, and noodly pseudo-prog. Despite the variety and length it does feel like a piece and no track strikes as being out of place - perhaps all being tied together by the incredible attention to detail and intricacy. Whilst I prefer the more accessible first half to the more experimental second, I can't help but admire the ambition of this extraordinary piece of work. Rating: 4.5/5 Playlist track: If You Loved Me At All Date listened: 19/08/23

I do not mind a long album at all as long as the music is varied, interesting, and kickass. This album was all three. Many Very Important Albums suffer from being not very listenable. To me, it sounds like he took care of the music first, then threw in the Margaret Thatcher insults ("apostolic hag" lol) later. Best track: Safesurfer

Is it his finest solo album? yes. Is it perfect no, and there are signs of the Droolian obsessions that would lead him into full on druidery. But the songs are bullet-proof and providing you don't mind it's a double, it's a fantastic time trip to early rave culture, poll tax riots, the awful afterglow of Mrs Thatcher and how deeply wierd we all were in the early nineties. Also, lots of great photos in the packaging.

A stunning album - idiosyncratic and unusual, Cope follows his own path to make this absorbing album which sound like nobody else.

This is a musical odyssey that requires multiple listens

I have no idea about who this guy is or his deal in general, but this was really interesting. Album length kind of uncalled for, but on the other hand a normal length wouldn’t have been enough to get lost in, which was very fun with this

Going to give this a 5. I always liked the album, especially Safesurfer of course, but there is a lot more to like: the songwriting.. lyrics.. general atmosphere, same vibes as that Soft Boys record from the 70s: Underwater Moonlight. So, it is great that both are included on the list.

I actually own a copy of this but I haven't listened to it (until now) since it was a new release. I bought it because I had quite liked a couple of Cope's earlier albums, "Saint Julian" and "My Nation Underground" but for whatever reason I didn't remember much of this. I have a vague memory of thinking maybe he had had some kind of breakdown. Who knows what I was thinking because man, I really dig this. I definitely did not remember so much of it having that funky, swirly Madchester sound which I still really enjoy. Anyway I think this is gonna get five stars from me.

I was probably not going to listen to this album today. I have been jazzed about the last few albums. I got on this list, and I had a bunch of other stuff that I was going to spend my time listening to today. Also, this album was longer than an hour, which usually reduces my excitement to listen to it. I still give thid Hey a shot later in the afternoon at holy shit. This was one of the biggest prizes on this list for me. Had never heard of this guy, he never seen this album. And I can’t find a lot on the history of this album, there’s a Wikipedia article, but it’s more about the political content that made its way into his songs. I’m finding it adjacent to Primal Scream. It’s an album like this that makes me heat bands the call them self psychedelic rock. Because most the time they’re just fooling around on instruments and playing music that is intentionally obtuse. This kind of stuff though on Peggy Suicide is the real psychedelic as it has amazing, musical complexity, and structure, but while you’re listening to it, just transports your mind somewhere different. I also thought that I was probably gonna drop this down star because it was going on for so long, and I thought it was going to overstay as welcome. But this thing keeps its flow, the entire way through, and wins a big finish, which I love to see on an album. It’s a strategy that basically dead tnow in 2022. Amazing album and if anyone was thinking of skipping over it, I would advise against it

Prog rock with a dose of 80s cynicism. Pink Floyd without the irritating bits. Absolutely loved it.

Zeer afwisselend album. Het was iedere keer benieuwd zijn naar hoe het volgende nummer zou klinken. Enkele zeer rustige nummer, en ook iets meer rock-nummers met goeie riffs. Leuke verrassing

Never heard of Julian Cope but this is a great album. Sort of post-punk grungy stuff. Will definitely be exploring some more of his music.

I really enjoyed this disc from another artist I'd never heard of.

Well... that was a fun ride.

Sounds very diverse and creative, good flow through the album, liked a lot better than some of the other “punk” or “post punk” on this list. If out of 10 stars, I’d probably go 9, but I’ll give it the 5 stars for a truly creative piece of art and pleasant surprise that didn’t lose my interest over the long playback time

Unabashedly artful. Genuinely enjoyable most of the songs

Eclecticismo y distorsión, guitarras y New Wave, cantautor progresivo. Tiene temazos. Para escuchar en modo concentración literaria.

This album surprised me a lot. There were a few strange tunes on it but for the most part it kept getting better and better. Who is this guy, he’s like a poor man’s Iggy Pop or David Bowie. Can’t give it a 5 because of some of the ridiculous tracks, but it’s a solid 4 in my book.

Good

This album left a huge mystery in my mind throughout its duration. I couldn't quite define what I was listening to, whether it was post-punk, goth rock, alternative rock... when an album leaves you with this confusing atmosphere and still gets you going... you have to give it some credit. 4 stars is fair.

This is one of the most forgettable good albums I have listened to on this list. All I remember from it is that I enjoyed it, but I can't think of any song or even a section that stood out/was memorable. I don't even know why I liked it. I guess that's a skill as well, so good job Julian, it was nice while it lasted!

Tellement dense, j'ai eu ben de la misère à le finir. Je comprends l'attrait mais je pense pas ça s'adresse à moi

I am really not sure why this album is getting so much grief - it's really strong for it's era. I enjoyed the versatility and the creativity quite a bit.

ok, ok, ok, ok. Kirk its only 75 minutes, you 5/5'd nervous young man. you can handle this. Just listen to the album as the tracks are listed on rym, its not that difficult. Its a lot more bearable then the previous album i can tell ya that much, like the vocalist sounds like he isn't screeching every bar, and trying to do a dying bird impression in fact its quite the opposite. Its a quite palatable album, and one i don't think i would've been gravitated to if it werent for the generator, though that doesnt make up for the hellhole (jeff rocenstock ref???) that the last album unfortunately ended up being. The piano was very enjoyable to me, and so is the louder stuff seen in tracks like Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line and Safesurfer. The electric guitar and guys vocals go amazing together. If you loved me at all sounds kinda like radiohead, honestly a lot of this sounds like a worse in rainbows (the best you can get from me is sounding like in rainbows and being the same quality (ignore the part where sounding like the normal album and being better, though not attainable to my knowledge is a better achievement)). Drive She Said has an amazing hook. I think i could prolly find smth to say about every track off this if given enough time, because this album certainly isnt smth like loveless where either im not getting it or it grows on you. I like the horns in you, part of me just wishes they were quieter then the vocals. overall this is a really good album just not something id come back to.

Never heard of him - very good, will have to investigate more of his stuff…

Surprised. I didn't know you actually had a decent British rock album in here.

This was really nice! Awesome psych rock

Driving, funky beats at times. Kind of a whiny voice at when singing high. Petty good band overall. Long crazy album.

“How much can you take” screams Julian in a voice I don’t recognise as his! It’s a good question for the first song and I’m already wondering how much can I take? But guess what? I’m still listening and I’m intrigued to say the least. It’s one of those albums that will take repeated listens to fully appreciate and I’m willing to give it a go.

One of those cool 90s albums rooted in rock but doing pop, dance, funk, trip hop, space rock, kosmische music, jazz even on the B side! Has it all and is mostly missing the odd weak track that you'd expect on a double album, though it doesn't quite stick the landing which I think is pretty important on a double album. I would give it a solid 8/10 but feels like it could be a 9 or even 10 with a few relistens.

It’s been years since I thought about Julian Cope. What wonderful journey this is. From psych to krautrock to dirge and all forms of rock. So many great tacks and tracks, maybe Drive She Said is my favourite

Julian certainly had a lot to say and as such this album doesn't suffer from CD bloat as many did around this time.

I'd heard of Julian Cope before starting this project, but I can't remember the context in which I'd heard of him. However, I reviewed The Teardrop Explodes' Kilimanjaro earlier this year, and I thought it was a really good. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about this album though; the user reviews aren't very favorable, and it's pretty long too. However, I'm going to keep an open mind, and hopefully I'll be surprised! This album wound up being a pleasant surprise, and I enjoyed listening to it. It did go on a bit too long for my tastes, but it had a really great rock sound that was fun to listen to. There was a lot to take in terms of the total sound, but the guitar playing provided a great foundation, and the other musical elements, like the keyboards and synthesizers, did a great job of building on top of that foundation. This album felt experimental, especially for the early nineties, and while not everything landed with me, the majority of it felt really accessible to me. When I was listening to the leadoff track, “Pristine,” I wasn’t wowed (I think the vocals were a bit of a turnoff), but I could feel that this album was probably going to go places that I would enjoy. There were some great songs peppered throughout the album: “East Easy Rider,” “Safesurfer,” “Beautiful Love,” and "Hung Up & Hanging Out to Dry” were among my favorites on the album. Even the worst songs on the album were still okay, and nothing on here stood out to me as bad or grating. I wound up listening to this album about three times before writing this review, because I wasn’t sure what all I wanted to mention, but I’ll wrap things up and by saying that this was a really good album, and I don’t think I would have found it without going through this list. If you like some unique guitar rock built upon some postpunk roots, then you’ll probably appreciate this album.

Enjoyed this quite a bit. Could do with trimming.

4 - got so into it that I didn't realise it restarted

nice

One of those artists who must have a cult following but I've never heard them. I'd like the music if I hadn't already heard a ton of other albums just like it.

Wow amazing album of an artist I barely know anything. Post punk and from 1991 am album that kept the integrity of the early days of the genre. Great he kept the sound for a newer generation of punk-pop

obviously i have stumbled into a genuine maverick here, previously unknown to me, and who's history is too complicated for me to immediately grasp and summarize. still all things point to this being his moment of full Arrival as an artist following entirely their own muse, and if its not quite a masterpiece for me on one casual listen i can imagine it will stick with me a lot...prob too long and some of the more overtly pastichey moments make me roll my eyes, but i have to respect something this self-indulgent because i respect self-indulgence in general. a strong melodic sensibility (almost folky?) and what feels to me like a sour and disillusioned emotional thread do a rly good job holding together most of the material, very song-oriented and style-ambiguous enough to remind me of everything from R.E.M. to frank zappa, at varying points. idk when ill return to this, or this massive discography, but i can certainly imagine both being v rewarding

Wow. What a pleasant surprise. I had not really heard of Julian Cope before and the album cover didn't make me optimistic. There are a couple of songs on this album that didn't sit with me, maybe they were too rocky or bluesy, but a lot of them where gems. The vibes often reminded me of REM and the instrumentation was on point. Will listen more.

The two most important things I can tell you: 1. Do not listen to the over 2 1/2 hours contained on the Deluxe Edition. That includes a bonus disc from 2009. When the album first came out the last song was Las Vegas Basement, so aim for that stopping point (if you get that far). 2. Despite what even Julian Cope himself has said, a previous major release - My Nation Underground - is a much more enjoyable album to me and ages just fine. The opening track to that album merges two different 60s songs and then infuses them with 80s Cold War angst - amazing. One of the most interesting and ambitious covers I’ve ever heard. I know you don’t have time to listen today but keep that in mind for the next time you are stuck with electronica. Back to the album at hand… The music here is strong… favorite songs are “If You Loved Me At All” and “Beautiful Love” (don’t miss that one…maybe even spin that first). But it does feel too long, and the whole feels a little less than the parts.

This is a vast and ambitious album that features Julian Cope as a Willy Wonka of composition taking you through his musical factory. There are lots of treats, but you have a quirky guide that sometimes gets lost and distracted by his own vision. There are vibes of Elvis Costello and even Leonard Cohen, and when the tracks are good, they are really good and translate well. But even when the tracks aren't quite as accessible, you get the feeling that Cope bought in 100%. This makes it all very listenable and memorable.

Surprisingly nice. The title and cover art were off-putting, but then I liked this.

Nog nooit van gehoord. Ik vreesde het ergste, ook door de slechte beoordelingen van andere gebruikers op deze site, maar ik ben nu halverwege (bij "Not Raving But Drowning") en dit is gewoon een uitstekende plaat vooralsnog. Genesis en dat soort bands mogen een voorbeeld nemen hieraan. Dit is hoe je een dubbelalbum interessant houdt. Het heeft elementen van de Happy Mondays, maar ook het repetitieve van Kurt Vile. Behoorlijk mijn straatje dit, al springt niks er echt uit. Een om in de gaten te houden op platenbeurzen.

Safesurfer’ — brilliant track. The album as a whole "Safesurfer" is a brilliant song and encapsulates the album as a whole. The album's kind of all over the place, but I like how it plays with different musical ideas. When you mix such opposing styles, it’s not always gonna work — but I respect the attempt.

A rather enjoyable romp of rock songs that have earnest thought behind them https://open.substack.com/pub/richcain/p/project-1001-peggy-suicide-by-julian?r=4ztyq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

i was immediately put off by the first track but as i kept listening this album slowly won me over

i thought this was fun and original and i love his voice. it’s inventive and impressive and it bums me out that taylor swift has a higher rating than this

This was brilliant. Really cool post punk melodies, but he also takes really obscure and unique liberties throughout. Sometimes it’s akin to Talking Heads while other times Jane’s Addiction. I just listened to the original track listings and not the remixes, but it was still 3 songs too long.

4 - Some of the songs were sick, others were a bit too cheesy. Overall really like it though

I liked this way more than expected.

Very interesting album. It has a wide range and a plethora of instruments sprinkled throughout. I think I even heard some John Zorn on sax! A lot of styles and different artist vibes (Nick Cave, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Jim Morrison, Beck, Gorillaz...I can go on and on). Long album but I was in for all of it. It never really lost me; each track brought freshness. Not sure Deluxe Edition was intended but the album cover shows it as such and I'm not mad. Disc 2 is also great with groovy mixes and collabs. Julian took several hallucinogens (maybe a few too many at the end there) and put out a really cool album. "Peggy Suicide" and JC are unknowns from left field for me and a gift from the list. I'm diving deeper into the psychedelic journey from here. Also a good album for this month with Peggy Day coming up...solid 4.0.

My only point of contact for Julian Cope was as the vocalist on SunnO)))'s "My Wall". Imagine my surprise when we get slightly left-of-center 80's pop/rock, along with drones, psychedelic rock, Madchester stylings, Mod-era rock if it were played by Beck; Cope routinely demonstrates that he has his finger on the pulse of contemporary trends and the ability to anticipate styles and trends that would become typical in the 90's. You have to appreciate Cope's willingness to experiment, and that his experiments all turn out well! Psycheldeliic tto varying deegres

Timeless psychedelic music. Going to have to dig into his other stuff. 4/5

90's psychedelia