Left On The Top Shelf

Blue In Heaven - Explicit Material

My final Blue In Heaven post is the powerful alternative rock album Explicit Material. This marked a subtle hardening of the band's sound, clearly with an American audience in mind. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons for this, but the band had only made a minor impact in the home (that's the British & Irish) markets and there was clearly mileage to be made branching out to those across the pond.

REM had broken through, and this album is very much in an early REM vein, though front man Shane O'Neill does not have the vocal presence of a Stipe but he does have a good attempt on the stronger tracks such as Sister, Change Your Mind and Just Another Day. Creatively, its not a faultless album - this is mainly due to occasional meanderings into Stooges territory, which in this scribe's humble opinion is not a good place for a young Irish rock band, seeking fame and fortune, to be.

This album ripped effortlessly from a high quality Island 1980's pressing and is sonic-ally superb. It thoroughly deserves to be played at full volume in high resolution in every home.

Ripped from a vinyl album released on Island Records (ILPS 9838) in 1986 to high resolution 24-bit FLAC audio.

A1. Change Your Mind
A2. Tell Me
A3. Just Another Day
A4. Sister
A5. Be Your Man
B1. I Just Wanna
B2. Close Your Eyes
B3. Rolling In The Ground
B4. Hope To God

Across My Heart

Blue In Heaven - Across My Heart

Firstly this is not produced by Martin Hannett, he produced the mellower version (delays, snares et al) which can be found on the b-side of the rare 12" pressing. Strangely, the second Blue In Heaven single never made it onto an album. I doubt the reasons for this will ever come out but I'd guess it has something to do with Hannett.

It is a great song with some great riffs and melodies, but to say that you think you are listening to The Smiths is an understatement. Maybe that was Island's intention, to invent the Irish Smiths? 

If anybody has the 12" and would like to contribute a lossless rip, then please get in touch. There are MP3 rips out in the blogosphere of the Hannett version, but the 12" in an uncompressed format is extremely hard to find.

Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on Island Records (IS 199) in 1984 to high quality lossless FLAC audio.

A. Across My Heart
B. A Whiter Day

Close To Godliness

Blue In Heaven - All The Gods' Men

As Blue in Heaven are an Irish band, I'll give Trouser Press the first say....

"Although this young Irish quartet debuted on 45 with a fiery guitar anthem, Julie Cries, an inappropriate choice of producer (Martin Hannett) for their first album turned them into bass-heavy doom mongers. A remix of the single on All the Gods' Men tells the whole sordid tale. A little light does shine through in Sometimes, The Big Beat and In Your Eyes, but Hannett's lush atmospherics detract from, rather than complement, the effort."

A few years back I posted an MP3 rip of this album as my copy was rather spoilt. Late last year I picked up a mint copy in a Manchester second-hand store and have just recently taken the time to extract a decent rip. The first track Sometimes, is not produced by Hannett. Confusingly Pete Williams produced this light, airy and jolly indie-pop track. The rest of the album is pure Hannett.

I'd guess that by 1985, the pills, the powders and the booze had really taken their hold on Hannett and there is a blurriness, almost fuzziness in his production. But listen closer (a high definition rip does help) and their is a depth of quality and air of genius here which has rarely been surpassed. Half the band do sound like they are playing in your neighbour's living room, the bass booms at you so much that you can almost feel the vibrations from the top string, then add in trademark delayed snares and a wide spacious mix - it is a delightful combination. I am beginning to love this album some 27 years after its release and it has been on constant play in my home. I urge you to give up some of your time to listen to it again.

As for the Joy Division/New Order comparisons - there are none! Ok, Hannett is at the mixing desk but that is it! But Interpol have some questions to answer.

Ripped from a vinyl album released on Island Records (BIH 1) in 1985 to high resolution 24-bit lossless FLAC audio.

A1. Sometimes

A2. The Big Beat

A3. It's Saturday

A4. Old Ned

A5. All You Fear

B1. Julie Cries

B2. Like A Child

B3. In Your Eyes

B4. Slowly