From Punk Rock to Prog Rock and Back Again (The Gospel According To The Meninblack - Stranglers)

Member Name: Templar19

Product:	The Gospel According To The Meninblack - Stranglers
Date:	22/04/08 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wildly original work, musically innovative

Disadvantages: Quirky and obscure, easily misunderstood

As a diehard Stranglers fan naively expecting more of the same in that gloomy early Spring of 1981 the arrival of 'The Gospel According to The Meninblack' proved to be something of a shock for me. For a while I just didn't know what to make of it. I couldn't even decide whether I loved it or hated it. Was it a groundbreaking work of inspired brilliance? Or was it just a sign that the Stranglers had disappeared up their own backsides? The album was a puzzle.

Since arriving on the scene in 1977 the Stranglers had always been musically innovative, their 1978 opus 'Black and White' being a wonderful example of that. They were never hidebound by their 'new wave' tag and as a live act they were, at that time, without equal (my damaged left eardrum is testament to that). But 'The Gospel According to the Meninblack' was a leap into the unknown for band and fans alike.

There HAD been portents of things to come in its 1979 predecessor, 'The Raven' - one of the tracks was called 'Meninblack', a piece that introduced the theme of malevolent (and hungry) extra-terrestrial visitors, which was
expanded upon in 'The Gospel' - but few expected such a full-on challenge to fan loyalty.

I guess it should be described as a concept album but that raises images of long-haired and languid 'prog rockers' in the late 60s and early 70s obsessing over twenty-minute songs about Ann Boleyn or Alice in Wonderland, and as the Stranglers were hard-bitten, dangerous and cynical, and about as far away from Yes and Genesis as it was possible to be, the 'concept' tag was unsettling.

At the time there were more than a few, myself included, who thought the album was one big p*ss-take. At the very least we guessed that Strangler tongues were firmly in Strangler cheeks. Seen in that light the complex music - synthesizers, synthesized drum loops and any number of rhythmic effects coupled with funny-but-weird lyrics - makes the album enjoyable and very modern sounding.

And what was it all about? The 'concept' didn't bear too much scrutiny and probably was never intended to. The album was basically sketched on a theme of extra-terrestrials through the ages and about how our ancestors may have inadvertently deified these visitors. Back then these aliens may (like Arnie) have declared: We'll be back! Those returnees are the sinister 'suits' in dark glasses (the meninblack) that make a habit of visiting people who have seen a 'saucer'. It was all good-natured hokum (I think) and despite the portentous theme the album is, for the most part, humorous and enjoyable.

** The Tracks **

1) Waltzinblack - A slightly sinister (but quite appealing) instrumental opening. Not a tune to play when you're putting the kids to bed as they'll probably have nightmares. British readers will know this track as TV chef Keith Floyd's signature tune (Floyd and band front-man Hugh Cornwell had been friends in the late 60s).

2) Just Like Nothing On Earth - A curious song with a curious discordant beat and tongue-twisting lyrics. e.g. "A man on the main motor mile mesmerized much monkey magic meandering piecemeal..." and so on! Strange.

3) Second Coming - One of my two favorite songs on the album. Again a track with two distinct and offset beats lashed together: an 'eclectic' sound that works, and an example of how cleverly put together this album was.

4) Waiting For The Meninblack - A dull track about waiting for the... oh, you know. Nothing much else happens, just waiting.

5) Turn The Centuries, Turn - Another instrumental, strangely hypnotic and with various layers woven in to the repeating rhythm. Good background music.

6) Two Sunspots - A simple song, short and sweet, about, of all things... sunspots. There were two of them, apparently.

7) Four Horsemen - A good track, sung by keyboard-man Dave Greenfield; and a good thing too as he contributed so much to the overall sound of the album.

8) Thrown Away - Ace-bassist JJ Burnel gets the mike with this track. 'Thrown Away' was released as a single and it became something of a favorite among fans. Deceptively simple, it's my favorite track on the album.

9) Manna Machine - A strange song with a complex arrangement and odd lyrics: "Can you still make cookies in your caboose?" I'm still thinking about that one!

10) Hallow To Our Men - Another oddity. Tuneful and tuneless in equal measure, yet like much else on this album it is strangely beguiling. The aliens are ready to leave.

The CD release contains two tracks that weren't on the original vinyl disc: 'Top Secret' and 'Maninwhite'. Neither track is much good and their inclusion adds nothing to the original playlist.

**

In retrospect, this album can be seen as the end of the first phase of the Stranglers, a phase that started with the release of 'Rattus Norvegicus' back in early 77. That phase was undoubtedly their golden age. After 'The Gospel...' the band released a number of more mainstream, poppy albums that, although doing well commercially, were hardly groundbreaking. Throughout the 80s the Stranglers simply coasted.

'The Gospel According to the Meninblack' is an oddity that is difficult to categorize. Critics and fans alike didn't know what to make of it. It was an example of how the band, right from the start, refused to bow to expectations. What we can now say is that the album was, musically, way ahead of its time. The only valid question to now ask is whether the songs are still worth listening to. In my view they are.

Packaging, however off-putting, only serves to contain a product and it's the product, after all, that we are interested in; the packaging is simply discarded. If we look inside the obscure packaging of 'Meninblack' we can find much to enjoy. It's an off-the-wall and crazy piece but there is nothing wrong with that. It was original, and throughout the history of popular music originality was always a rare commodity.

(Parts of this review are also in my Ciao review: 'Post-Punks in Space', posted under the name Volta120.)

Summary: Very interesting, but if you're looking for mainstream Stranglers music then look elsewhere.