When the Thompson Twins started out they were a 7 piece band - real instruments, you know, like drums and guitars and bass and percussion. Their 1982 LP Set was my first encounter with the band, and I loved what I heard. It's mix of tribal and dance rhythms, indie rock and electronic atmospherics didn't sound like anyone else. It was produced by Steve Lillywhite and engineered by Phil Thornalley, both of whom went on to much bigger things. It also featured Thomas Dolby on keys on a couple of tracks. One of them was the single Runaway. It's a dubby, almost reggae driven tune, and the melody is really sweet. Of course they went on to jettison the band, slimmed down to a 3 piece, and conquered the world's charts with their unique brand of synth pop. I'll admit that I enjoyed the next few records, and even saw them at the Hammersmith Palais in London on their Into The Gap tour. As I get older though, it's Set that has aged the best of the albums, and I can still listen to and enjoy it today.
5 comments:
You hit the nail on the head...This is by far their best work, and it stands up so much better over time than their other albums. There's a lot more depth to it and less pop, although it's there. I'd love to see this get a good CD release.
heck yea this early stuff needs more attention
Tremendous!
I pretty much agree with almost all of that.
Although, I even bought "Here's To Future Days".
*ahem*
They briefly jumped on the baggy dancey Britpop train with "Queer" a few years later too.
Did anyone check out the albums they made under the name "Babble"? Not bad at all...
I may be mistaken, but I think this track sounds like something in XTC's "English Settlement"...
Paulo, your XTC comparison is something that never occurred to me before, but is actually pretty spot on now that I think about it!
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