Released: 1989
Tracks: Garden of Earthly Delights; Mayor of Simpleton; King for a Day; Here Comes President Kill Again; The Loving; Poor Skeleton Steps Out; One of the Millions; Scarecrow People; Merely a Man; Cynical Days; Across This Antheap; Hold Me Daddy; Pink Thing; Miniature Sun; Chalkhills and Children
Best track: Mayor of Simpleton
Tracks to skip: Here Comes President Kill Again & Pink Thing
I absolutely LOVE those first three songs. One of the best start-offs to an album ever. All three are just tremendous songs. Pat Mastelotto does some fantastic drumming on Garden of Earthly Delights (he’s great on the whole album) and King for a Day is such a perfect happy song. Love them both immensely. As for Mayor of Simpleton…WOW. I could listen to this songs many times a day for the rest of my life and never get tired of hearing it. It’s an amazing, perfectly written song and I think it’s the greatest pop song ever written. Yes, I’m totally serious. It may not have been a “hit song”, but it’s such a perfect song with a kick ass Colin Moulding bass line. I love the lyrics on it too, just all around a great song.
Of course, after those great first three songs the band has to experiment and busts out with Here Comes President Kill Again, a track about warmongering by British and American leaders. I think the Brit references in there were probably added to seem not completely anti-American (or anti-President Bush 41 anyway). There are quite a few political songs on this album, way more than expected for something that came out in 1989. My problem with President Kill is that it’s a horrible song. I completely disagree with the political point of view they’re espousing, but I’d totally be willing to listen to it and wouldn’t have a problem with it if it was a good song…but it’s not. Guys, if you’re going to do something like that (you know, something that might piss off audience members in America) AT LEAST WRITE A GOOD SONG. Yeah, this song pisses me off because it completely disrupts the flow of the album after those first three songs. Why put a bad song there? I don’t get it.
For the remaining tracks on the album, for the most part they’re good songs (not too much of a fan of Pink Thing, though), my only problem is that there isn’t tremendous flow to it all. There are tracks that work perfectly going out of and into each other (Miniature Sun>Chalkhills & Children is a great example and a super cool way to end the album), but I don’t think that all of them work together. Something really happened with the inclusion of President Kill (last mention, I swear) that messed up the flow. Individually I like all of these remaining songs, esp. stuff like Poor Skeleton Steps Out, Scarecrow People, Merely a Man and the especially Miniature Sun & Chalkhills.
For quite a few years this album (minus the first three songs) was a serious disappointment coming after Skylarking. That album is perfect beginning to end, while Oranges & Lemons is a great collection of songs, but not a cohesive album. It’s taken a few years of listening to it for me to come around to really liking it. I mean, 2 skippers out of 15 is not that bad. For the most part, it’s a really good album and my second favorite of the ones I’ve heard by XTC.
Rating: 90
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