Underwater Moonlight is the second studio album by English rock band the Soft Boys, released in June 1980 by record label Armageddon.
Underwater Moonlight | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 1980 | |||
Recorded | June 1979 – June 1980 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 36:00 | |||
Label | Armageddon | |||
Producer |
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The Soft Boys chronology | ||||
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Initially unsuccessful, the album has gone on to be viewed as a psychedelic classic, influential on the development of the neo-psychedelia music genre and on a number of bands, especially R.E.M. It is included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[7]
The album was recorded between January and June 1980 at the Alaska and James Morgan studios in London,[8] and during June 1979 at Spaceward Studios in Cambridge.[9] The London sessions were produced by Pat Collier, while the Cambridge sessions were produced by Spaceward Studios staff.[8] The recordings were done on 4- and 8-track, and only cost £600.
Underwater Moonlight was released in June 1980 by Armageddon Records.[10]
The album was initially unsuccessful commercially, especially in the United Kingdom, where over half the sales were exports to America.[11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Chicago Tribune | [13] |
Entertainment Weekly | A[14] |
Mojo | [15] |
NME | 8/10[16] |
Pitchfork | 9.0/10[17] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [18] |
Select | 5/5[19] |
Spin | 9/10[20] |
Uncut | [21] |
Bill Holdship of Rolling Stone, in his 2001 review, wrote that the album "offers modern listeners some great, great rock songs".[22] In his retrospective review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, felt that the music on the album showed the influence of the Beatles, the Byrds and Syd Barrett.[12]
Whilst commercially unsuccessful originally, Underwater Moonlight has gone on to be viewed as a one-off psychedelic classic.[10] Matt LeMay of Pitchfork, in a 2010 review, felt that the album was commercially unsuccessful because the timing was wrong: at the time of its release, audiences had little interest in "music that incorporated the indelible harmonies of the Byrds and the surrealism of Syd Barrett", but that anyhow the album is "best considered with the benefit of hindsight, and for all the famous music it inspired, there is still nothing quite like Underwater Moonlight".[17] In 2001, Bill Holdship of Rolling Stone wrote that the album's influences could be detected "on bands ranging from R.E.M. and the Replacements to the Stone Roses and the Pixies".[22] According to Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, Underwater Moonlight "influenced the jangle pop of R.E.M. and other underground pop of the 1980s."[12]
All tracks are written by Robyn Hitchcock, except as noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "I Wanna Destroy You" | 2:52 |
2. | "Kingdom of Love" | 4:10 |
3. | "Positive Vibrations" | 3:10 |
4. | "I Got the Hots" | 4:42 |
5. | "Insanely Jealous" | 4:15 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Tonight" | 3:44 | |
2. | "You'll Have to Go Sideways" | Hitchcock, Kimberley Rew | 2:57 |
3. | "Old Pervert" | Hitchcock, Rew, Matthew Seligman, Morris Windsor | 3:52 |
4. | "Queen of Eyes" | 2:01 | |
5. | "Underwater Moonlight" | 4:17 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "He's a Reptile" (from Invisible Hits album, 1983; not included on the 1990 Glass Fish and 1992 Rykodisc CDs) | 4:27 | |
12. | "Vegetable Man" (from Canadian and German editions of Underwater Moonlight, 1980; Near the Soft Boys EP, 1980) | Syd Barrett | 2:59 |
13. | "Strange" (from German edition of Underwater Moonlight, 1980; Near the Soft Boys) | 2:59 | |
14. | "Only the Stones Remain" (from Two Halves for the Price of One album, 1981) | 2:50 | |
15. | "Where Are the Prawns?" (from Two Halves for the Price of One) | 6:06 | |
16. | "Dreams" (from Underwater Moonlight 1990 reissue) | 4:37 | |
17. | "Black Snake Diamond Rock" (from Two Halves for the Price of One) | 4:24 | |
18. | "There's Nobody Like You" (from Two Halves for the Price of One) | 3:11 | |
19. | "Song #4" (single B-side, 1983) | 4:35 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Old Pervert – Section 1" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 1:38 |
2. | "Like a Real Smoothie" | 3:43 | |
3. | "Alien" | 3:13 | |
4. | "Bloat (Extract)" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 1:00 |
5. | "Underwater Moonlight" | 6:24 | |
6. | "She Wears My Hair" | 5:22 | |
7. | "Wang Dang Pig" | 3:56 | |
8. | "Old Pervert – Section 2" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 1:31 |
9. | "Insanely Jealous" | 5:03 | |
10. | "Leave Me Alone" | Lou Reed | 6:45 |
11. | "Goodbye Maurice or Steve" | 3:14 | |
12. | "Old Pervert – Section 3" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 0:36 |
13. | "Cherries" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 2:54 |
14. | "Amputated" | 4:22 | |
15. | "Over You" | Bryan Ferry, Phil Manzanera | 4:00 |
16. | "I Wanna, Er ... (Extract)" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 0:42 |
17. | "Old Pervert – Section 4" | Hitchcock, Rew, Seligman, Windsor | 1:24 |
All the tracks on this disc were taken from rehearsal recordings.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Innocent Boy" (Studio outtake) | Hitchcock, Martin Stanway-Mayers | |
2. | "Zip-Zip" (Recorded live at Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ, 1980) | James A. Smith | |
3. | "Astronomy Domine" (Recorded live at Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ, 1980) | Barrett |
Credits adapted from the 2001 Matador reissue liner notes.[23]
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