Prefab Sprout – Swoon (Remastered) (1984/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:40 minutes | 499 MB | Genre: Pop, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music CG
Paddy McAloon had not yet found the key to the elegant compositions that made Prefab Sprout distinctive when it came time to record their debut, Swoon. He certainly tries hard to make his sophisticated contemporary pop sound distinctive, but the problem is that he does too many things at once the lyrics are overstuffed, and the music has too many chord changes and weird juxtapositions, as he tries to put white-funk beats to carefully crafted melodies. A few moments work, such as “Couldn’t Bear to Be Special,” but Swoon is primarily of interest as a historical item, since it only suggests the promise the band later filled.
Read more
Prefab Sprout – A Life Of Surprises: The Best Of Prefab Sprout (Remastered) (1992/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:05:40 minutes | 820 MB | Genre: Pop, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music CG
Prefab Sprout was always too good for the radio. Hearing the band’s immaculate, gorgeously crafted pop songs alongside disposable, unimaginative records seemed like blasphemy. Perhaps many American radio programmers felt the same way, as most of this best-of compilation is obscure to U.S. listeners. While Two Wheels Good and From Langley Park to Memphis are superior purchases, A Life of Surprises is an engaging introduction to a group that is nowhere near as bizarre as its name. Much has been said about Paddy McAloon’s warm, comforting voice, but like Paul Heaton of the Housemartins and the Beautiful South, his soothing croon can sometimes hide some pretty depressing lyrics. “When Love Breaks Down” is classic ’80s new wave heartache: teary-eyed synthesizers, downtrodden basslines, and McAloon’s whispery talk create a film noir atmosphere of deep sadness. The lyrics are sharpened by his adult observations. “When love breaks down/You join the wrecks/Who leave their hearts for easy sex,” McAloon sings. The brutal honesty of those lines easily elevate “When Love Breaks Down” to the top class of breakup songs. Even more powerful is “Goodbye Lucille No. 1 (Johnny Johnny),” sung from the perspective of a man trying to make a close friend get over a girl who has rejected him. The words are frank and painfully realistic as McAloon doesn’t sugarcoat the dialogue. McAloon rips into his buddy’s futile romantic fantasies and lets the hard light of reality shine upon him: “Ooh Johnny Johnny Johnny you won’t make it any better/Ooh Johnny Johnny Johnny you might well make it worse.” If this sounds dreary it should be noted that Prefab Sprout isn’t one of those grim British raincoat bands. The group has a number of wonderfully upbeat moments, such as on the exhilarating “Hey Manhattan!” and “Cars and Girls,” a clever commentary on Bruce Springsteen’s preoccupation with automobiles and women.
Read more
Prefab Sprout – Jordan: The Comeback (Remastered) (1990/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 01:04:05 minutes | 766 MB | Genre: Pop, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music CG
Jordan: The Comeback is Prefab Sprout’s largely successful attempt to embrace the breadth of popular music; wisely reuniting with producer Thomas Dolby, Paddy McAloon freely indulges his myriad ambitions and obsessions to weave a dense, finely textured tapestry closer in spirit and construction to a lavish Broadway musical than to the conventional rock concept LP. Over the course of no less than 19 tracks, McAloon chases his twin preoccupations of religion and celebrity, creating a loose thematic canvas perfect for his expanding musical palette; quickly dispensing with common pop idioms, the album moves from tracks like the samba-styled “Carnival 2000” to the self-explanatory “Jesse James Symphony” and its companion piece “Jesse James Bolero” with remarkable dexterity. Dolby’s atmospheric production lends an even greater visual dimension to the songs, which with their tightly constructed narratives and occasional spoken-word passages seem almost destined to someday reach the stage; indeed, Jordan: The Comeback is like an original cast recording minus the actors, or a rock opera without the silliness and bombast a truly inspired work.
Read more
Prefab Sprout – I Trawl the Megahertz (Remastered) (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 53:40 minutes | 586 MB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music UK
Sixteen years after its release, I Trawl The Megahertz has resurfaced as a remastered edition. In 2003, it was released as Paddy McAloon’s solo album. In 2019, it returns under the name of his illustrious group Prefab Sprout. However, nothing here sounds like the luxurious pop from their 1985 album Steve McQueen with its wonderful singles When Love Breaks Down and Faron Young… Originally, the British songwriter created this unique record when he was on the edge of blindness and spent his days listening to the radio. In the early 2000s, McAloon recorded the spoken word vocals of the narrator Yvonne Connors and dressed his 22-minute opening track (I Trawl the Megahertz) with a score full of violins and classical brass. It’s a sound that’s rather intriguing and really quite elegant. The rest of the resurrected album is mostly instrumental, resembling the symphonic score of a feature film that was never shot. Fluctuating between classical, orchestral pop and film score music, the album carries you away by timeless themes that prove that Paddy McAloon is not just another pop artist. – Max Dembo
Read more
Prefab Sprout – From Langley Park to Memphis (Remastered) (1988/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:25 minutes | 565 MB | Genre: Pop, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Music CG
As suggested by the title, From Langley Park to Memphis is Prefab Sprout’s spiritual journey into the heart of American culture; obsessed with rock ‘n’ roll (“The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”) and Bruce Springsteen (“Cars and Girls”), fascinated with gospel music (“Venus of the Soup Kitchen”) and locked in a love/hate relationship with New York City (“Hey! Manhattan”), Paddy McAloon turns an iconoclastic eye to the other side of the Atlantic in order to make some sense of it all. An airy, lounge-pop feel permeates the record, which also sports cameos from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Pete Townshend. Still, while ambitious in both concept and execution, From Langley Park to Memphis pales in comparison to its masterful predecessor Two Wheels Good a shortcoming acknowledged by Prefab Sprout themselves with the title of their next album, Jordan: The Comeback.
Read more