Album #73 : Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern

Mansun

Attack of the Grey Lantern (1997)

I like to pride myself on my knowledge of British music. I'm no John Peel, but I've always had more of an interest in British bands than, say, American ones. However, I have no hesitation in saying that I have never heard of Mansun, a British band from the border town of Chester. They experienced some chart success in the late 90s, before fading into obscurity after only four albums (the last of which was cobbled together after the band's mysterious split).

Today's album is their debut effort, Attack of the Grey Lantern. Allegedly, it started life as a concept album, and while there are certain recurring characters and themes, it is, as lead singer/songwriter Paul Draper later said, "half a concept album...a con album."

It's also my latest request fulfillment; hope you enjoy the review, Dan!

The Album

All of the hallmarks of Britpop are here in abundance - big guitars, vocal harmonies, heavy...um...."borrowing" of other people's songs and ideas....you get the picture. There are moments that sound like Oasis, there are moments that sound like Blur, there are moments that sound like The Beatles, and there are even moments that sound like Tears For Fears. Putting my cynical hat on for a second, I would say it's quite a derivative work.

However, even good music can simply be variations on a theme, and this album is certainly very good music, even if it's not always original. Draper and co eschew wanky self-obsessed instrumentation for creating complete songs, and it is a strength of the album, as most of the tracks are very good pieces of work. Draper also shows a sense of knowing a good lyric at times.

The album's high points are usually characterised by catchy riffs and vocals. Egg Shaped Fred was my favourite tune on the album. It's loaded with very prominent vocal melodies, and even fits in a singalong chorus at the end, matched to one hell of a catchy guitar riff. Wide Open Space is not quite as heavy a song, but is no less beautiful; Draper's angelic falsetto is allowed to breathe because of the sparse instrumentation in the verses...but the choruses are grandiose, sweeping affairs with a heavy riff. Disgusting owes much to the mainstream pop/rock stylings of Tears for Fears, even though the guitar riff is not too dissimilar to Blind Melon's No Rain at times. 

The Beatles comparisons come thick and fast with the song Taxloss (and yes, it's extremely similar to Taxman - you only have to listen to the melody of the word 'taxloss' in the song to confirm that). It's a very catchy, cool tune, and even finds time to go all dance music on our arses....but at seven minutes, it's two minutes too long, unfortunately. The opening track is also unashamedly "borrowing" from someone else - this time, John Barry's song You Only Live Twice (yep, James Bond fans, the title song from the movie). The Chad Who Loved Me (yeah, yeah, well played, Mansun) is a good song; don't get me wrong; but it owes much to Barry's orchestral score for that Bond theme. Also of note is the track Mansun's Only Love Song. It takes a very typical pop vocal hook, and fairly mushy pop lyrics, and matches them to a decidedly anti-pop musical backing, full of discordant notes, off-key strings and unusual synth effects.

The Verdict

Don't let its status as an album you probably haven't heard of fool you - Attack of the Grey Lantern is a very good album and a great debut. It's excellent music that is delightfully melodic and easy to listen to. I don't know anything about the band's followups, but based on the evidence of this album, it's a shame the group didn't have time to properly grow together and really develop their craft.

Britpop fans would definitely enjoy it. Even if its highs don't scale the Oasis/Blur/Pulp mountain, in general, it is every bit as good as most Britpop releases out there.

My rating: ****

Standout Tracks

Egg Shaped Fred

Wide Open Space

The Chad Who Loved Me

For the next two days, I'm going to be delving into the murky world of jazz. Tomorrow's album is a classic album from a jazz maestro....