The Stranglers - La Folie
#626
By Jenifer Hamel
November 9 1981
The Stranglers
La Folie
Genre: Brits all over the place
Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Jenifer’s Rating: 2.51 * out of 5 it's complicated
In an effort to acknowledge the bands' talent and temper my personal musically bias, I concocted a scoring system that I hoped would bring balance and objectivity to an ultimately subjective endeavor. The score was achieved by a convoluted construct loosely launched from the scoring principles of competitive Ice Skating. **technical elements 2.89 **artistic presentation 2.25 *deductions -. 06 *
Deductions were liberally given dispensed for the way this album was miss- engineered. The band wanted to sound like this? That's baffling! And for no other reason than in 4 and quite possibly 5 songs, the keyboard bugged the dog shit outta me, I fabricated a special deduction, known as the Dave deduction.
Highlights:
"Everybody Loves you When you're Dead"
"Ain't Nothin' to It"
"La Folie"
Reviewing La Folie has been an ever shifting combination of interesting, boring, and baffling. Before listening to this album, I didn't know anything about The Stranglers, or at least I had no conscious memory of them. So, I found the prospect of hearing this album with fresh ears, with no memories littering the soundscape, no preconceived notions informing my opinion kind of exhilarating.
Order of operations: Listen first. Research second. I did allow myself to translate the album title, because titles are important. La Folie ... Madness, hmm, this could be intriguing ... well, it could've been, but it was muddled instead.
Initial Impressions:
Is that cool Lou Reed vocalist the same guy who has the beautiful singing voice? How many singers are there? Wow, the bass player and drummer really shine. The keyboardist comes off as a pretentious wanker in a tricky rock band. The mix is off. The instruments sound like they're competing against each other and quite possibly with themselves. Why are the vocal so low?
A Pattern Emerges (a tragic, self-sabotaging pattern):
Strong starts. Interesting, driving, catchy, quirky, bobbin' beats & rhythms. Kickass drums. Excellent guitar. Stellar bass. Ridiculous keyboard. Things derail, elements don't jell. It feels clever lite rather than casting a clever light. I think they wanna be really really clever.
The final song, "La Folie" is exquisite. Atmospheric. Dreamy. Sung in French, o my gawd, that's so 80's! Spare bass perfectly punctuates ... what ... madness tinged with sadness? I dunna know, I don't speak French (but naturally Jean-Jauques does). A true standout - a solid song to go out on.
Research revealed (these surprises):
"La Folie," a 6 minute song about cannibalism - not a solid choice for the second single.
These talented blokes can be classified as post punk, but you wouldn't know it from this album.
The Strangler's have been around for a long fucking time, I applaud their longevity.
Final Ruminations:
More near-misses than successes.
Reading about the band was more interesting than listening to La Folie.
For a concept album, this album lacks cohesion. Every song is so different - it's jarring. Are they trying to convey that love is often erratic, has great beginnings, some sudden stops, and is all over the place? I don't care enough to ponder up an answer.
I don't know Tony Visconti and yet I'm deeply disappointed in him. Tony, Tony, Tony?!?! You worked with the likes of Marc Bolan & David Bowie and this is the best you could do? If I can trust the Internet, you had one task, produce each song like it's a potential single. Tony took that task, opened the front door, threw it out, closed the door, and turned off the light.
Jean-Jacque is indeed an MVP, GOAT and quite probably an OG.
https://open.spotify.com/album/3bosyDPGOYmLnwMNhU06Rx?si=KMMrWA7CRTqYjTvifleoCw
