So what does Haydn know about "Forever Now" by The Psychedelic Furs?
The Psychedelic Furs have been a band that I've known about for quite a while. I've really enjoyed listening to this album, Forever Now on Spotify for a while now. But since getting hold of my parents vinyl collection I got super excited to find that they had it on vinyl. I know that they got their name for a track by The Velvet Underground called "Venus In Furs". Bear in mind that I read that in a magazine, so whether or not that's actually true I don't know. I also know that they went on hiatus after 1991 but came back in 2001 and are now playing the occasional live show. A quick look on Spotify tells us that their most recent release was in 2011, and that was a compilation. Whether or not they're in the studio recording new stuff now, I can't possible tell you. However, I have found out that they did a world tour on the same year that they released that compilation album, playing one of their albums "Talk, Talk, Talk" in full. "Talk Talk Talk" is the only album of theirs that I haven't really listened to yet. Now let's crack on with the break down of the tracks. I will review each track, as I hear it.
Track 1 - "President Gas"
I put the needle a little bit before the start of the track, purely because I love the crackling sound of the vinyl, but it doesn't last for long. This track comes at you really quickly, there's no build up. Straight into it an no messing around, and straight away I can kind of guess what the lyrical theme of the album is. "You'll have to have a party, you're in a state like this", this album is going to be about politics. This track seems to be about political parties, there was one lyric that stood out for me "Every day is happy days it's hell without the sin". Kind of reminds me about how leaders of political parties always seem to be smiling, no matter what. As we get into the track, it breaks into a bit with an acoustic guitar and a cello. Really cool. Sounds very much like The Velvet Underground. Nice start to what is going to be a cracking album.
Track 2 - "Love My Way"
Another crackle of vinyl and we're straight into the next track. Damn, there's no holding back on this album. Straight into another great sounding melody and straight into some more brilliantly written. "There's an army on the dance floor, it's passion with a gun my love". The meaning that I kind of took from that is that this song may well be about other bands in the 80s mainstream. I'm not sure that that's actually the case though. This track definitely sounds like a product of it's time. The synths sound so 80s it hurts. I really like it.
Track 3 - "Run & Run"
Yet more vinyl crackling and we're on to the next track. "Hamburger Mary, she's got a gun, nothing goes on all the time and, she thinks it's fun". Some more great lines from the album. The effect on the guitar sounds great, and the drums at the intro of the song is another stand out moment in this track for me. I don't really like the chorus though, there's something pretty grating about it. I can't really put my finger on it. Now we're at a solo with a guitar that seems to have a delay effect on it. Nice. But it's back into the chorus again, bad times. Good song on the whole, bad chorus though.
Track 4 - "Merry Go Round"
This track starts of with a drums, unlike the other tracks where it goes straight into it there seems to be a build up. When it kicks in, there's a nice sounding cello melody in the back ground, and the synth sounds really cool. There are no stand out lyrics in this track though, but that doesn't really take loads away from the general feel of the song. We're back to the good choruses again. Even though there are no stand out lyrics on this album, I would have to say that this track is my favourite on the album so far, just for the general feel of the song.
Track 5 - "Sleep Comes Down"
Now we're on to the last track on Side 1. This track seems to be plodding along nicely. I can't really make out the lyrics on this one though, but I really like the flange effect on the bass guitar. The piano makes it sound very Beatles-esque. They've experimented a bit on this track, they've sampled classical song and reversed it. Sounds weird but cool. Unfortunately this track makes for a very lacklustre ending to side 1. Damn it.
Track 6 - "Forever Now"
More vinyl crackling and straight into track 6. This track already sounds amazing, and the first line really grabs me "A banker in a tired suit is counting in his head, he's standing in his over coat he's lying in your bed". Wow. The lyrics get better and better, the song gets more epic as it goes a long. This is without doubt my favourite track on the album, no question. "You and I are walking past here, having lost out way, we don't count our money, we're giving our money". Amazing lyrics. The bridge sounds really cool. All in all this is an amazing introduction to side 2. Maybe side 2 will hold up better than side 1.
Track 7 - "Danger"
Really cool intro to this track, spiky sounding guitars and cheesy trumpets. So 80's it hurts, but in the best way possible. Oh my god, as this track goes on you can definitely tell what time period it's from. So funny, but so great as well. The guys vocals work really well with this track too. Nice sounding track, also the sax solo completes it. Brilliant.
Track 8 - "You And I"
Track 7 ended really abruptly. Now we're into another song with a build it. Great build up with some good lyrics that I really can't remember. I think he's talking about Margaret Thatcher in this song. As I said before, this album is definitely a product of its time. I guess all of these songs represent the politics of the time in some shape or form. Really nice sounding track.
Track 9 - "Goodbye"
Great energy on this track, really nice 80's sounding trumpets. So far it looks like this track could be my second favorite on the album to the title track just for the fact that there's loads of energy in this track and there's loads of stuff going on production wise. Wicked.
Track 10 - "No Easy Street"
A slow burner, but loads going on production wise. Kind of a weird way to end an album, the chorus isn't too great as well. I would probably say that this was my least favourite track on the album.
Overall Verdict:
My fingers are aching like hell now, I've been typing so quickly. But over all, this album is alright. There are some brilliant tracks on here, 'Forever Now', for example, is pretty phenomenal. But to be honest with you, there are tracks that bring this album down as a whole. I think this is the kind of album where there needs to be 100% energy and decent production value all the time, and for me this album is missing that because the band obviously wanted to give it a bit of variation, which is kind of good, but the slow tunes seem to drag on a bit. Not the best album in the world, but definitely a product of its time. Tune in next time for more 80s vinyl goodness!
