(2018) Mansun – Attack of the Grey Lantern [21st Anniversary Deluxe Edition]


Review:
3-disc deluxe book edition which included demos, rarities, outtakes and BBC sessions.
Opening with the swirling, cinematic strings of “The Chad Who Loved Me,” Mansun’s debut album, Attack of the Grey Lantern, is anything but a conventional Brit-pop record. Few debut records are this assured, especially when a group is developing such an idiosyncratic, individual style. Mansun recalls many artists — Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Tears for Fears, David Bowie, ABC, Blur, Prince — without sounding exactly like any of them. Attack of the Grey Lantern is a grandiose, darkly seductive blend of new wave and ’90s indie rock, filled with phased guitars, drum machines, and subversive, off-kilter song structures, many of which wind past five minutes. No song is ever quite what it seems — “Mansun’s Only Love Song” balances between soul and fractured pop, “Stripper Vicar” has new wave backing vocals and hard-rock chords, while “Taxloss” marries Suede’s dark glam rock with uneasy psychedelia. It’s an ambitious, even pretentious, record, but Mansun has enough confidence and skill to make it an astonishingly original debut.





Tracklist:
Disc 1
1. The Chad Who Loved Me [05:02]
2. Mansun’s Only Love Song [05:55]
3. Taxloss [07:04]
4. You, Who Do You Hate? [03:06]
5. Wide Open Space [04:33]
6. Stripper Vicar [04:11]
7. Disgusting [05:12]
8. She Makes My Nose Bleed [03:55]
9. Naked Twister [04:39]
10. Egg Shaped Fred [04:11]
11. Dark Mavis [08:36]
12. An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter [04:01]

Disc 2
1. Disgusting (demo) [04:41]
2. Rebel Without A Quilt (original version) [06:22]
3. Naked Twister (demo) [03:49]
4. Dark Mavis (demo) [05:31]
5. The Dutchess (backing jam) [03:41]
6. Ski Jump Nose (original version) [05:59]
7. She Makes My Nose Bleed (strings only) [03:59]
8. The Chad Who Loved Me (backing track take 1) [05:39]
9. Stripper Vicar (take 1) [04:21]
10. Stripper Link (full length version) [01:07]
11. Dark Mavis (rejected version) [05:17]
12. She Makes My Nose Bleed (version 1) [04:00]
13. An Open Letter To The Lyrical Trainspotter (take 1) [04:15]
14. The Greatest Pain (backing track take 1) [03:01]
15. You, Who Do You Hate? (early version) [03:01]
16. She Makes My Nose Bleed (demo) [04:01]
17. Egg Shaped Fred (mix 1) [05:13]

Disc 3
1. Skin Up Pin Up (Radio One Session 14/9/95) [04:05]
2. Grey Lantern (Radio One Session 14/9/95) [03:02]
3. Flourella (Radio One Session 15/5/96) [04:07]
4. Naked Twister (Radio One Session 15/5/96) [03:46]
5. Drastic Sturgeon (Radio One Session 15/5/96) [03:27]
6. Egg Shaped Fred (Soho Live Radio One Evening Session 12/11/96) [04:15]
7. Take It Easy Chicken (Soho Live Radio One Evening Session 12/11/96) [05:55]
8. Stripper Vicar (Mark Radcliffe Session 16/12/96) [03:48]
9. She Makes My Nose Bleed (Mark Radcliffe Session 16/12/96) [03:48]
10. Wide Open Space (Mark Radcliffe Session 16/12/96) [04:18]
11. The Chad Who Loved Me (Mark Radcliffe Session 16/12/96) [02:00]
12. Ski Jump Nose (Mark Radcliffe Session 16/12/96) [03:05]


Summary:
Country: USA
Genre: indie-rock, prog-rock


Media Report:
Source : CD
Format : FLAC
Format/Info : Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : ~ 789-924 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits