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Avg: 4.0 (98 ratings)
- Date Released: January 1, 1986
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Pop, Rock
- Label: Yep Roc Records / Redeye
Hitchcock's most consistently enthralling solo album, and one of his best.
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We Say...
After years tinkering with his post-Soft Boys sound, everything fell into place for Robyn Hitchcock on his fifth solo album. Reducing keyboardist Roger Jackon to a supporting role, Hitchcock pared down his backing band to the duo of ex-Soft Boys Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor, anchoring the songs around his shimmering guitar. “Raymond Chandler Evening” is two minutes of wispy beauty, with Hitchcock’s echoing arpeggios swirling around the glide of Metcalfe’s fretless bass and Windsor’s crisp cymbals.
“Bass” and “Somewhere Apart” hark back to the anxious brittleness of Fegmania!, but “Winchester” and “Ted, Woody & Junior” (the latter inspired by the proto-gay muscle mags of the 1950s) are things of gossamer loveliness, hanging in the air like jeweled smoke. Better still is the gorgeous “Airscape,” inspired by an eroding vista on the Isle of Wight.
Element also brings Hitchcock’s folk influences to the fore: “Never Stop Bleeding” has the coiled creepiness of Bob Dylan at his most oblique, and “Lady Waters & the Hooded One” is a surreal story-song in the mode of “Matty Groves.” Diverse but unified, the original ten-track album remains one of Hitchcock’s consistently enthralling, and one of his best.
“The Black Crow Knows,” “The Crawling,” “The Leopard” and “Tell Me About Your Drugs" have been appended to several reissues. The rest are new to this release. -
They Say...
Element of Light, Hitchcock's second studio album with the Egyptians, remains one of his finest moments and offers a convincing argument for his talents as a pop craftsman. Using John Lennon's work for Revolver and The Beatles as a template, Hitchcock wrote an elegant set of songs for Element of Light, songs that contained all of his cryptic lyrical sensibilities, yet featured more refined melodies and song structures. The Egyptians play with a subtle grace, moving between the stately "Winchester" and light psychedelia of "If You Were a Priest" to the bracing attack of "Tell Me About Your Drugs" with ease. While it sacrifices some of the edgy tension of Hitchcock's earlier work, Element of Light is his most melodic and eerily beautiful record. [In 2008, Yep Roc released a new edition of Element of Light which included the original album re-mastered, six bonus cuts (four of which had never seen the light of day) and expanded packaging.]
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| 01. |  |
If You Were A Priest |
3:01 |
|
| 02. | |
Winchester |
5:00 |
|
| 03. | |
Somewhere Apart |
2:49 |
|
| 04. | |
Ted, Woody And Junior |
2:53 |
|
| 05. | |
The President |
4:18 |
|
| 06. | |
Raymond Chandler Evening |
2:14 |
|
| 07. | |
Bass |
3:02 |
|
| 08. | |
Airscape |
5:11 |
|
| 09. | |
Never Stop Bleeding |
2:47 |
|
| 10. | |
Lady Waters & The Hooded One |
5:45 |
|
| 11. | |
The Black Crow Knows |
3:34 |
|
| 12. | |
The Crawling |
3:21 |
|
| 13. | |
The Leopard |
4:21 |
|
| 14. | |
Tell Me About Your Drugs |
2:42 |
|
| 15. | |
Sprinkling Dots |
1:08 |
|
| 16. | |
Upside-Down Church Blues |
2:53 |
|
| 17. | |
Into It |
2:13 |
|
| 18. | |
Neck |
2:07 |
|
| 19. | |
Bass (demo) |
4:03 |
|
| 20. | |
Lady Waters & The Hooded One (demo) |
5:31 |
|
20 Total Tracks, 68:53 Total Length
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Credits
- Robyn Hitchcock - Bass // Robyn Hitchcock - Guitar // Robyn Hitchcock - Piano // Robyn Hitchcock - Keyboards // Robyn Hitchcock - Vocals // Robyn Hitchcock - Producer // Ken Perry - Remastering // Pat Collier - Engineer // Pat Collier - Mixing // Bill Inglot - Remastering // Andy Metcalfe - Bass // Andy Metcalfe - Percussion // Andy Metcalfe - Piano // Andy Metcalfe - Drums // Andy Metcalfe - Keyboards // Andy Metcalfe - Vocals (Background) // Andy Metcalfe - Producer // Andy Metcalfe - Mixing // Steve Robertshaw - Engineer // Morris Windsor - Guitar // Morris Windsor - Percussion // Morris Windsor - Drums // Morris Windsor - Vocals (Background) // Chris Cox - Bass // Chris Cox - Percussion // Chris Cox - Trumpet // Chris Cox - String Bass // James Fletcher - Saxophone // Roger Jackson - Organ // Roger Jackson - Keyboards // Roger Jackson - Piano (Electric) // Roger Jackson - Vocals (Background) // Roger Jackson - Harmonica (Glass) // Jim Neill - Reissue Producer // Ian OHiggins - Engineer // Paul Gadd - Engineer // John Leonard - Producer // Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Performer // Rosalind Kunath - Photography
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