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Amazon.co.uk Review
Isolationist, misanthropic and cantankerous, New Wave survivors, the Stranglers were never a band known for ostentatious displays of affection, at least not to music journalists. However, 1981's conceptual La Folie (roughly translated as "madness") has become known in band circles as the Stranglers' "love" album. Typically, these were no ordinary chansons d'amour. Songs of faith, familial strife, devotion and dependency--spanning religion, celebrity obsession, lust, death and drugs--the nearest the album got to being superficially palatable was on the gorgeous, harpsichord-strewn "Golden Brown" (ex-drug offence jail bird Hugh Cornwell's paeon to the seduction of heroin) and the chilled-out title track, six sultry minutes of JJ Burnel reciting--entirely in French--the true story of a Paris-based student who murdered and ate his girlfriend. The Raven aside, La Folie found the Stranglers at their most instrumentally dextrous and melodically inventive; Burnel's nomadic bass lines, the discordant Four Freshmen harmonies on "It Only Takes Two To Tango", Cornwell's barb at the commercialised martyrdom of deceased pop stars on the waspish "Everybody Loves You When You're Dead" ("the fans will love you when your alive but the wreaths are laid by the rest instead"). There are some great should-have-been singles too, such as "Non Stop Nun" ("enlisted Sister, knows her mister, never two-times with the rest of the clan") with its cheesy organ licks, and the perky, Page 3 ogling synth pop of "Pin Up". Even the bonus tracks are excellent--"Strange Little Girl" (a Top 10 hit and a song covered by Tori Amos) and its even better picnic-jazz B-side, the Hot Club De Paris pastiche "Cruel Garden". La Folie is easily the most underrated album from Britain's most underrated band. --Kevin Maidment
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Two 'concept' albums in a row - this is the second and the theme this time is 'love'. Rest assured there is no soppy rubbish here, just the bands unique angle on such a subject. 1981 saw The Stranglers on fine form and although starting to fade commercially there was a nugget on here called 'Golden Brown' which changed everything.
Probably the last Stranglers album of exceptional standard. They were so good at 'concept' albums!
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album proved to be the Stranglers' commercial rebirth due to "Golden Brown" but there's much more to it than just that one song. Much more immediate than other Stranglers albums, the tunes here literally leap out of the stereo at you the first time you hear them but it still has the dark and nasty undertone which makes the Stranglers such a thrilling band. Just listen to "Everybody Loves You When You're Dead" or JJ Burnel's brilliantly sarcastic "The Man They Love To Hate" for proof. A fantastic album.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I think it's fair to assume there are many people of a certain age who remember the first time they heard GOLDEN BROWN. Even non-fans of THE STRANGLERS can spiel off at least a few bars of that harpsichord-style waltz classic - which unfortunately sums up a major problem with it for me: it's too popular, too nice and not wholly representative of My Favourite Band. Tch. My problem, and I'm (still) dealing with it after all these years. Sorry.
The Madness (of Love) or LA FOLIE, unlike its predecessor, is not overburdened with high concept but with a texture like sun (no, stoppit!) and consequently feels lighter in both touch and execution. The first track NON STOP, for example, is a poppy, cod-religious affair with a typically irreverent HUGH CORNWELL vocal. Off to a good start then, but even better is just around the corner. TRAMP, The Great Single That Never Was, is pure Stranglers gold, with a blistering chorus of guitar, bass, keyboard and drums firing on all cylinders. Superb.
PIN UP and LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY keep things moving briskly (the latter complete with some hilarious retro-funky guitar work) but the gonk for oddest song must go to IT ONLY TAKES TWO TO TANGO; a confused effort that mixes multitracked vocals to an appropriate beat, yet ends up a victim of its own two left feet. Awkward, to say the least.
With the exception of LA FOLIE, the remaining tracks are typical medium-weight Strangler offerings with subjects ranging from, amongst others, John Lennon (EVERYBODY LOVES YOU WHEN YOU'RE DEAD) to Adolf Hitler (THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE). So, how does the title song hold up to the rest of the album? Well, as a follow-up to GOLDEN BROWN in 1982 it was a spectacularly poor choice for a single, especially when you consider the overwhelming merits of TRAMP. That said, it's undeniably melodic with sweeping keyboards and a sound that can best be described as echo-chamber big. Part spoken, part sung in French by JEAN-JAQUES BURNEL, it's difficult not to wonder sometimes what a substitute vocal in the native tongue might have done for its chart placing at the time. (LA FOLLY, peut-etre? Franglais notwithstanding, I certainly thought so.)
Bonus tracks are a seriously mixed bag (the excellent VIETNAMERICA, the ghastly COCKTAIL NUBILES) yet still required listening - as is LA FOLIE as a whole: for all it's minor drawbacks it remains an essential purchase.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The Madness (of Love) or LA FOLIE, unlike its predecessor, is not overburdened with high concept but with a texture like sun (no, stoppit!) and consequently feels lighter in both touch and execution. The first track NON STOP, for example, is a poppy, cod-religious affair with a typically irreverent HUGH CORNWELL vocal. Off to a good start then, but even better is just around the corner. TRAMP, The Great Single That Never Was, is pure Stranglers gold, with a blistering chorus of guitar, bass, keyboard and drums firing on all cylinders. Superb.
PIN UP and LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY keep things moving briskly (the latter complete with some hilarious retro-funky guitar work) but the gonk for oddest song must go to IT ONLY TAKES TWO TO TANGO; a confused effort that mixes multitracked vocals to an appropriate beat, yet ends up a victim of its own two left feet. Awkward, to say the least.
With the exception of LA FOLIE, the remaining tracks are typical medium-weight Strangler offerings with subjects ranging from, amongst others, John Lennon (EVERYBODY LOVES YOU WHEN YOU'RE DEAD) to Adolf Hitler (THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE). So, how does the title song hold up to the rest of the album? Well, as a follow-up to GOLDEN BROWN in 1982 it was a spectacularly poor choice for a single, especially when you consider the overwhelming merits of TRAMP. That said, it's undeniably melodic with sweeping keyboards and a sound that can best be described as echo-chamber big. Part spoken, part sung in French by JEAN-JAQUES BURNEL, it's difficult not to wonder sometimes what a substitute vocal in the native tongue might have done for its chart placing at the time. (LA FOLLY, peut-etre? Franglais notwithstanding, I certainly thought so.)
Bonus tracks are a seriously mixed bag (the excellent VIETNAMERICA, the ghastly COCKTAIL NUBILES) yet still required listening - as is LA FOLIE as a whole: for all it's minor drawbacks it remains an essential purchase.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Still great after 20 years!
I've had this album since I was 16, finally decided it was time to get into the 21st century and get it on CD, still love it as much as I did then!
Published 20 months ago by Ms. J. Wallace-stock
Simple a good album
A good album by Stranglers.
I've not compared with others , like ''Raven''.
Simply a good album.
I've not compared with others , like ''Raven''.
Simply a good album.
Published 23 months ago by Psilos3
A Little Night Madness
After a bemused reaction from almost everyone to the release of The Gospel According to the Meninblack (a wonderfully offbeat work that was simply ahead of its time), EMI ordered... Read more
Published on 11 April 2010 by Alwin Templar
la folie the stranglers
superb album. complete change of direction for the band. introduction of slower balads, and a more poppier sound on the whole. Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by deborah walker
Transitional, but magnificent
'La Folie' marks a fundamental change in The Stranglers' approach to albums. Their first five studio albums are uncompromising, sometimes brutal. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2007 by D. J. H. Thorn
The Final Great Stranglers Album
I own all the stranglers albums and love Feline/ a lot of aural sculpture and lots of bits and pieces in between. Read more
Published on 13 May 2007 by jamo
A exceptional album from an exceptional group
This was the sixth studio outing for The Stranglers. Over the previous few years they had proven themselves to be one of the UK's most innovative bands, evolving from the... Read more
Published on 10 July 2006 by Mike J. Wheeler
a.k.a. "la folie" change of direction for the stranglers
Spawned the stranglers highest charting single, "Golden brown". More emotional than most of their albums, with touching tracks like la folie and tramp, this still has... Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2001 by clive.rendell@ascom.co.uk
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