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Track Listings
| 1. Definitive Gaze |
| 2. My Tulpa |
| 3. Shot By Both Sides |
| 4. Recoil |
| 5. Burst |
| 6. Motorcade |
| 7. The Great Beautician In The Sky |
| 8. The Light Pours Out Of Me |
| 9. Parade |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Howard Devoto's more arty and intellectual inclinations were never likely to be accommodated by a band as formulaic and reductive--though utterly marvellous--as The Buzzcocks. Devoto left Pete Shelley to it shortly after Orgasm Addict and founded Magazine with guitarist John McGeoch (later of Siouxsie & The Banshees and Public Image Ltd) and bassplayer Barry Adamson (later of Visage and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds, as well as distinguishing himself as a solo artist). As might be guessed from the later careers of the personnel involved, Magazine were and remain a terrifically influential band, whose determined wedding of punkish energy with the art-school delusions of Roxy Music has been echoed since by Blur, Elastica, The Auteurs and Happy Mondays, among many others. That said, Real Life--Magazine's debut album--has not weathered the passing of the years all that well. By far the best thing on it is the anthemic single "Shot By Both Sides", and it is of somewhat dubious parentage, credited to Devoto/Shelley. The rest of the album--with the arguable exception of "The Light Pours Out Of Me"--bears the unmistakable awkwardness that comes of being created by people whose ambitions, at this early stage, are beyond the grasp of their abilities. --Andrew Mueller
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Gordon Dent
Format:Audio CD
It came as some surprise to see Magazine performing "Shot By Both Sides" on "Top Of The Pops". First, because the record wasn't in the top forty; secondly, because it didn't fit in with the "Pops" uniform output of bland soul; thirdly, because I'd never heard either of the band or of the supposedly legendary Howard Devoto; fourthly, because it was utterly brilliant.
It came as a greater surprise to hear "Real Life" when my best friend invited me to his house to listen to it. I wasn't expecting a new version of "Shot By Both Sides" (and, to be honest, I still prefer the single version); neither was I expecting the synthesizer or the subtlety.
"Definitive Gaze" remains one of the great album-openers of rock history and served at the time as a strong warning that this band was not just a more intellectual version of the Buzzcocks. Barry Adamson's funky opening bars lead into a tutti crescendo that quickly makes way for Dave Formula's simple but brilliantly effective synth melody, which reappears at regular intervals throughout the song. Devoto enters - "Got this bird's-eye view and it's in my brain//Clarity has reared its ugly head again//So this is real life: you're telling me//And everything is where it ought to be" - and Magazine's memorable debut album is under way.
As "Definitive Gaze"'s closing echo fades, the superb "My Tulpa" confirms that this isn't a one-hit album. Adamson and Martin Jackson keep up the funk while John McGeoch's guitar makes its first major contribution, giving an taste of the great things he would achieve with Siouxsie & The Banshees.... Read more ›
It came as a greater surprise to hear "Real Life" when my best friend invited me to his house to listen to it. I wasn't expecting a new version of "Shot By Both Sides" (and, to be honest, I still prefer the single version); neither was I expecting the synthesizer or the subtlety.
"Definitive Gaze" remains one of the great album-openers of rock history and served at the time as a strong warning that this band was not just a more intellectual version of the Buzzcocks. Barry Adamson's funky opening bars lead into a tutti crescendo that quickly makes way for Dave Formula's simple but brilliantly effective synth melody, which reappears at regular intervals throughout the song. Devoto enters - "Got this bird's-eye view and it's in my brain//Clarity has reared its ugly head again//So this is real life: you're telling me//And everything is where it ought to be" - and Magazine's memorable debut album is under way.
As "Definitive Gaze"'s closing echo fades, the superb "My Tulpa" confirms that this isn't a one-hit album. Adamson and Martin Jackson keep up the funk while John McGeoch's guitar makes its first major contribution, giving an taste of the great things he would achieve with Siouxsie & The Banshees.... Read more ›
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By Jason Parkes
#1 HALL OF FAME
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Following the key 'Spiral Scratch' e.p. and the material subsequently released as 'Time's Up', Howard Devoto decided to jump ship and left Buzzcocks just at the point when they might have made it a la the Sex Pistols. The retirement didn't last long, Devoto returning with a new outfit called Magazine, whose initial line-up included Devoto (vocals), Barry Adamson (bass), the late/great John McGeoch (guitar), Bob Dickinson (piano/keyboards) and Martin Jackson (drums). Jackson would later be replaced by John Doyle, while Dave Formula would replace Dickinson and give Magazine another key factor alongside Adamson's bassplaying, McGeoch's guitars, and Devoto's Devotoness.
'Real Life' was released in 1978, like the first PIL album and 'The Scream' by Siouxsie & the Banshees, it was an early "post-punk" release - coming out before anything by The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen or Joy Division. Magazine weren't exactly punk, though the bonus tracks include the single 'Touch and Go' and b-side 'My Mind Ain't So Open', which are closer to (The) Buzzcocks. Magazine's cover of Beefheart's 'I Love You Big Dummy' is pure punk rock too, a song they performed in the Buzzcocks and became the flipside to 'Give Me Everything.' A word on the bonus tracks, er...huh? What was the thinking behind them, since they don't match the era completely and appear to have been spread out more - whilst their inclusion advances on the previous CD versions, their presence on the 'Scree'-compilation and the 'Maybe It's Right to Be Nervous Now' box-set may well elicit the response, "...but I've already got these...twice!!" Maybe it's all in the remastering then...... Read more ›
'Real Life' was released in 1978, like the first PIL album and 'The Scream' by Siouxsie & the Banshees, it was an early "post-punk" release - coming out before anything by The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen or Joy Division. Magazine weren't exactly punk, though the bonus tracks include the single 'Touch and Go' and b-side 'My Mind Ain't So Open', which are closer to (The) Buzzcocks. Magazine's cover of Beefheart's 'I Love You Big Dummy' is pure punk rock too, a song they performed in the Buzzcocks and became the flipside to 'Give Me Everything.' A word on the bonus tracks, er...huh? What was the thinking behind them, since they don't match the era completely and appear to have been spread out more - whilst their inclusion advances on the previous CD versions, their presence on the 'Scree'-compilation and the 'Maybe It's Right to Be Nervous Now' box-set may well elicit the response, "...but I've already got these...twice!!" Maybe it's all in the remastering then...... Read more ›
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By franck
Format:Audio CD
This record broke conventions when it came out. It was about not being restricted by usual boundaries of punk, post punk or new wave. Devoto (singer & ex-member of the buzzcocks) and John Mc Geoch (brilliant guitarist who later worked with Siouxsie & the banshees ) both created an original music sound. And still today, the cocktail works very well : shimmering guitars, inventive basses lines, strong drumbeats, all this linked with atmospheric keyboards.
From "Definitive Gaze", the tone is given. The basses offer a heavenly introduction and then the groove really begins and one is under the spell. All the other songs are strong and I guess it's difficult to not succumb to the luminous "the light pours out of me".
On this record, I particularly love the groovy riffs of the guitarist John Mc Geoch which shows here for the first time a part of all the good things he's gonna create after with Siouxsie & the Banshees (on the albums "Kaleidoscope", "Juju", and "A kiss in the dreamhouse").
Howard Devoto showed with the buzzcocks that he was able to compose catchy short pop songs. With Magazine, he succeeded to become a remarkable arranger, able to create unique sounds.
This album is really a must.
From "Definitive Gaze", the tone is given. The basses offer a heavenly introduction and then the groove really begins and one is under the spell. All the other songs are strong and I guess it's difficult to not succumb to the luminous "the light pours out of me".
On this record, I particularly love the groovy riffs of the guitarist John Mc Geoch which shows here for the first time a part of all the good things he's gonna create after with Siouxsie & the Banshees (on the albums "Kaleidoscope", "Juju", and "A kiss in the dreamhouse").
Howard Devoto showed with the buzzcocks that he was able to compose catchy short pop songs. With Magazine, he succeeded to become a remarkable arranger, able to create unique sounds.
This album is really a must.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Dr. D. B. Sillars
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
After most rock music of the early 70's became tired and burnt out, groups like Magazine injected renewed energy and enthusiasm in rocks possibilities. Though punk was the antithesis of the virtuosity prevalent in most rock music that had gone before, Magazine had at its core a trio of formidable musicians in guitarist John McGeoch, bassist Barry Adamson and keyboardist Dave Formula. Of course the band were fronted by Howard Devoto, whose intellectual demeanour and literate lyrics set the band apart from the crowd!
Their first album was the hugely critically lauded "Real Life". Seen in some ways as the urban opposite of Roxy Music's glossy glamourisation that was "Country Life", Magazine went all out to excite. From the incendiary loaded "Shot By Both Sides" to the bass driven, tautly controlled "The Light Pours Out Of Me", the band style was already clearly developed and emphatically defined.
Some points about this re-issue, which is part of a complete remastering of all Magazine's albums. The remastering by Sean Magee of Abbey Road studios has made the original widescreen production by John Leckie , even more widescreen. Compared to the original CD issue this sounds much warmer and detailed, quite light and airy actually. The bonus tracks are singles with b-sides of the period and include their entertaining reworking of John Barry's theme to "Goldfinger". I have to say the CD booklet is a bit of a letdown. The printing quality is poor and there has been little effort to reproduce the layout of the original album. The essay, by Mojo journalist Kieron Tyler spread over 6 pages of the 8 page booklet is actually quite informative and detailed, though messily laid out and covers the period over which "Real Life" was recorded.... Read more ›
Their first album was the hugely critically lauded "Real Life". Seen in some ways as the urban opposite of Roxy Music's glossy glamourisation that was "Country Life", Magazine went all out to excite. From the incendiary loaded "Shot By Both Sides" to the bass driven, tautly controlled "The Light Pours Out Of Me", the band style was already clearly developed and emphatically defined.
Some points about this re-issue, which is part of a complete remastering of all Magazine's albums. The remastering by Sean Magee of Abbey Road studios has made the original widescreen production by John Leckie , even more widescreen. Compared to the original CD issue this sounds much warmer and detailed, quite light and airy actually. The bonus tracks are singles with b-sides of the period and include their entertaining reworking of John Barry's theme to "Goldfinger". I have to say the CD booklet is a bit of a letdown. The printing quality is poor and there has been little effort to reproduce the layout of the original album. The essay, by Mojo journalist Kieron Tyler spread over 6 pages of the 8 page booklet is actually quite informative and detailed, though messily laid out and covers the period over which "Real Life" was recorded.... Read more ›
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Super
Proper good sound,each track is well worth a listen.no fill in tracks....enjoyfirst album of theirs I have bought but will be buying more
Published 2 months ago by timmya
5.0 out of 5 stars
classic
every song great, a late 70's classic no doubt not sure about the remastering , doesnt sound much better than original I have replaced all my originals but in retrospect Im not... Read more
Published 17 months ago by P. Storey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Errr, did you listen to the right album?
The official review from Amazon reads: "Real Life--Magazine's debut album--has not weathered the passing of the years all that well. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. Trench
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love Bleached in Bliss
Howard left the Buzzcocks due to artistic stiflement but later rejoined them to sneer about his Times Up. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2010 by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Wave's intellectuals
Prior to the release of this debut album, I bought Magazine's sublime 'Shot By Both Sides' single, still their best known song. Read more
Published on 20 May 2010 by D. J. H. Thorn
5.0 out of 5 stars
Days of future passed
Is this 1978 or thirty odd years on? Magazine's Real Life sounds at the same time as brilliantly dated as the East Berlin television tower and remarkably contemporary. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2009 by Huasen
3.0 out of 5 stars
Inferior remastering of a superb album
I love Magazine: have all the vinyl, saw them live, own all the previous CDs, all the compilations, all the 2007 remastered discs (Virgin EU pressings, not Caroline, which is the... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2007 by David Haakenson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mighty, mighty, mighty...
Let me be the first to reiterate that this is one of the great rock albums of all time. 'Rock' isn't actually a word that describes much of what I like, but nothing else really... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2007 by Robert Machin
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic album
For anyone interested in post-punk music, this album should be in your record collection. Way before it's time, dark and brooding while being strangely up-lifting. Read more
Published on 12 Dec 2006 by M. Mccann
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing!
Well I'll never forget hearing this! I was well into punk & then this came along! freaked me out - what sort of music is this? Read more
Published on 21 July 2005 by PhilthyPhil
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