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(The Gospel According To) The Meninblack
 
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(The Gospel According To) The Meninblack [Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

Stranglers | Format: Audio CD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
Price: £4.27 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Biography

The story of how The Stranglers came into existence in the first place, is perhaps atypical of the music industry. No less surprising then, that it’s history too, is unusual. It began in 1973 and that story is both long and complex.

A lengthy discourse covering those formative days has now been covered in some considerable detail in Jet's musical odyssey elsewhere on these pages, which recounts… Read more in Amazon's Stranglers Store

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Frequently Bought Together

(The Gospel According To) The Meninblack + The Raven + La Folie
Price For All Three: £13.41

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  • In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
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  • The Raven ~ Stranglers Audio CD £4.37

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  • La Folie ~ Stranglers Audio CD £4.77

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Product details

  • Audio CD (20 Aug 2001)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
  • Label: EMI Records
  • ASIN: B00005MAGE
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 6,499 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Waltzinblack 3:37£0.89
Listen  2. Just Like Nothing On Earth 3:54£0.89
Listen  3. Second Coming 4:22£0.89
Listen  4. Waiting For The Meninblack 3:44£0.89
Listen  5. Turn The Centuries Turn 4:34£0.89
Listen  6. Two Sunspots 2:32£0.89
Listen  7. Four Horsemen 3:39£0.89
Listen  8. Thrown Away 3:30£0.89
Listen  9. Manna Machine 3:16£0.89
Listen10. Hallow To Our Men 7:26£0.89
Listen11. Top Secret 3:26£0.89
Listen12. Maninwhite 4:25£0.89
Listen13. Tomorrow Was The Hereafter 4:01£0.89

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Hello. I doubt Will Smith grooves much to this one. To be honest, neither do I - it's not that kind of an album, it's far too strange. It probably forms the centrepiece of the Annual Conspiracy Theorist's Convention After-Dinner Freak-Out ("How did you know?" gasp the conspiracy theorists, and I reply "<THEY> told me", to which they shrink fearfully away).

In this, the most marginal of all The Stranglers' work, Hugh and the gang offer us a dark and hypnotic soundtrack to the hypothesis of Biblical alien involvement. As with Radiohead's 'Kid A', 'Meninblack' (1981) was released in the wake of an acclaimed predecessor, and fans eagerly anticipating more of the same were disenchanted by the new sound. The situation was not improved when the least accessible track, 'Just Like Nothing On Earth' was issued as a single to promote the album, while prime chart material such as 'Two Sunspots' sat in conspicuous, upbeat solitude on the album.

Built on the foundations of paranoid doom laid in a track from 'The Raven', 'Meninblack' is a concept album years ahead of its time, with a strong, fluent narrative. The music is heavy and taut with the negativity and fear felt by the musicians during production.

All of which makes it sound like a really, really b-a-d listening experience. Well OK, it's true, you're not going to want this blasting out from your car stereo as you drive open-topped to the beach on a sunny day, nor as you attempt to lull yourself to sleep home alone at night. But on some other occasions, it's good: progressive, highly innovative, and intriguingly catchy. The sound has worn well: the passing of time has elevated the album within the context of its 'era' (I discovered it in 1993). Dave Greenfield's looping keyboards and synths are in the fore creating a trance-like ambience, never more so than in 'Waltzinblack', the beautiful yet grotesque opener. 'Turn The Centuries, Turn' and 'Hallow To Our Men' are hauntingly atmospheric; 'Two Sunspots' and 'Four Horsemen' have great melodies. Hugh lifts morale with occasional humour (er...sometimes at the expense of Jesus). All band members give it everything they've got, and the result is slick and seamless.

It's one of the most underappreciated records I can think of, and at or near to the pinnacle of The Stranglers' output. I'd say it's genius, but it's by no means to everyone's taste, and it's certainly no introduction to the band - that would be their debut 'Rattus Norveticus', or some 'Greatest Hits' affair. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in early Stranglers; fans of good keyboards; anyone up for testing the retrospective claim of bassist JJ Burnel that it sounds like a techno album; and Tommy Lee Jones. I expect it will also appeal to anyone who's gotten it into their head that Jesus was an alien.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've never been sure whether it's this or The Raven I like more but it's always been clear to me that they are both the result of The Stranglers at their creative peak. The Raven is probably more adventurous music-wise but this beats it on the production/engineering front, and that's all (apparently) the tireless work of the Stranglers themselves. There's a very, very lovely warm sound to this stuff, despite its often-discussed weirdness - it sounds really like nothing else. Oh and the ideas are totally off the wall. Which is the very least we should demand from our pop stars. A brilliant, brilliant record which everyone should own and reassess on an almost daily basis.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Will Smith fans take note... The Stranglers always were ahead of their time. In this case, almost 20 years ahead. In the late 70's The Stranglers were rough, ready and as far removed from polished productions and concept albums as a rock band could get. It was a bold and brave move then that they entered the 80s with "Meninblack". After the fantastic "Raven" album, Burnel and Cornwell went their seperate ways to persue solo projects, namely "Euroman Cometh" and "Nosferatu" respectively. This appears to have been a ingenious move on their part, for on their return to Stranglers duties the band's sound was totally transformed. The production on this album is as clean as anything you'll hear, the group's inventiveness and musical ability is so far removed from "Raven" it almost sounds like a different group. But production value and virtuosity aside, what makes an album truly great is simple : the songs. "Meninblack" doesn't disappoint. "Waltzinblack" is sublime, "Just like nothing on earth" and "Waiting for the meninblack" showcase Cornwell's unusual and hypnotic guitar skills and Burnel's magnificent bass lines, while "Two sunspots" is a perfect melodic 3 minute "pop" song. "Thrown away" is quite simply one of the band's finest melodies. As for anyone put off by the very mention of "concept" albums, I'd ignore that tag. If there is a thread within these songs, it's almost impossible to follow. Just put on your headphones and enjoy the experience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
10 years later
As we now know since this album was created the Stranglers,along with Sparks and Klaatu are actually aliens themselves. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Richard
Or when the Stranglers lost the hooks and the plot.........,
The pub rockers hit the hit parade pay dirt in the summer of punk due thanks to the tough, catchy, slice-of-life numbers. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Matt Gillett
The Real Meninblack
Ignore the dreaded 'concept album' tag, this is one that actually makes sense. Basically it floats the theory that Mankind was put on Earth by aliens as an experiment and they have... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2009 by S. Muzyka
Just Like Nothing On Earth
When this album first came out it annoyed a quite a few Stranglers fans and probably still does. Everyone (including myself) expected a bunch of aggressive pop songs. Read more
Published on 9 July 2008 by Vitamino
The Stranglers get stranded on this musically dull album
This would just be another in the legion of failed rock concept (wannabe classic) albums. This was probably not the product they had envisaged it being, when drunk or stoned one... Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2007 by Lou Knee
class A's - phillosophy - and (some )music - the death of the heros
the stranglers with 4 comercially successful albums behind them , a decent fan base and money in the bank had it made . so what did they do ? they totally blew it . Read more
Published on 5 July 2007 by M. Baker
HI-FI SCI-FI
This is a weird album. I could grab a thesaurus and maybe find an alternative but...no, weird's definitely the word.

That isn't to say it's unlikeable, far from it. Read more
Published on 22 May 2007 by Kelvin J. Dickinson
The best of the best
Quiet simply my favourite Stranglers album of the lot. But it is different, very different, but all in all magnificent. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2004 by andy furkins
Innovative, thought provoking and way ahead of its time.
The Stranglers 'The Gospel According To The Meninblack' explored the mysterious world of UFOs a long time before the 90s vogue for it came along with The X Files and the Will Smith... Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2001
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