- Audio CD (16 April 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Limited Edition, Original recording remastered, Import
- Label: Virgin
- ASIN: B00005ATE3
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 351,168 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Jubilee Offer: Patriotic Classics for £2.50 |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Radios In Motion |
| 2. Cross Wires |
| 3. This Is Pop |
| 4. Do What You Do |
| 5. Statue Of Liberty |
| 6. All Along The Watchtower |
| 7. Into The Atom Age |
| 8. I'll Set Myself Of Fire |
| 9. I'm Bugged |
| 10. New Town Animal In A Furnished Cage |
| 11. Spinning Top |
| 12. Neon Shuffle |
| 13. Science Friction |
| 14. She's So Square |
| 15. Dance Band |
| 16. Hang On To The Night |
| 17. Heatwave |
| 18. Traffic Light Rock |
| 19. Instant Tunes |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Even if the throbbing "Radios In Motion" had its moments of teenage boredom-bashing new wave sloganeering ("All the kids are complaining that there's nowhere to go, all the kids are complaining that the songs are too slow"), White Music proves that XTC were always something more than bumpkin punks from greenest Wiltshire. For a start, Andy Partridge loved The Beatles--a sackable offence in those days--and as this 1978 debut album proves, XTC's spiky muse--spasmodic rhythms, Partridge's scuffed guitars, Colin Moulding's stuttering bass lines and Barry Andrew's spontaneous blurts of crocheting keyboards--was inalienably their own. Clearly more closely aligned to the likes of Wire, Devo and Talking Heads than to any of the big city bin liner and spittle brigade, White Music was adroitly experimental and as awkward as it was tetchy (as on "Crosswires", "I'm Bugged" and their spluttering dub version of Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower", which outshone the Clash's reggae efforts at this point) but was also plagued by crippling commercial misfortune. Probably Britain's unluckiest pop blighters ever, XTC's indecently stymied career path hit the first of many obstacles when the lyrics to the potentially classic pop single "Statue Of Liberty" ("In my fantasy I sail beneath your skirt") fell foul of the BBC's quasi-Victorian obscenity regulations and failed to chart through lack of airplay. --Kevin Maidment
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Having listened to the latest bunch of pretenders to the new wave crown, e.g., hot hot heat, yeah yeah yeahs etc, the old stuff still beats them hands down. and none more so than this, xtc's first album. at times both experimental (cross wires, im bugged) or perfect pop (statue of liberty, radios in motion), this also boasts the stunning all along the watchtower cover. those who like slightly adroit, inventive, energetic new wave will love this; in my opinion only elvis costello's this year's model comes close. buy it!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I can't believe it's been 20 years since the first time I bought this album as a UK import in the US. I thought this band was the bomb after buying their first US release Drums and Wires so I had to locate the earlier albums to complete the set. The tunes on this album didn't disappoint in 1980 and really nailed me down as a big XTC fan for life. I recently read that the original albums were being re-released on CD and I decided that I had to have the set to replace my worn and tired LPs. I'm glad I made the decision because this CD is as good or better than the LP of old. It's true to the album, including the cover art. A great piece of work that I will treasure for the next 20 years just as I have treasured the original LP.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Rating: 8/10
Best tracks: `Cross Wires', `Neon Shuffle', `Statue of Liberty', `Radios in Motion', `This is Pop?'
XTC's first album is a delightful, frenzied and hugely engaging slice of wired, weird, experimental pop, an cracking debut where nearly every song is crammed to the limit with ideas and energy and fun. The band (particularly frontman Andy Partridge)'s statement of intent is clear from the first song -out with the old, in with the new, it's time to deliver music to `get you out of your red, white and blues', a dig at US AOR maybe? The music is punky, spunky, thrilling and -weird for a band who would later deliver albums of pure lushness and mature beauty - head-bangingly adolescent. It's raucous, loud and great! This album is a far cry from the lush, bucolic and lovely sound of later XTC, it's barely the same band!
Highpoints in abundance around - be it the frenetic, choppy closer `Neon Shuffle', which builds up to a glorious ending, or the VERY different and inspired cover of `All Along the Watchtower' that's like a whole new song altogether. There's also the spluttering, tensed likes of `Spinning Top' and the amazing `Cross Wires' are out of this world! The latter is my favourite thing here - Colin Moulding's wildly bonkers vocal can barely contain itself, while Terry Chambers pounding drums and Barry Andrews insane keyboard playing drive everything deliriously over the edge. Would-be hits `This is Pop?' and `Statue of Liberty' are loaded of great hooks and awesome choruses - the former flopped despite being re-recorded in a more radio-friendly version (not included here), while the latter got a BBC radio ban thanks to the playful line `in my dreams I sail beneath your skirt'!
XTC's `crazy' phase would extend to one more album, the underrated Go 2, so if you love their sound on this album, make the most of it because they wouldn't stay like this for much longer! Bonus tracks include various B-sides (including one, `Instant Tunes', which was the B-side to `Are You Receiving Me?', which bizarrely is a bonus track on Go 2!) and the whole of the band's pre-White Music 3D-EP, which boasts the charmingly goofy `Science Friction'.
Best tracks: `Cross Wires', `Neon Shuffle', `Statue of Liberty', `Radios in Motion', `This is Pop?'
XTC's first album is a delightful, frenzied and hugely engaging slice of wired, weird, experimental pop, an cracking debut where nearly every song is crammed to the limit with ideas and energy and fun. The band (particularly frontman Andy Partridge)'s statement of intent is clear from the first song -out with the old, in with the new, it's time to deliver music to `get you out of your red, white and blues', a dig at US AOR maybe? The music is punky, spunky, thrilling and -weird for a band who would later deliver albums of pure lushness and mature beauty - head-bangingly adolescent. It's raucous, loud and great! This album is a far cry from the lush, bucolic and lovely sound of later XTC, it's barely the same band!
Highpoints in abundance around - be it the frenetic, choppy closer `Neon Shuffle', which builds up to a glorious ending, or the VERY different and inspired cover of `All Along the Watchtower' that's like a whole new song altogether. There's also the spluttering, tensed likes of `Spinning Top' and the amazing `Cross Wires' are out of this world! The latter is my favourite thing here - Colin Moulding's wildly bonkers vocal can barely contain itself, while Terry Chambers pounding drums and Barry Andrews insane keyboard playing drive everything deliriously over the edge. Would-be hits `This is Pop?' and `Statue of Liberty' are loaded of great hooks and awesome choruses - the former flopped despite being re-recorded in a more radio-friendly version (not included here), while the latter got a BBC radio ban thanks to the playful line `in my dreams I sail beneath your skirt'!
XTC's `crazy' phase would extend to one more album, the underrated Go 2, so if you love their sound on this album, make the most of it because they wouldn't stay like this for much longer! Bonus tracks include various B-sides (including one, `Instant Tunes', which was the B-side to `Are You Receiving Me?', which bizarrely is a bonus track on Go 2!) and the whole of the band's pre-White Music 3D-EP, which boasts the charmingly goofy `Science Friction'.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Groundbreaking but erratic
'White Music' is one of the New Wave's fundamental 'class of 1977' albums and immediately established XTC as one of the era's 'bands most likely to'. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2005 by D. J. H. Thorn
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