Friday, January 13, 2012

Giants track by track


Giants is nearly upon us and I thought I'd give you a few details about each of the album's tracks:

ANOTHER CAMDEN AFTERNOON This was originally inspired by an article JJ read about a mugging that took place in Camden where the assailants actually ran down a woman in their car to get her bag…we wrote the music then eventually shed the lyrics apart from some backing vocals…there’s a lot of guitar in this…very greasy…very British…

FREEDOM IS INSANE You should never throw anything away…this was an idea JJ had that was left over from the Suite XVI writing sessions. We rented a house in Cornwall for two months and wrote 30 songs…I came down one morning and he’d been up for hours staring at the sea and writing this…I think it’s one of his best vocal performances ever…

GIANTS A song about captains of industry and how the world we live in today was shaped…and it’s pitfalls…”I’m glad my fathers’ not here to see what happened to men like him”…great line that says it all…and a nice guitar riff too…

LOWLANDS This was inspired by the first acoustic tour we did with Neil Sparkes in Holland and Belgium in 2007, and one mad night in particular when we were driving back from a gig to the hotel we were using as a base. We had plenty of brandy and primo Dutch weed and started to record ourselves accapella making up a song. Dave was in the front singing the keyboard parts, I was singing bass parts, JJ was singing the melody and Sparkes was keeping time on a champagne bottle with a broken drumstick…our tour manager Gary Knighton was laughing so much he could hardly drive and was getting secondarily stoned…you had to be there really…very funny…

BOOM BOOM A different feel from anything the band has done before…a sort of Stonesy rhythm with a jangle and a bit of swagger… about a girl…well there had to be one didn’t there?

MY FICKLE RESOLVE Some lovely laid back brush work from Jet here and Dave doing his trippy Euro Female style thing…JJ played acoustic bass on this and as with most of the album we tried to keep it as stripped back as possible…I like the lyrics on this one too, and Daves’ solo at the end is sublime…

TIME WAS ONCE ON MY SIDE JJ sang the lyrics down the phone to me when he first wrote them and I knew we’d have to make a song out of them…great words and Neil Sparkes providing some tremendous conga work, especially at the end…one of those songs that just barrels along and feels great you know?

MERCURY RISING This song reminds me the most of mid 80’s period Stranglers with a bit of production and a lovely swirling keyboard riff…JJ provides a ‘motif’ bass line which keeps the whole thing together and I do my best Beefheart impression on the vocals and slide guitar…don’t know how to describe this one…wacky? One of my favourites so far…

ADIOS (TANGO) This a heavy metal tango sung in Spanish…no really…I love this…

15 STEPS We’ve spent, off and on, nearly three years down in Bath preparing, sifting, rejecting and writing these and many other songs…there are loads that didn’t make it, and at times it was gruelling and very difficult…On these occasions when I went upstairs to bed I found myself counting the number of steps to the landing…and there were 15…15 steps to heaven and the salvation of my room…This song is purely about the wonderful old house we lived in writing this album…and some of the things that occurred there…

I hope you like it, I'm sure you will...

BAZ/ 13th January 2012

38 comments:

  1. Nice one, am itching for both the liverpool gig and Album all on the same day now =)

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  2. sounds amazing...looking forward to the album and getting to see you live in glasgow for the 61st time!! All the best to you all....see you soon,Mark-in-Black

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  3. Thank you, whets the apetite for listening to it

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  4. It's fanatastic that even after all the years the bands creative enthusiasm is as strong as ever. Yet another new Stranglers album to look forward to, and it sounds like it's going to be a cracker. Thanks Baz :O)

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  5. 32 years since I first waited with anticipation and excitment for the release of a Stranglers album in a way that no other band can match....nothing much changed!

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  6. Thanks Baz!!! (Maybe you guys can get to us fans in America?)

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  7. Thanks Baz, Can't wait for this and the tour(s).

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  8. Nice one Baz , we are looking forward to a great year in Black.

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  9. Fuck me. I can't wait!

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  10. Sounds awesome, thanks for the "preview" Baz! I can't wait for the Box with the pre-release album in my mailbox!!! Cheers!!!

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  11. Fascinating stuff! Ta for sharing with us, just another great example of the band 'looking after' we fans*. Can't bloody wait for the album!

    *Does that comment get me a discount on the album then? :-)

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  12. got mine on order already and the leeds gig in march see you there

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  13. Bring it on boys see ya at the Roundhouse in March me and Fran waiting for our boxed set x

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  14. Thanks for the info it sounds amazing....Looking forward to it : ) x

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  15. cant wait cant fuckin wait jsw

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  16. would love to watch a vid of that trip through the Lowlands

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  17. cant wait for the glasgow gig looking forward to the new cd cheers

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  18. I look forward to getting hold of this little cracker. See you in Leeds.(BH)

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  19. cant wait. see you in manchester for my 44th gig

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  20. I wonder if Adios is the song called Goodbye that JJ was mentioning in an interview a couple of years ago which he described as "his best"... can't wait to see you in Milan!!!

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  21. yea , great to read all this. It reminds me of all the antipation we had in the early 80's(thats when i came in) waiting for the latest stranglers album. Cant wait .
    Alex

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  22. Sounds Great.Thank god for the Stranglers.Shall be at the Roundhouse and Lille for my 90 something gig(Yawn)not.

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  23. Caanot wait .....but no Retro Rockets ??

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    Replies
    1. Yeah totally agree with you. Retro is a great track that looks like disappearing into obscurity

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    2. Retro is already on Decades Apart

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  24. Just hope it's not another About Time! Just a little tease there I have faith in this stranglers lineup btw.

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  25. Canny wait for the glasgow gig[33rd] ,me an the missus takin two sons to see legends

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  26. I think I echo the general feeling about the new album.The last time I felt this excited about a Stranglers release was probably back in the Hugh days-maybe La Folie.Love the original line up but Baz injected am adrenalin rush in the band when he joined.The Stranglers are the best in my opinion and always will be.Roll on the Album release and the tour.

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  27. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!!! I have one of my basses autographed by J.J. himself, so you really can understand how much I can't wait! ;-)

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  28. nottingham awaits the great stranglers,it was 31years ago i first saw you there! in my opinion you get better and better. we all salute you!

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  29. Looking forward to this - however it is the worst cover ever. And there have been some bad ones.

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  30. thanks baz cant wait not missed a glasgow gig since '79.glasgow awaits once again !!!!!!!!!!!

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  31. Well to reply to my own post Jan this is no About Time! Hurraaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

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  32. Giants is a grower. Wasn't keen at first but now I love it. Shame about the artwork, but then i guess it's like a pair of nasty Brutus Gold Jeans on a fine woman, there's always something pleasant hiding beneath.

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  33. I like the LOWLANDS song very much. fine music.

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  34. Must, MUST, MUST, play, Toronto
    Canadians are freezing in the dark waiting for The Stranglers to cum.


    ET.

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  35. get well soon jet !!!!!

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