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Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

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Black Sheep - I hardly dare say...
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necropolist
necropolist
1689 posts

Re: Black Sheep - I hardly dare say...
Aug 06, 2008, 10:44
Hmmm, I’m less convinced by this one than everyone else seems to be – tho it has grown on me with each listen.

First impressions were a great cover, tho where was the painting? Oh, this IS a painting. Fair play. Inside sleeve – blimey, those blokes all look cold wet, and rather more miserable than fierce.

Cd1 – first off methinks, oh dear, another YGAPWM. My least favourite Cope album for years. Mrs Necro (necropolass?) comes in half way through and I have to turn it down (well, it is her birthday after all….). Be warned – this is not an album to listen to with the volume down low, it just don’t work. Well, not for me anyway.

Twas the next day before I could play CD2, and this one perked me up rather by being, well, basically, better. Good strong tunes, ‘All Those motherfuckers…’ really rattles along crackingly, Rock ‘n’ Roll & Dhimmi hold up well and I Can Remember This Life is great. Not convinced by Black Sheep Song tho. CD1 sounds better this time when cranked up, Revolution & Its Too Late are classic Cope, These Things (the killer track off the album according to early leaks from those in the know (ie Holy McGrails last.fm most played tracks) is indeed a stunner, despite the odd dubious line. Psychedelic Odin, hmmm, not convinced yet, specially once it breaks into the Robert Calvert Gremlins type second half, and Blood Sacrifice frankly veers strongly towards the ‘crap’. Shipwreck of St Paul is growing on me, it has some great moments in it, lovely turns of tone, but not sure if it hangs together as a complete composition.

All in all, I think Moon Cat got it closest when he said its like a cross between YGAPWM & 20 Mothers (but with the production quality of Skellington). Neither of which are my fave Cope albums, but this one is probably stronger than either of them. It needs a better production, imo, to really make its strengths show through, and it wouldn’t miss a couple of tracks, but it is another very enjoyable addition to the collection, and one that any fan will find something to enjoy in.

But it does beg the question…..if it’s the mothers who are the ones that really know stuff, and who are up for working together, rather than against each other (as the lyrics of These Things I Know tell us), how come there is no one physically capable of being a mother allowed into the Law Council then?
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