The Icicle Works LP | Cassette | CD LINE-UP Voice, Guitar - Ian McNabb Bass Guitar, Voice, Noises [Robots] - Chris Layhe Drums, Percussion - Chris Sharrock Keyboards, Vocals [Sang The High Bits] - Dave Green Harmonica [Gob Iron] - A. V. Barwood RELATED RELEASES | UK CHART OVERVIEW
REVIEW As early as The Icicle Works' second album, it became obvious that singer/songwriter Ian McNabb had little interest in further pursuing his career as a new wave tunesmith in the manner of his only U.K. hit, "Love Is a Wonderful Colour." Still, stylistic nods to Neil Young, Van Morrison, and Motown on post-1984 recordings could have hardly prepared the causal Icicle Works fan for the all-over-the-map musical journey that represented the original lineup's fourth and final album, Blind. There's not even a hint of new wave on this record; beginning with a full-on Led Zeppelin-style rave up ("Shit Creek"), Blind then proceeds to careen wildly through several anthemic Waterboys-inspired folk-rockers ("Here Comes Trouble," "Starry Blue Eyed Wonder"), a Caribbean-style pop tune ("What Do You Want Me to Do"), a Prince-meets-INXS lite-funk workout ("The Kiss Off"), a raunchy blues-metal parody that even Zodiac Mindwarp might have found too over the top ("Two Two Three"), and even a short doo wop-flavored number ("One True Love"), among other stylistic detours. While the attempt to branch out is laudable, it must be noted that not everything here works, and as a consequence, the album doesn't really hang together. But Blind does contain some of The Icicle Works' best individual tracks, including the singles "High Time" and "Little Girl Lost," and is, if nothing else, seldom dull. As a bonus, fans of drummer Sharrock will find Blind to be the best showcase for his considerable talents since The Icicle Works' first album; it's hard to think of another drummer who could mimic all the musical styles represented on this album with both the sensitivity and creativity shown here. This album, then, is not the place for the neophyte Icicle Works or Ian McNabb fan to start, but for committed fans who want to hear the extent of the original Icicle Works' range -- warts and all -- Blind is definitely worth a look-see. |
IMAGES [UK LP] Beggars Banquet IWA 2 
[UK CD] Beggars Banquet IWA 2 CD
| DETAILS [UK LP] Beggars Banquet IWA 2 Tracks
NOTES Engineer - Mark Phythian
Mixed By - Mark Wallis Producer - Geoff Muir (tracks: 11) , Ian McNabb Recorded By - Ben Kape Technician [Tape Op's] - Ashley Alexander , Lorraine Francis This LP was recorded at Townhouse 3, Thessaly Road, Battersea, from 14th-17th, 20th-25th July 1987. Mixed at Eel Pie, Raneleigh Drive, Twickenham, from 12th-15th, 17th-24th August 1987. "Kiss off" recorded at Amazon, Liverpool, 4th-5th January 1988. [Japan LP] Beggars Banquet AY25-18 Japanese promo vinyl LP, picture sleeve, title insert & obi strip [UK CD] Beggars Banquet IWA 2 CD
[UK CD RE] Beggars Banquet BBL 93 CD [UK CD RE] Beggars Banquet BBP 93 CD Tracks
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US RELEASE
[US CD] RCA/Beggars Banquet 8424-2-H 
[US Cassette] RCA/Beggars Banquet 8424-4-H 
| [US LP] RCA/Beggars Banquet 8424-1-H The US tracks are significantly different from the UK version, giving the album quite a different sound. Tracks
NOTES Produced by Ian McNabb [Boots] and mixed by Mark Wallis except where noted. "Shit Creek" is missing second part of the song on the US release. In addition, the U.S. CD version of "High Time", is about ten seconds shorter than the U.K. version due to an early fade-out. |
ian mcnabb comments on the blind album
I'm glad some of you like Blind -- I was very pleased with it when it was finished, but by then I'd completely "taken over" and it was less off a collabarative effort than ever.
I was living in London at the time and just ordered everyone down to the Townhouse 3 in Battersea (near where I lived) when I'd written enough songs. To mix, we went to Eel Pie in Twickenham 'cos I could drive there in 20 minutes!
The Who connection was quite important! (Quadraphenia was recorded at Townhouse 3 in Thessaly Rd. when it was called the Kitchen).
We did it dead quick, which gives it its vibe, and there are some really good songs on there. "High Time" and "Little Girl Lost" (which Fine Young Cannibals ripped off later--can't remember the name of the song but they took the chord progression and organ wholesale) got played on the radio a bit,"Starry..." was a big live number, as was "Blind" itself.
"St Peter" is cool too.
"Kiss Off" was done much later on and was stuffed into the final running order. I was happy to do that as it made the LP even more wildly ecletic, thus making it even harder for people to know what to do with us!
The Yanks accidentally cut off the re-intro of "Shit Creek" when they pressed up their (usual) bastardized version of the album (yuk). I met with Iggy pop's ex-manager around this time in NYC and he was very disappointed I wasn't the guy on the cover of the US Blind sleeve I can tell ya... :-)
Anyway it was pretty much all over after that. They weren't great days, truth be told. We'd realised we weren't ever going to be top 40 again (although the album scraped in at that very number for a week) and there was dissent in the ranks. It happens!
The Icicle Works - WORDS AND MUSIC [US Promotional Cassette]
 | [US Promotional Cassette] BMG / RCA / Beggars Banquet THE ICICLE WORKS - WORDS AND MUSIC Side B | Selections from "Blind" - The new Icicle Works LP Kiss Off 
"Hello, this is Ian McNabb from the Icicle Works. I'd like to say hello to all the people at RCA/BMG. A few people have a few questions to ask about our new album Blind, and I'm going to answer them. Ahem. [In sort of maniacial voice] Hahah. Kiss off! I think that in America people have always had a little bit of difficulty understanding what it is exactly we do. Because the first LP we had out over there was like whispy and sort of psychedelic. And then the second LP that came out over there was actually our third British LP, by which time we'd changed style quite dramatically. And the main song off that one, where America was concerned, was called "Understanding Jane." But the rest of the album didn't really have a great deal to do with that type of sound. On this album, it's been changed slightly for the American market. A couple have gone missing, and a couple have been substituted, and the overall effect does seem to be one pretty straightforward rock-and-roll, R&B type group. So if people want to put that tag on it, that's fine. I think it will probably help us get a little further in America if people can put one tag on us. Before Echo and the Bunnymen, which was like the first kind of Liverpool band that I ever noticed, I didn't think it was possible to get a record deal if you came from Liverpool. And then when all that stuff sprung up in the early 80s we realized that we could get a deal. Before that every band that came out of Liverpool from about 1971 to 1979 had either been classed as Beatles soundalikes or just... jokes, you know. But we had to kill of the Beatles thing because down in London it was just like if you're from Liverpool then you were like a Beatles soundalike. I think there was like a baptism by fire with the punk explosion of 1976-77. And then everybody from Liverpool somehow started to sound like mid-sixties American rock bands, notably bands like the Velvet Underground and the Doors, so that sort of ended the Beatles thing, and we had to pretend sometimes that we didn't come from Liverpool. "Starry Blue Eyed Wonder"I dunno, I kind of really wanted to do an album that was sort of minimalistic with no reverb on it, not a great deal of production, because we always make records with a big sort of reverby sound. And I just thought we'd take a chance and leave the reverb off. Thus people, because Prince does that, people have sort of compared that...also because its called "Kiss Off" and he had one called "Kiss." So, I dunno, I don't think it sounds like Prince. I think that the backing track may sound a bit like him, but then again a lot people do, don't they? "Kiss Off" "Stood Before St. Peter" |
