Disco de The Stranglers: “Laid Black”

A couple of songs are good, coincidently those that sound the closer to the originals (Cruel Garden, Golden Brown, In The End). A few more are ok or bearable but don't add much to the legacy (Walk On By, Southern Mountains, Old Codger). The rest ranges from better-forgotten to really-embarrassing, be it for the amateurish recording (Always The Sun) or a painful massacre of the original interpretation (Strange Little Girl). If you already have every single album from the band, you know you are going to order this one sooner or later... so go ahead, rip what you like onto your iPod and pretend the rest never happened. 3 generous stars for the fans. 1 or 2 stars for everybody else.

If you're a fan of The Stranglers (and if you're not, shame on you) then this album of "unplugged" music by Ian Anderson's favorite band should be at the top of your must-haves.

The Stranglers have always been one of the most under-appreciated MELODIC masters in the so-called "Punk/New Wave" roster, a label which does not even begin to do them justice.

This album beautifully showcases the underlying instrumental, rhythmic and tonal strengths of The Stranglers, without sacrificing their dark, slightly off-kilter (in a good way) take on tonality.

Listen to the seductive rhythms and harmonies of "Southern Mountains" or the gothic/baroque arrangements (masterfully played) of "Golden Brown" and "Strange Little Girl" and you'd almost swear you were listening to one of the best progressive-rock bands you'd never heard of, and yet there is no mistaking The Stranglers unique style.

One of my favorite albums of all-time.

Laid Black is a studio recording, not considered as one of their 16 studio recordings. It's the only one other than Norfolk Coast that features Baz Warne AND Paul Roberts. The vocal harmonies on this are probably the best you'll find on any Stranglers album. The re-makes of Walk on by, Cruel Garden, S. Mountains, Princess of the streets are much better than the originals. Listen to Baz on guitar on European Female. Wow! There really was no need to re-do Golden Brown or Always the Sun, but in the book " No Mercy", they complained that John Ellis couldn't play the solo on Golden Brown right. Maybe that was an "in your face" thing. If you toss out Mony Mony,which doesn't fit, I might have given it 5 stars.