Search - The Lucy Show :: Mania

Out of print for nearly 20 years, MANIA is the breathtaking second album from the London quartet THE LUCY SHOW. This WORDS ON MUSIC reissue remasters all 10 album-tracks, plus adds 7 bonus songs (5 of which have never been commercially released), the video to the MTV hit “A Million Things,” and liner notes by Big Takeover editor, Jack Rabid. MANIA rose to the very top of the college radio charts in 1986 by injecting poignant melodies onto a textured soundscape, ricocheting with shimmering guitars from the production of the legendary JOHN LECKIE (New Order, Stone Roses, Radiohead, Trashcan Sinatras, Felt). MANIA begins with the swirling "The Land and the Life" – a captivating, hypnotic piece that layers sugar-sweet BEACH BOYS harmonies on top of reverb-drenched guitars. On "Sojourn's End" singer and bassist Rob Vandeven recalls JOHN LENNON's work on THE BEATLES’ Rubber Soul. Like an up-tempo "Nowhere Man," Leckie's timeless, exquisite production is on full display, carefully melting Vandeven's breezy voice with the song's warm instrumental arrangements. "Sad September" is an elegant song offering a bittersweet palette of brushed drums, sweeping keys, and plaintive acoustic picking in which every wistful syllable signals the longing for love lost. "A Million Things" scored THE LUCY SHOW a major college radio hit in the States, and its video received significant MTV airplay. "Melody" demonstrates in clear fashion how THE LUCY SHOW was as relevant and trend-setting as any member of England's movement of artists in the mid-1980s that eschewed the slick, glossy techno of the times in favor of music that coated 1960s melodies with modern usages of reverb and feedback (a movement that spawned not only JAMC, but also My Bloody Valentine, The Primitives, and the C86 scene). "Part of Me Now" features the warmth and charming vulnerability of guitarist and singer Mark Bandola's voice, building a direct connection with the audience with an intimate, up-front delivery (e.g. PETER GABRIEL). "New Message," MANIA’s second single, closes the album on an incredible high, enhanced by the appearance of England's premier trumpeter, Roddy Lorimer (Spiritualized, Blur). One of the classic post-punk albums, Mania stands tall with the best recordings of the era by THE CURE, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN, JESUS & MARY CHAIN, and NEW ORDER.