Search - The Stranglers :: Black and White

Dark, threatening, controversial...not punk

M. Franco | Italy | 05/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Black & White is the masterpiece of The Stranglers, a band which showcased a very aggressive sound (especially the bass of J.J.Burnel) with Doorsian influences (the keyboards), dark themes and very politically un-correct opinions in their lyrics.



They were contemporaries of the british punk movement of the second half of the 70's, but they were never a part of that scene and were always distinguishable for their use of keyboards and independent thought. I don't think they ever pressed the anti-establishment issue that was so prevalent in the punk scene, although they never refrained from taking an independent stand on controversial topics.



Therefore, I disagree with the label "punk" so often attached to them, included the previous users' reviews on this site. If you want to use a tag, then I think "darkwave" fits best.



The music in this album blends "dark" themes with psychedelia, poppish hooks ("Tank", "Sweden - All quiet on the eastern front") and even up-tempo waltz ("Outside Tokyo"). The drums - as the costume of the time imposed - were played in a quite rigid, cold style; the bass is an ever-threatening presence and along with the keyboards give the Stranglers music its distinctive sound.



After almost 30 years this is still great album to listen to; my impression is that fans of dark metal would also appreciate it."

Intellectual, eccentric, rough-edged, and in its own class

Art monger | Princeton, NJ United States | 01/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Only the Stranglers could have devised an album so odd yet so powerful, a concept album about war, violence, seafaring, and the mechanization of industry set to visceral and angular bass lines, choppy rhythms, and twiddling, melodic synthesizer runs. You might call this album "post punk," but in 25 years of listening to rock, pop, and jazz, I have yet to find anything to compare it to. And for all that, this album will still have you singing along to its catch phrases. A very stark and brilliant album."

Death Band Night Band Blood

P. T. Ostiguy | MA | 06/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Holy roller, where'd this mutant of an album emerge from? What vast aquatic expanse did this near necessarily classic album expunge iself'? Luckily...the end product isn't at the seeming excrement left by Burnel (that dappy lad gone fetal on the left) but is instead and most sincerely there most confident and aggressive albums of that Stranglers era. Fast and utterly violent, "Black and White" strikes like a quick jab to the knob and ultimately settles like a bruise you so sickeningly enjoy showing others. Be proud, all those that heard it at its birth and the newer gobs claiming it as the holy grail of 80's post-punk revelry. "Toiler on the Sea" should be commissioned and given a rank, while "Death and Night" is a slopper of a track, boiling on obsessive with a crash like opening that still gives me jollies. Seek out, indeed! (the George Melly track is also a grin maker)"