Lloyd Cole & The Negatives - The Negatives

This moody yet self-deprecating singer/songwriter's album will be nothing new to fans that have followed the long arc of Lloyd Cole's career. One listen to "What's Wrong with This Picture" -- which offers the sentiment "'Smile,' she said, 'If you want I'll look the other way/Til you regain your melancholy disposition or until you get over yourself'" over a bright guitar figure -- places longtime fans on familiar ground. Cole's uncanny melodic ear is also still in place. What is new, however, is his return to fronting a full-time band after spending his post-Commotions years (they split in 1988) as a fairly singular figure. The Negatives includes such talent as Jill Sobule ("I Kissed a Girl") and one-time Dambuilder Dave Derby, and the merry-band-of-thieves ethic seems to lend some levity to the proceedings. "Tried to Rock" casts a wry eye on Cole's early solo days (circa his 1990 self-titled solo debut), when the onetime arch '80s intellectual/singer (a la Morrissey) moved to New York, grew his hair, and embraced general debauchery. "I did not fail to see what it takes to rock/Is that which I have not," sings Cole in highly un-rock, grammatical fashion over a ponderous rock-ballad beat. The album opener, "Past Imperfect," also serves up some retrospection, offering lyrical references to Cole's "Brand New Friend" and "Lost Weekend" (as well as Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel" with "Why was my head in the unmade bed?"). Cole, at age 40, seems comfortable with himself and his career -- quirks, blemishes, and all -- and one would be hard pressed to find any of his U.K. '80s contemporaries making such a strong, winningly melodic album...if they're still making albums at all. ~ Erik Hage, All Music Guide

Name Credits Adam Peters Synthesizer Adam Schlesinger Pre-Production, Assistant Arranger, Arranger Alan Winstanley Producer Amanda Kramer Keyboards, Vocals Anne Dudley String Arrangements Bruce Calder Engineer Cenzo Townshend Mixing Engineer, Engineer, Mixing Chris Wilson Bass Clive Langer Producer Dave Derby Bass David Philander Derby Vocals, Group Member, Guitar (Bass) Duke Quartet Strings Emily Lazar Mastering George Rush Bass Jill Sobule Vocals, Group Member, Guitar, Soloist Lloyd Cole Synthesizer, Cover Design, Producer, Vocals, Sleeve Design, Guitar, Soloist, Group Member Mark Dellas Photography Michael Kotch Group Member, Guitar, Soloist Mick Glossop Mixing Negatives Performer Neil Clark Guitar (Steel), Guitar (Electric) Rafa Maciejak Drums, Group Member Robert Quine Soloist, Guitar (Electric) Stephen Street Mixing, Producer Steve Rosenthal Engineer William Wittman Producer, Engineer