Today we're looking at an album, and a band that are quite difficult to stick in a box...they're a very British band but definitely not Britpop, their records came out at the same time as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and all those Seattle bands but they're certainly not grunge... they've toured with Def Leppard, played Festivals alongside Metallica and Marilyn Manson and headlined some of the countrys finest venues over the last 30 odd years proving that sometimes, all you need is some massive riffs, some big hooky choruses and a bunch of lads from Bradford bouncing around like Zebedee,
I am of course talking about the mighty Terrorvision and their breakthrough record How to Make Friends and Influence People
Terrorvision released their second album, How to Make Friends and Influence People in April 1994. Produced by Gil Norton, the producer behind one of my favourite records, Doolittle by Pixies, it spawned 5 singles over the next 12 months, Oblivion, which we've just heard, Middleman, Pretend Best Friend, Alice Whats the Matter, and Some People Say, none of which broke into the UK's Top 20 singles charts, the record peaked at number 18 in the UK Albums charts.
They were named British Newcomer at the 1994 Kerrang awards and the following year were named as the Best British Band
That year they played Donington and Reading and toured Europe with Therapy? (another of my favourites that I find difficult to pigeonhole and also had their own massive record in 1994, Troublegum) and with this non-stop touring they soon cemented a position as an incendiary live act and festival favourite
I came to this record a bit late, I think it was in march 1995 when they appeared on Radio 1s Bruce Dickinson Rock Show where they played a few tracks, i think its on youtube, I'll drop a link in the show notes if i can find it again, including a jazzy lounge singer version of Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter, anyway Leon had taped it of the radio the night before and we listened to it a few times on the school bus but as soon as I could I went to town and got it from Our Price.
Obviously I knew the singles and the tracks played on the radio and in fairness, the singles are probably the best tracks on the album but one track I fell in love instantly was Discotheque Wreck with that massive hook and the verse that chugs like a Metallica song
I love that track, I love this whole record. It's definitely frontloaded and maybe theres a couple of songs that you could lose and tighten the whole thing up, maybe Stop The Bus, maybe Stab in the Back but its definitely one of my favourite albums but it also brings back so many cool memories...listening to them on school bus with my best mate, getting excited for their next record, Regular Urban Survivors and getting that the day it came out, going to see them for my first ever gig down in Newport, watching them a couple of times at Reading Festival and maybe my favourite set they played at The Big Day Out in Milton Keynes in the summer of 1999, so because of technical issues their set was shortened and there had apparently been some issues with Queens of the Stone Age being arseholes so they only played about 7 songs but absolutely took the roof of the open air venue. Considering they were playing alongside giants like Ministry, Marilyn Manson, Sepultura, Metallica and Ben Harper? They were the highlight of the day for me.
Just to do some proper "review" type stuff quickly for a 30 year old album lets run the categories shall we...
So Skippable moments....I mentioned earlier that its pretty frontloaded and could be tightened up a bit but Stab In The Back and Stop The Bus could probably be dropped and there's also a 10 minute gap on the CD before the hidden track, Remember those kids and as I recall its some weird thing about them having some encounters in New York or something but as hidden tracks go it's pretty poor and not worth wait
Wish I'd Written That....So I'm a pretty shitty guitar player, like I know my chords but on my best days I'd be that annoying bloke who takes an acoustic guitar to the beach to seem interesting (it never worked!).. anyway this album has got a few of my favourite guitar riffs ever, the chuggyness and chorus on Discotheque Wreck is the standout alongside Pretend Best Friend but also, and i suppose its a songwriting thing, just the infectious nature of the record... thats really impressive
How Many Would Go On A Greatest Hits....so on 2001s Whales and Dolphins The Best of Terrorvision, theres 6 tracks, a third of the compilation, from How to Make Friends and I think thats about right, so there's Alice Whats the Matter, Oblivion, Middleman, Discotheque Wreck, Pretend Best Friend and Some People Say which is probably the one I'd drop but it was the last single released from the album...but yeah 5 or 6 is a pretty good showing and also as a side note, that might be up there with The Wildhearts for the best greatest hits album for a summers day in the park.
Actual Reviews
So Rate Your Music dot com give the album 3.37 out of 5 and I particularly enjoyed this review, left in 2005 by Wilko (not that one)
This gets lumped in with the rock/metal/alternative lot because magazines like Kerrang and Raw picked up on the band with their previous release which was a bit more straight forward "rock". Although they had pop sensibilities, Terrorvision never had the right hair cuts or faux-intellectual posturing for the "serious" British music press. If they had been dressed up in Tonic suits with wannabe-Kinks haircuts the Melody Maker would have probably spunked away half an issue in rapturous praise...
How does it stand with its peers?
So other albums from British bands released in 1994, you've got Manic Street Preachers Holy Bible, Troublegum from Therapy and of course Blur release Park Life and Oasis drop Definitely Maybe so while it doesn't quite hit those heights its definitely a welcome addition to jukebox...I suppose another way of looking at this is where does it stand alongside Terrorvisions other records and I guess for me it joint top with it's follow up Regular Urban Survivors although there's a new record coming out this September which could be interesting
Whats the best song on the album?
While Alice Whats the Matter and Oblivion and Middleman get on the first half of the album the best song is probably Pretend Best Friend, its guaranteed to have me prancing around the kitchen like a mad thing and i reckon it still stands up today, to be honest you don't hear them out in the world that much, not even on the 90s radio station other than the Tequila remix which crops up so unlike other bands that are on all the time, even after 30 years its still a really cool track
On the blog I'm compiling my favourite albums, just quickly for those at the back FAVOURITE not the records that everyone says are the best but my genuine favourites that I just love for one reason or another...it started of as a top 20 but it escalated and now it sits at 108 or something so rather than a list or a countdown I'm making it a pyramid with my 5 current favourites at the top, then a group of 10 that have probably been in that top level at some point and then a couple more tiers with a big group of maybe 40 or 50 records that I genuinely love and could easily make a case for being higher if I had the energy, anyway head over to the website and have a look...most of them will get a little show like this at some point but How To Make Friends and Influence People sits firmly in the 3rd tier thats titled..."Great Albums I used to listen to loads but dropped out of the rotation and that should probably be amended"
It was probably my favourite album for a while and I equally adored its follow up Regular Urban Survivors, weirdly, none of my mates really got it at the time and would moan if I put them on at home but I could guarantee they'd be down the front with me at a festival if Terrorvision were playing, which I guess is the reputation the band held down for much of the 90s...put them on a bill with anyone and they'd give you a really good show.
Review: How To Make Friends and Influence People