1989 debut
LP from Brit group
The Beautiful South, released in the US in
1990. Almost a
180 from
Heaton and
Hemingway's gospel-esque days as
The Housemartins,
Welcome to... offers a nice foot in the door to the house of cynicism that the Beauties built. Beginning with the pop song satire "
Song for Whoever" and on through to the amusing "
I Love You (But You're Boring)", the album is naive and delicate (like the band's cover of
Pebbles'
Girlfriend), with hints toward a sinister underbelly (the anti-patriotism tones of
Have You Ever Been Away). There's also some interesting meditation and philosophical waxing in "
Love Is...".
The cover is flat green with two black and white photographs: one of a woman holding a large pistol to her mouth and another of a man lighting a cigarette. This apparently caused the album to be banned from Woolworths stores "to prevent the hoards of impressionable young fans from blowing their heads off in a gun-gobbling frenzy, or taking up smoking." (quote from the band's website, http://www.beautifulsouth.co.uk/)
I give this record a 3.5 out of 5. Not the best way to get into The Beautiful South due to its relative lo-fi qualities, but by no means a bad album.
track list:
- Song For Whoever
- Have You Ever Been Away?
- From Under The Covers
- I'll Sail This Ship Alone
- Girlfriend
- Straight In At 37
- You Keep It All In
- Woman In The Wall
- Oh Blackpool
- Love Is...
- I Love You (But You're Boring)
All songs written by
Paul Heaton and
David Rotheray except for
Girlfriend, written by
LA and
Babyface.
personnel:
top UK chart position: 2