Flesh for Lulu

This 2003 reissue of Flesh for Lulu's most popular -- at least in the United States -- and certainly most commercial album is a class job with remastered sound and four bonus tracks tacked onto the original disc's 11. Singer/songwriter Nick Marsh writes a few apologetic paragraphs about the band's direction at the time, which he feels alienated a lot of its hardcore alternative fans. No doubt about that. The schlocky drum sound alone dates the disc, while the guitars are shorn of all the jagged edges the band exhibited on its previous releases and the whole shebang is buffed to a radio-ready sheen. Regardless, there are good songs here aside from the "I Go Crazy" monster hit. In fact, some tracks, like "Sooner or Later," sound like Echo & the Bunnymen-lite as Marsh assumes an Ian McCulloch-styled croon. Ultimately, the similar tempos and heavy-handed production by Mike Hedges leave most of this feeling homogenous. It also aligns the group with the far less interesting Modern English, especially on the "I Melt With You"-sounding "Crash" and "Sleeping Dogs," songs that might have been hits if they weren't hamstrung by drums that boom and thud louder than the guitars or vocals. As for the bonus tracks, Ray Davies' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" begins promisingly but gets pummeled as it winds along. A live "Dumbest Thing" regains some of the band's bite, but it isn't a very good song. An extended dance mix of the album's first single "Postcards From Paradise" suffers from the production tricks of the day, as does an overlong seven-minute version of "Siamese Twist," complete with horns and female backing vocals that only the faithful will be able to tolerate all the way through. In other words, they are for die-hard collectors only. ~ Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide