Icicle Works (The) (View Discography)

Release Info

The Ian Broudie-produced Defeat Your Enemy brought out the band's varying influences in different ways, resulting in a varied record touching on everything from funk to folk. But as successful as earlier works? Yes and no. Unquestionably, the band's knack for big, uplifting but not hollow performances was still in fine flower, as the smash single "Understanding Jane" showed. A quick, fierce rocker with an instantly catchy pop vibe and a brilliant chorus, it's a '50s tearjerker filtered through the Ramones with fantastic results. Another winner is the opening cut, "Evangeline," with a lovely chorus consisting of overdubbed vocals from the band and guest singer Alison Limerick and a quick, Motown-touched rhythm supporting McNabb's powerful singing. Then there's "Up Here in the North of England," a slow, string-touched waltz winningly sung while bitterly ripping into the political state of the nation line for line. McNabb's vocals throughout the album are deeper than before, but still with the same general sense of control and projection; if anything, he was doing a better David Bowie croon than Bowie himself could do at the time. However, elsewhere the elements are in place but the performance isn't quite there. Part of this can be laid at Broudie's feet as well as the various mixers on the record, who bring things to a too commercially ready punch and sheen. Consider the arena-level pound of Sharrock's drums on "Hope Springs Eternal," where earlier his performances wouldn't need such overamping to make their impact. It's not just a technical question, though; McNabb's guitar here aims for a classic rock style that the band doesn't really need. Other songs like "When You Were Mine" bury a good song and performance with technically accomplished but cold results. In the end, Defeat Your Enemy half defeats itself, but not without some blazingly brilliant results on the way. ~ Ned Raggett

Tracks

1. Hope Springs Eternal
2. Travelling Chest
3. Sweet Thursday
4. Up Here in the North of England
5. Who Do You Want For Your Love?
6. When You Were Mine
7. Evangeline
8. Truck Driver's Lament
9. Understanding Jane
10. Walking With A Mountain

1. I Never Saw My Hometown 'Til I Went Around the World
2. Into The Mystic
3. Sweet Thursday (Single Mix)
4. Don't Let It Rain On My Parade
5. When You Were Mine (Single Version)
6. Evangeline (Demo Version)
7. Everybody Loves To Play The Fool
8. Waiting in the Wings
9. It Makes No Difference
10. Sea Song
11. Nature's Way
12. Waylaid
13. The Needle and the Damage Done
14. Sweet Thursday
15. Don't Let It Rain On My Parade (Acoustic)
16. Impossibly Three Lovers (Single Version)
17. John Geoffrey Muir, Shopkeeper

1. Hollow Horse (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
2. Perambulator (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
3. Who Do You Want For Your Love? (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
4. Understanding Jane (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
5. Love is a Wonderful Colour (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
6. Travelling Chest (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
7. Sweet Thursday (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
8. Into the Mystic (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
9. Hope Springs Eternal (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
10. When It All Comes Down (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
11. All the Daughters (of Her Father's House) (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
12. Birds Fly (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
13. A Factory in the Desert (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
14. In the Cauldron Of Love (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
15. Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)
16. Roadhouse Blues (Live at the Town And Country Club, 27 July 1986)