Mansun ‎– Attack Of The Grey Lantern

Es hätte ein so schönes Konzeptalbum werden können, aber es sollte wohl nicht sein. Was ein Hidden-Track alles zerstören kann. Dieses Album kann man vom ersten bis zum letzten Stück in einem anhören. Und es ist gut. Man verzweifelt zwar an den ersten drei Songs, da man im Hintergrund TripHop hört, im Vordergrund aber schönen Alternative-Pop. Ich dachte nie, daß so etwas zusammenpasst, aber wie man hört, bei Mansun schon. Dann folgt bei "You, who do you hate?" ein Kirchenglocken-Intro bzw. Outro, was auch noch nicht so oft dagewesen ist. Und dann folgen nur noch zuckersüße Alternative-Pop-Perlen. Bei "Dark mavis" werden sogar noch Klavierfragmente benutzt. Nun, um auf den ersten Satz dieser Kritik zurückzukommen, bei diesem Album merkt man die Übergänge der einzelnen Songs kaum, was nicht stört. Was aber stört, ist der Hidden-Track. Er passt zwar auch auf dieses Album, hätte aber unbedingt als zwölftes Stück eingebaut werden müssen.

Mansun's debut album is not what you would expect from an English band operating during the Britpop era. Uncommonly accomplished and astonishing for an inexperienced band admittedly unskilled with their instruments, Mansun exploded onto the scene and offered something distinctive for those jaded by the glut of trad, grunge and indie rock abounding the airwaves during the 1990s. Despite adopting the forcefully delivered, almost sneering vocal stylings of the Manics and the histrionic grandiosity of Suede, Mansun lacks the socially charged lyricism and crossover appeal of either. "Attack Of The Grey Lantern" instead utilized phased guitars, piano stabs, synth effects, and drum machines, structuring them into unconventional, protracted compositions augmented by a pervading Mike Leigh small-town narrative. Incorporating incongruent flourishes of goth, glam and house, this well-executed and divergent album tempers the band's propensity for self-indulgence with innovative edginess from the perspective of a superhero, The Grey Lantern. This inventive extension was impressive to say the least, and enhances the album's mysterious qualities.

"Attack Of The Grey Lantern" is a loose concept album filled with weird characters and situations as ordinary as they are left-field, in turn exposing a gritty, twisted social sphere with a comedic edge. It is this pervading theme of idiosyncrasy that seems to form a concept of sorts, with the songs segued together as a means of connecting them thematically. Having said that, "Wide Open Space" is the only track on the album that can be successfully removed from this ambitious, vivid context. Epic, shimmering and utterly dramatic, "Wide Open Space" expertly balances said probing into a netherworld with cinematic, entirely urgent bombast. From the intricate musical backdrop saturated with propulsive keyboards and guitars, seductive harmonies, commanding atmospherics and hallucinatory flair, the song never falls into pomposity despite being one of the more confidently sophisticated singles of the '90s. It works both as a breath-taking standalone single as much as an integral component of the album's essence.

"Attack Of The Grey Lantern" should be experienced in its entirety in order to fully appreciate its expanse and the unfathomable indistinctness and overwrought conceptual feel of it all. This is a dark yet theatrical album that sounds immediately excessive and stylish with its orchestrations and imposing instrumental elaborations, but the grungy vibrancy and humorous parish tales are evident only on repeat listens, and this task can seem unendurable considering the lengthy nature of the album; the power of the album's thematic assimilations and allusions are only discernible. No song is straightforward - "Egg-Shaped Fred" and "Stripper Vicar" are parochial perversity at its finest, whilst "The Chad Who Loved Me", "Disgusting", "She Makes My Nose Bleed" and "Mansun's Only Love Song" subvert cheesy Bond themes and romantic, soulful pop, hence why the album requires keen insight and concentration, but the reward is something resembling satisfaction if you enjoy pretentious albums containing fluid sonic textures, moods and styles. And Mansun's darkly alluring filtering of punk and new wave through a fractured prog pop veil is definitely something to behold, especially if you lean more towards Radiohead than Blur in terms of musical preference. Since their late '90s peak, Mansun are less relevant than they once were in the grand scheme of Britpop, but for a reminder of how much potential they had as an ambitious musical unit, then look no further than this flow of visionary material. "Attack Of The Grey Lantern" puts a psychedelic spin on the Britpop formula and the result is an unexpected triumph of illusive off-centre alternative rock that should have wowed far more than college audiences.

This version sounds great! Dead quiet and nice full sound. Only complaint is that the sleeve is kind of flimsy and the pockets don't really close flat. They stay kind of bubbled up.

Can anyone comment on the DVD 24/48 Linear audio, is it a flat transfer? Thanks.

The 'hidden' track you find on the CD version is missing on the vinyl (it would fit, albeit without the lengthy silence before it). Otherwise, this is excellent, and I got mine signed by Paul Draper at Rough Trade. Wish I thought of something better to say to the man I idolised when I was 17.

A near perfect release. Glorious packaging and content, but the awful 5.1 mix is the worst I have EVER heard. PDub has made some bad mixes in the past but this takes the biscuit!

Overall, the differences between this and the original feel quite subtle through most of the record, which makes sense; this is a classic for a reason. But where they do come through, they really do feel like enhancements and not just tweaks for the sake of it.

What a wonderfully presented package at a fair price too, I wish all deluxe releases had this much care and attention. All credit to Kscope and everyone involved.