Bad Vibes

Really good tunes and performance

Similar to his older work, but different enough to keep me interested. Thankfully he doesn't win the 'It doesn't sound any different award.'

I was a big fan of 1984's Rattlesnakes when it came out. But until recently I really never looked beyond. Always meant to but got into other things. That changed recently when I was inspired to give his long career full investigation. His subsequent work with the Commotions is commendable but never lived up to Rattlesnakes. Having checked it all out, I find Bad Vibes to be his strongest and most consistent solo album. Don't Get Weird On Me and Love Story are strong contenders but both are equally hit and miss.Bad Vibes should have been Cole's commercial breakthrough in the US. His "Joshua Tree". Perversely, as slick as it is, its also Cole's darkest album. The first cut pleads, "come put me in the ground when morning is broken". Its a Beatlesque kick off to a moody, foul tempered record wrestling with some rather unpleasant emotions. Lust, jealously, bitterness and cynicism. All the symptoms of a broken heart.So You'd Like To Save The World should have been a hit. A great Pop song. Its protagonist mocking as much as lusting after a cute little global crusader. Funny, sarcastic and with a just a hint of admiration. Holier Than Thou brings it down to a whisper only to burn close. Love You So What is a rousing standout while the sparse groove of Wild Mushrooms proves that even at his most experimental, Cole never loses his wry sense of humor. My Way To You has a very Abbey Road vibe, with lines like"when I couldn't drink myself sober". It might be the album's most cheery track lyrically.Cole's known for deft, witty character studies and Too Much Of A Good Thing is a chilling portrait of a sleazy, shallow cad who will no doubt die a lonely dirty old man. Great dance tune, I might also add. Some think Can't Get Arrested is too long, clocking in at 8 minutes. It certainly is the album's centerpiece and its subject is, abject rancor. But it's an infectious melody that goes somewhere as opposed to round and round. Pleasure of Your Company and 4 M.B. end things on a haunting, brave note.Slick, ill tempered and painfully funny, Lloyd Cole has never cut another album like Bad Vibes. It's his Station to Station, his Tonight's The Night or Blood & Chocolate. Here he takes real risks and ambitions pay off. There is not one bad cut on this record. Despite opening up a virtual Pandora's Box of unflattering emotions, he manges to waltz with every one and come out ahead. A dark night of the soul, with a sly sense of humor. A Lloyd Cole masterpiece.

This seems to be a polarizing album for fans of Lloyd Cole. This is clearly his most cohesive set of songs since "Rattlesnakes". It's simply a question of whether or not you like the left turn he's taking here."Bad Vibes" is indeed all about mood. Things aren't going so well in Lloyd Cole's world. In a heart-breaking song near the end of the album, he sings softly "I'm a lonseome alcoholic", while trying to screw up the courage to ask someone "for the pleasure of your company". You get the feeling his potential new lover would be better off staying away from him, and that Lloyd knows it, too.Nevertheless, Cole is a top songwriter and in fine form here. This is Lloyd Cole's soundtrack to falling out of love with his significant other, his own life, and his fellow man. His wry observations and insightful, cutting lyrics are still here, along with that pop sheen all his albums seem to have. This still sounds like a Lloyd Cole CD, just a little darker and more self-lacerating."So you'd like to save the world?" he asks. "I suggest you take one person at a time and start with me". Get the picture?

After DON'T GET WEIRD ON ME, BABE, I honestly felt that Cole was saying goodbye in some strange way...especially with the last song on that album that ended with such bittersweet melodic strings.But, no, he came back! I remember going to college when this came out; I lived in England at the time, but was going to school in Colorado--hence, my mother in England was able to get me the UK release before a US release available. She told me the album title and described the cover as "Lloyd Cole slouched in a corner in a really bad mood."It sent chills down me and the chills were intensified when the guitar rumbled through me with the opening strains of "Morning is Broken." Following that song is Cole's satirical look towards global problems being treated as "fads" in "So You'd Like To Save The World?" There's the darkly sexual tone of "Wild Mushrooms" amongst other wonderful songs on this album.This album was such a refreshing 180 from DON'T GET WEIRD ON ME, BABE, which was a strange, confused album compared to this straightforward word play observations on self-reflection, relationships, and unabashedly unreserved obsession for a girl with her "natural grace."In my mind, there are no bad Lloyd Cole albums (Commotions, solo, or Negatives) -- but this is definitely his best solo album.

I'm a huge fan of his most popular solo album "Don't Get Weird on Me Babe", but this album is a close second. If you like Lloyd's vocals, this a wonderful album that grows better with each listen. He's an excellent songwriter and crafts atomospheric tunes mixed in with straight ahead rock n'roll.A very underrated musician and songwriter. If you like his sound at all, this is a great album to have.