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Aural Sculpture

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Released
  
November 1984

Length
  
43:10 (LP)

Artist
  
The Stranglers

Label
  
Epic Records

Recorded
  
1983–1984

Aural Sculpture (1984)
  
Dreamtime (1986)

Release date
  
November 1984

Aural Sculpture httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen005Str

Studio
  
ICP Recording Studios, Brussels

Producer
  
Laurie Latham, The Stranglers

Genres
  
Punk rock, New wave, Post-punk

Similar
  
The Stranglers albums, Post-punk albums

The stranglers ice queen from the album aural sculpture


Aural Sculpture is the eighth album recorded by The Stranglers. It was also the name given to a one-sided 7-inch single given free with a limited number of copies of their Feline album in 1983. The "Aural Sculpture Manifesto" on the 7" single was played before The Stranglers appeared on stage during concerts during both the 1983 "Feline" Tour and the 1985 "Aural Sculpture" Tour.

Contents

The album featured acoustic guitar as well as a three-piece horn section (trumpet, trombone and saxophone).

Aural Sculpture reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart in November 1984. There were three singles released from the album: "Skin Deep" (No. 15 in the UK Singles Chart), "No Mercy" (No. 37 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Let Me Down Easy" (No. 48 in the UK Chart). All were accompanied by 12" single versions, while "No Mercy" had a further two format releases in picture disc and EP.

Track listing

All tracks composed and arranged by The Stranglers

  1. "Ice Queen" - 4:01
  2. "Skin Deep" - 3:53
  3. "Let Me Down Easy" - 4:10
  4. "No Mercy" - 3:38
  5. "North Winds" - 4:03
  6. "Uptown" - 2:57
  7. "Punch & Judy" - 3:46
  8. "Spain" - 4:13
  9. "Laughing" - 4:12
  10. "Souls" - 2:41
  11. "Mad Hatter" - 4:00

Bonus Tracks on the 2001 CD release:
12. "Here and There" 4:21
13. "In One Door" 2:53
14. "Head on the Line" 3:08
15. "Achilles Heel" 2:54
16. "Hot Club" (Riot Mix) 3:04
17. "Place de Victoires" 4:09
18. "Vladimir and the Beast (part 3)" 3:56
19. "Vladimir Goes to Havana" 5:28

The tape version of the album had a ZX Spectrum computer program called Aural Quest at the end of the tape, which could be loaded using the Spectrum's usual tape loading method. The program was an adventure game written using a framework called The Quill. Preceding the program was a short explanation of the following squeal, which was voiced by the band members.

Personnel

The Stranglers
  • Hugh Cornwell - vocals, guitar
  • Jean-Jacques Burnel - bass, vocals
  • Dave Greenfield - keyboards
  • Jet Black - percussion

    • with:

  • Tim Whitehead - saxophone on "Ice Queen", "Punch and Judy" and "Mad Hatter"
  • Paul Spong - trumpet on "Ice Queen", "Punch and Judy" and "Mad Hatter"
  • Paul Nieman - trombone on "Ice Queen", "Punch and Judy" and "Mad Hatter"
  • Carmen Franco - female vocals on "Spain"
  • George Chandler, Jimmy Chambers, Tony Jackson - backing vocals on "Let Me Down Easy", "No Mercy" and "Mad Hatter"
    • Technical
  • Christian "Djoum" Ramon, Erwin Autrique - additional engineering
  • Simon Cantwell - art direction
  • John King - artwork (ear sculpture)
  • John Kisch - front cover photography

    • The song "Let Me Down Easy" was featured as the opening title track for the 2015 action film Hardcore Henry.

    Songs

    1Ice Queen4:02
    2Skin Deep3:54
    3Let Me Down Easy4:13

    References

    Aural Sculpture Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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