Name: Saint Julian
Brand: IMS-ISLAND
SKU: 168843636
Availability: OutOfStock

Saint Julian

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Performer Notes

Personnel: Julian Cope (vocals, guitar); Donald Ross Skinner (guitar); Oboe Kate St. John (cor anglais); Double DeHarrison (organ, clavinet); James Eller (bass); Chris Whitten (drums).
Additional personnel: Oboe Kate St. John (cor anglais), Warne Livesy (synthesizer).
Julian Cope's third solo album, SAINT JULIAN, along with its successor MY NATION UNDERGROUND, form an odd pair in his catalogue. SAINT JULIAN marks a very different Cope to the one of his previous record (and the same is true of those that follow MY NATION UNDERGROUND). This Cope is much less overtly "strange" than the earlier incarnations. For the most part, the surreal lyrical references are replaced by more questioning, introspective ones that seem to show him at tremendous unease with his then-status as "rock star."
The brilliant opening track, "Trampoline," is a near-perfect distillation of Cope's own particular brand of love song--a strange combination of sappy and bitter whose lyrics would ring false if they weren't sung with such obvious sincerity set against bright, brittle guitars, an occasionally Doors-like organ, and a hyperactive, if not terribly complex, rhythm section. Other standouts include the extremely catchy semi-hit single "World Shut Your Mouth" (which is, oddly, not on Cope's earlier album with that title), complete with a wiggly guitar lick and a great beat for air-drumming; and "Screaming Secrets," a classic slab of mid-'80s Anglo-pop shot through with the odd incongruity here and there.