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Aural Sculpture is the eighth studio album by the Stranglers, released in November 1984 by Epic Records. 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.[7][8]

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Aural Sculpture
Studio album by The Stranglers
Released	5 November 1984[1]
Recorded	1984[2]
Studio	ICP Recording Studios, Brussels
Genre	New wave post-punk
Length	43:10
Label	Epic
Producer	Laurie Latham The Stranglers
The Stranglers chronology
Feline (1983) Aural Sculpture (1984) Dreamtime (1986)
Singles from Aural Sculpture
"Skin Deep" Released: September 1984[1] "No Mercy" Released: November 1984[3] "Let Me Down Easy" Released: February 1985[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Great Rock Discography	6/10[6]

The album featured acoustic guitar as well as a three-piece horn section (trumpet, trombone and saxophone). The horns were the suggestion of producer Laurie Latham, who was brought in after Epic Records rejected the initial demos of the album tracks.[2]

Aural Sculpture reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart in November 1984.[9] 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).[9] All were accompanied by 12" single versions, while "No Mercy" had a further two format releases in picture disc and EP.

Critical reception

In Classic Rock's "The Stranglers: A Guide to Their Best Albums", Rob Hughes wrote that Aural Sculpture was "a welcoming upgrade from the icy electronic motifs of predecessor Feline, offering instead a warm textural palette of acoustic guitars, ripe harmonies and a three-piece horn section." He added that "die-hard fans may baulk at the lack of aggressive machismo, but there's much to admire in the burnished melodies of "No Mercy", "Souls" and "Spain"."[10] Jack Rabid, writing for AllMusic, welcomed the band's gradual shift from their early albums' "sheer unrepentant, harsh rock" to the "lithe little pop songs" on Aural Sculpture, with Hugh Cornwell "now cooing instead of growling". Rabid wrote, "You just never thought they could transition to this contrasting style so well."[4]

Critic Adrian Denning noted that on Aural Sculpture the Stranglers were "pursuing a continuing path towards sensual, sincere and introspective pop/rock - any trace of their punk era gone altogether."[11] Ira Robbins of Trouser Press felt that the album contains several strong tracks, writing, "Although not fully satisfying, Aural Sculpture has enough quality merchandise to make it a worthwhile purchase."[12]

Releases

The cassette 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 keyboardist Dave Greenfield.[13]

The 1999 Japanese CD reissue by Epic included six bonus tracks: "In One Door", "Hot Club", "Achilles Heel", "Place de Victoires", "Vladimir Goes to Havana" and "The Aural Sculpture Manifesto".[14] Epic released a remastered edition in 2001 with eight bonus tracks, some of which featured on the Japanese reissue. In 2011, the Dutch vinyl-only label Music On Vinyl released a remastered two-disc edition with ten bonus tracks.[15] A remastered HDCD limited Collector's Edition was released by Epic in 2014, in a vinyl replica-format with cardboard jacket, paper inner sleeve and a black, groove-texture disc with a replica label.[16] In 2019, the band self-released a 35th anniversary two-disc vinyl edition, individually hand numbered and limited to 1000 copies. The second 14 track bonus album contains B-sides and live recordings.[17]

Track listing

2001 CD reissue bonus tracks

• ^a Instrumental version of "Let Me Down Easy".[18]
• ^b Parts 3 and 4 of the "Vladimir" series. The 5th part, "Viva Vlad!", appears as the B-side of the cover single "All Day and All of the Night".[19]

2011 expanded vinyl edition

The original 11-track album is coupled with a bonus 10-track album, which features B-sides and extended 12" mixes.

• Side one and two as per original vinyl edition

2019 expanded vinyl edition

The original 11-track album is coupled with a bonus 14-track album, entitled Shrouded in Black, which features B-sides plus 9 live tracks, most of which are previously unreleased.[17]

• Side one and two as per original vinyl edition

Shrouded in Black

[20]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes, except where noted.[21]

The Stranglers

• Hugh Cornwell – vocals, guitar
• Jean-Jacques Burnel – bass, vocals (lead vocals on "North Winds")
• Dave Greenfield – keyboards
• Jet Black – percussion

Additional personnel

• 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"
• George Chandler – backing vocals on "Let Me Down Easy", "No Mercy" and "Mad Hatter"
• Jimmy Chambers – backing vocals on "Let Me Down Easy", "No Mercy" and "Mad Hatter"
• Tony Jackson – backing vocals on "Let Me Down Easy", "No Mercy" and "Mad Hatter"
• Candide – female voice on "Spain"[22] (taken from a speech by Carmen Franco)[18]

Technical

• Laurie Latham – producer, engineer
• The Stranglers – co-producer on "Skin Deep", "North Winds", "Punch and Judy" and "Souls"
• Christian "Djoum" Ramon – additional engineering
• Erwin Autrique – additional engineering
• Simon Cantwell – art direction
• Jean Luke Epstein – design
• John King – artwork (ear sculpture)
• John Kisch – front cover photography
• Brian Griffin – back cover photography
• Connie Moore – logo illustration

Bonus tracks

• Jean-Jacques Burnel – lead vocals on "Here and There", "Vladimir and the Beast (part 3)" and "Vladimir Goes to Havana"[18]
• Dagmar Kreuze – backing vocals on "Here and There"[23]
• Alex Gifford – saxophone, backing vocals on 1985 and 1987 live recordings[24]
• Chris Lawrence – trombone, backing vocals on 1985 and 1987 live recordings[24]
• Jason Votier – trumpet, backing vocals on 1985 and 1987 live recordings[24]
• Neil Sparkes – percussion, backing vocals on 2007 live recording[25]
• Jim Macaulay – drums on 2019 live recordings[20]
• Laurie Latham – producer on "Here and There" and "In One Door"[23][26]
• The Stranglers – producer on "Here and There", "In One Door", "Vladimir and the Beast (part 3)", "Head on the Line", "Hot Club", "Achilles Heel", "Place de Victoires" and "Spain" (live)[23][24][26][27][28][29][30]
• Ted Hayton – producer on "Spain" (live)[24]
• Louie Nicastro – producer on "North Winds" (live)[25]

Charts

References

External links

• Aural Sculpture at Discogs (list of releases)

На других языках

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- [en] Aural Sculpture

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[es] Aural Sculpture

Aural Sculpture es el octavo álbum de estudio de la banda inglesa The Stranglers. Producido por Laurie Latham en Bruselas (Bélgica) entre 1983 y 1984, y lanzado en noviembre de 1984 por el sello Epic.

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[ru] Aural Sculpture

Aural Sculpture — восьмой студийный альбом британской группы The Stranglers выпущенный в 1984 году.

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