The Gospel According to the Meninblack explained

The Gospel According to the Meninblack
Type:Album
Artist:the Stranglers
Cover:Stranglers - The Men In Black album cover.jpg
Released:9 February 1981
Recorded:January - August 1980
("Two Sunspots", May 1979)[1]
Studio:[2] [3]
Length:40:28
Label:Liberty
Producer:The Stranglers
Prev Title:The Raven
Prev Year:1979
Next Title:La Folie
Next Year:1981

The Gospel According to the Meninblack (sometimes referred to as just The Meninblack) is the fifth album by English rock band the Stranglers, an esoteric concept album released 9 February 1981[4] [5] on the Liberty label. The album deals with conspiratorial ideas surrounding alien visitations to Earth, the sinister governmental men in black, and the involvement of these elements in well-known biblical narratives. This was not the first time the Stranglers had used this concept; "Meninblack" on the earlier The Raven album and subsequent 1980 single-release "Who Wants the World?" had also explored it.

History

The album is an elaboration of concepts first introduced by the band on the aforementioned track from their preceding album, The Raven. Hugh Cornwell, former singer-songwriter and guitarist with the group, has stated his belief that the album is the pinnacle of the Stranglers' artistic and creative output, and he cites it as his favourite album by the band.[6] In a 2022 interview promoting his solo release Moments of Madness Cornwell reiterated this position saying "I think that we were all at the top of our game when we made ‘Men in Black’ and it comes through."[7] The Stranglers' bassist, Jean-Jacques Burnel, shares this opinion, stating in a 2014 interview "It was a bit of a low point when The Meninblack came out and it wasn’t regarded as the masterpiece that I thought it was."[8] Burnel regards the album as often techno in essence,[9] though The Meninblack predates the emergence of that genre by some years.

The single releases from the album were "Thrown Away", which reached UK chart position 42[10] and "Just Like Nothing on Earth", their first single to miss the top 50.

The opening instrumental "Waltzinblack" was originally intended to be the second single release from the album, but was withdrawn by Liberty, which deemed it "unrepresentative". It was later used as the theme music for Keith Floyd's BBC TV series. The band developed a tradition of using the track to open their live performances.

The album initially sold around 50,000 copies, their worst-selling UK album to date, peaking at number eight on the UK Albums Chart; it spent five weeks in the listings.[10]

In a 2015 interview on British TV, Burnel stated that the band experimented with heroin to help their creative process, and this album was the result.[11]

Track listing

All tracks written and arranged by the Stranglers.

2018 expanded vinyl edition

Self-released by the Stranglers, The Gospel According to the Meninblack received a deluxe vinyl reissue in 2018, limited to 1000 numbered copies. The original 10-track album is coupled with a bonus 12-track album, entitled The Meninblack - Revelations, which features non-album singles, associated B-sides, demos, alternate versions, live tracks, and the brass band reworking "Marchinblack".[12]

Themeninblack - Revelations

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album liner notes, except where noted.[13]

The Stranglers
Technical
Bonus tracks

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Endeacott, Robert . Peaches: A Chronicle of The Stranglers 1974-1990. 2014. Soundcheck Books. 70. 978-0-9575700-4-7.
  2. Book: Hugh . Cornwell . Hugh Cornwell . Jim . Drury . 2001 . The Stranglers: Song by Song . Sanctuary Publishing Ltd . 161–173 . 1-86074-362-5.
  3. Book: Knight . Phil . Strangled: Identity, Status, Structure and The Stranglers . 2015 . Zero Books. 978-1-78279-797-5.
  4. Book: Twomey . Chris . The Stranglers - The Men They Love To Hate . 1992 . EMI Records Ltd. 102–104.
  5. Burbeck . Rodney . Stranglers' LP and tour . Music Week . 24 January 1981 . 3 . 6 October 2023 . Music Week Ltd. . London, England, UK . English . 0144-5782 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210309082929/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1981/Music-Week-1981-01-24.pdf . 9 March 2021 . The Stranglers release their sixth album for Liberty Records on February 9..
  6. Web site: The Meninblack. Hugh Cornwell in the Torture Garden. HughCornwell.com. 13 May 2008.
  7. Web site: Watson . Denzil . Hugh Cornwell - Interview . 2023-01-01 . www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk . en.
  8. Web site: Never To Look Back-JJ interview – The Stranglers (Official Site) . 2023-01-01 . thestranglers.co.uk.
  9. Buckley, David (1997) : "No Mercy" (official biography of the Stranglers). Coronet books.
  10. Book: Roberts , David . 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited. London. 1-904994-10-5. 535.
  11. Web site: The Stranglers BBC Breakfast 2015. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/ow8jRgC6TB8 . 2021-12-13 . live. Jan 2015. BBC. "We thought it would help the creative process and the end result was an album that I'm personally still very proud of, which was The Gospel According to the Meninblack.. 4 March 2018.
  12. Web site: Gospel According To The Meninblack limited vinyl reissue. thestranglers.co.uk. 1 January 2022.
  13. The Gospel According to the Meninblack . . 1981 . LP sleeve . . LBG 30313.
  14. Web site: The Stranglers - The Gospel According To The Meninblack. Discogs.
  15. The Gospel According to the Meninblack . . 2018 . LP sleeve . Not On Label . CGLP6.
  16. Web site: IV. Discogs. 1 January 2022.

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