ATTACK OF THE GREY LANTERN

Great to see Mansun included in progarchives. I've been listening to them quite a lot recently and this album is top of my personal playlist. I just wonder how many bands would even consider doing something as ambitious as this on a first release? Probably very few. Track 1 'The Chad Who Loved Me' opens with a sweeping orchestral intro which reminds me of classic John Barry scores for the Bond films.The drums and bass join in before the guitar and vocals take over.Feels like you are in a dream as the strings take over and then finishes with some strange animal noises and what sounds like kids playing. Weird stuff as is much of this album. 'Mansuns Only Love Song' although containing some nice melody and vocal harmonies is not really a love song so this is a bit of a misnomer! The in-jokey nature of the title is typical of the album. 'Taxloss' is probably the best remembered of all Mansuns tracks.A very obvious Beatles pastiche recalling 'Tomorrow never knows' but with Mansun's weird sense of humour.Later destined to become a favourite of their live shows. The acoustic guitar intro on 'You,who do you hate?' wouldn't be out of place on a Pink Floyd album before the song takes a bit of a darker twist. I love this track to bits.The vocals and powerfull drumming stand out. Word War 2 air raid sirens help to add atmosphere. The track that introduced me to Mansun was 'Wide Open Space' and is still a personal favourite.The guitar and keyboards in the middle of the song are fantastic. This just works totally.See the video (UK version) and be very scared! 'Stripper Vicar' (another great song title) injects a bit of humour just at the right time.Good bright and breazy tune.''When a vicar strips he gets away with it!'' 'Disgusting' is another dark dreamy song like the opening track.Another good un that keeps the ball rolling. 'She makes my nose bleed' sees more orchestration and vies with '..Space' and 'Taxloss' for the best song on the album.Production is spot on and everything perfectly in place. 'Naked Twister' (do Mansun have ordinary song titles? ..answer NO) is pretty ordinary Indie stuff. Its around this time the album starts to run out of steam. 'Egg Shaped Fred' and 'Dark Mavis' are okay but don't really take the music anywhere.Nevertheless the first 8 songs make this a very worthwhile debut effort.

Was this ever a surprise when it was released!

Prior to this release Mansun had gained some commercial success in the singles charts with a couple of releases, notably Wide Open Space, which also gained large amounts of radio airplay. They seemed to be grouped by the media with other "Britpop" bands such as Blur and Pulp. Looks can be deceiving, and it's amusing to imagine what the Britpop hordes who must have rushed to buy this album (it made no. 1 in the UK album chart) made of what they got! Unfortunately it also meant that the band were largely overlooked by those of a more progressive disposition and have had to be rediscovered somewhat (perhaps this iswhy they were only added to ProgArchives in 2010)

Having secured a deal with a major record label Mansun had the bravery to release their debut album Attack of the Grey Lantern. What we have here is a debut concept album, based around the eccentric and unusual characters in a seemingly sleepy English village, and the secrets they hide behind their supposedly respectable public exteriors; from the sado-masochist of She Makes My Nose Bleed to the deranged accountant of Taxloss, the stocking-wearing perverted clergyman of Stripper Vicar, and the mysterious Mavis of the final track.

The music, as befits a concept, blends seamlessly from one track to the next, mixed with weird sound effects such as air-raid sirens and animal noises. The album opens to a lush string arrangement which blends to a guitar solo - it is some time before lyrics make an appearance. Stand-out tracks include Mansun's Only Love Song (inevitably it's not actually a love song at all) and Disgusting - the revulsion in the lyrics contrasted by a delicate arrangement and beautiful melody. Influences are hard to define, although it's possible to draw comparisons to Pink Floyd, while the surreal imagery of the lyrics might be closer to early Genesis. Add some Bowie, and a punk influence (most noticeable on their live set) and you're still only half way there. Lyrics are as outstanding as the brilliant titles would suggest.

Although it's clearly at the crossover end of the prog spectrum (probably sitting somewhere near Phideaux in "proginess" rating) this is an interesting album to any prog fan and serves as the perfect warm-up before tackling their masterwork "Six". Although part of me thinks that any band that manages to get signed to a major label and then presents them with a concept album as a first offering (at a time when prog was still a joke in the commercial sector) deserves a five star rating, four stars is correct for the musical quality

NOTE TO AMERICAN PROGGERS: Due to some American executive idiot the USA release of this album had jumbled track listing (obviously destroying the continuous flow) and one track dropped and replaced by an inferior B-side. Unless you think that concept albums are improved by being played in shuffle mode this is obviously to be avoided like the plague - pay for the import - it's worth it.

ALL HAIL BRIT-PROGS FORGOTTEN MASTERS.

Occupying fairly lonely territory between brit-pop and prog, Mansun dropped two brilliant albums, a fairly suspect third one that ended up killing the group and a series of dazzling EPs in their brief but worthy career. I have possibly never been more saddened at the break-up of a group- though that third LP was a bit crap, it did at least continue their trend of doing something very different each time and even though the aborted fourth album was released in its unfinished form, we can't say that it really represents what the band would have done next because it is incomplete.

We shall always fondly remember their video for Taxloss where they took the entire shoot budget in cash, threw it from the roof of a train station and filmed the ensuing scramble.

But getting on to Attack Of The Grey Lantern itself- wow. What a debut. Packed with excellence from the beautiful string section that opens The Chad Who Loved Me to the brilliantly worded Open Letter To The Lyrical Train Spotter, one of the funniest lyrics I've ever seen in prog.

AOTGL is not as openly progressive as Mansun's follow-up Six, the record that really suggested they could have been a prog band had they survived, but it is certainly easier to like. Songs like Egg Shaped Fred, She Makes My Nose Bleed, Wide Open Space and Stripper Vicar are extremely catchy but not too commercial, edgy and accessible at the same time.

From the cheesy romantic almost-disco feel of Mansun's Only Love Song (another ironic song concept given away by the title) to the freak-out Taxloss (and you should check out the uncut version of Taxloss which is floating around somewhere at about 15 minutes) to the epic, emotional closer Dark Mavis, this is rich, intoxicating, high-quality stuff.