One of the finest debuts of the '80s, and possibly the defining album of the whole U.K. indie jangle scene that also included Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, and dozens of other bands, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' Rattlesnakes is a college rock masterpiece of smart, ironic lyrics and sympathetic folk-rock-based melodies. The Glasgow-based band (Lloyd Cole on guitar and vocals, Neil Clark on lead guitar, Blair Cowan on keyboards, Lawrence Donegan on bass, and Stephen Irvine on drums) has a level of interplay remarkable in a group that had been playing for less than two years, and for all the attention given to Cole's hyper-literate lyrics, the album's finest moments are things like the slinky interludes between the wry verses on the Renata Adler-inspired "Speedboat" and Clark's glorious extended solo at the end of the album's finest song, "Forest Fire." Originally released in the U.S. by Geffen but reissued on CD as part of Capitol's acquisition of the Commotions in 1988 (with the original cover, which had been changed for the Geffen release), Rattlesnakes consists of ten perfect, or close to it, pop songs in just a hair under 36 minutes. Kicking off with the group's first U.K. single, the impossibly wordy, stream-of-consciousness "Perfect Skin," the album is basically a series of verbal snapshots of love gone wrong among the overeducated and underemployed. Cole's low-pitched and surprisingly soulful -- for a philosophy student from the University of Glasgow, anyway -- voice flits between earnestness, compassion, and arch derision ("Must you tell me all your secrets when it's hard enough to love you knowing nothing?"), while his lyrics sketch incisive character studies filled with smart and funny one-liners, near-obsessive name-dropping, and references to enough novels and movies for a semester-long pop culture class. The title track, for example, is based on a key image from Joan Didion's stark Hollywood novel Play It as It Lays, and its chorus compares the song's heroine to Eva Marie Saint's character in the film On the Waterfront. In less skilled hands, this would all be unbearably pretentious, but Cole's sly sense of humor and self-mocking wit keep things on the right side of ambitious. The German CD of Rattlesnakes (Polydor 823 683) will be of interest to North American Commotions fans. The disc not only contains the original versions of three songs Geffen had Ric Ocasek remix for the U.S. release (which are also on the Capitol reissue); it also features a unique version of "Forest Fire" with the guitar solo coda extended by nearly 40 seconds and four B-sides from British singles of the period: "Sweetness," the wry Warhol superstars portrait "Andy's Babies," "The Sea and the Sand," and the phenomenal "You Will Never Be No Good." In any incarnation, Rattlesnakes is a classic. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
Paul Hardiman (Producer), Peter Anderson (Photography), Lloyd Cole (Guitar (Electric)), Stephen Irvine (Tambourine), Neil Clark (Guitar (Electric)), Lawrence Donegan (Bass), Stephen Irvine (Drums), Anne Dudley (String Arrangements), Lloyd Cole (Guitar), Ric Ocasek (Remixing), Robert Farber (Cover Photo), Da Gama (Cover Design), Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (String Arrangements), Blair Cowan (Keyboards), Lawrence Donegan (Guitar (Electric)), Lloyd Cole (Vocals), Lawrence Donegan (Guitar (Bass)), Neil Clark (Guitar), Lloyd Cole (Guitar (Acoustic)), Neil Clark (Guitar (Acoustic))
Rattlesnakes was the debut album by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions and was released in 1984. The album reached #13 in the UK record charts and included the hit singles "Perfect Skin" (#26 in UK), "Forest Fire" (#41 in UK) and "Rattlesnakes" (#65 in UK, #31 in the Netherlands).
"Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?" (Cole, Clark) – 3:06
1985 bonus tracks
In 1985, Polydor released a "Bonus Tracks" edition of the album, including all the original tracks and four additional songs:
"Sweetness" – 2:48
"Andy's Babies" (Cole, Donegan) – 2:50
"The Sea and the Sand" – 3:02
"You Will Never Be No Good" (Cole, Cowan) – 2:41
The "Bonus Tracks" CD also included "Forest Fire (extended version)" which is 45 seconds longer than the original release. The de luxe edition released in 2004 reverted to the shorter version.
2004 anniversary
In 2004, the band reformed for a brief European reunion tour to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary.[1] At the same time, a deluxe edition of the album was released on Universal International and Capitol. The deluxe edition includes the 10 original album tracks, the four tracks from the bonus edition and 14 additional tracks, including demos, concert and radio performances.
