The Edge of the World (The Mekons album)

The Edge of the World
Studio album by
the Mekons
Released1986
LabelSin
ProducerThe Mekons
The Mekons chronology
Crime and Punishment
(1986) 		The Edge of the World
(1986) 		Slightly South of the Border
(1986)

The Edge of the World is an album by the British band the Mekons, released in 1986.[1][2] The album is dedicated to Richard Manuel.[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]

Production

The album was produced by the Mekons.[5] Sally Timms and Rico Bell joined the band prior to the recording sessions.[6][7] It contains cover versions of Don Gibson's "Sweet Dreams" and Hank Williams's "Alone & Forsaken", which borrows music from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song".[8][9] "King Arthur" was inspired by the 1984 UK miners' strike.[10] In "Big Zombie", the narrator turns to cat food, rather than alcohol, due to his alienation.[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Robert ChristgauA−[13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[16]

Trouser Press wrote that Sally Timms's "crystalline tone [provides] just the right touch of unflinching world-weariness between [Tom] Greenhalgh's going-down-slow croon and [Jon] Langford's beery bawl."[17] Greil Marcus, in Artforum, noted that "every song pointedly dramatizes a listener; every song is an attempt to find someone to talk to."[18] The Gazette listed the album as the eighth best of 1986.[19]

AllMusic called the album "one of the Mekons' finest efforts," writing that "Hello Cruel World" "is a grinding post-punk downer that slowly accelerates into a desperate, hoarse cry with no noticeable country or folk elements."[12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Hello Cruel World" 
2."Bastard" 
3."Oblivion" 
4."King Arthur" 
5."Ugly Band" 
6."Shanty" 
7."Garage d'Or" 
8."Big Zombie" 
9."Sweet Dreams" 
10."Dream Dream Dream" 
11."Slightly South of the Border" 
12."Alone & Forsaken" 
13."The Letter" 

References

  1. ^ Tucker, Ken (24 Apr 1987). "The English band the Mekons...". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 22.
  2. ^ Pareles, Jon (24 May 1987). "Country Music Is Roaming Far from Its Roots". The New York Times. p. A15.
  3. ^ Cromelin, Richard (3 May 1987). "Lost Souls of Leeds". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 69.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Jim (30 June 1986). "Mekons: Back to the country". The Boston Globe. p. 13.
  5. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 744.
  6. ^ Kot, Greg (3 Nov 1991). "Curse of the Mekons". Arts. Chicago Tribune. p. 18.
  7. ^ "The Mekons Biography by Mark Deming". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. ^ Morris, Chris (Aug 17, 1996). "Mekons: Versatile artisans of punkdom". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 33. p. 61.
  9. ^ Langford, Jon (2006). Nashville Radio: Art, Words, and Music. Verse Chorus Verse. pp. 9–10.
  10. ^ The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. 2003. p. 662.
  11. ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (2006). I'll Take You There: Pop Music and the Urge for Transcendence. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 178.
  12. ^ a b "The Edge of the World Review by Stewart Mason". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Mekons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  14. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 690.
  15. ^ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 466.
  16. ^ Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. p. 248.
  17. ^ "Mekons". Trouser Press. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  18. ^ Marcus, Greil (October 1986). "Speaker to Speaker: Can We Talk?". Artforum. p. 7.
  19. ^ Griffin, John (8 Jan 1987). "The year pop pooped out". The Gazette. p. E1.
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