Saturday, July 21, 2007

The Saints - The Monkey Puzzle (1981)

With the departure of Saints founder/vocalist/guitarist, Ed Kuepper, the band's fourth LP, The Monkey Puzzle, retreats even further away (if not altogether) from The Saints blistering punk beginnings, than even the preceding transitional album, Prehistoric Sounds. Instead, Chris Bailey with the boys (and girl) in tow, nix Prehistoric's overdone horns and just make a straightforward rock record, much along the lines of Stiv Bator's post-Dead Boys solo material. The tempo is decidedly moderate, and the guitars chime and strum sweetly, almost as if to compete with the post-punk trends of the era. Monkey Puzzle manages to avoid any new wave/new romantic trappings, but to the chagrin of certain Saints followers, this was light years away from the gale-force thrust of their 1977 punk masterpiece, (I'm) Stranded.

My rip of this album was taken directly from the 1989 CD reissue on Australia's Mushroom label, but you would probably have better luck hunting this one down on vinyl.

01. Miss Wonderful
02. Always. Always
03. Paradise
04. Let's Pretend
05. Somebody
06. Monkeys (Let go)
07. Mystery Dream
08. In the Mirror
09. Simple Love
10. The Ballad
11. Dizzy Miss Lizzy 
 

2 comments:

skids said...

you can never have to much Aussie Rock

nice post

Unknown said...

PLEASE PLEASE REUPLOAD THIS ONE. THANKS!!!