Skylarking [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Japanese pressing featuring a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. To. 2005.

Tracks:

Summer's Cauldron
Grass
The Meeting Place
That's Really Super, Supergirl
Ballet For A Rainy Day
1000 Umbrellas
Season Cycle
Earn Enough For Us
Big Day
Another Satellite
Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
Dear God
Dying
Sacrificial Bonfire
Mermaid Smiled

Amazon.com

XTC's frothy, Beatle-esque concept album about birth, death, and the passing of the seasons is hardly soft-headed: its melodic inventiveness and lush orchestrations supports bitterness ("That's Really Super, Supergirl"), displacement ("The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul"), and agnostic tirade ("Dear God") as often as it does the pleasures of sun and shower. The greatest achievement of XTC's post-Drums and Wires career, Skylarking is a must-have for the first days of spring. This deluxe, remastered version of the album contains a bonus track, "Mermaid Smiled." --Rickey Wright

Album Description

24-bit remastered reissue of 1986 album. Including the bonus track 'Dear God'.

Customer Reviews:

A CLASSIC, A MASTERPIECE, THIS ALBUM TOPS SGT. PEPPER'S!.......2007-06-20

Even if you have no clue who/what XTC are, this album will turn you on to their music. Not a single bad track at all. Bigger than the Beatles! And best of all: It will NOT sound dated, neither now (21 years later) nor when i give it to my grandkids.

Summer's Cauldren is a great song.......2007-02-06

And then things drop off. Things pick up again with Another Satellite and that's about it. Don't get me wrong XTC is a great band but.... they are so ambitious that they lose me. There are two excellent songs here and then everything else is kind of boring. Genius for sure.

Summer's Cauldren is worth 4 stars.

When XTC hits America.......2007-02-01

I got into XTC a year or so before this album came out. Up until that point I had been listening to English Settlement along with other early favorites and liking Partridge and company quite a bit. What I had heard up until then, however, did little to prepare me for Skylarking.

Let's face it: Skylarking came out of nowhere. Nobody saw it coming. Not even the most zealous XTC fan. So different was it from what Partidge and Moulding had recorded that no one was prepared for the change.

And what a change it was.

John Wesley Harding once wrote a wonderfully witty song called 'When the Beatles hit America,' in it imagining what a modern day reunion of the fab four might have been like. After reviewing the newest recording by the long defunct pop group, Harding quipped, "the new record didn't sound a lot like 'P.S. I love you,' but it did sound like XTC... it sounded a lot like XTC."

Which is to say, Skylarking is the sort of album the Beatles might have made but Andy Partridge did it instead. It is a rich, beautiful recording, one awash in brilliant pop and colored with lush harmonies. It is a musical landscape both pastoral and baroque, the sort of which we rarely see in music.

All time favorite.......2006-10-15

This is my favorite Album. From the brilliance of the songwriting to the lush production of Todd Rundgren, every note rings true. I'm constantly inspired by the songs.

Phil Dutra

An alternative classic.......2006-10-10

This album is a classic. I have no idea what they call the genre today, but way back when, this was alternative, and this was the album that all the kids in black listened to. There is not a bad song on the album. Most people are familiar with Dear God, which is worth the purchase of this CD alone, but every song from Summer's Cauldron to Sacrificial Bonfire is as good.

Average customer rating:

Quintisentially English
The "Perfect" XTC Album
Well-Constructed Baroque Pop
what was i thinking...
My Third Favorite Album of All Time

Skylarking
XTC
Manufacturer: Geffen Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000000OQ3
Release Date: 1990-10-25

Tracks:

Summer`s Cauldron
Grass
The Meeting Place
That's Really Super, Supergirl
Ballet For A Rainy Day
1000 Umbrellas
Season Cycle
Earn Enough For Us
Big Day
Another Satellite
The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
Dear God
Dying
Sacrificial Bonfire

Amazon.com essential recording

XTC's frothily Beatle-esque concept album about birth, death, and the passing of the seasons is hardly soft-headed: Its melodic inventiveness and lush orchestrations support bitterness ("That's Really Super, Supergirl"), displacement ("The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul"), and agnostic tirade ("Dear God") as often as it does the pleasures of sun and shower. The greatest achievement of XTC's post-Drums and Wires career, Skylarking is a must-have for the first days of spring. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews:

Quintisentially English.......2002-04-11

First heard this in 87 whilst driving across a Spanish plateau in seering heat framed by corn fields and distant Moorish castles. Gave me goose bumps then and still gives me goose bumps now. It is quintisentially Engish and is an example of "pop" in its purest form. Park yourself up by a lazy river, lie on the grass, put your head phones on and listen. Sheer quality.

The "Perfect" XTC Album.......2002-03-19

Don't let the title mislead you. I do not believe that this is the best XTC album (on most days I'd give that nod to "English Settlement"), but, when you look at the sound, the production quality; the complete absence of flaw in "Skylarking"... you cannot help but call it anything put "perfect".

As much as I couldn't really care less about the whole birth to death concept, it does work insanely well here, if for nothing else then to properly place the tracks from beginning to end. Everything just seems to go where it should. "Summer's Cauldron" is the only song that can really start off this album, in my opinion. "Sacrificial Bonfire" is the only one that could truly finish it off. "1000 Umbrellas" is the only song that could follow "Ballet For A Rainy Day", which, in turn, is the only one that I'd imagine ever following "That's Really Super, Supergirl" (probably the best back-to-back-to-back tracks in any album ever).

The guitar, piano, and orchestral pieces are just so well-recorded or well-produced (perhaps both) here to a point where they both just reach inside and grab your feelings by the throat. Couple this with the lyrics which are among XTC's finest.

This album has a mood to it that just paints the perfect picture of the romantic wuss of a man... trying his best to love but always ending up on the wrong end of things. I can really identify with this and I find myself using this record rather often as a support album for my obsessive antics. It works very well as such for all you hopeless romantics listening.

Not all the songs are absolutely amazing. "Big Day" gets on my nerves. "Dying" is annoying. Actually, now that I think of it... Colin Moulding doesn't really have any big winners except for "Grass" on this album. But on the other hand you have Andy Partridge's tear-inducingly beautiful and catchy as all heck ("Season Cycle" will burrow into your head and live there for weeks if you let it) tracks at every corner.

I could rant all day about this album and its very hard for me to resist that. While not being my favorite (that honor goes to "Villains" by The Verve Pipe), its definitely in my all-time top 10 and has an indescribable effect on the human soul. Buy it, and enjoy.

Well-Constructed Baroque Pop.......2002-01-17

Todd Rundgren managed to infuriate the band during the recording of this LP, but he did a great job helping them to pick and sequence their material, and to frame it sound-wise and mix it into a beautiful record.

The songs are strong. At least one of Partridge's overly wordy and effete clunkers creeps ("Supergirl") and "Season Cycle" is overly derivative (of the Beach Boys). But the rest of the material is well worth a spin. And Todd the Godd retains his ability to knock out wonderful-sounding LPs (file this one next to Patti Smith's "Wave" and the Psychedelic Furs' "Forever Now").

In the end the arrangements mix strings, an effective rhythm section (Prairie Prince does the drumming), guitars, idiosynchratic vocals, and various other effects into a satisfying stew not unlike something the Beatles might have come up with had they been working together during the late 80's.

what was i thinking..........2001-10-19

i bought this over 10 yrs. ago and liked it then, but not loved it because it was too similar to the beatles (i was a snob). like fine cheese, i've aged and gained a complex, but less narrow-minded, appreciation to how beautiful music can be presented.

the lyrical arrangements compliments the wonderful whimisical rhythms that are expected from xtc (or dukes of stratosphere).

My Third Favorite Album of All Time.......2001-09-08

To anyone who thinks XTC has better stuff...you're way off. This album is not only the best XTC all round, but one of the best of all time! I don't say that lightly, either! The whole cycle of life is covered here as highlighted with "Season Cycle". A picture of life is painted so well it feels more like you're listening to a soundtrack to a wonderful movie. This album does what good art should; it evokes feelings. It goes further by covering the whole spectrum of emotions. Vivid imagery, chord structure, use of a massive variety of sounds and instruments, and intentional and precise song placement all add up to a nearly perfect album. The only warning I will give is that if you let the music take you, you will be exhausted by the end. Todd's influence is very apparent. It's too bad there were not more projects together. Although some great individual songs, most XTC albums will put you to sleep by the end. XTC should have learned that "creative tension" is the key for them instead of trying to avoid it. They really missed the point.

Average customer rating:

I don't usually dig reggae/dub! This is the ultimate!

Skylarking: Best Of Horace Andy
Horace Andy
Manufacturer: Melankolic
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Customer Reviews:

I don't usually dig reggae/dub! This is the ultimate!.......1999-05-04

I love this album, I listen to indie rock usually and I cannot get enough of this CD. I have had it for over a year and I still can't get enough! Great for smoking and driving! There is just something so chill and yet beautiful in the words "money, money, money, money, is the root of all evil" Check it out! You will only want more!

Average customer rating:

Terrific reissue/remaster of classic XTC release

Skylarking
XTC
Manufacturer: Geffen
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Nonsuch

ASIN: B000AU1OAA
Release Date: 1987-01-01

Tracks:

Summer's Cauldron
Grass
Meeting Place
That's Really Super, Supergirl
Ballet for a Rainy Day
1000 Umbrellas
Season Cycle
Earn Enough for Us
Big Day
Another Satellite
Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
Dear God
Dying
Sacrificial Bonfire

Album Description

Japanese pressing featuring a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. To. 2005.

Album Details

24bit Digitally Remastered Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific reissue/remaster of classic XTC release.......2006-12-24

XTC is a love them or hate them type of band. I've found very few folks that fall between these extremes. Skylarking is an album that almost everyone in the latter camp likes and for good reason; it's a stunning song cycle that recalls the greatness of the Beach Boys, Kinks and Beatles best recordings without apeing them.
This edition returns the album to the glory it deserves; the sound quality is comparable to the MFS gold disc and the packaging is terrific. Ian Cooper should be commended for his work here--he manages to turn his craft into a fine art.

Thankfully, Cooper returned to the original configuration of the album (Skylarking was resequenced for the US market when Dear God became a alternative hit. Sadly one of Andy Partridge's finest songs Mermaid Smiled was dropped in the process)and added Dear God as a bonus track. While the import version was like this in many countries, there wasn't a consistency to the album. It reminded me of the way the Beatles, Stones and Kinks albums were reconfigured for the US market; while doing so helped market more commerical product it slighted the original works. The same is certainly true here as well.

This was a difficult album for the band to make. They had a difficult time working with Rundgren at the time (although Rundgren remains a fan of the band and in retrospect most of the band members feel this is one of their crowning achievements). Colin Moulding quit while they were recording basic tracks in San Francisco. Andy constantly butted heads with Rundgren during recording and even the normally unflappable Dave Gregory wasn't happy with the final mix of the album at the time.

The band has struggled over the years to come up with an album as consistent (Nonsvch and Apple Venus Volume 1 come darn close) as this work. Despite the unpleasant time the band had working with Todd Rundgren, their collaboration resulted in the best collaboration between producer and performer since the days of George Martin and The Beatles.

My only disappointment is in the fact that Virgin chose not to include the demos that were released as b sides. While they weren't of the same production quality (and in some cases lacked the cohesion of the best songs here), Skylarking would have been more complete with them (even if they were put on a second disc) than without them. Keep in mind that the b-sides are available on "A Coat of Many Cupboards" boxed set.

The Japanese pressing of this album is in a replica of the original sleeve. The sound is terrific although this sounds like it is a bit more compressed than the U.S. reissue to my ears. It's all a matter of what you want I suppose.

A great big fan's thank you to both Ian Cooper, the band and, yes, even Virgin for the extra effort that went into getting this right.

Average customer rating:

If you haven't heard it, you don't know what to expect
hauntingly beautiful
An almost spiritual experience

Songs Without Words

Manufacturer: Grp Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Release Date: 1991-10-29

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Waltz for Suzy
Patrick
Thank You, Ilich
Anemone
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Brogan
Faithfully Yours
Skylark
Three Blonde Mice
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Customer Reviews:

If you haven't heard it, you don't know what to expect.......2007-01-19

This is actually a very good album, and I almost think it is destined to become a collector's item because the music isn't as well known as the artist. The combination of synthesizer and piano may be a little heavy at times, but it's tastefully done, and even the occasional intrusion of Kenny G can't ruin it.

Six Weeks is a very good film score, heard here in another arrangement and broken up throughout the disc -- an approach that works.

Too bad the only way I can get to this page is by searching through an engin. A search on this site for Dudley Moore does not yield up this album. There are other ways...

hauntingly beautiful.......2005-10-29

Trying to describe the music on this CD is difficult. It is not piano music that is beautiful because of its degree of difficulty or the player's accomplishment. Instead it is beautiful because of its simplicity that seems to come from the soul. Its melodies will be with you long after you turn the music off and you will be left with the feeling that Mr. Moore shared something very personal with you. This has been a favorite of mine for many many years.

An almost spiritual experience.......2004-01-24

This is very different from most other piano CD's and has a very meditative quality to it. I was very skeptical about the use of electronic sounds to supplement the piano but it's done very discretely and very much enhances the depth of the music. This is the CD to put on when you really want to relax and look at your pictures from that trip to Alska. It's very deep, rich, sensual music. It's not quite new age but has some of that quality to it. One of my all time favorite CD's.

Average customer rating:

Best album of all time
Perfection to the lives of those that live life
It's xtc to listen to this cd

Skylarking
XTC
Manufacturer: Mobile Fidelity
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000000ITL
Release Date: 1994-11-15

Tracks:

Summer's Cauldron
Grass
The Meeting Place
That's Really Super, Supergirl
Ballet For a Rainy Day
1000 Umbrellas
Season Cycle
Earn Enough For Us
Big Day
Another Satellite
The Man Who Sailed
Dear God
Dying
Sacrificial Bonfire

Customer Reviews:

Best album of all time.......2006-11-29

This is one of my favorite albums of all time, ranking up there with Dark Side of the Moon, Tommy, and others.

But, this is only true of the original release that had mermaid smiled and not dear god. I think Todd Rundgren made a big mistake because Dear God ruins the mood and the general theme of the album. It was placed there for purely commercial purposes.

If you can get a copy of Skylarking with the original tracks, ie mermaid smile, get that instead. I think that's only available outside of the US.

Perfection to the lives of those that live life.......1999-09-09

I don't know what to say-in fact i'm speechless-tears don't count,right

It's xtc to listen to this cd.......1998-08-10

This XTC album represents one the band's most cohesive, consistent and creative albums. Easily one of the best albums of the 1980', Andy Partridge's songs are consistently interesting and delightful to listen to as well. Colin Moulding's four contributions to this 14 track cd are amoung the best songs he has written.

A frequently overlooked fact about Moulding's material; although less prolific than Partridge, his material is on a par(and on occasion better than)his bandmate's song. Dave Gregory contributes masterful playing and arrangement ideas(as does producer Todd Rundgren).

The sound on this audiophile cd puts the original issue on Geffen to shame. It is clear after listening to this cd, that the Geffen original was mastered from a second generation copy, or a slightly improved lp master. The only compliant is that this cd(like the Geffen original)substitutes "Dear God" for 'Mermaid's smile". Although "Dear God" is a fine track(and became their first charting single since 1980's ENGLISH SETTLEMENT in the U.S.), it doesn't messure up to "Mermaid" and creates a sense of discontinuity on the cd. Instead, it would have been nice to have this cd as originally issued on vinyl in the U.S.(and cd in the U.K.)with "Dear God" as a bonus track. Mobile Fidelity, however, usually doesn't do this when remastering and reissuing cd's.

Nevertheless, this is one of the best sounding cd's to be issued from Mobile Fidelity and, again, puts the original Geffen issue to shame. Unfortunately, this album is not a big enough seller for Geffen/MCA to consider reissuing in a remastered edition(at least at this time). Even if Geffen did reissue SKYLARKING, it is unlikely they would be able to surpass the sound quality of this disc unless using new technology.

Tracks:

Summer's Cauldron
Grass
The Meeting Place
That's Really Super, Supergirl
Ballet For A Rainy Day
1000 Umbrellas
Season Cycle
Earn Enough For Us
Big Day
Another Statellite
Mermaid Smiled
The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
Dying
Sacrifical Bonfire
Dear God

Album Description

Japanese 24-bit remastered reissue of 1986 album. Packaged in a miniature LP sleeve. Including the bonus track 'Dear God'.

Album Details

Digitally Remastered Japanese Version in a Limited LP Style Slipcase. Includes the Rare Track 'mermaid Smiled'

Customer Reviews:

Superb remaster. A gem.......2003-03-29

All the XTC albums sound phenomenally better than the original CD versions, and this one is testament to why it's Andy Partridge's masterpiece. Nice that the bonus material is now at the end of the CD, rather than in the middle. This one is interesting to hear for the original sequencing of songs, putting "Dear God" as a bonus. "Mermaid Smiled"--why was this left off the original CD? Great tune. Everyone should own this album.

XTC's Finest Moment Re-mastered!.......2002-07-14

I have always loved XTC - since their third album "Drums & Wires," at least. People who know me well also know how much I love the music of Todd Rundgren - producer, arranger, engineer and chief task-master of this wonderfully conceived musical project. I hoped the collaboration would prove fruitful; never in my wildest dreams did I envision such a tour-de-force as "SKYLARKING" turned out to be!

Love him or hate him, Todd Rundgren is a musical genius. Sometimes when two large musical egos are forced to co-exist, as is the case here with Rundgren and XTC leader Andy Partridge, sparks will fly! That's Andy getting the wrong end of the lit match here... but to the benefit of everyone with ears. Rundgren was hired by XTC's record company (Virgin) to listen to the 23 or so demos the band had recorded for their next record (following "The Big Express"), edit and sort them into some cohesive order, and otherwise take whatever creative control necessary to salvage something of XTC's tattered career as it stood then - in 1986. Rundgren surpassed all expectations by producing their best-selling and best conceived record, even generating the surprising FM hits "Dear God" and "Summer's Cauldron/Grass." And as an added bonus, this turned out to be an absolutely AWESOME recording. What this all adds up to is an exquisite aural experience ... second to none.

It should be noted that this newest edition of "SKYLARKING" has received a "24-bit" remastering job as of Spring 2002. What was always a wonderfully bright and clean sounding recording has been made to sound even better. Perhaps more significantly, the original sequencing/running order of the record has been restored to its original state - the way producer Rundgren intended it to be heard - with "Dear God" added on at the very end as a bonus track. "Dear God" was originally intended and issued as the b-side of the 12-inch single "Summer's Cauldron/Grass."

Although Sir Partridge was irked by producer Rundgren's creative control over the recording sessions at the time this record was made, he now acknowledges that "Skylarking" is his band's finest work. Few records can ever be mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper." This is one of the very few that can. Enjoy!

fresh as morning dew.......2001-10-09

i have the original cd of skylarking, the mobile fidelity gold cd, and this newly remastered edition. this is by far and away the best of them all. background vocals and crispness of the drums are the most noticable improvements.as far as song quality, this is the true gem in xtc,s catalog.todd rundgren has never produced a bad album for another group that was not his own,and this is probably his best.amongst all the agony between him and andy partridge they came up with a remarkable piece of art. a top 100 cd on any serious listeners list.

Masterpiece gets proper treatment it deserves.......2001-05-26

This edition returns the album to the glory it deserves; the sound quality is comparable to the MFS gold disc and the packaging is terrific. Ian Cooper should be commended for his work here--he manages to turn his craft into a fine art. Thankfully, Cooper returned to the original configuration of the album (Skylarking was resequenced for the US market when Dear God became a alternative hit. Sadly one of Andy Partridge's finest songs Mermaid Smiled was dropped in the process)and added Dear God as a bonus track. While the import version was like this in many countries, there wasn't a consistency to the album. It reminded me of the way the Beatles, Stones and Kinks albums were reconfigured for the US market; while doing so helped market more commerical product it slighted the original works. The same is certainly true here as well.

The band has struggled over the years to come up with an album as consistent (Nonsvch and Apple Venus Volume 1 come darn close) as this work. Despite the unpleasant time the band had working with Todd Rundgren, their collaboration resulted in the best collaboration between producer and performer since the days of George Martin and The Beatles.

My only disappointment is in the fact that Virgin chose not to include the demos that were released as b sides. While they weren't of the same production quality (and in some cases lacked the cohesion of the best songs here), Skylarking would have been more complete with them (even if they were put on a second disc) than without them.